Open Letter to the Prime Minister to Denounce the Militarization of Garoua by MINAT and the SED
Dear Mr. Prime Minister,
It is with boundless indignation and a deep sense of urgency that I write to you, as a concerned Cameroonian citizen, alarmed by the authoritarian and potentially explosive drift taking shape in Garoua under the auspices of the Minister of Territorial Administration (MINAT) and the Head of the Gendarmerie.
Let me be clear, Mr. Prime Minister, with the brutal frankness that the circumstances demand — a frankness unadorned by the niceties of diplomacy. The current militarization of Garoua is not an act of law enforcement; it is an irresponsible political provocation — a show of force whose only consequence will be to intimidate, exasperate, and ultimately destabilize an already fragile region.
The cynicism of the situation is all the more intolerable because we recognize the hand of a man whose record should serve as a grim warning. Recall, Mr. Prime Minister, and summon your historical memory, lest the North be condemned to relive the horror of the North-West and South-West regions (NOSO).
This same Minister of Territorial Administration, through his arrogance, his contempt for local sensitivities, and his ill-judged act of defiance in Bamenda — a brutal and premature show of force, a stubborn rejection of dialogue in favor of blind repression — was among the catalysts, the tragic detonators, of the disastrous war now ravaging the NOSO. Thousands dead, hundreds of thousands displaced, an economy in ruins… such is the legacy of this “iron fist” policy that he is now repeating.
Is this, then, the destiny the Government reserves for Garoua? A bloody bis repetita? History, Mr. Prime Minister, does not merely stutter — sometimes it screams for vengeance. And if nothing is done, Garoua will be its next stage.
We are facing a grave political error — one that replaces dialogue with the gun, mediation with the military cap. The Head of the Gendarmerie, by zealously executing this strategy of tension, makes himself complicit in a threat to civil peace.
Mr. Prime Minister, this is no time for hesitation. Disarm Garoua! Recall the unnecessary and provocative troops at once. End this gunboat policy that has elsewhere only bred terror and rebellion.
Your silence, your inaction, or worse, your tacit endorsement of this drift, would make you not the guarantor of national unity, but the accountant of the next tragedy. Do not allow one man to repeat the same mistake that has already cost our Nation so much blood.
Justice and peace are not achieved through intimidation, but through respect and the rule of law. Time is running out.
Awaiting swift and decisive action on your part,
Please accept, Mr. Prime Minister, the expression of my utmost demand for accountability.
Sincerely and without complacency,
President of MRC party
Mamadou Mota
