Weeks after the outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China, Cameroonians resident in the Asian country and their parents back home complained of being ignored by Cameroon’s embassy in Beijing.
Days later, the head of state, president Paul Biya has ordered the disbursement of the sum of 50 million FCFA (€76. 181) for Cameroonians in China.
In a release announcing the gesture, Minister Delegate at the Ministry of External relations, Felix Mbayu noted that the assistance is set to “enable the Cameroon embassy in Beijing to provide assistance to Cameroon citizens”.
“The government of the republic of Cameroon is monitoring the evolution of this epidemic in concert with Chinese authorities and will not fail to keep the public informed about subsequent initiatives aimed at bringing comfort to our compatriots” Mimister Mbayu wrote in the release.
Going by a census conducted by the Cameroon embassy in China, Minister Mbayu revealed that close to 300 Cameroonians are living in the province of Huabei with about 200 resident in Wuhan.
Official figures reveal that the epidemic has so far resulted in about 2000 deaths and over 72438 confirmed cases of infection.
The lone Cameroon student to have contracted the disease was successfully treated and discharged days ago. He is currently under observation. “I cannot take this disease to Africa, ” he told the BBC days ago in an interview.
MMI
