Deployment of US troops: Political parties are silent

On October 14, 2015, the President of the United States, Barack Obama announced the deployment of 300 US troops to help Cameroon combat the terrorist group Boko Haram.

Quickly after the announcement by the head of the White House, the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon tried to avert any criticism by issuing a press release on Thursday, October 15, 2015.

According to the newspaper Le Messager of Thursday, October 22, 2015, "the political class also seems taken by surprise by the arrival of GIs in Cameroon". Several days after the announcement of the sending of American troops, "no official position by any political leader is on record," says the newspaper.

Questioned on the subject, the President of MRC, Maurice Kamto instead" directed the reporter of the newspaper to the communication service of the party." Sosthene Medar Lipot, Secretary of Communication of the MRC acknowledged that "there was no press conference or release from them." But for him, "these are delicate issues and the MRC has noted with particular attention the deployment of the US military. And we believe in our party that when a country is at war, it needs allies, because we do not win a war alone. We at MRC, we say welcome to the American soldiers," he is quoted in the newspaper.

The SDF rather criticizes the Head of State. According Ni John Fru Ndi, "the latter should have consulted or informed Parliament as did President Barack Obama." The chairman notes however that "the US soldiers are not based in Maroua, a city close to the front, but in Garoua in the North. For him, "the United States come to defend their interests, particularly as regards the Chad-Cameroon pipeline."

Analyzing the wait of political parties about the presence of US soldiers in Cameroon, political scientist Eric Mathias Owona Nguini says "they are trying to see how the public reacts to the subject. They are also trying to mark Americans favors by not criticizing the arrival of US troops in Cameroon".