Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den

Cameroon: The Historical Amnesia and Confusion Continues...

 

French Cameroons gained its independence from France on January 1, 1960 while the British Southern Cameroons gained its independence from Britain and (re)united with the French Cameroons on October 1, 1961. However, the Biya regime has decided to commemorate the "Fiftieth Anniversaries of the Independence and Reunification of Cameroon" on May 20, 2010 and not on January 1, 2010 and/or October 1, 2011. The historical confusion of generations of Cameroonians contnues unabated...

Click here to visit the official "fiftieth anniversaries (SIC)" webiste.

Is a Gabonese-type Transition Possible in Cameroon? Part I

Dibussi Tande

On June 8, 2009, Omar Bongo Ondimba, Gabon’s 73-year old president, died after a record 43 years in office. Political observers keenly watched the political transition not merely because after close to half a century of Bongo’s iron rule, Gabon was moving into uncharted territory with the potential for instability but also because like in many other Francophone African countries, Gabon did not have a constitutional successor – a dauphin – to the President.

 
Ali-Ben Bongo of Gabon with Paul Biya  (c) PRC
 
Among those watching the Gabonese situation closely were the ruling elite in neighboring Cameroon where 77-year President Biya was preparing for yet another seven-year presidential mandate in 2011, which would most likely eventually lead to a Gabonese-type situation in the country – the laws of nature being what they are, President Biya has less, not more time left at the helm of the state.

"Sovereignty Expenditures" and the Accountability of the Executive Branch

By Dibussi Tande

"As budget constraints have hardened, leaders have preferred to spend their money to keep their elite coalition together rather than invest in mundane activities like building schools or undertaking vaccine campaigns..." Van de Walle

While surfing through the Cameroonian blogosphere recently, I came across a blog post which gave a detailed breakdown of Cameroon’s 2010 budget. The first entry on the list was the budgetary allocation for the Presidency of the Republic which stands at 57,342 Billion Francs CFA – in fact over 63 Billion Francs CFA if you include the 6.677 Billion Francs CFA allocated to "Services attached to the Presidency of the Republic" – an annual budget greater than those of the Ministries of Higher Education (44 billion FCFA), Scientific Research and Innovation (13 billion FCFA), Energy and Power (44 Billion FCFA), just to name a few.

As I pondered over the Presidency’s budget, my mind went back to the controversy that erupted last year after the French media revealed that during a three-week trip to La Baule in France, President Biya and his entourage had allegedly spent $40,000 (£24,500) every single day at the five-star L'Hermitage Barriere hotel, bringing the total presidential bill to roughly half a million pounds.

Memory Lane Video (November 6, 1982): Ahidjo-Biya, the Final Goodbyes

In a rare video footage which I posted on youtube earlier this year, we watched Paul Biya being sworn in as president of Cameroon on November 6, 1982. In this new footage, we see rare images of Paul Biya entering Unity Palace for the first time as Head of State, and Ahmadou Ahidjo leaving the palace for good. The accompanying audio is however about Ahidjo's alleged attempt to return to power less than a year later.

Ahmadou Ahidjo: An Interactive Timeline

An interactive historical timeline by Philip Kisob

A King with no Clothes On: Being a Prime Minister in Cameroon

During a 1998 discussion on the defunct Camnet listserv, one subscriber inquired about the powerlessness of Cameroonian Prime Ministers compared to their French counterparts:

In the French system of democracy, which is the inspiration for Cameroon’s 1996 constitution, there is an executive President and an executive Prime Minister with the latter still appointed by the President (in consultation if he is from the opposition party) yet there is no evidence of powerlessness in the system. Where then is the missing link of this type of democracy in the case of Cameroon, where the Prime Minister is supposed to be powerless?

My reply below from 11 years ago, which is still valid today, shows why the Cameroonian Prime Minister, unlike his French counterpart, is largely a figurehead:

Cameroon’s 50 Most Influential Personalities According to Jeune Afrique

In this week's issue of Jeune Afrique (N°2520-2521 du 26 avril au 9 mai 2009), the Paris-based weekly magazine profiles 50 men and women whom it considers to be the most influential personalities in Cameroon.
 

Divided into four main categories - politics, business, civil society, culture and the media - the vast majority of these individuals are part of the technocracy, now in its twilight years, that came of age after Paul Biya became president in 1982 - “la generation des longs crayons” as Jeune Afriques puts it.

In His Own Words: Biyiti Essam Explains How State Funds Ended Up in His Personal Bank Account

"I was expecting a treasury check [from the Minister of Finance]... instead, three brawny fellows came into my office with a bag containing 250 millions Fcfa... Tell me, where should I have kept this money? You wanted me to keep the money in my home… for them to to come and knock off my kids before stealing the money?" Biyiti Essam

Jean-Pierre Biyiti bi Essam, Cameroon’s Minister of Communications and government spokesperson (whom his detractors like to refer to as "petit Goebbels") is in hot water. He is accused of diverting 140 million Fcfa, meant to prepare for the Pope’s visit, into his private bank account. There are also questions about the 70 million Fcfa paid to a Gabonese firm to supply four giant screens used during the Pope’s mass in Yaounde. The Minister has already appeared before the state prosecutor. Here are excerpts [in English] of an interview which he gave to the French language daily Le Messager (my translation).

This interview gives us a rare first-hand insight into how government works (or does not work) in Cameroon. Even more significant than the issue of embezzlement, is the realization that neither Cameroon nor the entire CEMAC region seem to have modern financial mechanisms to facilitate the transfer of funds within the country or the entire region - bags and bouncers play the role usually reserved for financial institutions… This story would have been quite hilarious had the stakes not been so high…

(Rejoinder) Gerontocracy: An Indigenous Constitution of Cameroon

A provocative rejoinder to the Gerontocracy in Cameroon debate from Emmanuel Konde (Associate Professor of History Albany State University,(Georgia, USA) 

"Why should the President of Cameroon be expected to relinquish power by election if his counterparts everywhere in the country, including those who preceded his rise to power in 1982 in the various ethnic polities, have not done the same in their fondoms, lamidats, chiefdoms, and villages?” 

It is a truly vexing question, particularly for ambitious young Cameroonians whose access to political power is being delayed by those who were born before them and have controlled the levers of power for a little too long. What’s to be done about this situation is a question, has been a question, and will be a question for much longer than we can imagine.  In the meantime, however, the hazy heads amongst us will find time to castigate gerontocracy by recourse to inconsequential and irrelevant abstract ideas, even as they wait in the wings for their turns.

Gerontocracy in Cameroon – These Old Men Who Govern Us

 By Dibussi Tande

It is extremely important to frequently renew political leadership in every country so new leaders can bring a fresh perspective to global trends and developments, and help move their countries in ways that may differ from previously long held typical and traditional approaches. Christopher Fomunyoh, NDIIA

Last February 13, President Paul Biya of Cameroon celebrated his 76th birthday. This septuagenarian who has been Cameroon’s president for the last for 27 years is the leader of a gerontocracy which has ruled the country for half a century – old men and women way past their prime but desperately clinging on to power. The result? Cameroon is increasingly looking like the pre-Gorbatchev Soviet Union whose entire leadership was made up of the infirm, senile and “walking dead” of the Politburo.

Human Rights Report Condemns February 2008 Repression in Cameroon

Yaoundé: Rights campaigners in Cameroon accused authorities of covering up for the security forces during a string of killings in the country's political unrest in February 2008, said a report obtained on Monday by Agence France Presse (AFP).
 

Members of the security forces opened fire indiscriminately on civilians, using automatic rifles and even light-machine guns mounted on pick-up trucks, said the report by National Observatory of Human Rights (ONDH).

But the authorities put pressure on hospital directors to cover up crimes committed by the security forces by hiding evidence, it alleged.

Cameroon Ranks Very Poorly on 2008 Global Integrity Report

Cameroon faces serious problems with its governance and anti-corruption framework according to the Global Integrity Report released today.

Cameroon received a “very weak” (55 pts) overall ranking on the 2008 Integrity Indicator Scorecard.  It scored “very weak” in four categories; Elections (58 pts), Government Accountability (44), Administration and Civil Service (48) and Oversight and Regulation (49). It scored “weak” in two categories; Civil Society, Public Information and Media (61 pts) and Anti-corruption and Rule of law (69).

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...  

Cameroonians in the Diaspora React to Biya's Decentralization Decree

I just received this document written by a group of Cameroonians in the Diaspora who wish to remain anonymous.

"It is hard to figure out what’s next for Cameroon. Decentralization is certainly not in the works. Certainly not until provincial (regional) governors become accountable to citizens and the ballot box replaces the presidential decree as the means for determining who governs and to whom governors are accountable!"

The following letter is a reaction, by a group of professional Cameroons of various political persuasions living in the Diaspora, to the presidential decree on ‘decentralization’ published recently. It is a dispassionate and apolitical assessment in which we also express our considered opinion of the decentralization measure. We are not members of an association or political organization, but Cameroonians brought together by the love of our country to examine the merits of a milestone marker that has long been promised to the entire nation. To make sure that this letter is judged on its merits rather than on the names of the personalities behind it, we therefore opt to remain anonymous and allow our fellow citizens to join this debate in the same spirit.

Mystery and Intrigue in a Tropical Paradise - Revisiting the Speedboat Attack on Limbe

Dibussi Tande

With its wide beaches laden with purpleblack volcanic sands, its magnificient botanic gardens, its historic seafront, its proximity to Mount Fako, the tallest mountain in West Africa ,and to Debundscha the second wettest place on the planet, etc., Limbe is a tourist’s paradise.

The Down Beach area, which now serves as the town’s banking district, was once the nucleus of the “historic” Victoria – that strip of land, some twelve miles long along the Atlantic coast and five miles into the interior – settled in 1858 by Alfred Saker and freed Jamaican slaves from Sierra Leone and the neighboring island of Fernando Po.

Celestin Monga: An Open letter to Lapiro de Mbanga

Excerpts of an open letter from Celestin Monga to Lapiro de Mbanga written shortly after Lapiro's arrest in April (An English translation from the CAMNET forum).

My dear complice Ndinga Man,
I won’t ask you how you are doing. I am sure that, from the depths of your prison cell, you are in top intellectual form and that you are already assembling some caustic lyrics for your next album. I can only imagine the pity which you must have towards the poorly paid policemen who are charged with humiliating you day and night… Some irony: you have never stopped fighting for these same people throughout your entire adult life. And there: these sicklings are now inflicting all kinds of humiliations which give them the illusion of wielding some modicum of power. For once in their lives, they are, in their own way, "somebody".

Government of Cameroon on PR Offensive in the United States

By Dibussi Tande

The July/August 2008 issue of Foreign Affairs (an influential American journal on international relations published by the Council on Foreign Relations) carries a “sponsored country report” on Cameroon titled "Cameroon at Crossroads".
 
This advertising supplement was produced by the Washington, DC-based lobbying firm, SML Strategic Media (SML), in collaboration with Stratline Communication, a PR firm with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

Book Review: The 1961 Cameroon Plebiscite: Choice or Betrayal (An Eyewitness Account of a UN Plebiscite Officer)

John Percival. The 1961 Cameroon Plebiscite: Choice or Betrayal. Langaa Publishers, 2008. Available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, African Books Collective and Michigan State University Press.

The United Nations-organised plebiscite on 11 February 1961 was one of the most significant events in the history of the southern and northern parts of the British-administered trust territory in Cameroon. John Percival was sent by the then Colonial Office as part of the team to oversee the process.

This book captures the story of the plebiscite in all its dimensions and intricacies and celebrates the author’s admiration for things African through a series of reminiscences of what life was like in the 1960s, both for the Africans themselves and for John Percival as a very young man. The complex story is also a series of reflections about the effect of the modern world on Africa. It is a thorough, insightful, rich and enlightening first-hand source on a political landmark that has never been told before in this way.

Cameroon: Sun, Surf and Burnt Tyres

By Matthew Green ( Originally published in the Financial Times - London, May 31, 2008)

West Africa isn’t widely known for its seaside resorts but Limbe, on Cameroon’s coast, would do any tourist brochure proud. Atlantic surf roars over beaches formed from volcanic rock, the fish is fresh, the beer cold. It is, in essence, an ideal place to be trapped.

In early March, I checked in at the Fini Hotel, overlooking the shoreline. A US Navy warship was silhouetted off the coast, its grey hull spectral in the haze. The Calypso Bar was deserted, even the karaoke man gone, but I found a more makeshift affair set up with lawn furniture outside the hotel. Two middle-aged businessmen named Larry and Theodore were sipping Guinness and discussing the country’s ongoing riots. “They’ve looted a brewery,” Larry said, with a trace of glee. “And handed out the crates.”

Lapiro de Mbanga: "Everybody to Kondengui Prison" (Music Video)

Listen to the lyrics of this song to understand why the Biya regime is determined to silence jailed protest singer Lapiro de Mbanga

In this fiery and no-holds-barred song released last year, Lapiro lashes out against the symbols of decay in today's Cameroon: A regime in power which has turned its back on all the nationalist slogans of the early years; generalized corruption that has effected every stratum of society ; an insolent and arrogant ruling elite brazenly parading symbols of ostentatious consumption (vulgar SUVs out of place on Cameroon's roads, huge castles amidst appalling squalor, some shown in the video);