Presidential Election 2018. Implication of Cameroon Defence Forces Before, During, After
When the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the defence forces announced on his twitter page that he will be running for the 2018 presidential election, detractors clouded the media space with hate messages, calling for uprising in order to disrupt the election.
Emmanuel NGOTA
Always on guard, the defence and security forces anticipated the event by fastening the security belt for a hitch free election which was slated for the 7th of October 2018. The different command posts set up alert and patrol missions within their areas of competence in order to fish out any forms of threats. A case in point is the security meeting conveyed by the minister delegate at the presidency in charge of defence, bringing together the Defence Chief of Staff, the different Chiefs of Staff, commanders of the 5th Joint Military and Gendarmerie Regions as well as Brigade Commanders, who took time to brain storm on the problems, possible solutions through tact and professionalism to maintain the indissoluble bond between the army and the nation.
Apart from setting up a security platform before the D day, the Cameroon defence forces were equally implicated in the transportation of electoral materials within and beyond the territorial boundaries. Through their logistic strength and in close collaboration with Elections Cameroon, electoral kits comprising of ballot boxes and papers likewise related materials were dispatched on time for the smooth running of the election. The Air Force through its aircrafts made sure the materials get to inaccessible parts of the country and on time.
On the D day itself, the personnel of the defence forces came out in their numbers to exercise their civic duties in the different polling stations of the five joint Military Regions of the country which cuts across the ten regional capitals of Cameroon. Those in the administrative services had to ask for permissions to go and exercise this civic right, while those of the elite corps and battalions were transported to their different polling stations in their service vehicles.
Away from executing their civic duties, the military stood the test of time as they succeeded in their missions in the protection of persons and their property before, during and after the election. The National Gendarmerie as usual made sure that all those who registered exercised their civic rights without any fear or intimidation from anywhere by ensuring that all the roads leading to the polling stations where secured not leaving out the level of security dished to election observers, party representatives as well as ELECAM officials.
All eyes are now turn to the constitutional council for the proclamation of results for last Sunday’s presidential poll. With the series of outings be it press conferences or briefs or better still televised or radio debates to discredit the election and call on the peaceful population to manifest their discontentment if they fail the elections. The posture of the Cameroon defence forces is clear as they have as cardinal mission to protect persons and their property if matters arises.
