Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den

Barack Obama - Africa Has Not Yet Fulfilled its Potential

"But for all the progress that has been made, we must surely acknowledge that neither Kenya nor the African continent have yet fulfilled their potential - that the hopefulness of the post-colonial era has been replaced by cynicism and sometimes despair, and that true freedom has not yet been won for those struggling to live on less than a few shillings a day, for those who have fallen prey to HIV/AIDS or malaria, to those ordinary citizens who continue to find themselves trapped in the crossfire of war or ethnic conflict." President Obama

As Africa anxiously waits to see how/if US policy towards Africa will change under the Obama administration, the following speech delivered in 2006 by then Senator Barack obama at the University of Nairobi in Kenya gives us a rare insight into the President's views on corruption, ethnic politics and patronage in Africa.

Amnesty International Special Report: Cameroon Impunity Underpins Persistent Abuse

“Amnesty International today released a [52-page] report on the alarming human rights situation in Cameroon, accusing the government of gross violations spanning more than ten years – including killings and torture. The catalogue of abuses revealed in the report mainly involves repression of political dissent.”

1. Introduction
For more than 10 years, Amnesty International has received reports of human rights violations that were ordered, condoned or perpetrated by the Cameroonian authorities in contravention of their national and international human rights obligations. These violations include: arbitrary arrests and unlawful detentions; extrajudicial executions; threats against and ill-treatment of human rights defenders and journalists; denial of the rights to freedom of expression and association; harsh prison conditions; torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; failure to protect the human rights of women and girls; and persecution of men and women on the grounds of their actual or imputed sexual orientation. This report provides examples of these violations, for which the perpetrators have enjoyed almost total impunity. Amnesty International is also concerned that, despite a global trend towards abolition of the death penalty, the Cameroonian government continues to impose death sentences.

Obama and Africa: Change and Changelessness in US Foreign Policy

Dibussi Tande

"In spite of all the rhetoric about change, American foreign policy has been consistent over the years. It has been more of a gardening exercise than an act of bulldozing; a phenomenon described as the "change and changelessness" of US foreign policy."

President Obama's admonishment of those leaders "who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent" during his inaugural address has been widely interpreted in Africa to mean that, unlike previous US administrations, the Obama administration will go after leaders who oppress their people, violate human rights and prevent the growth of genuine democracy. In fact, in the past week, African newspapers, blogs, and internet forums have been replete with gleeful commentary announcing the impending discomfiture of those African dictators who refuse to "unclench their fists".

Barack Obama - Paul Biya: The Waltz of the Weird

Barack Obama: To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

Paul Biya: Today, January 20, 2009, Mr. Barack Obama is being sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. It is a historic moment which is full of symbolic significance and which raises great expectations.

Memory Lane (November 1982): The Ahidjo-Biya Transition

Rare video footage and report (in French) on Ahmadou Ahidjo's resignation as President of Cameroon on November 4, 1982 and Paul Biya's swearing-in on November 6, 1982 - at least some of us had the opportunity to witness, in our lifetime a (peaceful) transfer of power in Cameroon...  

Countdown to the Obama Inaugural: The Praise Song Cottage Industry

During the US presidential elections, a cottage industry emerged which specialized in churning out praise songs for Barack Obama – in fact, composing a song for Obama has developed into a new artform.

Here is what was arguably the most popular of the Obama praise songs, Mighty Sparrow's get-out-and-vote Calypse tune, Barack the Magnificent. Links to other less popular praise songs follow below.
 

Barack The Magnificent - The Mighty Sparrow

Text of song here.

Countdown to the Obama Inaugural: "On the Pulse of Morning" by Maya Angelou

Poem read by Maya Angelou at the Clinton Inaugural on January 20, 1993

A Rock, A River, A Tree
Hosts to species long since departed,
Marked the mastodon.
The dinosaur, who left dry tokens
Of their sojourn here
On our planet floor,
Any broad alarm of their hastening doom
Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages.

How Ahmadou Ahidjo Under-Developed Northern Cameroon

By Jing Thomas

A sophisticated and scholarly people, with a longstanding history of trade, politics, learning and animal husbandry, was lulled to sleep with the narcotics of "balanced development" and its dangerous by-product of favoritism.

Balanced development is not a new concept. In the context of post-colonial Africa, with its fragile ethnic patchworks that pass for nations and a development landscape disfigured by history and culture, the concept seems all the more imperative and provides a perfect recipe for social justice and political stability. After all, is there any greater claim to true development than one that is collective? And did all parts of any country see the light the same day?

In a multi-ethnic nation, while the benefits of development enjoyed by each tribal or regional component may not necessarily be commensurate with its contribution, a minimum sense of fairness demands that everyone should be seen to be making maximum effort, at least to justify entitlement to such benefits. The same sense requires that any development experiment should be based on strict and morally sound rules and devoid of double standards and opportunism. Here, Ahidjo's efforts at uniting around the notion of balanced development start to develop warts.

Regional Balance, Educational Quotas and (Under)development in Northern Cameroon

By Dibussi Tande

The year 2008 ended in Cameroon with a major controversy over competitive examinations into the Teachers’ Training College (ENS) of the newly-created University of Maroua in the Far North Province. It is alleged that prior to the launching of the competitive exams, the Head of State personally guaranteed the elite of the Grand Nord that 60% of registered candidates from the three Northern provinces (Adamaoua North and Far North provinces) would be admitted into ENS Maroua.