Maintaining the legitimacy, respectability, prestige and esteem of the Cameroon Defence Forces at a high level among our people.
This challenge alone, which is related to the image of the Cameroonian Army, is sufficient justification for the relentless campaign to combat all kinds of criminal acts that the soldiers of the Cameroon Armed Forces might commit. The series of measures implemented to this end includes both the normalisation of actions and behaviour and the repression of any misconduct.
Even before learning the rudiments of tactics, each soldier is imbued with the provisions of the General Discipline Regulation, which governs his life and professional activity, from dress code to conduct during operations, including the habits and customs of urban life.
By way of illustration, our famous Rules of General Discipline provide for and punish, among other things, acts against honour, military duty and probity. Looting and attempting to monopolise other people’s possessions are high on the list. The Rules of General Discipline also provide for and punish acts against the duties of behaviour, conduct, morality and honour.
Beyond the disciplinary sanction, and sometimes in addition to it, the offending service member finds him or herself in conflict with the provisions of the second level of protection against deviance. This is the Code of Military Justice, which, as its name suggests, makes soldiers criminally liable, although they are also subject to ordinary courts. This is the price to be paid for the status of citizen-soldier.
These standard measures for the operation of the military institution are in addition to other preventive measures aimed at preventing the infiltration of unhealthy morals into our army. These include the absence of convictions in the criminal record, investigations into the moral character of applicants for service under the flag, and the authenticity of diplomas and certificates submitted with applications.
This last requirement has always acted as the last straw, dashing the hopes of impunity for candidates who have committed various fraudulent acts. Hence the increasingly regular dismissals of recruits at all levels caught by the “anti-fake diploma patrol”. Because of the courage it requires, the rooting out of the black sheep continues to surprise and astonish the public, which nevertheless praises the usefulness of these public acts aimed at cleaning up mentalities.
As a matter of fact, the Army cannot reasonably be accused of a desire to ostracise simply because it is getting rid of elements of undeniably dubious morality. To do otherwise would be to pave the way for future acts of compromise, collusion, prevarication and procrastination. Just imagine the disasters that could be wrought by gangs of swindlers, fraudsters and criminals clothed in the most conspicuous attributes of State power.
Clearly, for the safety of us all, there can be no question of allowing the danger of counterfeiting to creep into our ranks. The Cameroonian Army, as a social institution destined to perform the most honourable part of public service, must be composed of men and women who exemplify patriotism, loyalty, fidelity, selflessness and devotion, humanism and, above all, honesty.
These are the moral values that give legitimacy and authority to the motto “Honour and Loyalty”.
