The Imperative of Political Literacy in Cameroon

By Dr. Peter Wuteh Vakunta

As Cameroonians brace up for the upcoming watershed presidential election billed for October 9^th, 2011, there is urgent need to diagnose the factors that may botch the likelihood of a pleasant outcome—free and fair elections.The first stumbling block is ELECAM, a bogus fraudulent contraption that President Fox (Paul Biya) has put in place to rig the polls. I have spilled much ink on this matter in my previous write-ups. Consequently, I will not waste precious time adumbrating what I have discussed before. What I will do at this juncture is refer readers to my previous articles on Paul Biya’s gargantuan electoral fraud and gerrymandering machine.[i]

The next irksome problem is the political opposition.In my previous articles, I have berated leaders of Cameroon’s opposition political parties whom I perceive to be a bunch of scatterbrained politically illiterate self-seekers. If you read my article titled “Clarion Call to Bona Fide Leaders of Opposition Parties in Cameroon”, you’d see what I am talking about.”[ii] Any politically savvy person knows only too well that it takes a smart opposition to unseat a brutal dictator like Paul Biya. Biya has lorded it over the opposition from 1990(birthday of multiparty politics in Cameroon) to date mainly because the opposition is fragmented, lack focus and prone to squabbling. Ni John Fru Ndi probably had this in mind when he claimed during a recent rally that “Cameroon’s opposition parties …are maggots”.[iii]  We all know the deleterious effects of “maggots” on the social fabric of Cameroon.

All too often, opposition parties that set out to liberate their compatriots from tyranny and despotism end up selling out, fighting among themselves, sowing seeds of discord, and derailing from the ambit of transformation. This, unfortunately, seems to be the case in Cameroon.  Take a look at opposition parties like the Social Democratic Front, Democratic Union of Cameroon, Union des Populations du Cameroun, Cameroonian Party of Democrats, etc, and it will dawn on you that leaders of these parties are political semi-illiterates in dire need of political education. Some of these so-called opposition leaders are themselves closet dictators, exhibiting the same despotic tendencies they so loudly denounce in the dictator they are eager to replace.

Fru Ndi, Ndam Njoya and ilk should understand that no single political party in Cameroon has the wherewithal to effect a regime change. It lakes a united alliance of democratic forces to effect a regime change. Our friends of the opposition should learn this hard fact pretty fast. It seems to me that their bloated egos have blinded them from seeing this grim reality thus far; as they grope in the dark at war with their own consciences. Learning can be a painstaking process. The prime objective of any bona fide opposition party should be to get rid of the dictator, rather than dance attendance in the corridors of power. Once this noble task has been accomplished, the opposition can then establish a level political playing field.

The third force I want to address in this discourse is the Cameroonian armed forces. It has become commonplace to see our men in uniform flexing their puny muscles in an incensed attempt to cow the citizenry into submission.These sons and daughters of Cameroon should understand that the outcome of the upcoming October presidential election may constitute that critical moment in their careers when they will be faced with the difficult choice of standing by their siblings or siding with a blood thirsty dictatorship tottering on the brink of collapse.

More importantly, I call upon the Cameroonian military to regain sobriety and take a walk down memory lane in order to learn a lesson from recent events unfolding in the Arab world—Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain and Iran. Gone are the days when the international community stood by, hands akimbo, and watched brutal dictators ride roughshod over the citizens they govern. Gone is the time when France cared less about who presides over the destiny of their post-colonies as long as the incumbent played by the Gaullist rules. Believe it or not, visible pressure is mounting on Paul Biya from undisclosed quarters. Make no mistake about that.

Cameroonian security forces need to be educated on the basics of fundamental rights of citizens contained in the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976). This document commits all signatories to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of worship, electoral rights, right to due process and fair trial. Most importantly, Cameroonian soldiers of all stripes must to be educated on where they truly belong: in the barracks!

Last but not least, this discourse would leave much to be desired if I did not appeal to the conscience of Cameroonian voters  at home and in the Diaspora—young and old; Anglophone and Francophone, Graffi and Sawa, Bassa and Bulu, Fulani and Fontem.... Fellow compatriots, this is a new dispensation. The days of paranoia and crippling fear are over. The days when our votes were bought with a cup of salt, a tablet of savon[iv], or a bottle of jobajo[v] distributed by Paul Biya’s political witches are long gone. 

As you proceed to the polls on October 9^th, 2011 to cast your historic vote, remember those sacrificial lambs that perished at Ntarikon Park in 1990 for the sake of democracy in our country. As you head for the polling stations on October 9^th, ponder the fate of thousands of Cameroonian youths who have committed suicide because Paul Biya’s voodoo regime has transformed them into the ‘lost generation’ through chronic joblessness. As you walk toward the election booths on October 9^th, think of the millions of Cameroonians who have became economic refugees in foreign lands on account of Paul Biya’s misgovernment.As you go to the polling stations on October 9^th, think about the hundreds of Cameroonians who lost their lives during the historic ghost town operations. As you make your way to the voting booths on October 9^th, think about the martyrs who were prematurely sent to their graves during the 2008 popular uprising in Yaoundé. As you cast your vote on this momentous day, remember the 500+ victims whose bodies lie rotting in mass graves in the littoral region attributable to Paul Biya’s high-handed repression.

Remember these brothers and sisters whose tombstones we shall never see. As you cast your vote on this historic October 9^th, think of the dilapidation of our national economy by the Beti-led oligarchy in Yaoundé: SONARA, CAMAIR, SOTUC, BATA, CDC, SODECOTON, CICAM, SOCAPALM, SOCIETE NATIONALE D’HYDROCARBURES, CAMEROON MARKETING BOARD, MIDENO,MIDEVIV, UNVDA,LIMBE DEEP SEAPORT, and more.

As you cast your votes on October 9^th, 2011, think of our men and women in uniform that have given up the ghost in the Bakassi Peninsula, fighting for oil reserves that have already been mortgaged by Paul Biya to foreigners long ago.If you would muster the audacity to do this, then it will dawn on you that the upcoming presidential election in Cameroon is no trifling matter.If you would pluck up the courage do this, you would come to the full realization that the tree of liberty truly is watered by the blood of martyrs.

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

 

 

Notes

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[i] http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=142502905831755

[ii] http://www.niuzer.com/Cameroon/Clarion-Call-to-Leaders-of-Bona-Fide-Political-Opposition-Parties-in-Cameroon-7206779.html

[iii] http://www.cameroononline.org/2011/09/26/cameroon-opposition-leader-says-other-parties-are-maggots/

[iv]  Bathing soap

[v]  Beer

Comments

[J. S. Dinga]

I must doff my hat to this one and with the author's permission I would reverse the order and place his last entity first - political education of the masses. As the saying goes, if politicians were angels, there would be no need for educated voters. Only educated voters can stand on their own two feet and wave aside all the puveyors of distorted information calculated to sway them in the wrong direction.

Cameroonians can only withstand the onslaught of false information by educating themselves about the facts being manipulated. And lots of facts are being distorted on this forum by well calculated ruses. It is no secret that we were first a multiparty democracy and then President Ahmadou Ahidjo hoodwinked us all into the one and only political party, the Cameroon National Union (CNU) for the expedients of his time.

The SDF may today be anathema to some tastes but thanks to it, we returned to multiparty politics in 1990, at great costs. Today prevaricators pick on John Fru Ndi's leaving the CPDM to join the SDF as if that was a criminal offence. That is part of our history and those who lived it must rise up and be counted. Some of us were tasked with contributing a month's salary to the erection of a party house and we did so, even if there is no party house to show for it.Going from the CNU (whick later b ecame the CPDM) to any of the new emerging political formations was the most natural thing at the time. What happened to some of the newly authorized political parties ( and there were tons and tons of them authorized by its chief strategist, the late Gilbert Andze Tsoungui, so that in any election, the CPDM would stand like a giant elephant among CPP, PCC, Ants Party, and others) is a different ball game altogether.

[limbekid]

Dr Vakunta said,

"Gone are the days when the international community stood by, hands akimbo, and watched brutal dictators ride roughshod over citizens they govern. Gone is the time when France cared less about who presides over the destiny of their post-colonies as long as the incumbent played by the gaullist rules."

Do you really think so? Only time will tell.

[limbekid]

Review (in french) of presidential candidates for the upcoming elections. http://www.grioo.com/ar,presidentielles_camerounaises_revue_des_candidats,21556.html

Those who piqued my interest:

Kah Walla (aged 46)
- She`s got youth on her side
- Proposes institutional reforms, reform of the electoral code, and administrative decentralisation

Bernard Muna
- transitional candidate, only requires a single mandate
- Proposes administrative decentralisation with elected governors

Anicet Ekane
Proposes a transitional coalition government and national conference to debate on a new constitution, electoral code and social contract

Albert Dzongang
- Insists only a single opposition candidate can unseat the incumbent

Jean de Dieu Momo
- Calls for recruitment based on competence and an end to regional balance

Olivier Bile (aged 44)
- The youngest candidate
- Promises to create 500 000 jobs a year for the duration of his mandate
- Withdrawal from the fcfa and the creation of a new currency, the "Camer"
- Emphasis on spirituality as fundamental to his candidacy (a religious fundamentalist)

Esther Dang
- Apparently the only candidate with a well articulated economic program (downloadable on the internet)
- Proposes a division of Cameroon into no less than 26 thematically defined regions

Victorin Hameni Bieleu
- will only campaign in his region of origin (Haut nkam), then Douala and possibly yaounde (I admire his frankness)

Pierre Fritz Ngo
- Focussed on environmental protection

Hubert Kamgang
- Staunch panafricanist, campaigns for Cameroon`s financial independence, through the withdrawal from the fcfa, to be replaced by a local currency, the "Um" (named after Um Nyobe)

[True Religion outlet]

A walk around the Eo estuary between Figueras and Castropol at high tide was very productive. There were a pair of Kingfishers flying up and down the shoreline and perching on the rocks. It is always unusual to see Kingfishers doing this as in the UK they are normally just seen on freshwater rivers and lakes. There were also Bar Tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, Greenshank, Curlew, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Little Egret, Mediterranean Gull and Peregrine Falcon.

[AMBERMcneil]

That's understandable that money makes us autonomous. But how to act when somebody doesn't have money? The one way is to get the mortgage loans and just auto loan.