allAfrica.com: Cameroon: Didactics From the Recent Strike Action (Page 1 of 1)

"Democracy is more vindictive than cabinets. The war of the people will be more terrible than that of Kings". The events of last week in Cameroon confirm this view of Winston Churchill.

What the youths, who constituted the majority of rioters, did is unprecedented in Cameroon history. The youths started by targeting State property. In the Littoral, for instance, the Francoise Fonning- led Douala council was razed.

The Bamenda II Council was another target. Taxation and Post Offices were other targets. Then they proceeded to individual establishments. Hunger drove them to it. In the language of warfare, the attack on individual property can be classified as collateral damage.

Asked by the anchorman of an STV news programme whether the acts of wanton destruction were being carried out by his militants, an accusation levelled against his party by Jean Pierre Biyiti, Minister of Communication, John Fru, SDF National Chairman's reply was spontaneous.

He congratulated the Minister for finally realising that he Fru Ndi commanded the population in Douala and Yaounde. By this declaration, Fru Ndi gave the impression that the youths acted on his instructions. Yet, similar youths in Bamenda ransacked the office of PMUC located in his commercial Avenue Tower Building. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that Fru Ndi's claim had more of propaganda than truth in it.

"Apprentice Sorcerers"

This is the appellation given by President Biya to those opposition leaders he said were manipulating the youth. Fru Ndi certainly shot himself in the foot by declaring on STV and BBC that he supported the youth's decision to fight for their rights, although he condemned the destruction of property.

This was a strike action called for by transporters to protest the increase in fuel prices, which went out of control. But though the violent protests that followed were unreasonable, it was logical. Prior to it, the SDF and some civil society groups, among them Citoyenne Dynamique, had contemplated a nationwide strike action to protest constitutional amendment.

Jean Michel Nintcheu, SDF MP from the Littoral, and Mboua Massock, a well-known anti-Biya protester, had been leading demonstrations in the streets of Douala.A Biya loyalist told this analyst that the Head of State's accusation of Fru Ndi was based on the fact that an SDF bigwig initiated these protests, which culminated in the killing of two people in Douala.

For this reason, President Biya would be demonstrating an unpardonable weakness by genuflecting before the rioters. He had first to re-establish order before proceeding to see into the problems of the strikers.

The Head of State was faithful to the notion inherited from his predecessor, Amadou Ahidjo, that the administration is always right. The Biya regime can be said to have been particularly lucky that the rebellion took place in the parts of the country where there is no proliferation of firearms.

Had it taken place in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, which are close to the borders where arms from neighbouring countries are easy to acquire, it would have been different. The Far North, for instance, shares a boundary with Chad, while the East is close to Gabon and Central Africa.

Last week's rebellion was in fact real war situation, the difference being that one camp, the security forces had more sophisticated weapons (guns) while the other camp had stones. If the security forces had to quell riots organised by people with the same weapons, the outcome is predictable.

Why Dialogue Is Imperative

The crisis took place not very long after the media had sustained a debate on a possible meeting between Biya and Fru Ndi. The rude exchanges between the SDF Chairman and Biya loyalists made such a meeting difficult, if not impossible.

Those who condemn Biya for terming his opponents apprentice sorcerers claim that the President must himself be a professional wizard or grandmaster himself to describe others as amateurs.Fru Ndi is not likely to forgive the accusations that he wants to obtain through the bullet what he couldn't get through the ballot.

The SDF Chairman, however, said something reasonable even if many think it wasn't his place to say it. He said the solution is for Biya to summon opinion leaders to discuss the issues plaguing the country. His critics think he is performing the function of Biya's technical adviser by his suggestion.

It is not Raila Odinga who called on Mwai Kibaki to hold dialogue in Kenya. The crisis simply made it inevitable.The youths of Cameroon have by their action demonstrated that they are a formidable force. Herbert L. Peacock, a British historian, observes that condition in a society have to be exceptionally bad before a large number of people choose to overthrow it by revolution.

For such a forum to hold, Cameroonians have to prove that they deserve it by shunning violence, which as peacemakers say, has never solved any problem. Security forces should also stop breaking into people's homes and seizing money and cell phones with the pretext of hunting for suspected participants in the strike action.

The State should also stop the indiscriminate sentencing of youths to prison terms. This, added to the fact that over 50 families are still mourning the deaths of their loved ones, would only make national reconciliation difficult.

John Fru Ndi in particular, should stop the use of inflammatory language. A politician is not obliged to react to every statement. It is not possible to carry fire and water in the same mouth.

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