News Cameroon :: THE UNIVERSAL MEDIATOR WRITES TO THE MAYOR OF THE CAPITAL ABOUT THE RECENTLY ERECTED MONUMENTS :: Cameroon news

Request for clarifications on the new “monuments” recently erected, in progress or planned in the capital city of the Republic

Mr. Mayor,

By renewing my sincere encouragement as well as my deep respect, as an attentive citizen of our capital Yaoundé, I take the opportunity to congratulate you once again, for having been chosen by the supreme authorities of your party, to assume the responsibilities of Mayor, the day after the last municipal elections.

Your constituents, the country and the world, discovered during the parade of use marking the celebration of the national holiday of May 20 in Yaoundé, “a commendable artistic construction” in the shape of two half-circles crossed, with a balloon, and overhung two armchairs symbols of dialogue, engraved with inscriptions in our two main languages, exalting the attachment to the country. Since then, very sustained criticism has appeared, coming as much from politicians as from intellectuals and opinion leaders who cannot be suspected of complacency, sterile provocations or activism. Overall, all express incomprehension, curiosity, disapproval, and protest.

In this regard, one of the golden rules of the democratic management of the city, is based on the public consultation of the citizens, using the widest and most transparent survey possible. The approach presupposes a clear and precise resolution of the plenary and sovereign assembly of the city, in short the municipal council. For a monument, a whole competition is launched.

This is the place to recall that with the establishment of Regional Councils, Cameroon has taken an important step, to effectively give citizens, in a logic of active and qualified participation, the right to express themselves on the destiny and the shaping of their immediate environment, materially, humanly, culturally and architecturally. We should no longer get up one morning and discover a monument in the city. The Mayor can erect whatever he wants in the garden of his private residence, but he cannot erect whatever he wants in the city.

In the case in point, the townspeople do not understand anything about what has been happening in their city for some time, and feel that the local democracy on which they base so many hopes and dreams, does not hold true in the management of the city, in particular with regard to the layout, the embellishment and the appropriation of spaces. Also, whether it is the work erected at the crossroads leading to the presidency of the republic or whether it is that of the place de la BEAC, people are lost. Where do these “monuments” come from? Are they really monuments, and if so, what do they refer to in the history of our country, in its daily life, its customs, its culture, its people and its values? What scope, significance, teachings, information and comfort for our children, for the foreign visitor, for posterity? How were these constructions decided, by which resolutions of the municipal council? Could you make public the substance of the resolutions, the specifications, the list of bidders, the costs, the origin of the financing, the inspection and acceptance reports? Do these constructions really fit into the city’s development master plan?

In Yaoundé, the works on the squares are changed like underwear, without citizen consultation, according to the moods, desires and whims of the first magistrate, his freedom of expenditure and of granting contracts to his relations. We must end it. The last work in question is so simplistic, even banal, that we must simply conclude that its authors are sorely lacking in inspiration.

You must have realized during your travels abroad that the works of art in the heart of the city are the result of research and evocative renderings. Why are we so far from it with your “monuments/constructions”? Cameroon is full of precious and talented architects, engineers, technicians and geniuses of all the specialties of art, knowledge and knowledge. While waiting to obtain clarifications to appease legitimate doubts, we advise you, in a spirit of dialogue, tolerance, humility and rediscovered good governance, to ensure that citizens are involved as much as possible, and to use national skills as far as possible, in compliance with the requirements of transparency, and in accordance with the laws and regulations of the Republic.
Fraternally./.