•Heads of State
and Government,
•Heads of
Delegation,
•The
Representative of the UN Secretary-General,
•The
Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission,
•The
Secretary-General of ECCAS,
•The President
of the Senate,
•The President
of the National Assembly,
•The Prime
Minister,
•The First
President of the Supreme Court,
•The Procureur General
of the Supreme Court,
•Members of the
Diplomatic Corps,
•Members of
Parliament,
•Ladies and
Gentlemen,
On behalf of the
Cameroonian people, I wish you a warm welcome and pleasant stay in Yaoundé. I
would like to heartily thank you for attending this summit.
Just as you
desired, this summit is devoted to attacks on some of our countries by the Boko
Haram terrorist sect. Your presence here testifies to the solidarity within our
Organization. Above all, it also reflects our determination to implement the
various decisions we have already taken against Boko Haram, a movement which,
as you are aware, rebuffs the values of human life. It uses methods of blind
and ruthless terrorism.
Its atrocities
have already claimed thousands of lives – Muslims for the most part – and
caused extensive property damage in Nigeria and in neighbouring
countries.
Chad, Niger and
Cameroon, and of course Nigeria, are currently at the front line, so to say.
Their armed forces are bravely waging battle… Needless to point out that their
battle is also the battle of our entire Organization.
I would like to
pay fraternal tribute to President Idriss DEBY. With the support of the Chadian
people and as a sign of solidarity, he took the courageous decision to send a
large contingent of Chadian soldiers to reinforce our troops. Their bravery is
well known and has been demonstrated in the latest battles.
Furthermore,
Cameroon commends the decision taken by the African Union at end-January
2015.
As you know, the
African Union’s Council for Peace and Security in Central Africa, at its
meeting of Heads of State and Government, authorized the deployment of a 7
500-man strong Mixed Multinational Force. It also decided to convene an
experts’ meeting in Yaounde from 5 to 7 February 2015 to specify the
operational concept of this force. The meeting conducted an in-depth
situation analysis and prepared the mandate of the Mixed Multinational
Force.
The African
Union’s decision also paves the way for referral to the Security Council with a
view to adopting a resolution.
Permit me to
point out, once again, that this is in no way whatsoever, a “crusade” against
Islam or an episode in some kind of “clash of civilizations”.
The reality is
simple. On one side, there are our forces, defenders of a modern and
tolerant society which guarantees the exercise of human rights, including that
of religion, as well as representative democracy. On the other side, namely
Boko Haram and similar movements, there are partisans of an obscurantist and
tyrannical society which has no consideration for human dignity.
You would agree
with me that these two models of society are absolutely incompatible and,
hence, compromise is absolutely impossible.
Therefore, we
need to put an end to the actions and activities of terrorist movements. We
need to eradicate Boko Haram. By so doing, we would be able to reassure our
populations and better focus on the only worthwhile struggle: the struggle
against poverty and for the dignity of Africans.
Thank you.
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