Douala: Fight against disinformation complex task, Cameroonians react to Head of State’s speech

By Pavel Joseph

President Paul Biya addressed Cameroonians on December 31, 2022, in his traditional end-of-year speech, highlighting issues that struck the attention of the public differently.

In Douala, where urban disorder, false alarms, and insecurity, had been of significant concern over the past weeks, the reaction to the part about disinformation showed that little success is being felt in the fight against fake news.

A resident in the Bonamoussadi neighborhood of the Economic capital said “I don’t really think that it is a problem that the government can fully control. Because the version that is always circulated on all the social platforms, is never the kind of version that can be trusted,” the resident remarked; he chose to be anonymous.

“At the end of the day, it’s more Cameroonians showing restrain. It just depends on everybody to act civilized. It depends on everyone’s morals” he added.

The Governor of the Littoral region Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, was happy the Head of State highlighted disinformation, insecurity, and public disorder, as some of the major challenges that must be tackled in 2023. “Security is one of the main concerns of our daily duty in the Littoral region” the administrator noted.

He pointed out that the “microbes” situation in Douala was not mentioned particularly “because the President was speaking of insecurity globally, not concerning only the Littoral region but the other areas. Rural areas and urban areas”.

Governor Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua commended the population’s efforts, encouraging everyone to work hand in hand with the forces of law and order.