On Monday February 22, 2023, I went to a police station to renew my ID card which had been outdated since October 2022. When I arrived at 10am sharp, I noticed a crowd of people waiting with files in hand. Some were there for the same reasons as me, ie to renew their identity card, while others were present to have their identity card issued for the first time.
There were many people seated on benches arranged in order. I was surprised to find that what was going on there five years ago when I first got my ID issued hadn’t changed an inch.
My first time when making my ID card
In 2018 I went to the police station for the first time to have my identity card issued for the first time. And I made an interesting point. In fact, when you go to the police station to have an identity card drawn up and you wish to be served quicklyyou must know someone there or know someone who knows someone else working on the premises.
In short, it doesn’t matter if you arrive at the police station at 5 am. The person most likely to be served first is the one with a local contact within the police station.
And it was the same scene that repeated itself.
My second time when renewing my ID card
On Monday, February 22, I went to the police station to have my identity card renewed. And although I arrived at 10 a.m., there were people who had come from 6 a.m. and were waiting to be received. Unfortunately, we didn’t know anyone there. New people arrived and their files were processed immediately. Sometimes these people were just making a phone call. Then a policeman appears. They talk a little, then take his file to take him immediately to the room where the cards were drawn up. They didn’t even bother to hide their improper practice. And us, who are we then? Person ? Almost all of the police station staff engaged in this unfair practice. I was there, sitting and observing everything. This is how I waited, patient again and again.
Everything seemed normal to them. They weren’t even embarrassed and looked through us as if we were transparent. Nobody dared to ask, for fear of being yelled at or, in the worst case, of not being received at all.
We sat there watching people being greeted while we were ignored. It was painful and I wanted to cry. My heart was beating faster and my breathing was getting heavier. I said to myself in my head: who am I to intervene? I admit that the urge took me to shout, to shout so loudly that they would finally hear me. But I was afraid of reprisals if I ever decided to lose my temper.
To obtain a simple identity card, it is necessary to have a contact who can help us. I was ashamed in their place. Those who don’t even try to hide their actions. They do it openly. It is as if they were saying to themselves: “You are at home here. If you are not convinced, the door is right behind you”. Or maybe they also say to themselves: “I am a policeman. It’s your word against mine. Who are you to press charges against a law enforcement officer?
It’s amazing how nothing has changed in five years. Despite all the talk about improving public services, nothing seems to have been done to solve this kind of problem. I imagine that thousands of people in the same situation as me suffer the same fate every day. And the worst thing is that we feel powerless in the face of this injustice. We are supposed to be citizens, but we feel treated like nobodies.
It was break time. The resumption was therefore for 2:30 p.m. We had not moved an inch, still being there, waiting for a policeman to take pity on us when we were not even considered. I experienced this same scene 5 years ago, when I was having my identity card issued for the first time. I went at 6am and didn’t leave until 6pm. The demand is strong. Of course, but that does not prevent the order from being respected. Serve everyone according to the time of arrival.
And note that I withdrew my card only after three weeks. And that’s how it usually goes. Getting an ID usually takes two to three weeks from the day of filing and taking photos.
And for everyone, it was not normal. But no one dared raise their voice. They will say in their defense that they only receive the elderly, pregnant women, women carrying their babies, people with disabilities… But this is false.
I will make a brief list of those they receive in priority, in addition to the list of people mentioned above. In short, they receive their friends and friends, as well as the friends of their friends. All it took was for someone to call and report that he had a friend of his there. Immediately, we receive it.
We had to do something. And that’s when I decided to take matters into my own hands. In the meantime, a policeman came out of the room and tried to put things in order by arranging people in the order of arrival. But as soon as he entered the room because he was one of the people taking the pictures, their shenanigans started up again.
I approached him during the break trying to explain our situation to him. I said, “Good evening, sir. I saw that you went out in the meantime to put things in order. But as soon as you left, the mess resumed. »
He cut me off and asked, “Now what is your concern? »
I resumed by saying: “Sir, we receive people by acquaintance, and despite the fact that we’ve been here for 6 hours, they don’t even look at us. »
He cut me off again and asked me, looking me straight in the eye and trying to intimidate me:
“Now, what is your concern? What do you want?
The few policemen around us listened and smiled. I felt great shame.
That’s when I replied, “Do something for us too?” »
He just said to me: “I understood” while turning his gaze. He slipped away.
I went back to my seat and took out my pen. This is how I wrote down what I had just experienced. I wanted to cry.
What could I do? It was me against this unjust world, full of despotism. The question of order, merit, justice clearly did not belong to the qualities of representatives of law enforcement, as is often said. They are nothing but the great orchestrators of disorder. Who am I going to talk to about this injustice? The only person who seemed confident to me disappointed me. He turned against me.
Who could have protested? Person. No one would want to be the target of a group of police officers so united in their non-compliant acts.
Luckily I have my blog. At least here I can express myself, try to tell someone with a good heart who will read my post, to change things if they have the power, wherever they are. Make them aware of what I have experienced and tell them to share it around them. On my own, I won’t be able to, and there are people who won’t believe me.
It is unfair. The way they acted. And the worst is an injustice to which the so-called representatives of order indulge. Seeing law enforcement officials engage in such practices was a blow to me. And I understood that the habit is very far from making the monk. I wondered: If this is so just to get an ID card issued: What about other services? To have one’s nationality established, to look for a job… What would it be? I wonder…
Serge Frogtéba BAMA