Act Before It's Too Late:An Appeal To CPDM Parliamentarians

Dear Representatives:

It is not only dangerous but also criminal for the Head of State to play games with the Constitution. Attempting to amend Article 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cameroon, which limits presidential tenure to two terms, is, undoubtedly, one of those crimes for which our country shall pay an onerous price in the future.

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Our appeal for restraint derives not only from the articles written by our compatriots in the wake of a bloodbath that gave legal status to our country's legal institutions in 1990; but more importantly from the protection that the Constitution and its clauses guarantee every Cameroonian against acts of barbarity.

It is for the sake of social stability founded on the sacred principle of respect for legislative texts that we appeal to your conscience! The President has availed himself of the de facto majority accorded him in the National Assembly by you, CPDM Parliamentarians, to trample on the Constitution of this land.

Worse still, he has had recourse to armed elements of the police force to silence those dissenting voices that have dared to openly object to his scheme. Quite apart from his claim that "all the provinces are in support of a constitutional amendment", we are aware of the fact that he has simply taken advantage of fear of the unknown that his administration has instilled in you in order to give the impression that he is the sole dependable alternative for our country in 2001.

For once, show some courage; steer clear of infamy! Our future is priceless; do not gamble with it! Most importantly, do not play with fire! Amending Article 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cameroon would weaken the institutions that protect Cameroonian citizens against acts of barbaric abuse.

For too long, we have lived as if we do not see the mishaps that have befallen our neighbours. Suffice it to say that recent incidents in Ivory Coast, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Somalia, not forgetting Chad testify to the fact that a single foul play with the Constitution could plunge the entire nation into insurmountable chaos.

The civil strife that these countries have experienced lends ample credibility to our conviction that Cameroon's social stability is fragile, very fragile indeed. Cameroonians are peace-lovers; do not compromise it! Otherwise, you shall be judged in front of the tribunal of History.

Signed

Patrice Nganang, Writer
Jean-Marie Watonsi, Journalist
Eugène Ebodé, Writer

Jean-Marie Teno, Film maker
Célestin Aggée Lomo Myazhiom, Writer/Publisher
Muepu Muamba, Writer

André Djiffack, Critic
Dina Kolyang Taiwé, Writer
Joseph Fumtim, Writer/Publisher

Ntone Edjabe, Writer
Léonora Miano, Writer
Cilas Kemedjio, Critic

Peter W. Vakunta, Writer;
Boris Boubacar Diop, Writer;
Makhily Gassama, Writer;

Jean-Luc Raharimanana, Writer;
Alain Dichant, Publisher

Comments

[Lebialem]

An excellent academic weapon

[ASONG]

Mr Biya beware,your days are almost over so dont mess this up for yourself. Better walk away in peace than in pieces!! You have a seat prepared for you in HELL!!

[simplice]

No Report has been made about the reactions of Cameroonians in the Diaspora. Are they indifferent to this harangue?. Or are they watching to sell after the market as history has proven hitherto. Could the post give us a caption of what the reaction of our compatriots in the Diaspora was like?.

[DaDiceman]

PROLETARIAN SOLIDARITY AGAINST THE REPRESSION IN CAMEROON!
by Cint
Saturday Mar 1st, 2008 10:45 AM
After last week in Burkina Faso, it is Cameroon this week that has witnessed demonstrations and strikes against inflation and the high cost of living; and the bestial repression of these movements of protest.

douala_manifestant.jpg

Since its independence in 1960, this old colony is a country of strategic importance for French imperialism, “one of the pillars of the Franc zone” along with Ivory Coast. France is always the leading foreign investor there, with several hundred companies in all branches of industry, employing several tens of thousands of people; major French groups are present in food processing, construction, the banking industry, oil etc. The privatizations imposed by international financial organizations have largely benefited the tricolour companies.

The “aid” of France in Cameroon is important; it comprises various facets designed to facilitate the smooth running of capitalist companies, including a military component, with the signature of military agreements (partly secret, as usual!) at the time of independence in 1960 and in 1974. It is under the terms of these military agreements that France foiled an attempted coup d'etat in April 1984; the Biya government appealed to France more recently, in 2005, when it felt threatened by the military. An important part of French military cooperation is the training given to the forces of the Cameroonian gendarmerie for the “maintenance of law and order”. The Cameroonian gendarmes showed that they were good pupils through the bloody repression of demonstrations on several occasions: repression of student strikes (2 dead at the end of 2006), peaceful demonstrators (2 dead this autumn at the time of the repression of a peaceful demonstration against the lack of electricity in Abong Mbang), and of demonstrations of motorbike-taxis protesting against extortion by the police, etc.

The increasing impoverishment of the workers and the broad masses of the population has made the situation in the country explosive, while in the meantime price increases accelerate. The generalized discontent with the present government moreover crystallized against the decision of Paul Biya to change the constitution in order to stand again. At the time of the latest elections this summer, hardly more half of registered voters (who represent only a fraction of the electorate: 5 million out of a population of close to triple that) had considered it useful to take part in the masquerade following which the authorities had announced the unavoidable victory of the party already in power. International observers had severely criticized this farce which was ratified unconditionally by the new French government, concerned above all for the “stability” of its networks of imperialist domination. When he arrived on an official visit last October to Paris, Biya could declare, in connection with the policy of France in Africa, that it was characterized by a “fundamental continuity”: a continuity of imperialist plundering and support for local capitalists against their proletarians and the disinherited masses which are left abandoned.

On Saturday, February 23, the prohibition of a meeting of the opposition in Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon, was followed by bloody repression and confrontations. A private TV channel that had the misfortune to broadcast a report on this subject was immediately banned by the authorities. At the beginning of week the transportation unions (taxis, motorbike-taxis, primarily) called for the strike to protest against the rise in the price of fuel. Very quickly and spontaneously, apart from any instruction from the trade unions or political parties, the strike overflowed from the owner/operators of taxis to be followed by a large part of the poor population.

With several thousand people against the high cost of living, the demonstrators and strikers establish barricades with their slogans "We are hungry!”, “Lower the price of staple foods”, “No to high cost of living and the reducing to beggary of Cameroonians!”, as well as antigovernment slogans: “Biya must leave!” “Popaul you will be hung along with your constitution”, etc. The forces of capitalist disorder responded by shooting at the demonstrators. The port of Douala, which is the economic heart not only of Cameroon, but also of all the countries of the sub-region, was paralysed.

During the riots, shopping centres were attacked and plundered, various public buildings attacked (the Taxation Center and the sub-prefecture of Douala V were burnt), enterprises belonging to the Biya family, symbols of French presence, etc.

On Wednesday, the demonstrations and riots then extended to the capital Yaoundé where police fired live bullets on the demonstrators who were protesting peacefully against repression while a helicopter undoubtedly piloted by a military co-operator flew over the crowd; as a measure of intimidation the gendarmes attacked the university residence; in Bafoussam, the third city of Cameroon, it was announced that a demonstrator had been killed by the police, and demonstrations also took place in other localities.
Faced with this situation which had developed completely beyond their control; the transportation unions called on this same day, at the end of flash discussions with the government, for a cessation of the strike (without regard for the victims of repression or for those imprisoned): “we want to give the government time to achieve its economic program by next June” explained the representative of the CGST...

However, on Thursday morning the more-or-less general strike continued. It should be said that the government regally agreed to lower the price of gasoline, motor oil, and kerosene by... 1%! The government mobilized the army to patrol in the capital, while in a declaration the president stated that "force would remain with the law" and that the strike "had been instrumentalized for political purposes" by politicians opposed to the "normal operation of democratic institutions"; the normal operation of democratic institutions means for the bourgeoisie that the workers must agree to be exploited, to be condemned to misery without revolting, by accepting the gerrymander of the electoral farce.

To date the number of victims in Douala and Yaoundé has probably reached several dozen and the number of those arrested at several hundred.

“We have a privileged caste that lives to the detriment of the majority which suffers” declared a demonstrator. This caste of privileged people, this is a social class: the bourgeois class; that vampire class, which as everywhere grows rich from the sweat and blood of the workers. The solution is not the departure of Biya and his replacement by one of the parties of the bourgeois opposition (all completely absent from the struggles in progress), but the class struggle against this class and the system of which it is the incarnation: Cameroonian capitalism supported by international imperialism, and French imperialism in the first place.

In their vital struggle against misery, oppression and capitalist exploitation, and in the face of the bloody repression of a regime propped up by the French State, the Cameroonian proletarians and masses have a pressing need for the solidarity of the proletarians from here; class solidarity with the proletarians of the countries under the domination of French imperialism which must culminate in the resumption of the revolutionary class struggle against capitalism.

Solidarity with the proletarians and the masses of Cameroon in struggle!
No support for the murderous regime of Biya!
No to all “military cooperation” with him!
Imperialism out of Africa!
Long live the international proletarian struggle!

International Communist Party, 28/02/2008
Correspondence: Ed. Programme, 3 rue Basse Combalot 69007 Lyon, France.

[Mburlih]

These parliamentarians should made to take oaths in their palaces, njangi houses ,or whatever association they belong to, before leaving for the next session of the House. The oath simply states that they will not vote for an amendment of article 6.2 of the constitution in the sense of providing for unlimited mandates.
Failure to respect the oath they should acquire land in Mvomeka and reside there with their life president.
All fons/chiefs/lamidos/presidents of njangi groups that host MPs should take this seriously.

[elison1988]

I have been reading the comments here and I am greatly suprised at how anglophones wanna divide themkselves from Francophonjes. First of all, I am an anglophine and it will be the most stupid thing to wanna try to divide ourselves. What we need at this stage is for us to be TOGETHER and fight to remove Paul Biya from power. I never knew that my people were STUPID. Yes the francophone government has ignored us but it is our duty to be together to join ourselves and help product our country. When you do things like seperation, you enforce violence just like in Congo.This diminishes our little infastructure. If Cameroon is divided, I will prefer to be Un-cameroonian than to be included with a bunch of fools who think as some of you are thinking. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE NEED IN CAMEROON IS DEVELOPMENT AND NOT NARROW MINDED SEPERATION. WE NEED TO CONSTRUCT OUR CITIES AND ROADS. WE NEED TO INVEST IN BUSINESSES SO AS TO REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT. THOSE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS FOR CAMEROON. WE DON'T NEED SEPEARATION. YOU GUYS SHOULD STOP THINKING NARROWLY AND TRY TO THINK WITH SOME COMMON SENSE

[simplice]

Mr Elison, I must remind you, that your "copier-collier" comment doesn't tie with the issue at hand. As I had occaision earlier to precise: it will be maddening to good sense if you advocate your trait of profound understanding our political landscape without defending the right for Southern Cameroon advocates to freely err their views herein.

[daddy]

I'm baffled by the comments of some of my fellow countrymen on this forum. I appeal for some maturity in our analysis of the present situation in Cameroon. What can we do to avert the eminent constitutional reform? This should be our priority at this point in time. Let us steer clear of this SCNC issue. It is getting us nowhere!

[Shalom]

I am just recovering from the shock I endured from seeing how brutal and senseless human beings can become. I am even more appalled by the aftermath of it all. How many people are being victimized just because they are of X or Y belonging. This was a nation-wide problem and no one living in Cameroon can justifiably claim that the underlying cause did not affect him. So how comes some people are being picked up and particular groups targeted. The announced disappearances of prominent voices of the people is a cause for concern. And even more, the Yaounde declaration is a clear sign that ethnic cleansing is being prepared and I warn all Southern Cameroonians to be doubly vigilant.

That said, Mr. Wilson, I challenge you to prove that you are an "Anglophine" as you put it. There is no true Southern Cameroonian whether Anglophone or whatever other "phone" who will not feel cheated or unjustly oppressed under the present disposition. If you feel comfortable and will prefer to be a UN-Cameroonian whatever that stands for, I understand that you have never known Southern Cameroonian culture, believes and values. Nationalism is born from a perceived threat to any or all of these three leading to loss of one's pride. If you do not perceive a threat to one or all of these, I presume you have never experienced any and therefore you have no claim. Stay quiet and allow those who wear the shoes to tell you how it pinches..

[NFU]

You will be happy to know that the Economist has provided some coverage of Cameroon's situation.... text of article copied below:

Another president who won't go
Feb 28th 2008 | DOUALA
From The Economist print edition

Many Cameroonians are angry because their president refuses to retire
THE MAN who has presided over Cameroon for 25 years touts a simple slogan: “Paul Biya for peace”. But it no longer rings true. On February 24th and 25th, in Douala, Cameroon's commercial capital on the Atlantic coast, protesters lit fires on the streets, shooting broke out, and looters ran amok. Taxi drivers went on strike and many other people stopped work too. Shops and petrol stations were ransacked, cars burnt. Black clouds of smoke and the noise of gunfire enveloped the residential area along the main road out of Douala towards the capital, Yaoundé, where police later tear-gassed stone-throwing youths who had set up burning barricades.

The reason for the mayhem was the president's heavy hint, in an end-of-the-year address, that he might stay on for a third term of another seven years; the present constitution, which came into force in 1996, allows for only two terms. Since then, many Cameroonians, usually a quiet lot, have taken to the streets. Mr Biya has yet to make a clear bid to change the constitution but the issue has been widely aired in the newspapers, on television, and on street corners.

Mr Biya has reacted angrily. Several people who organised demonstrations against him have been arrested. Douala's governor has banned any more rallies. Earlier, the minister of communications closed one of the country's most popular private television stations for running too many programmes candidly discussing the prospect of a third term for Mr Biya. A musical artist, known as Joe La Conscience, was prevented from walking the 320 kilometres (200 miles) to Yaoundé from the town of Loum, north of Dowala, singing songs against the proposed constitutional change.

Many strikers say they are merely protesting against the high cost of fuel. But the problem runs a lot deeper. Mr Biya's bid for another term has unleashed a rare outbreak of public discussion and dissent at a time when the country has fallen heavily into debt. Transparency International, a Berlin-based lobby that measures corruption, says it has become “endemic” in Cameroon. Elections in the last few years have been so patently rigged that few voters bother to turn up.

Still, the opposition is weak, though Mr Biya excoriated “the apprentice sorcerers in the shadows”. More than 200 parties have sprung up since multi-party politics was allowed in 1990. Garga Haman Adji, a former minister in Mr Biya's government who is now in opposition, says that many opposition parties have been infiltrated and bought out by Mr Biya's party. In any event, the 75-year-old president has been badly rattled.

[one cameroon]

i am tired of these scnc activists insulting others in this forum just because that person doesn't share their view point.The problem in cameroon is a national problem and not just a regional thing courtesy of what is happening in the country.It wasn't only in the southern regions that loss of lives were counted.Or is it that the westerners are also discriminating against themselves.The earlier we realise our problem and act in unity to resolve it the better for us.I don't know if this"scnc" course existed before "king" biya took power. I just think because our country is in problem the scncists now want to secede. When things were moving well, universities students were receiving compensation cameroon was one.Are we only cameroonians when the going is nice? Please think fast before those power hunger individuals mislead you.Cameroo is one and when it shall succeed.
And behave of Elison's comment, i can say that maybe he is french speaking and loves english he might have made some few mistakes but am sure everyone got his message of a united Cameroon. LONG LIVE CAMEROO(U)N!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!