Rising hate speech “solution starts with government” – Cameroonians react

The use of hate speech in Cameroon has become rampant recently, with state officials urged by the population to serve as examples.

This comes after the release of a communique by Minister of Territorial Administration Atanga Nji Paul, raising awareness on the issue.

The release rather reminded many of the various circumstances in which government officials have addressed the people of some ethnicities in the country with disregard.

“No one can forget statements made by authorities like Governor Okalia Bilai who called anglophone protesters ‘dogs’, Jacques Fame Ndongo who compared the two English regions to ‘two cubes of sugar’, and the list is long,” Robert in Yaounde said. “I don’t think those authorities were held accountable for their actions” he added.

Some have said the ineffectiveness of the practice of bilingualism is “the cause of everything”.

“More importance is still given to French, which is why those from that part of the country feel superior and have the tendency of minimizing the anglophone minority,” a student in Yaounde said.

In his May 22 communique, Paul Atanga Nji said “The laws punishing contempt of tribe or ethnicity, shall hence be applied strictly”.

Quoting section 241-1 of law No. 2019/020 of 24 December 2019, he noted that “Whoever, by any means, makes hate speech against people or incites them to violence due to their tribal or ethnic origin shall be punished with imprisonment, one or two years, and with a fine of 300,000 to 3 million francs”.

This comes on the heels of the arrest of a man in Yaounde who said internally displaced persons from Cameroon’s English-speaking regions were infesting the capital city with unbearable stench from their bodies.