Inoni Confirms ongoing probe into coup plot in Cameroon;Says government is taking the matter seriously

Persistent press reports over the last several weeks about an alleged coup plot may have some substance after all. Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni Wednesday confirmed in an interview with the BBC that security and intelligence services are effectively carrying out investigations on an alleged coup plot. In the interview conducted by a Yaounde based BBC French service correspondent and broadcast on Wednesday and Thursday, Inoni disclosed that specialized military, gendarmerie and the judicial service are carrying out investigations, but they have not yet handed in their final reports.

The prime minister disclosed that he had discussed with the intelligence service and asked them some specific questions, but he is only expecting definitive answers when they would submit their final reports. Asked whether the allegations of the coup plot should be taken seriously, Inoni simply explained that in such matters, nothing is taken lightly. For almost a month now, the press has been awash with reports of an alleged coup plot, said to have been uncovered by military intelligence. According to concordant press reports, military intelligence first suspected a coup plot when it was discovered that huge sums had inexplicably been paid into the accounts of some army officers. Shortly afterwards, a huge cache of arms was discovered at the Douala port, which military intelligence believed was not unconnected with the alleged coup plot. However, some sources later claimed the customs department had ordered the arms. While intelligence officers continued with their investigations, they reportedly discovered a suspicious coincidence. Four foreigners, three French, and one Belgian, linked to mercenary activities and arms trafficking, were in Cameroon at the same time. Robert Dulas, 67, a French citizen resident in Cote d’Ivoire, was implicated in the General Robert Guei coup d’etat in 1999.Olivier Bazin, a 39-year old French citizen, is suspected of being an arms trafficker.

Angelique Grasso, a French Woman, is believed to be operating in certain murky circles. Jean Louis T hirion, a Belgian, is suspected of arms trafficking and implication in the 1991 coup d’etat in Haiti. All of the four Europeans were rounded up by military investigators and detained. During interrogation, an address book was allegedly found on one of them that listed at list one religious personality and 25 army officers mostly of Far North origin, specifically ethnic Toupouri. The religious personality, Luc Gnowa, president of the Cameroon Bible Alliance, a Toupouri resident in Douala was arrested. Twenty five soldiers, working in various provinces and different services, including the presidential guard, were also arrested and detained. Of the 26 persons arrested, 21 are Toupouri. Military intelligence, personally coordinated by the minister delegate at the presidency in charge of defense, Remy Ze Meka, are said to have suspected Captain Guerandi Mbara, and implicated in the abortive 6 April 1984 coup d’etat, of masterminding the coup plot. Guerandi, who is also Toupouri, has often called for the overthrow of President Paul Biya. But when Remy Ze Meka, handed his report on the coup plot to Biya, he ordered the release of the suspects. They were subsequently freed. It appeared that the president did not take the allegations seriously, but the government later decided to peer more closely at the coup plot issue.

There seems to be so much tension in the ranks of the presidential guard that on 3 November, they shot a man who hails from the Far North, in Tsinga, Yaounde, according to a report by Le Messager .The Newspaper quoted witnesses as saying the man attempted crossing the road just when the convoy of Chantal Biya, retuning to Palais d’Etoudi from the airport where she welcomed the visiting First Lady of Niger, approached. Jittery presidential guards shot him dead. Rumors of a coup plot were so rife that there were whispers in Yaounde that Cameroon would have a new military ruler on 2 November. When in the evening of 2 November there was a blackout in Yaounde, that lasted nearly two hours, some residents thought the coup plotters had struck. But they woke up to a peaceful Yaounde, with President Paul Biya still president and preparing to celebrate his silver jubilee in power on 6 November. Inoni’s declaration that intelligence services are investigating the alleged coup plot would likely fuel further speculations. Whatever would be the outcome of the ongoing probe into the alleged coup plot, the underpinnings of the issue augur dangerously for any attempt by president Biya to tinker with the constitution in order to hang on to power after 2011.during the second half of last week, motions of support from CPDM organs started streaming into Unity Palace, calling on Biya to modify section 6.2 of the constitution that carries the two seven-year term clause. Last week’s motions of support, we now understand, are only the beginning of a nationwide operation by the CPDM and its satellite civil society groups to create the impression that Cameroonians are on their knees in desperate supplication for the president to be declared the leader of Cameroon for life. It is conjectured that after the expected avalanche of motions calling for a life presidency for Biya, the “lion man” will solemnly declare that he had accepted the supplications of Cameroonians. With a crushing CPDM majority in the National Assembly, any proposed constitutional amendment would likely be handclapped to adoption. In a recent interview granted Paris-based France 24 television, Paul Biya was evasive on the issue of constitutional amendment. But all these can be described as folie des grandeurs. Whatever opinion Biya may have of himself, most Cameroonians, including some of his closest collaborators, believe he has overstayed in office and that it’s time for the country to have a fresh start. After 25 years as president, 74-year old Biya should be thinking of a peaceful retirement. In 2011 when his last mandate expires, he would be 78-years – old, with 29 years of his life, all told, spent as president of a country that witnessed declining fortunes during his reign. The alleged coup plot which the PM has finally confirmed government is investigating, speaks volumes about the risk Biya is running by contemplating an extension of his stay in power. Investigations are already suggesting that the alleged coup d’etat has everything to do with the 2011 succession.

Courtesy - The Herald