Dr Peter Mbile
By Dr. Peter Mbile
There’s a saying I once heard at the taxi park: “Quand on veut noyer son chien, on dit qu’il a la rage.” These days in Cameroon, it seems that whenever someone dares speak out — especially if it rattles a few sacred cows — the quickest way to shut them up is by calling it “discours de haine”.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Nobody, certainly not I, supports tribalism, xenophobia, or incitement to violence. But as the alarms around hate speech grow louder, and declarations against it multiply across media platforms, one starts to wonder: are we confronting real hatred… or simply silencing uncomfortable truths?
Let’s take a step back.
Hate Speech? Yes. But Hate? Where?
Cameroon is not a perfect society, but it is a remarkably resilient one. We intermarry, we trade across tribal lines, we buy land from each other, we share taxis, and we even argue about football in three languages. This is not Rwanda 1994, nor Yugoslavia 1992.
Yet, the current narrative would have you believe the country is teetering on the edge of ethnic collapse — and that we must now regulate every word for fear of igniting the next national crisis.
But here’s the problem: hate speech implies hate. And one must ask, where is the hate?
Because if living, working, loving, and building communities together isn’t evidence of tolerance, then what is?
The Curious Case of Mbella Moki and Elimbi Lobe
Now enter the case of Senator Mbella Moki and Mr. Elimbi Lobe — two men from coastal communities (Bakweri and Douala respectively) who’ve found themselves in the crosshairs of the hate speech police.
Let’s pause here.
These are not obscure fringe agitators. These are men from communities that have historically welcomed migrants from all over Cameroon. In fact, if land disputes were an Olympic sport, coastal communities might take the gold — not for hostility, but for how much land they’ve had to negotiate, share, and often lose.
So it does seem… curious… that they are now accused of intolerance. Could it be that what’s being labeled as hate speech is, in fact, an expression of communal fatigue? A way of saying: “We’re being squeezed out of our ancestral space, and we’d like to talk about it without being branded tribalists.”
The Double Standard of Vague vs. Specific
It’s interesting how vague statements pass, but specific ones cause panic.
Say “people are corrupt” — fine. Say “this group dominates this space” — suddenly, you’re on the blacklist.
But here’s the question: Isn’t politics about speaking to real grievances? When a community leader raises a concern that reflects the silent discomfort of thousands, is it not more useful to examine the substance of the message, rather than attack the messenger?
Senator Mbella Moki has, in fact, often been praised as a rassembleur — a rare middle-ground voice in a region torn by separatist tension. If his decades of work can be erased by one controversial sound bite, what does that say about our national maturity?
Speech, Defense or Strategy?
To men like Elimbi Lobe, speaking out is self-defense. To their critics, it is hate speech. The truth probably lies in the nuance — a place where most debates in Cameroon fear to go.
Let’s be honest: speech in Cameroon is never neutral. It’s tied to agendas, power plays, electoral tactics, and yes — the delicate question of who controls what and where. So it’s no surprise that as some voices rise, others rush to silence them — not necessarily out of concern for cohesion, but often out of political convenience.
Because let’s be real: “hate speech” is now also a tool of political arbitration. And like most things in Cameroon, every drama has its winners and losers.
So What Do We Really Need?
We need to guard against real hate, of course. But we also need to preserve the right to discomfort. To discuss power, space, land, identity — even if it ruffles feathers. Silencing legitimate worries in the name of unity is not peacekeeping; it’s pressure-cooking.
Cameroon must avoid the temptation to confuse dissent with danger, and debate with division. The goal isn’t to sanitize speech until nothing meaningful is said, but to encourage responsible expression grounded in truth — however uncomfortable.
Final Word
Yes, the line between concern and contempt must be watched carefully. But we cannot allow that line to become a political border wall, used to silence critics and protect hegemonies.
In Cameroon, where coexistence is more real than rhetoric, we must resist the urge to over-legislate emotion. Instead, let’s engage one another boldly, truthfully — and maybe with just a little more grace.
Because sometimes, what sounds like “hate” may just be a community asking not to be forgotten.
Dr. Peter Mbile is a development strategist, environmentalist, and commentator on governance and social policy. He believes that nations are built not only on harmony — but also on the courage to confront discomfort.
