Another Communiqué, No Action: Why Children Remain Unsafe in Cameroon

A new communiqué issued by Cameroon’s Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family, Prof Marie Therese Abena Ondoa, has once again highlighted the horrifying rise in violence against children, but it has also reignited public frustration over what many see as the government’s chronic failure to prevent such tragedies.

The minister’s statement, released after the gruesome killing of 11-year-old Ndzie Karl Olivier Ethan in Yaoundé and the recent murder of a three-year-old girl in Manjo, condemns the “barbaric” acts and extends condolences to affected families. While the message acknowledges the gravity of the crimes and urges the public to report abuse through the national hotline 116, critics argue that the ministry continues to adopt a purely reactionary posture, issuing communiqués only after children have already been killed.

For years, ministries under the Biya regime have been accused of waiting for atrocities to occur before responding, rather than implementing preventive strategies that could protect vulnerable children. The latest statement, though emotionally charged, offers no indication of concrete policy reforms, strengthened child-protection mechanisms, or accountability measures for institutions that consistently fail to act before tragedy strikes.

Many Cameroonians say the pattern has become painfully familiar: a shocking incident, a strongly worded communiqué, media outrage, and then silence until the next preventable death forces the cycle to repeat. With Cameroon preparing to mark the International Day of the Rights of the Child on November 20, observers argue that the ministry’s words ring hollow without tangible preventive action.

Child-protection experts maintain that real safeguarding requires sustained investment in social services, proactive monitoring systems, community-level child-welfare officers, and effective coordination between ministries. Yet these foundations remain weak or nonexistent, leaving children exposed to abuse, neglect, and violence.

As the nation mourns yet another young life brutally taken, the communiqué serves as a stark reminder not only of the suffering of victims but of the consistent institutional inertia that enables such tragedies. Without a decisive shift from reaction to prevention, many fear that more children will continue to pay the price for a system that speaks loudly after the fact, but acts too little, too late.

MMI News