It was during a crisis meeting following the death of two people on April 17 in the Yaoundé 1st district.
«There are too many complaints against the municipal police. We need to reframe things as quickly as possible.” These words are from the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji during the crisis meeting held in the conference room of his ministry on April 18, 2024. This was following the unfortunate incident which resulted in the death of a motorcycle taxi driver and his passenger who were trying to escape the clutches of municipal police officers from Yaoundé 1st town hall.
Reframe the municipal police whose officers are increasingly taking on wings and behaving like executioners of motorcycle taxi drivers and other traders and street vendors when their role is to help the public authorities fight against urban disorder . This was therefore at first glance the objectives of the meeting held in the presence of the governor of the Center region, the prefect of the Mfoundi department, the mayor of the city and the municipal magistrates of the seven districts that include the headquarters of the institutions..
This reframing exercise consisted initially of the Minat reminding the mayors that municipal police activity must not evade the prior approval of the prefect of the department in accordance with the decree of the Head of State which frames. “It (the municipal police) must be coordinated and supervised by the prefect of the department. In other words, no mayor can make any provision concerning the municipal police without the agreement of the administrative authority,” he said. Before insisting that this presidential decree will be rigorously respected so that the abuses of crooked agents of the municipal police cease.
Furthermore, this meeting, which recorded the presence of officials from the motorcycle taxi drivers' unions, was also an opportunity to reframe this activity taken hostage by highway bandits and other criminals. At this level, a set of measures have been taken to restore order in the sector. Among other things, the uncompromising pursuit of the identification of all motorcycle taxi drivers or even the obligation by the latter to respect areas prohibited from traffic by the prefect. “If the unions are unable to bring order to this sector, we will take draconian measures which could be a temporary or even permanent suspension of motorcycle taxi activity in certain departments or districts of the country,” threatened Minat .
However, the question arises as to whether this state of affairs would not be the result of the public authorities' own turpitudes.?
Julien Efila
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