The Unavoidable Sledgehammer

The euphoria that gripped Yaounde following the loosening of response measures earlier taken by government in a bid to attenuate the socio-economic consequences of the Coronavirus  was already breaking the scale when Jean Claude Tsila, the no nonsense Senior Divisional Officer of Mfoundi hit hard on the table on 12th  May. Anyone who has been observing the new behavioral pattern developed by the inhabitants of Mfoundi will surely have no quarrel with the SDO’s decision. What other solution could have been expected from him in the face of an upsurge of the dangerous feeling within a greater number of people that the virus is gone than taking up the sledgehammer? Memories are still fresh on how some inhabitants greeted with pomp the announcement that drinking spots will henceforth operate beyond 6pm. In fact, on that fateful day, all roads led to bars and night clubs where people drank to stupor greeting and even embracing each other. Some even went as far as openly saying; Covid-19 is gone let us celebrate.
The story is told of people who, on hearing the announcement relaxing the 19-point measures, immediately abandoned their protective face masks to the dogs. Taxi cab drivers, motorbike riders and other public transport vehicles resumed with their usual practice of overloading with no one obliging passengers to wear their protective face masks. In Yaounde, only about two out of ten people in public places could be seen wearing face masks. The result has been catastrophic with the number of cases testing positive increasing at almost geometric rate. In fact, the obnoxious behavioral weevil was already eating too deep into the fabric of society begging for a timely insecticide. The decision to reinforce control is to say the least; the best an administrator could take. The issue now is how it will happen especially. From every indication, Tsila is aware of the challenge as...