In a press release signed by the CRM party president, Maurice Kamto, he informs the government and its local authorities that the September 22 peaceful protests nationwide is merely a starting point to something probably bigger.
The September 22 peaceful protest organised by the CRM party with the aim of pressuring the regime in Yaounde to resign was indeed staged in most major cities of Cameroon, though very timid in the capital, Yaounde.
In the economic capital Douala, there were major clashes between the forces of law and the protesters, as thousands in the city defied the militarised town to protest.
There were equally scores of arrests made by the security forces, most of whom were CRM party top officials including National Treasurer Alain Fogue Tedem and the Advisor and Spokesperson of the CRM party president, Mr. Olivier Bibou Nissack.
Some journalists too were arrested and taken to police stations, some of them were tortured and released, but some are still under custody.
Maurice Kamto in his press release was full of praise for protesters who braved the odds to march and extended words of encouragement to protesters who had been arrested and injured by the police charged with fueling the protests.
“To the victims of brutalities of the forces of repression, we express our deep compassion and our wish for a speedy recovery to the injured…for those who were illegally arrested during the marches or kidnapped for some the day before these marches at their houses… we express our total solidarity and our encouragement in this new ordeal on the way to the liberation of our country,” said Kamto.
The CRM party president reiterated the intention of his party and allies of continuing with the peaceful protests unless the regime somehow fulfills the conditions that had been set by them as a prerequisite for any elections to be held in Cameroon.
The conditions, he restated in the press release, are: An unconditional return to peace in the Northwest and Southwest regions by an immediate ceasefire followed by an inclusive national dialogue; and the reformation of the electoral code. Failure for these to be done, the protests will continue unhindered he threatened. “We are not to be fooled. We have been in chains for so long… the peaceful marches of September 22 are therefore only a starting point. The people of the resistance must stay awake and more mobilised than ever,” he insisted.
