The proudest moment of my Cameroonian life

Conventionally and especially at national level, citizens of a country are often expected to have  a defining moment in their citizenship when they are most proud of their country; when they are most ready to identify with their country even if it cost them a beating or their lives. With the ongoing recession of our darling Indomitable Lions, hardship, pervasive corruption and a barrage of other negatives in my country, I must confess I can’t sincerely identify a moment I have most recently been proud of as a Cameroonian. But thanks to some bias and reporting (I initially wrote bias reporting) from French 24 hour news channel France 24, I can proudly day that I am healed, I am a new Cameroonian. I finally had the proudest moment of my Cameroonian life yesterday night.

Yesterday night as I sat in front of my TV reeling from an- out –of- the- blue nose-clogging catarrh and toe channel-surfing, I stumbled on France 24. The story was about the sentencing of two alleged Cameroonian homosexuals to jail terms of 2 years and 1 and the half year suspended. Not very refreshing news, right? But given that Cameroonian has recently received bad press on the world stage for government interference in football and, way back, the kidnapping of a French family; I decided to tarry here a while.

The report prologued with declarations from a face-hidden homosexual identified only as ‘Simplice’. He said quite a few things but I was struck by two statements he made; 1- Why all the fuss about homosexuality anyway? 2- Why is Cameroon always lagging behind? The report then went on to a Caucasian lady working with the LGBT Unit of Human Rights Watch. It is worth stating that LGBT defends gay and lesbian rights. I have forgotten the lady’s name but I can vividly remember her say they ‘have had reports’ (just reports) where men have been accused of homosexuality because they were drinking Baileys which is considered a drink for women. I also vividly remember her saying that although most African countries have homosexuality-criminalising laws Cameroon stands out because it actually enforces these laws. If this far you’ve been wondering where is the proudest moment of my life in all this, this is it; CAMEROON STANDS OUT BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY ENFORCES THESE LAWS.

France 24 is a French language news channel so all these statements culled therefrom which I present in English are translations. But trust me, there are appropriate translations of the source message. So why did the capitalised statement provide me with the proudest moment of my Cameroonian life? There are mainly two reasons for this:

1-      It means, even just subjectively, that Cameroon respects the rule of law. When enforcing the law is concerned, most Cameroonians will argue and rightly so that laws are hardly or never enforced. The law on the declaration of wealth by government officials is still waiting to be enforced. The Senate finally saw the light of day post over 16 years of asking. So imagine my relief at the declaration from an impartial international quarter that Cameroon actually enforces some of its laws. Thank God for the vindication albeit belated and subjective. ‘Mouiller c’est mouiller. Il n y pas de mouiller sec.’

2-    Cameroon is defending its values. Just as America is anti-polygamy so too are we Africans anti-something like homosexuality. The defense of these values is most eloquent and affirmed through laws. So by prosecuting, most especially, Cameroonian courts are rising up in defense of our values that are under attack from various international quarters. Contrary to what can be said in other instances, our values are not only siege without a response on our part. They are being defended, in court.

P.S: I am sorry to have disappointed anybody who thought my pride came from the morbid joy seeing others’ liberty deprivation. No, far from that. I am no legal guru so forgive my not mentioning the merits and demerits of the case. I am just a citizen finally proud to see his country enforcing some of its laws.