The bad example from Douala

Adolf Hitler of inglorious fame, we all know, began his ascendancy from a beer house when he rose unto a bar room chair to start preaching his revolution which was later to take him to the pinnacle of the German political leadership.

The end sometimes justifies the means, one may be tempted to saying, but Hitler’s was definitely a bad example. What could be a soldier of the lowest rungs of the German army be doing in a bar; something which most armies in the world would not accept. Although Hitler rose to prominence, his passage on earth and his acts have all been dumped into the waste paper basket of history.

The lesson is simply that an army which is not disciplined is dangerous for the country it purports to protect or defend. The Cameroonian armed forces are on record for being one of the most disciplined forces in the world and the repeated calls, especially by the United Nations for peace-keeping operations around the world, is ample proof of that reputation.

But lately, there have been disturbing incidents in Douala which could likely undermine this much-acclaimed stature on the international scene and which on the national scene, have thrown a lot of opprobrium on the good image of the national armed forces.

A few weeks ago, there were recurrent cases of free-for-all fight between the police, the gendarmerie and prison warders and several members of these forces recently went through a probe ordered by the Governor of the Littoral Region.

What is most disturbing in the preliminary phase of the inquiry is the presence of a number of officers on the list of those so far identified as faulting. To have been involved in fights in front of the very population they are expected to protect and bring to book in case of erring behaviour is something ordinary citizens and the respective hierarchies of the various forces involved are still to come to terms with.

The fear of the Gendarme is the beginning of wisdom, so goes a well-know adage. But when the gendarme becomes faulty or takes the posture of a criminal in the eyes of the very person he is supposed to instil fear to, then there is a crooked situation to fathom! Ordinary citizens are obviously comforted by the resolution taken by the Governor of the Littoral Region to bring all the erring “uniform” personnel, as these people are often referred to, to book.

The attitude of these personnel of the three wings of the armed forces referred to above sharply contrasts with the valiant posture of Cameroonian troops currently fighting the Boko Haram insurgency in the Far-North Region. The irresponsible attitude of these people could not have been so ill-timed, coming as it were, at a time our troops are rather being celebrated for their exploits.

Apart from the embarrassment this reprehensible behaviour demonstrates, one must also raise the issue of ingratitude towards a generous government which has continued to make huge sacrifices, in an atmosphere of generalized want of diverse nature, to satisfy the financial and material demands of its armed forces.

Ordinary citizens, who are also ready to make sacrifices for their armed forces and have usually done so in the past by accepting excessive fringe benefits for same, are even more embarrassed.

Luckily, the Douala incidents are the exception rather than the rule, for an overwhelming percentage of our armed forces continues to posit an image of seriousness and reliability and remain unaffected by the irresponsible acts of those who went astray in Douala.

This explains the decisive approach by the Littoral Governor to ensure that such situations do not occur again.