Credit: wikipedia commons /   Coat Of Arms Republic Of Cameroon

By Gary Raynaldo  DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

The Republic of Cameroon is distancing itself far from a ministers’ bizarre comments that were construed as being ‘Anti-Semitic’.   Cameroon deputy justice minister Jean de Dieu Momo on Sunday  apparently likened the political positioning of the west-central Africa nations’ main opposition leader Maurice Kamto to Jewish people killed by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.   The State of Israel was outraged. Israeli Ambassador to Cameroon Ran Gidor reportedly fired off a tersely-worded communiqué to Cameroon officials, demanding an apology.  The Cameroon government quickly issued an apology Monday:

“During a broadcast television program, in which he took part on the evening  of Sunday, 3 February 2019, a Member of Government, and also a political leader, incidentally made comments on the main subject in which he made allusion to the dramatic period in the history of the Jewish community. The Government of the Republic of Cameroon wishes to point out that the political leader was speaking on a strictly personal basis.  The Government of Cameroon strongly deplores the irrelevant comments of the said personality and completely dissociates itself. It wishes to recall the Cameroon and the State of Israel maintain excellent and historic relations based on a strong and truthful friendship.”    

Rene Sadi, Cameroonian minister of Communication and government spokesman

Credit: twitter.com / Cameroon’s Deputy justice minister Jean de Dieu Momo uttered “anti-semitic'” comments on State Television Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019.

The Israeli embassy in Cameroon “strongly” condemned the minister’s comments, which it said “makes a tacit justification of the holocaust by Nazi Germany”.

Credit:  Embassy of Israel Cameroon /  Ran GIDOR  Israel Ambassador To Cameroon 

“The embassy of Israel in Cameroon is deeply shocked by the anti-Semitic statements made by Mr. Jean de Dieu Momo, Minister Delegate at the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Cameroon.  The embassy of Israel is deeply outraged by this public outing that describes an unfortunate human tragedy with such little sophistication and that misrepresents the good relations between our two countries. The embassy strongly condemns these statements, expects an immediate apology and will pay close attention to reparatory steps taken.”   

Embassy Of Israel In Cameroon  Statement  Feb. 5, 2019. 

Ambassador Of The State of Israel Received February 4, 2019 by Cameroon Minister of External Relations

“In any event, the Ambassador of the State of Israel in Cameroon was received this Monday,   Feb. 04, 2019, by the Minister of External Relations, who expressed to him the sincere regrets of the Government of Cameroon, while renewing the commitment of Cameroon to always work in maintaining the confident and mutually beneficial relations existing between the two countries,”  Sadi added in the statement.

A Sunday interview on Cameroon state television apparently caused the firestorm of controversy during which the minister in question was asked why he thought opposition leader Kamto had refused to accept defeat following the 7 October presidential election,  the minister then reportedly used used long-established anti-Semitic stereotypes.  Kamto, the leader of the MRC, comes from the Bamiléké ethnic group who have a reputation for being successful businessmen, according to BBC Africa:

“In Germany, there was a race of very rich people. They had enormous economic power. And they were so arrogant that the German people felt a little nervous. Then one day, a certain Hitler came to power and put these populations in gas chambers”,

reported by BBC Africa.