Gendarmerie presents new uniform, outfits

The deep and light gray colours of gendarmerie gear has replaced the brown that had been in use for several decades.

Gone are the days when gendarmes in Cameroon were clearly identifiable by their brown daily outfits (long or short sleeve shirts, trousers and jacket suits) and official wear (long sleeve suits, trousers or skirts).

This new uniform was introduced on February 1, 2015. Thus gendarmes have been putting on new dark gray outfits for daily and official use in replacement of the brown colour that has been in use for several decades.

Light gray shirts have also officially gone into use as daily wear for lower ranking officers. However, the light green fatigue uniform and red beret will be maintained.

Presenting his men and women adorned in the new outfits in Yaounde on Friday, February 6, 2015, the Commander of the First Gendarmerie Region, Major General Simon Pierre Dagafounangsou, explained that the changes were prompted by the fact that the defunct brown colour had become so commonplace that various shades were sold in virtually every local market.

Moreover, the colour tended to fade quite fast, therefore requiring frequent replacement. This new uniform follows the presidential decree of December 24, 2013, but the high command had to wait until February 1, 2015, for everyone to acquire the new uniform.

Another change with the new outfits is the colour of the band on the lower part of the kepi or peaked cap that becomes dark gray, instead of green.

Women officers, on the other hand, have a new service cap, in addition to the red beret. Meanwhile, female gendarmes are henceforth forbidden from putting on wigs or braiding their hair in order to allow their berets or kepis to fit well on their heads.

In this regard, only simple hairstyles, samples of which were presented to the media, are henceforth allowed by a previous edict of the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defence, Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o.

Similarly, collar and shoulder insignia for all officers and rank and file gendarmes are now on navy blue backgrounds instead of green as it was the case in the past.

The Cameroon National Gendarmerie has evolved from the ‘khaki’ colour at independence before brown was introduced. It was in 1986 that the light gray uniform was first introduced for female gendarmes when their recruitment began.

Since then, the evolution has been gradual until the putting on of the new dark and light gray uniforms became official for all gendarmes on February 1, 2015.