“The evolution of our country and the world in general requires an adaptation of the Cameroonian Army to the new realities”. This statement, with its emphasis on strategic orientation, comes from the President of the Republic, His Excellency Paul Biya. The constitutional Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces was speaking at the celebration in Koutaba of the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Cameroonian Army. That was on 11 November 1989.
From that moment on, the Cameroonian Army began to make adaptation an ability not to make adjustments dictated by the urgency of the moment, but the ability to carry out in advance, the ontological mutations that would allow it to easily curb possible upheavals.
From structural reforms to doctrinal changes, from the creation of academic institutions to the development of training content, from the acquisition of the latest knowledge and know-how to the improvement of the living and working conditions of the personnel, practically everything has been implemented to ensure a seamless projection of the Cameroonian Armed Forces into a future with lines of force that are as aggressive as they are unpredictable.
Some of the new realities announced in the President’s speech thirty-six years ago are currently being experienced in the world in general and in Cameroon in particular. These include, inter alia, the spread of the terrorist scourge, false flag wars for the monopolisation of resources, the itinerant staging of seasonal popular uprisings, the transformation of the humanitarian principle into a weapon of mass invasion, kidnappings and hostage-taking for ransom, not to mention the resurgence of the arms race.
It is important to note that all these various manifestations of insecurity can be effectively combated by means and procedures that are constantly being improved. With one caveat, however. These means must be available on time and in the quantities required. In reality, these two conditions are the source of a real degree of insecurity for buyers, with deliveries increasingly subject to contractual or technical restrictions, or even betrayal.
This raises the question of how to overcome this dependency, which is not only costly but often leaves our Armed Forces in a state of artificially maintained operational incapacity. Violent insurgent groups are quick to take advantage of this situation, while at the same time gaining access to sophisticated weapons with relative ease.
The solution to this problem of scarcity lies, of course, in the acquisition of the techniques, technologies and production tools for the materials and equipment we need to ensure peace and security in our country. In this process of manufacturing autonomy, we are already halfway there, because Cameroon has human resources that are particularly well equipped in the various fields involved in the production of commonly used defence and security equipment.
All that’s missing now is the construction of the production infrastructure. Here too, an important step has been taken with the recent announcement by the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defence, Beti Assomo Joseph, on behalf of His Excellency Paul BIYA, Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, of our country’s ambition to equip itself with an industrial sector dedicated to armaments. This is a major project which, in addition to strengthening our sovereignty, will provide employment opportunities for our young compatriots in fields as advanced as metallurgy, chemistry, electromechanics and ballistics, among others.
It is therefore by making adaptation a permanent predictive and proactive posture that our Defence and Security Forces are able today, with the brilliance we know, to meet the security challenges that abound, while at the same time contributing to the vast project of our country’s development.
Let us remain vigilant. /-
