The Threat of Urban Crime in Cameroon: How committed is the Delegate General for National Security?

In this Sunday's edition of The AGBAW-EBAI DEBATE, Cameroon Concord's intelligence officers in Douala and Yaounde recently reported that violent crime in Cameroon cities is endemic and in many rural areas such as the Far North region worsening. The problem is particularly severe in this last years of the Biya administration. The Douala police force and those of the Far North region have recorded consistently rising rates of murder and attempted murder. Rates of armed robbery in both the South West and North West region are also very high.

Whatever the accuracy of crime statistics in Cameroon under President Biya, the emergence of Boko Haram and the perception of growing danger in urban centers such as Limbe, Douala, Bamenda, Yaounde, Bertoua and Maroua has generated widespread anxiety. Cameroon's Delegate for National Security Martin Mbarga Nguele has changed the job description given to him upon his appointment as the national police boss and he is now concentrating in fighting a hydra-headed war with a French company--Thales.

The AGBAW-EBAI DEBATE is asking the question: Should Cameroonians be encouraged to invest in Nonstate or community-based policing or should President Paul Biya appoint a new Delegate General for National Security?