Credit: wikipedia /  Cameroonian embassy in Paris, France was occupied and ransacked by anti-Paul Biya protesters Jan.  27, 2019

By Gary Raynaldo   DIPLOMATIC TIMES

Opposition to Cameroon President Paul Biya’s regime took on a bold dimension last Sunday in several European capitals. Cameroonians occupied the embassies of their country in Paris and Berlin to support protests in their home land. Some 50 protesters opposed to President Biya broke into the country’s Paris embassy, vandalising portraits of him, according to witnesses.  The government of west-central Africa nation Cameroon was livid that police in Paris and Berlin could not prevent such an unprecedented storming and occupation of its diplomatic missions by protesters.  The Cameroonian government reportedly fired off angry letters to both France and German Ambassadors in the country’s capital city  Yaoundé.   Cameroon said it summoned French and German envoys to “receive a strong protest from the Government of Cameroon.”   The government quickly condemned the assault on its foreign embassies it blamed on leaders and militants of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM):

“…militants of this party stormed certain diplomatic missions of Cameroon abroad, notably, in Paris and Berlin, ransacking everything in their path, causing significant material damage within these Embassies, including the destruction of symbols of the State, effigies of the President of the Republic, passports and various civil status records of Cameroonians.”        

Cameroon’s Communication Minister and spokesman Rene Emmanuel

 The communications minister and spokesman continued:   

“To this effect, the Ambassadors of the countries concerned have been summoned to the Ministry of External Relations to receive a strong protest from the Government of Cameroon.”

Credit: Wikipedia / On Jan. 27, 2019,  French police  forced protesters out of Cameroon’s  Paris diplomatic building two hours later and on to the street, where they continued their protest outside the embassy, according to reports.

Cameroon arrests opposition Maurice Kamto leader who claims he won 2018 election.  Kamto, the leader of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC), was arrested Monday night at another politician’s home in the country’s economic capital Douala following weekend protests against President Paul Biya.

France Reacts To The Situation In Cameroon And Incidents At The Embassy Of Cameroon In Paris. 

Credit: Wikipedia

Q : What is France’s reaction to the situation in Cameroon, and specifically to yesterday’s arrest of opposition leader Maurice Kamto and the summoning of the ambassador to Yaoundé following incidents at the Embassy of Cameroon in Paris on Saturday?

A : “We are closely monitoring Maurice Kamto’s situation following his arrest. We strongly condemn last Saturday’s intrusion into the Embassy of Cameroon in Paris.  Our ambassador in Yaoundé met with Cameroon’s foreign minister yesterday, as he does on a regular basis.  IT WAS NOT A SUMMONS.”

Source:  France Diplomatie

No word yet on the “summons” of the  German Ambassador in Cameroon over the occupation of its embassy in Berlin.