New Year wishes at Unity Palace

05/01/2011 The Head of State His Excellency Paul BIYA received New Year wishes from members of the Diplomatic Corps and National constituted bodies, including for the first time the Chairman of the SDF John FRU NDI, at a colourful ceremony at Unity Palace on Wednesday 5 January 2011

The dual ceremonies started at 11 a.m. when His Excellency Michel MANDOUNGOU, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps and Gabonese Ambassador to Cameroon took the floor to declare New Year wishes to the President of the Republic on behalf of the Ambassadors, High Commissioners and Heads of International Organisations accredited to Yaoundé.

The Dean was happy with the efforts that the Government of Cameroon is putting in to improve on the living conditions of its citizens. Such efforts include the infrastructure, mining and energy projects being undertaken at the moment, and the innovative measure that was taken this year to raise funds from nationals using treasury bonds in order to finance such development projects. He also cited the recent creation of the University of Bamenda, a move which has tremendously increased the access of Cameroonian youths to higher education and greater learning opportunities.

In his response, President Paul BIYA once more appealed to the international community for greater solidarity in the development efforts of the poorer countries so as to help them attain the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals. The President recognized that Cameroon has the potential to generate a lot of hydro-electricity, which will enable us avoid the more expensive and environmentally unfriendly use of fossil fuels for the generation of electricity.

At the end of the speeches, the members of the Diplomatic Corps took turns to shakes hands with the Head of State. President Paul BIYA also shared a glass of drinks with his guests and chatted for a while with some of them before bringing an end to the ceremony.

The national constituted bodies also took turns to greet President Paul BIYA in the second ceremony of the day. The Speaker of the National Assembly Honourable CAVAYE YEGUIE DJIBRIL, led the members of the Bureau of the National Assembly, while the Prime Minister Philemon YANG was at the Head of the members of Government, and the Supreme Court followed led by Alexis DIPANDA MOUELLE.

The major innovation in the traditional ceremony this year was the presence, for the first time, of the Chairman of the Social Democratic Front, John FRU NDI, following his first personal contact with President Paul BIYA in Bamenda during the celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of Cameroon’s Armed Forces.

The personnel of the Secretariat General was led by Laurent ESSO, Minister of State, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, while the Director of the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency of the Republic Martin BELINGA EBOUTOU led the staff of the President’s Cabinet.

The formal ceremony was followed by refreshments and the inter-personal exchanges as the Head of State mixed with the crowd for a while. Everyone went home happy that they had the opportunity to say Happy New Year to the President of the Republic.