AFRICA/CAMEROON - Violent protests against increased prices has already claimed the lives of 17

Yaounde (Agenzia Fides) - Protests against the increase of fuel prices that began in Doula, Cameroon’s industrial capital, have spread to the political capital, Yaounde, where fighting between demonstrators and police has already claimed the lives of 17.
In order to reestablish order, the national army has had to send military officers into the streets of Yaounde, ensuring protection for the gas stations that have been attacked by gangs of vandals in recent days. For now, an uneasy calm envelops the capital city.
The protest has also had strong political implications (see Fides 26/2/2008), as the President, Paul Biya, himself recognized in a television interview in which he states that “for some, their purpose is to use violence to obtain what they haven’t received from their voting ballots,” and denounced “those who manipulate the youth.” President Biya has been in power since 1982; his reelection in 2004 was strongly criticized by the opposition, who have opposed the Head of State’s wish to revise the Constitution in order to remain in power until 2011.
At the week’s beginning, in protest against the increase in gas prices, the labor unions of the public transportation and taxi drivers declared a strike across the nation. In Douala, as well as in other cities of the western part of the country, however, the protest rapidly turned violent as young people violently tore through the streets, committing acts of vandalism and setting things on fire. Local businesses run by Chinese immigrants are among those suffering the most damages. The violence then spread to the political capital, obliging the union leaders to halt the strike and make a call for peace. Cardinal Christian Tumi, Archbishop of Douala, has also asked that all work to end the violence.
The country is wondering if the deadly combination of a “social protest” with a “political protest” will place Cameroon in a situation similar to the Kenyan crisis. Some experts have observed that in Cameroon, although there are many different ethnic origins, there is no real ethnic power that dominates the rest, as in Kenya. Others, however, are sure that the rapid growth of the city in recent years has greatly contributed to the extremely dangerous situation of the city’s ghettos, where one can sense the people’s frustration for the little aid and support they receive, a problem that later creates a self-destructive violence.
The country, moreover, is also divided between the French and English-speaking sectors: a conflict which has already created national tensions in the past. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 28/2/2008, righe 32, parole 415)