TCHE Irene MORIKANG - Martin NKEMNGU
25 February 2008
interview
Paul Atanga Nji, Minister in Charge of Special Duties at the Presidency, talks about the protests in Douala and why he thinks the constitution should be amended.
The night of Saturday February 23, breaking Sunday February 24, was turbulent in Douala as administrative authorities had to contain a protest on the Douala-Yaounde highway. What is your reaction to this incident?
It is a regrettable situation. I strongly believe that all these things are being orchestrated by the Social Democratic Front, SDF. Why I say so is because the SDF knows very well that political rallies have been banned in the Littoral Province until further notice. Yet, they insist on organising these rallies to expose the lives of innocent citizens. This is a wilful intention to create disorder in the province. The Governor of the Littoral Province said that until further notice, all political rallies have been banned. I believe that he arrived at this decision because people have made it a habit of not respecting the law. In the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement, CPDM, we always take an authorisation before any meeting. So, if the ruling party can obey such laws, what more of the opposition? I think the leaders of these political parties, which want to create disorder, should realise that we have been living in a peaceful situation in Cameroon and the President has fought for 25 years to consolidate this peace, unity and stability. They should know that no one will accept any more of these irresponsible activities organised just to push the government to the wall. So, it should be clear that if they want to operate legally, they have to respect the rules of the land. On the contrary, if they do not respect the rules in force, they will be considered as vandals and treated as such.
Apparently, no political party was visibly present or has claimed responsibility for the disorder on the Yaounde-Douala highway. The population was actually demonstrating for some other reason
There is instigation. And once again, I put the responsibility on those who have been trying to organise political rallies and have not been successful. But what is clear is that the political parties will never claim responsibility when there is disorder. But they indirectly instigate people to come out on the streets so that they will be in a position to face the forces of law and order. In cases like that, you know there is provocation. And in case of provocation, people loose their tempers. And the situation might degenerate.
But the SDF leader, Ni John Fru Ndi, says he is bent on organising rallies despite the ban?
This has been the habit of SDF since the party was launched in 1990. But people should understand that the SDF is inconsistent and has lost its base. The SDF started with 65 parliamentarians. Now they have only 14 parliamentarians after a lot of difficulties; it could have been less. This means the population has realised that the SDF is a party which is not constructive. They are only out to destroy all the achievements that the New Deal has put in place for the past 25 years. We cannot accept and we shall not accept. We will not even give them the opportunity to create disorder. As other political leaders have said, peace and stability are a great achievement that we have had in the country thanks to Paul Biya. We will not allow any person to jeopardise the peaceful situation in which we are living.
You index the SDF, but other political leaders like Mboa Massock are also organising demonstrations on the streets against the revision of the constitution. How can we then reduce this to an SDF affair?
I think Mboa Massock and the SDF are fighting under the same umbrella. They have put up the "Front unis" against the modification of the constitution. In this "Front unis" you have Mboa Massock and all the parliamentarians of the SDF. They are the same people who have decided never to respect the laws of the land. In any case, we have tried to bring these people to reason so that they can respect the laws. But if they cannot, the government will be obliged to use other means to bring order to Douala, same as in any other localities where peace is threatened.
It appears that the on-going debate on the revision of the constitution is at the base of all these civil disobedience?
The modification of the constitution is a popular debate. And the sovereign people of Cameroon have asked the Head of State to modify their constitution; amend some articles which are no more realistic for now. The Head of State had said in his speech on France 24 that it is an open debate. Militants of the party started writing that we should amend the constitution. People should, however, know that it is not a CPDM affair because religious authorities, the civil society and even business men also wrote calling for the constitution to be amended. Anyway, the CPDM occupies and controls about 85 per cent of the political network nation-wide. Besides, we have other leaders like Issa Tchiroma and Antar Gassagay who have also come out strong in favour of the modification of the constitution. Other political leaders should do the same thing. It is a debate and everyone should bring his or her own idea. We should not go to the streets. And it is also important to know that the Head of State defines the policies of the nation. He who defines the policy, also has the prerogative to ask for a constitutional amendment. Cameroonians should also know that Mboa Massock has no political party. By implication, he has no legal platform that he can use to push Cameroonians to react. If he wants to be a political leader, let him create a political party.
But Mr Fru Ndi has not said that he is against the revision of the constitution. Rather, he has called for a constitutional conference. Do you see this as being against the revision?
The constitution has clearly specified the forum under which it can be revised. We have the National Assembly, the referendum and the Head of State who incarnates the institutions of the country. There is no text indicting that we can use a constitutional Conference to modify the constitution. So, those political leaders who are asking for a Constitutional conference are ill-informed. It is important for Cameroonians to know that the SDF Chairman has never accepted Cameroon's constitution. During the tripartite meeting, when Fru Ndi was called, he came and said that he cannot be a member and cannot accept what was going on. In 1996, when Mr Achidi Achu was Prime Minister, Fru Ndi was called again to give his opinion for the constitutional debate. He said he could not come. So, how can he pretend to defend something today that he did not defend in 1996? Anyway, the government knows what has to be done. The political parties, in their majority, have officially expressed the wish for a constitutional amendment. I can say it is an irreversible process. And in any democratic process, the majority carries the vote and the minority has the obligation to respect the will of the majority.
So, as a politician, why do you think the constitution of Cameroon should be revised now?
I think the sovereign people of Cameroon are saying that the present context does not permit us to accept the present constitution. It was a constitution of consensus. And a consensus is usually being made to satisfy certain conditions. And that was what was done during the tripartite talks. Now, Cameroonians are saying that it is anti democratic to limit the presidential term of office. This is because the will of the people at one given time will be hushed because the President will not be allowed to go beyond his term of office even if Cameroonians want him to continue. And that is why all Cameroonians have been calling and writing that we want the Head of State to stand as President beyond 2011. The will of the people must be accepted and respected. The President has even gone further because in his end of year address to the nation on December 31, 2007, he said that other aspects of the constitution which he thinks could be readjusted would be taken care of. We need to have confidence in our president. He is not only the president of the CPDM, but the president of all Cameroonians. I think, as Head of State, he is a very responsible person and will take into consideration all the remarks which have been made on the constitution.
Some people think the present constitutional amendment is simply to enable the President to extend his mandate. What have you to say?
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Paul Atanga Nji has every reason to fear change in governance because of his criminal background. It is because of people like him that we even need to fight more for change because he has to face trial!! Mark my words, Nji there is no hiding place for you. keep your mouth shut and enjoy your ill gotten wealth. THE TIME OF RECKONING IS AT HAND!!!. YOUR ROOM I NEW BELL PRISON IS STILL EMPTY AND WAITING. BIYA IS DESTINED FOR THE GUILLOTINE.
I am inclined to believe that Cameroonian parliamentarians of the CPDM party are reckless and imprudent.Its hardly immaginable that leaders of this capacity will dishonour and discredit themselves by publicly supporting a constitutional amendment that will give the president another term of office. I would like fellow political analysts to join me in examining what I call the CPDM's hypocritical patroitism. When narrow-minded egoistic cowards use the old tactics of false representation of the people, it becomes reasonable to question their credibilities. Its worth noting that a regime of this… [Read Full Text]