Another strike? Frightened, Biya calls off trip abroad

Courtesy - The Herald

True or false the persistent rumours of another strike as an expression of the public’s anger at last week’s constitutional revision have pushed the government to adopt many more security measures

By Roland Akong Wuwih in Yaounde

The public did not waste time in reacting to last Thursday’s amendment of the constitution which opens the way for Biya to continue in office beyond 2011.

Since Friday, and all throughout the weekend there have been persistent rumours of another strike, as an expression of public anger at the political development.

Until this newspaper went to press yesterday evening, the organisers of the strike remained difficult to identify.

But, true or false, the government has reacted to suggest that they were not taking the rumours lightly.

President Paul Biya, in a striking reaction to the rumours, called off at the last minute a journey that he was about to undertake abroad on Saturday. The Yaounde town centre main street was in the process of being cleared to await his passage as is usual, when directives to halt the action and free the traffic were given.

The president was taking leave at his Geneva residence (Inter-continental Hotel) after successfully getting through the constitutional amendment, which has weighed heavily on him for the last one year. He may now have to wait until the coast is clear of any storm.

In other moves, there were movements and positioning of reinforcement troops. Molyko - the university quarters - was so heavily infested with armed troops amidst persistent talk of strike with effect from today, Monday that some students began to leave.

Truckloads of troop reinforcement arrived in Bamenda on Friday evening, waiting for deployment.

Nightly arrests of youths in Yaounde and Douala were observed. Even though the organisers of the strike are not known, they are said to target when the strike begins, CPDM parliamentarians who voted the constitutional amendment bill.

Last February’s strike which was initiated by transporters’ unions who failed to come to an
agreement with the government on rates, revealed a new sense of power of the masses.

Public authorities were stunned by the whole-hearted adherence to the strike by transporters across five provinces, and the discipline with which they took instructions from their leaders in Yaounde.

The strike, once it began, offered the opportunity for the determined expression of widespread public anger at the policies of the regime, and particularly the planned amendment of the constitution.

The strike was so successful that as soon as it ended there began talks of yet another strike in preparation - sure evidence of a new sense of confidence by the people.