2024-06-13 19:32:56
On this eve of Tabaski, President Paul Biya is making a powerful gesture in the direction of the Muslim neighborhood of Cameroon. In a shock decree printed this Thursday, June 13, the Head of State declared Monday, June 17, 2024 a public vacation all through the nationwide territory. A choice which goals to permit the devoted to peacefully have fun the “feast of sacrifice”, some of the vital within the Islamic calendar.
A gesture of openness in a context of excessive value of residing
This announcement is available in a context marked by the surge in costs of primary foodstuffs, which raises fears of a bitter-tasting Tabaski for a lot of households. However the authorities wished to reassure the inhabitants, specifically on the value of beef, a vital a part of the celebrations.
Assembly in the present day on the Nlongkak sub-prefecture in Yaoundé, the Livestock Market Administration Committee took a powerful decision: to maintain the costs practiced final 12 months unchanged, i.e. 2500 FCFA per kilo with bones and 3000 FCFA with out bones. “Our precedence is to struggle in opposition to the excessive value of residing and to permit everybody to have fun Tabaski with dignity.“, insisted Harouna Nyandji Mgbatou, the sub-prefect of the Yaoundé 1st district who chaired the work.
Tabaski, image of Cameroonian residing collectively
Past the financial facet, Paul Biya’s determination has vital symbolic and political significance. In a rustic the place almost 30% of the inhabitants is Muslim in accordance with official figures, making Tabaski Monday a public vacation is a powerful signal of openness and recognition in the direction of this neighborhood.
A gesture all of the extra notable because it is available in a tense safety context, marked by the persistent risk of Islamist terrorism within the Far North area. By granting this public vacation, Paul Biya sends a transparent message: Cameroon stays a mannequin of peaceable cohabitation between religions, a land of tolerance the place everybody can stay and apply their religion in full peace.
A welcome respite from a nerve-racking every day life
For the Muslim devoted, this public vacation is welcomed as a breath of recent air in an more and more troublesome every day life. “ It is a reduction to have the ability to have fun Tabaski with out having to fret about work or lessons“, confides Fadimatou, scholar and mom, contacted by 237online.com. “ With the excessive value of residing, each expense is a headache. So this public vacation is an actual reward that may permit us to get collectively as a household.”
Past its spiritual facet, Tabaski is actually a second of sharing and conviviality, the place households come collectively round a hearty meal. A festive and heat interlude that Cameroonians, all faiths mixed, really want in these troubled occasions.
Whereas the nation goes by means of a troublesome interval, between financial disaster and safety threats, this gesture by the Head of State in favor of Tabaski seems as a message of hope and unity. A method of reminding us that regardless of the difficulties, Cameroon stays standing, robust in its variety and its values of tolerance. Trying ahead to Monday!