• Mr. Secretary of State for Defence in charge of the National Gendarmerie;
• Mr. General of the Army Chief of Staff;
• Mr. Secretary General of the Ministry of Defence;
• General Officers; Defence Attachés;
• Officers;
• Members of ONACAM; Honoured Guests.

The General Management of ONACAM wanted to welcome you in a more attractive setting, which reflects our ambitions as well as our will to always do better, in order to improve a little more, the brand image of the Cameroonian veteran.

The members of ONACAM, represented here by a number of Veterans, Former Military, Victims of War of Cameroon, retired civilian employees of the Ministry of Defense, staff of ONACAM including the Members of the Board of Directors of our Office, are pleased to spend these pleasant moments with you, on the occasion of the Commemoration of the 47th Unitary State of our dear and beautiful country Cameroon.

It is also for us, Excellency, the opportunity to welcome you and the various personalities accompanying you in this shrine of remembrance, dedicated to those who gave their youth and their lives to safeguard the national institutions and those who embody them. The same is true of all of you who have responded positively to our invitation.

Your massive presence testifies, without any doubt, the esteem that you show us, as well as the recognition of the sacrifices that we have made throughout our period of activity. It also proves the importance that you give to everything that touches the Cameroonian Veteran in one way or another. Thank you for this high mark of sympathy because, it honors us.

Your Excellency;

Distinguished guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen.

The past year has been rich in activities; activities essentially devoted to the preparation of the electoral process of the presidential elections and the poll itself of October 7, 2018. The organization of this election was for His Excellency the Minister Delegate to the Presidency in charge of Defense, a great concern on the security level. Without him realizing it, we followed him, traveling through regions of our country that are still difficult to access, at the cost of his health or even his life, to set the pace for the activity of the Forces committed to securing the national territory. This is a fine example that we admire and that makes him a model to follow.

We rejoiced on October 22, 2018 when the Constitutional Council, proclaiming the results of the presidential elections, declared elected, the candidate PAUL BIYA, President of the Republic of Cameroon. It is thanks to Him that the Cameroonian Veteran, enjoys today, more recognition and consideration in our society and on the international scene.

Your Excellency, in this regard, please convey to the Head of State, our admiration and satisfaction. May He be reassured of the Veterans' full support for His policy of Great Opportunities as well as for the actions He is taking in His permanent quest for a united and indivisible Cameroon. The same is true of the measures he is taking to ensure social cohesion and the policy of living together throughout the national territory.

The current year will certainly be one of great political challenges with the regional, legislative and communal elections. As in the past, we, as veterans, will participate with responsibility, determination and the same enthusiasm.

Since the last cohesion meal, some major events, apart from the presidential election, have caught our attention. First of all, the death of some of our young comrades who fell on the field of honor, of our brothers in arms, veterans who, only yesterday, were among us. Then the ministerial reshuffle that took place on January 04, 2019, during which His Excellency BETI ASSOMO Joseph, you and Mr. KOUMPA ISSA were respectively maintained in the positions of Minister Delegate to the Presidency in charge of Defense, Secretary of State for Defense in charge of the Gendarmerie and Secretary of State for Defense in charge of Veterans and Victims of War and finally, the brilliant participation of our country in the 29th elective General Assembly of the World Federation of Veterans in Paris in February of the current year.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, in view of these three events, we should first of all dwell on our young colleagues who fell on the Field of Honour in the various theatres of operations and all those who were coldly murdered in the North-West and South-West, as well as our fellow veterans who have left us for the afterlife since the last cohesion meal. To their families, we address our most sincere condolences to which I associate the expression of my deepest sympathy. As for the illustrious departed, the duty of remembrance requires us to remember them, to think of them with emotion and to observe a minute of silence in their memory. For this reason, with your permission, I ask you to stand for a minute's silence to honour their memory.

[Minute of silence]  -  Thank you very much.

The confidence that the Head of State His Excellency PAUL BIYA, President of the Republic, Head of the Armed Forces has renewed in Mr. BETI ASSOMO Joseph by maintaining him at the head of the Department of Defense, you at the Secretariat of State for Defense in charge of the National Gendarmerie and Mr. KOUMPA ISSA at the Secretariat of State for Defense in charge of Veterans and War Victims, highlights the managerial genius of Mr. BETI ASSOMO in a very sensitive ministerial department, where well-trained, highly qualified and experienced General and Senior Officers abound. It also reflects his spirit of fairness and his mastery of military strategy, the results of which are reflected in the field by a professional, disciplined and hardened Army, which is the pride of our country both inside and outside the national triangle. This high decision of the Head of State is also reflected in the perfect collaboration that exists between His Excellency the Minister of Defense and you his Secretaries of State. As a great visionary, the Head of State was not mistaken: you are the right High State Commissioners, in the right place.

Today, thanks to His Excellency BETI ASSOMO, to you and to our Defense Forces, our country has reached a security threshold that allows the President of the Republic to pursue his policy of peace and "Great Opportunities" to which he has committed the entire country during this seven-year term. The veterans are pleased with this.

Finally, the 29th Elective General Assembly of the World Veterans Federation, a forum of the Combatant World, brought together nearly three hundred participants in Paris in February 2019. Cameroon was represented there by the Director General of ONACAM, your dedicated collaborator, assisted by Miss NDJENG Paule Marlyse, bilingual secretary-translator in service at ONACAM.

During the elections that were organized for the occasion, Miss NDJENG was elected Deputy Member of the Financial Control Commission. As for Colonel Alfred FULLER, he was unanimously re-elected President of the Permanent Commission for African Affairs (CPAA), Vice-President of the World Veterans Federation and Member of the World Executive Board. Moreover, during the closing dinner, this Cameroonian officer was honored with the « Veteran's Medal of Honour » for his contributions to the development and influence of this organisation of the Fighting World, thus putting Cameroon in the spotlight.

In his word of thanks, Colonel FULLER dedicated this honorary distinction to His Excellency PAUL BIYA, President of the Republic, First Veteran of Cameroon and to the Veterans and War Victims of Cameroon. This, Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the harvest that we have brought back from the 29th General Assembly of the WVF and that I have the pleasure to present to you here.

Excellency, honored guests,

I have not come to make you listen to a speech but rather a general account of the main lines of our activity since the last cohesion meal, a real introduction before we share the menu that has been concocted for the occasion thanks to the gratitude of our hierarchy to which the veterans, through my humble self, address their sincere thanks.

I would like to thank you for your patience and especially for your presence at our side. I wish you pleasant and memorable moments among us. I thank you for your kind attention.