Better Security for Public Buildings

In the past few weeks, there has been an unusual upsurge in activities directly threatening the functioning of public edifices; especially with fires. In less than one week, there were two fire incidents in the sole ministry of Public Health and in two distinct departments of the ministry. This synchronized occurrence sent many tongues wagging as to what could have been the cause of the fires and many are even suggesting that the fires could have had some criminal origin or simply induced by some malevolent intentions.

This situation must have prompted the Head of government who, understandingly embarrassed, requested the various security agencies, notably the police and the gendarmerie, to reinforce security around and within government buildings. It was about time, even if the first distress signals over the situation had been made a few years ago with the rise in insecurity especially in the form of fires and armed attacks or outright burglaries. The Prime Minister's instructions came about following reports presented to the cabinet meeting of last Thursday by the Delegate General for National Security and the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the National Gendarmerie. Cameroon Tribune was not privy to the reports of the two senior State officials, but recent events, especially the two fires registered in the Ministry of Public Health within a week, are easy to identify as informing the Prime Minister's desire to see things run in the normalcy and orthodoxy of government activity. Moreover, no meaning Cameroonian would expect a breaking news effect from the reports given the decrepit state of many public buildings and edifices. Police stations and court houses in the past carried the best images of abandoned and uncared-for government buildings. While there are visible improvements in these areas, new government entities are taking the bad habit of leaving their structures rather neglected and unattended to. The situation is generally attributed not only to negligence, but to bad governance.

Several cases are reported where a new Minister or departmental head upon taking office, quickly replaces support staff usually in the keep-clean segments, sacrificing in the wake efficiency on the altar of placing a family member or a crony. In countless cases, so-called security companies have been called in to ensure security in and around public edifices without any regard for efficiency or capacity to keep criminals away. At the cabinet meeting of last Thursday, it was learned that the primary responsibility of protecting public buildings or edifices is first and foremost the responsibility of the police or the gendarmerie. So the use of members of these companies can only be a wanton disregard for existing laws and those found to be promoting the abuse of the law should normally be called to order or be booked. As an immediate follow up to the Prime Minister's instructions, one should expect to see a greater presence of recognizable security forces around our public buildings. But these forces cannot come into the offices to ensure discipline or cleanliness because oftentimes what may turn out to be insecurity takes roots from office room practices which do not promote a culture of safety or security.

These structures are, after all, built with tax francs and any form of degradation or destruction on them can only be taxed on every citizen. So the Prime Minister's instruction should also be seen as a call for all to preserve the common patrimony of the nation which we all Cameroonians collectively own.