Germany is closely following the ongoing campaigns for the October 12 presidential election in Cameroon, Berlin’s envoy to Yaounde, Ambassador Christian Sedat, has said.
He was speaking at a reception to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the reunification of the Federal Republic of Germany at the Goethe Institut in Yaounde on Friday, October 3.
Ambassador Sedat said Cameroonians he has spoken to want a free, fair and peaceful election – fundamental cornerstone of democratic governance.
“So, in that spirit, recalling these essential values, let me convey best wishes for the electoral process”, the German Ambassador said.
Ambassador Sedat who presented his letters of accreditation to Cameroon on September 17 said Germany and Cameroon share a long colonial history – a subject that will remain a priority for the German Embassy.
Cameroon was a German protectorate from 1884 until the First World War. An exhibition fair on the German colonial occupation of Cameroon is currently underway at the Sawa Cultural Palace in Douala – a historically significant town under German colonial rule.
Dubbed “Once upon a time…the birth of Staat Kamerun 1884-1914”, the exhibition examined the new rules and codes introduced under German colonial rule, which have had a lasting impact on the social, cultural and economic fabric of Cameroon to this day.
“This is one of the ways in which the German government continues to address our colonial past,” Ambassador Sedat told reporters at the National Unity Day fete. “It is part of our way of acknowledging our responsibility for the colonial past,” he quipped.
Members of the diplomatic community, state dignitaries, traditional and religious authorities, members of the civil society and the media were among the German Ambassador’s guests.
Conspicuous among members of government present was Felix Mbayu, Minister Delegate to the Minister of External Relations in charge of the Commonwealth.
Besides clinking glasses, the soiree also featured a live musical performance by the famous Macase band led by Serge Maboma with abundant alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages for everyone.
Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Dr Joseph Dion Ngute, received Ambassador Sedat at the Star Building.
The German envoy told reporters after the audience that his mission in Cameroon is to boost relations between Yaounde and Berlin.
Besides diplomacy, Germano-Cameroonian relations also covers key sectors like good governance, health, agriculture and natural resources protection. “The German government and my intentions as the new ambassador to Cameroon is to work on all these issues and to advance and to build on the very good relations which exist between Cameroon and Germany”, Ambassador Sedat said after his meeting with the Prime Minister.
