Immediately he took office as head of state, social welfare and the protection of women and children in Cameroon under President Biya became a thing of the past.

Many children in both French and Southern Cameroons have been seen in school campuses with horrific injuries after being battered by their stepdads or so-called boyfriends to their mums.

Many innocent kids have died but none has ever become a watershed moment for child safety in Cameroon. Even after our investigative report on the sex scandal in the University of Buea, there have been no major changes to how the Francophone dominated government tackle child abuse.

Teachers have not been paid for ten years and social services are only provided by senior government officials like Prime Minister Dion Ngute who marry young girls on a regular basis.

Despite the promises made by President Biya in his numerous end of year speeches, teachers, medical doctors and the police are still failing to notice the signs of abuse until it is sadly too late. The consequence is what the nation just witnessed in Yokaduma in the East region of French Cameroun where five innocent children were offered poisoned bread and chocolate by their mum’s ex boyfriend.

The late Simon Achidi Achu as prime minister had vowed to bring in a new process so child abusers and killers will die behind bars but failed due to the harem of women and young girls he acquired for himself as head of government.  

These horrific deaths of Cameroonian children like the five in Yokaduma are not rare but the circumstances under which they were killed are uniquely tragic and preventable.

The Yokaduma incident provides crucial learnings but its clear not for this present Biya regime with no mechanism to support child protection and prevent and respond to abuse.

Children safeguarding agencies are there to provide free sex for highly placed civil servants in a country where children’s safety is not top priority.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai