Cameroon’s ‘National Security’ revealed to be main reason for Maurice Kamto’s visit to Presidency

The motive behind the visit of Maurice Kamto, leader of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement Party (CRM) has been revealed.

The opposition party leader’s mission at the Presidency was disclosed by Jeune Afrique, a French-language Pan-African weekly news magazine.

Professor Kamto on December 21 paid a visit to the Presidency. A visit that sparked a wide range of controversies and speculations within the media sphere.

In an article by Jeuneafrique, it was explained that Maurice Kamto’s visit had to do with international security issues involving Cameroon:

“… the dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria around the Bakassi peninsula. The dispute is at the heart of a legal conflict that Abuja and Yaoundé have been waging before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for more than fifteen years,” Jeune Afrique revealed.

According to the magazine, Professor Kamto, who was part of the Cameroon legal team before the ICJ, now an opponent of the Yaoundé regime, went to “offer his analysis of the file” to President Paul Biya.

“Kamto observed that some Nigerian leaders wanted to take advantage of the situation in Cameroon, and in particular the conflict in the English-speaking regions, to claim Bakassi again,” Jueneafrique went on.

Professor Kamto is yet to make an official statement on his visit to the Presidency, and the controversy surrounding it. Many Cameroonians had questioned why he was at the Presidency, with some stating that he got chased out of the Unity Palace without being given the opportunity to speak with President Biya.

In light of the revelations by Jueneafrique, it is still unclear whether Biya would have put politics aside to grant Kamto an audience, considering the national security implications of the visit.

By Amina Hilda