The army lacks the means to defend the country

- Hameni Bieleu, defence expert and political leader
According to this specialist in defence matters who is also National President of the Union of Democratic Forces, FUDC, Party, the Cameroon army has lost its strength and coherence of yore and today she is ill-equipped even to resist aggressions by external forces. He spoke to JeuneAfrique Magazine. We translated the interview for your reading pleasure. It makes for compelling reading.
   

Hameni Bieleu, former lecturer at EMIA

Does the Cameroon army perform its role adequately?
    The role of any army is to defend the country and ensure that security reigns. However, today, the Cameroonian army is ill-equipped to resist aggression by external forces, not to talk of protecting the citizens. Take a look at the military parade during the National Day Celebrations: The weaponry of the BIR and the GP far out-class that of the regular army. One is therefore left with the impression that the first preoccupation of the authorities is to pre-empt any attempt of Coup d’Etat.


  So the army no longer has the means to defend the territory in case of external aggression?

  That is evident. The Cameroon army is less functional compared to that of Chad, for example.

  Can the specialized units not make good this weakness?

They cannot do everything. In the beginning the BIR was only a unit of the infantry. Today it is a complete army, with air and naval units that assure security along the coasts, meanwhile this role is suppose to be that of the Navy. The Naval base in Douala no longer exists. It has become a cemetery for abandoned buildings and equipment. According to Wikileaks, President Paul Biya accused the former chief of naval staff, Vice-Admiral Guillaume Ngouah-Ngally of abandoning the naval base to ruin. The other corps are not better equipped. The obsolete equipment of the infantry in Yaounde can attest to this.

What about the budget. Is it well used?

The 2013 defense budget is 194bn FCFA (295million euros) and the amount earmarked for functioning (92.5%) is too exorbitant when compared to that earmarked for investment in equipment. In the functioning budget, salaries consume 65.21% while expenses for consumption take 22.36%. You notice that these two aspects take the lion’s share.
And this only favours corruption, as could be seen in the recent scandal concerning embezzlement by military magistrates. Meanwhile, on the field, soldiers are fed with sandwiches.

Are the men well trained?

The new generation of officers are very well trained. But the problem does not lie there. The army should reflect all the sociological and ethnic components of the state. This is not the case with the Cameroon army today. It should not create a situation whereby, in the event of a conflict, some Cameroonians refuse to defend their flag because they have the impression that they would be defending the interest of a group of privilege Cameroonians. It is true that even in the days of Ahidjo this system already existed. But there was at least a semblance of equilibrium.

Was it because of the fear of a Coup d’etat that some generals of the old guard were dispossessed of their powers?

People are afraid for unjustified reasons. The few generals sent on retirement have never threatened anybody whosoever.

What therefore explains the growing weakness of the army as an institution?

The army feared Amadou Ahidjo in his days. With Paul Biya, the rapport is different. The president has left military reforms in the hands of the army themselves (with reinforcement from French military advisers), and this he did by decree in 2001. The parliament has been by-passed, it is not normal. The army cannot by themselves define the military policy of the country.