By Dr. Peter Wuteh Vakunta
If you are like this fine etymologist, this refined linguist, this perspicacious wordsmith in quest of a germane epithet to describe the atmosphere in Cameroon in the wake of the Supreme Court's proclamation of Paul Biya as re-elected president for another septennat(seven-year term), look no further. The word is dysphoria. This really is quite a word. Take a look at the definition of this loaded word contained in The American Heritage Dictionary (2000:559). It is a masterpiece: “An emotional state characterized by anxiety, depression or unease; a state of mental discomfort hard to bear”.
Indeed, hard to bear. Cameroonians had seen it coming: the farcical gimmicks of ELECAM at home and in the Diaspora, the buffoonery of idiotic opposition party leaders, the deployment of thousands of soldiers and gendarmes to all the nooks and crannies of towns and cities around the country, the millions of CFA francs doled out by Paul Biya in the form of veiled bribery to starving, self-seeking opposition leaders, some serving as moles of the ruling CPDM party. As Pigeaud would have it, “beaucoup de partis se réclamant de l’opposition sont …dirigés par des individus ne représentant qu’eux-mêmes et dont le seul objectif est de se voir “nommer” à un poste par le pouvoir”(77). [Several political parties claiming to be in the opposition are created by individuals representing only themselves, and driven by the hope of being appointed to positions in the government by the powers-that-be].These were all ill-omens, signs of bad times ahead. And so here we are today faced with the harsh reality of yet another stolen victory!
Cameroonians of all breeds and creeds are slowly but surely crawling out of their stupor, finding it hard to believe that for seven more years they will be saddled with a loathsome albatross—Mr. Paul Biya, a white-collar thief blinded by a false sense of grandeur. Here we are once again trapped in the fiendish lair of a Beti-led oligarchy in Yaoundé hell bent on fleecing our rich country dry. Here we are gain eternally mired in the squander mania characteristic of chopbroke-potters[i]. Here we are today stuck with a ‘president’ who spends three quarters of his time gallivanting in foreign lands in pursuit of nothing.
The 're-elected' President of Cameroon is an outlaw who should be made to spend the rest of his life at Kondengui[ii], because as Seme Ndzana would have it, “Paul Biya a commis le crime de haute trahison en trahissant son serment de 2004 où il avait juré de respecter la limitation constitutionnelle de son mandat en 2011 et de faire respecter cette constitution de 1996….”(2011)[iii] [Paul Biya has committed high treason by lying under oath in 2004 when he took the oath of office promising to uphold and respect the presidential term limits stipulated in the 1996 Constitution, and ensure that the constitution is respected.
In the same vein, French writer Pigeaud observes: “D’une manière générale, le pouvoir applique les lois de façon très aléatoire” (82). [In general, the government applies laws quite arbitrarily]. Paul Biya’s callous disregard for legality has emboldened him to the point where he is actually grooming his own son, Franck Biya, to replace him as Head of State if and when he makes up his mind to die. As Ndzana points out, “En méprisant le peuple camerounais …il est allé jusqu’à narguer à Douala en paradant son fils comme le dauphin...” (2011)[In stark contempt of the Cameroonian people…he showed off in Douala by hinting that his son could be his successor.][iv]
Oh yes, this is the extent to which our senile, dim-witted president has gone in his abrasive arrogance. After all, if Gabonese Omar Bongo could hand over the presidency to his son, Ali Bongo, on a silver platter, why would Paul Biya not do the same in Cameroon? If Gnassingbé Ayadema of Togo could pass the baton to his son, Faure Gnassingbé, what would prevent Biya from doing the same thing in Cameroon? See, dictators think alike, you know.
Bottom line: Cameroonians have come to a crossroads, a seemingly insurmountable bifurcation in the middle of nowhere. So what’s the way out? That is the question! Because sanity abhors incertitude, I take it upon myself to propose an exit route from the dreadful conundrum facing Cameroonians today. Stanley Arnold contends: “Every problem contains the seeds of its own solution” (quoted in Norman Vincent Peale, 1989). Cognizant of the fact that Cameroon is indeed two nations in one (La République du Cameroun and Southern Cameroons)[v], my approach to the country’s predicament will be two-pronged.
To Francophone Cameroonians, I propose recourse to a Third Force to oust Mr. Biya and his Beti-led oligarchy in Yaoundé. When a Head of State has failed woefully to meet the aspirations of the governed and the political opposition is weak, corrupt , liable to co-optation, and useless as is the case in Cameroon, the intervention of a Third Force becomes inevitable. As Achille Mbembe opines in his write-up titled "L'alternance politique au Cameroun ne passera par les élections"(2011), change of leadership will not happen in Cameroon through the ballot box. When the incumbent has abdicated his official duties without cause and transformed the supreme law of the land (Constitution) into worthless pieces of paper like Paul Biya has done repeatedly for 30 years in Cameroon, it becomes imperative for a Third Force to step in and correct the anomaly.
A Third Force is a neutral body with no ties to the president or opposition political parties. Generally, it is the military that steps in when politicians fail to get their acts together, but Cameroon presents a rather thorny problem: the military has been inveigled into the camp of the incumbent by means of extraordinary high salaries and perks. On this count, they have no compunction about rough-handling and killing ordinary citizens in the event of an uprising against Biya’s dysfunctional government. Writing on the same subject Pigeaud observes, “… le régime compte toujours sur les forces de sécurité pour compenser son manque de légimité et assurer son contrôle sur les camerounais”(83).[ … the regime relies on security forces at all times in order to make up for its lack of legitimacy and to maintain its stranglehold on the Cameroonian people.]
A Third Force could be a militia[vi] formed inside or outside the national territory, like Laurent Désiré Kabila did in Zaire to oust Dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. Ndzana probably had this in mind when he opined: “le vainqueur de l’élection présidentielle de ce 9 Octobre 2011, Paul Biya, n’aura aucune légitimité populaire. Il sera combattu et déposé par le peuple combattant du Cameroun” (2011) [vii][the winner of the October 9th 2011 presidential election, Paul Biya, shall lack legitimacy in the eyes of Cameroonians. He shall be combated and deposed by the combative people of Cameroon.]
These words are weighty. They make me take a walk down memory lane to recall the famous ghost-town operations that almost toppled Biya’s regime in the early 90’s. Cameroonians did it then, they can do it NOW. Cameroonians have got guts; they have got brains, their greatest assets. They must keep them under disciplined control as they plough their way out of Biya-imposed servitude. On this issue Hebert Boh has this to say: “When a people cannot change their government through the ballot box... when democracy fails... when everything else does not work... a people like the people of Cameroon have a right to try whatever else is left and recognized as an option when the possible proves impossible. For when democracy fails, as it has in Cameroon, nothing can be more silly than to continue to wait for God to send democracy in the form of manna”(2011).[viii]
Most importantly, Cameroonians must not give Paul Biya more credit than he truly deserves. Deep down, the man knows that he is a chicken-hearted coward and simpleton, like his fallen Libyan counterpart, Colonel Ghaddafi. A president who does not know the people he governs is an idiot (Not sure Biya can utter a single grammatically correct statement in English). A president who never holds cabinet meetings with his ministers and does not know them by name is a moron.A president who appoints dead people to occupy positions in his government is a dimwit. A president who has never made a single speech at an international conference is a numbskull. A president of a sovereign nation who describes himself as le meilleur élève of the president of another country is an imbecile.[ix] A president who is so paranoid that he wears bullet-proof jackets come rain come shine is an ignoramus. A president who builds hospitals in Baden-Baden while the people he governs lack basic medical care is a blockhead. A president who believes in his own immortality and occasionally stages his own demise just to test his unpopularity is a dullard. The forte of that fella is that he knows how to get some dumb asses to do his dirty job for him. Francophone Cameroonians, you have your job cut out for you!
To Anglophone Cameroonians, here is a panacea to get us out of this quagmire: quit the union! It is time to rethink the Third Option, the choice to secede from La République du Cameroun and form an independent Republic. Truth be told, our elders (Foncha, Endelely, Muna, Angwafor and more) never had the foresight to press hard for this option during the 1961 Infamous Plebiscite in Foumban (cf. Perceval, 2008).If they did we might not be in this unholy alliance with La République du Cameroun today. Our matrimony with the Frogs[x] is a mismatch of sorts. History has a lot do with this state of affairs. The ways we learned to ape the white man are different—assimilation for Francophone Cameroonians and association for Anglophone Cameroonians. Jean Germain Gros (995) observes: “ In addition to their language, the British left behind their traditions of Westminster-style bicameral parliamentarism, administrative decentralization, vibrant local government, and a relatively open society. By contrast, the more prosperous and populous East Cameroon has a classically “Gallic” orientation, with a strong executive, a centralized bureaucracy, and less tolerance for open debate and dissent(144).This dichotomy between the two imperial legacies makes or breaks the Cameroonian psyche, believe it or not.
The antagonism between Anglophone and Francophone Cameroonians has snowballed into what has now been code-named the Anglophone Problem. In fact, some perspicacious observers of the status quo in Cameroon have likened it to a marriage of convenience. Some have compared the uneasy co-existence between the two distinct linguistic communities to the attitude of two travelers who met by chance in a roadside shelter and are merely waiting for the rain to cease before they continue their separate journeys in different directions. The plain truth is that there is a palpable feeling of discontent and dissatisfaction amongst Anglophones in Cameroon. Some critical questions remain unanswered: Are Anglophone Cameroonians enjoying equal treatment with their Francophone counterparts in the workplace? Are Anglophone Cameroonians having their fair share of the national cake? Do they feel at home in Cameroon? These and many more unanswered questions constitute what has been labeled the Cameroon Anglophone Question.
The Anglophone Question manifests itself in the form of complaints from English-speaking Cameroonians about the absence of transparency and accountability in matters relating to appointments in the civil service, the military, the police force, the legislature, and the judiciary. In short, the Anglophone Problem raises questions about participation in decision-making as well as power-sharing in the country. The Anglophone Problem is the cry of an oppressed people, lamenting over the concentration of political power in the hands of a rapacious oligarchy in Yaoundé, where Anglophones with limited proficiency in the French language are subjected to all kinds of maltreatment by conceited Francophone bureaucrats who look down on English-speaking compatriots.
The Anglophone Question stems from the cocky attitude of French-speaking Cameroonians who claim that Anglophones are unpatriotic, and incompetent. This bigotry compounded by conceit has given rise to the offensive use of derogatory slurs such as” les Anglophones sont gauches”[xi][ii], “c’est des ennemis dans la maison”[xii][iii], “ce sont les biafrais[xiii][iv] and so on. The consequence of this anti-Anglophone sentiment is the birth of the misconception that Anglophone Cameroonians are unreliable and untrustworthy, and therefore, undeserving of positions of leadership. This explains why key ministerial positions in Cameroon are the exclusive preserve of French-speaking Cameroonians. Such ministries include: Defense, Finance & Economy, Territorial Administration and Decentralization, etc. The Prime Minister’s office that has now become the preserve of Anglophones is symbolic. The Cameroonian PM has no voice. He is powerless, a toothless bulldog as it were.
Anglophobia has led to the appointment of Francophones with no working knowledge of the English language to ambassadorial positions in strategic countries like the United States of America, Great Britain, Germany, Nigeria and South Africa where they wind up making a complete fool of themselves linguistically and culturally speaking. The presidency of the Republic and its ancillary organs are “no-go” zones for Anglophone Cameroonians. Although political appointments in our country ought to be done in conformity with the constitutional “regional balance paradigm”, it is common knowledge that disdain for English-speaking Cameroonians has made this law a dead letter.
In brief, Southern Cameroonians (Anglophones) have no place at all in République du Cameroun. They stand no chance whatsoever to cause a modicum of change in that country. Anglophones are mere appendages in a political oddity that only Francophone Cameroonians can comprehend. Striving to stay within that diabolical contraption called La République du Cameroun is tantamount to embarking on a false start. The time has come to secede without further ado. The longer we stay, the more excruciating our agony will be. There are countries in Africa with populations less three million people managing their human and natural capital prudently and living in opulence (Botswana, 1,691,362; Djibouti, 506,221; Swaziland, 1,081,132; Lesotho, 2,067,000; Cape Verde, 560,917; Seychelles, 81,895; Reunion, 173,822 and more). The current population of Southern Cameroons amounts to about 5.5 million. Think about it!
Fellow Anglophone Cameroonians, it is never too late to turn over a new page; we must stand up and fight for our freedom NOW. Some blood will be spilled but we will be free, free at last. The tree of liberty is watered with the blood of martyrs. When this option becomes our central focus, there is need to have a game plan, perspicacious leaders, and fine strategists. Southern Cameroonian schools have produced the crème de la crème of the country’s intelligentsia. We have the natural resources that could be properly harnessed to sustain us and future generations. We must believe in ourselves, in our innate ability to make things happen. As Norman Vincent Peale, says, “It is very important to believe that you can, with God’s help, meet and overcome all problems” (9).
About the author
Dr. Vakunta is Professor at the United States Department of Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. He is author of several publications including Ntarikon (2007), Cry my beloved Africa (2008) and more. He runs a blog at http://www.vakunta.blogspot.com
Works cited
Gros, Jean-Germain.”The Hard Lessons of Cameroon.” Journal of Democracy 6.3 (995):112-127.
Peale, Norman V. Six Attitudes for Winners. New York: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1989.
Perceval, John .The 1961 Cameroon Plebiscite: Choice or
Betrayal.Bamenda: Langaa Research and Publishing CIG, 2008.
Pigeaud, Fanny. Au Cameroun de Paul Biya. Paris: Editions Karthala,2011.
Notes
[i] spendthrift
[ii] Maximum security prison in Yaoundé.
[iii] “Le président issu de cette mascarade sera déposé.” Retrieved October 8, 2011 from http://africanindependent.com/news/?p=1879
[iv] Le président issu de cette mascarade sera déposé.” Retrieved October 8, 2011 from http://africanindependent.com/news/?p=1879
[v] For anyone not apprised of this fact, I strongly recommend a succinct reading of John Perceval’s book, titled The 1961 Cameroon Plebiscite: Choice or Betrayal. Bamenda: Langaa Research and Publishing CIG, 2008.
[vi] A private, non-government force, not necessarily directly supported or sanctioned by its government.
[vii] Le président issu de cette mascarade sera déposé.” Retrieved October 8, 2011 from http://africanindependent.com/news/?p=1879
[viii] Boh, Hebert. “When Democracy Fails, God Does Not Send Manna” Retrieved October 9, 2011 from [email protected].
[ix] During an interview he granted a French journalist at Radio Monte Carlo Mr. Paul Biya claimed sheepishly that he was the best pupil of French President Francois Mitterrand.
[x] Pejorative epithet for Francophones
[xi][ii] Anglophones are clumsy
[xii][iii] They are enemies in the house
[xiii][iv] They are Biafrans
Dr Vakunta, Thanks for this brilliant analysis of the problems of the Cameroons today and the way forward for Southern Cameroons, after the October 9 electoral charade.
Your paper brings into my mind a piece I wrote while in Buea, on the eve of the 21st century titled 'The Cry Of The Millennium'(1999)
published in The Post.
While my friends were actively preparing for the New Year of the new Millennium-2000, I was caught by a reflective fit, pondering why Southern Cameroons would be entering a new millennium in perpetual bondage under la Republique. The evidence then, as it is now, was overwhelming and really vexing. Biya had been in power then for about 18years...one or two Southern Cameroonians featured as 'cadre' in SONARA, even the menial jobs in SONARA were done by Biya's tribesmen or the kinsmen of the GM. The roads in SW were unpaved- except the SONARA-DOUALA stretch, basic amenities like potable water and medicine were luxuries in many enclaves in NW and SW, poor road infrastructure etc etc.
We sought the media(mostly print) to call Southern Cameroonians to act... of course there were no Facebooks and Twitters...internet was embryonic . We were like lone wolves...because SDF was en vogue then...
We sounded our gong at home(Southern Cameroons) then, ready to sacrifice our last drop of blood if our call was yielded to...and I am sure you and many others who are portrayed now as keyboard analysts have faced the same storm while you were still serving in the Cameroons, before finding yourselves where you are now, because of one reason or the other...
I am worried that an insightfully inciting article, like the one above, which is genuinely unapologetic on the future use of alternative methods to tackle the problems of the Cameroons especially Southern Cameroons, can be diluted by little mind 'agents' with their all too familiar comment: '..you guys are in safe havens instigating your fellow compatriots to go and be killed...', as if when we were around, we never sounded our gong or assembled in the market place when we heard its sound...
History will judge us all, some by their omission, a few by their commission and most by their indecision.
Posted by: Neba Fuh | Monday, 24 October 2011 at 10:03 PM
Mr Neba fuh and Dr Vakunta,
I beg to differ but I don`t see a return to the status quo ante (separation of the two Cameroons) as a solution. To me it is escapism. The problem with Cameroon (and most of Africa) is economic underdevelopment. For me it`s all about cause and effect, and the dictatorships are manifestions of our economic underdevelopment. Most of Africa is composed of artificially contrived entities and governance was always bound to be problematic. In the meantime I don`t see what stops Anglophone Cameroonians from forming independent circles.
Posted by: limbekid | Tuesday, 25 October 2011 at 04:22 AM
It is time to rethink the Third Option, the choice to secede from La République du Cameroun and form an independent Republic.
Posted by: online writing jobs | Monday, 09 January 2012 at 08:56 AM