The ceremony saw in attendance the Secretaries of State to the Minister of Defence in charge of the National Gendarmerie and Ex-servicemen and War Victims, the Chief of Defence Staff, the Secretary General in the Ministry of Defence and a cross section of the military personnel, friends and well-wishers.

Lieutenant General Rene Claude Meka, Chief of Defence Staff while commenting on the global security situation and within said, 2023 was not an easy one for the personnel of the Defence and Security Forces in respect in the fight against the Jihadist Boko Haram sect and secessionist tendencies in the restive North-West and South-West Regions.

The Chief of Defence Staff saluted the memory of fallen heroes who began the fight and unfortunately had to pay the ultimate sacrifice for the course of the free. For the soldiers still serving, he stressed on discipline which he described as the bedrock of every successful Army which if neglected could even see a stronger and better equipped Army defeated by one whose Army is disciplined and less equipped.

Minister Joseph Beti Assomo in response to the Defence Chief of Staff, acknowledged the Defence and Security Forces for their altruism in the tasks assigned them by the High Command. To this effect, in memory of the fallen heroes, he dedicated a minute of silence for their honour.

As part of perspectives for the year 2024, the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in Charge of Defence disclosed that, the invalid Centre dedicated for wounded soldiers in the different theatres of operation will go operational.

He quoted the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces by lauding the professionalism of the soldiers whose efforts on the field have contributed enormously to the normalcy of the secessionist propaganda in the North West and South West Regions. He reiterated the call of the Republic for a perfect collaboration between the population and the Defence and Security Forces.