Douala : Inhabitants Glued to TV Sets

Inhabitants of the city of Douala are following deliberations at the ongoing Major National Dialogue with keen interest as hopes are high that the dialogue will eventuality lead to the restoration of peace in the trouble-stricken North West and South West Regions. During the opening ceremony on Monday, traffic was scanty and activities in a low gear as people were glued in front of their television sets to follow the unfoldment of the meeting. People in beer parlours and others abandoned their offices and market places just to watch the dialogue. What captured interest most was the improvised speech made by the representative of ex-combatants and the opening speech by the Prime Minister,  Head of Government.
The next day the subject was the topic of discussion on every lip with people expressing approval or disapproval over certain proposals already made, notably that of the Sultan of the Bamoun, Mbombo Njoya calling for a return to the five-year term of office for the President of the Republic, renewable once and also the proposal from the SDF calling for a two-state federation. While some people think the proposals are outside the scope of the dialogue as they imply constitutional changes, others think everything should be thrown on the table and that there should be no limitations to the scope of the discussion. Both parties however commend frankness of the participants especially that of the representative of ex-combatants who spoke with an open heart, thereby setting the tone for discussions.
While a shade of opinion in the economic capital hold that the no credence can be given to the talks given the fact that most of the separatists leaders are absent, another shade of opinion hold...