Prof. Tazoacha Asonganyi
24 March 2008
column
All that is happening in Cameroon today is a result of the obstinate refusal of the regime to fully embrace political pluralism.
It has refused to come to terms with the fact that the people are inherently plural and that in a democracy, they represent an empty centre, which no group, interest or institution can claim to incarnate. It has reduced the social domain to appointments and the privileges linked to them and reduced differences to a slogan - "unity."
The one party-like regime has so far tried to act like a vast refrigerator, replacing the habits of freedom with servitude; replacing the sovereignty of the people with the whims and caprices of administrative officials.
It has given the false impression that official political expression, like concocted motions of support, is an expression of popular sentiments. And the "opposition" has only helped to confuse the regime the more. By saying often that they would take action when they were not in a position to take it, the opposition and civil society allowed their bluff to be called so often that the regime became careless with the people. And so when the February upheavals came, they took them all off guard.
The upheavals have left us with much speculation and many "facts" about the "real" origin of the crisis. The process of sorting the "facts" from the truth is still on-going, accompanied by a most bizarre political communication strategy. In the process, the haughty regime is so dazed by the effectiveness of people power that it still believes that the people are incapable of the feat.
Somebody, obviously of "supernatural" powers, must be behind it all, commandeering the people to unwillingly or unconsciously carry out their wishes.Politics is a domain where the interaction of individual wills in various ways leads to the creation of a common will.
Unfortunately, the repeated electoral "victories" of the regime have become an obstacle and a perennial illusion because they represent a utopian attempt to seize the people's sovereign power through manipulations by a cabal. It has always been obvious that sooner or later, this would lapse into violence, destruction and killings.
Indeed, the hydra-headed, polymorphous enemy that haunts the nights of the regime is neither the progressives, the G10, the G11 nor the "opposition." It is democracy.What is evident is that since the February upheaval, politics has entered one of those febrile, nervous phases in which events seem to be moving towards some momentous but unknown climax, almost independent of the wishes of the actors.
In the cacophony, we are witnessing the usual self-delusion in politics: individual politicians believing that they are better than the others, and that the people trust them more than they trust others. Some being foolish enough to think that they would be understood whatever they say; that people would read their minds and replace what they say with what they think they had to say.
Some give the impression that handshakes and smiles on camera can be the magic wand with which to sweep away the complicated problems the regime has weaved around us. To avoid the usual practice of eating their own words to remain credible, they should better always say what they mean and mean what they say.
Conflicts and wars arise because we fail to consider the views of others, or communicate with them about mutual differences. Dialogue is a virtue in politics because it allows protagonists to find room for compromises that can save lives and in some cases, cause the mending of ways. Unfortunately, our politics since 1990 has been filled with mutual hatred and disrespect, to the extent that President Paul Biya has not been able to bring himself to have direct communication with his "enemies" - the "opposition".
He has instead indulged in secret deals, personal favours and intrigues and thus failed to reassure the people that he has the nation's good at heart. The people are like a sensitive nervous system, responding unconsciously to events and signals all over the country. Their life is built on the accumulation of these responses and shaped by the day-to-day, hour-to-hour signals sent to them from the top.
The unconscious synthesis of the responses may create hard feelings that need to be expressed liberally. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Ghandi taught us that non-violence and tolerance are the effective weapons for expressing such feelings. Using violence to prevent the people from expressing these feelings led to the February explosion and will lead to future explosions.
The regime that came on stage in Cameroon in the '60s has refused to adjust to changing times: the arrival of the mobile phone, the Internet, the inter-city buses, private news media, the global village... and modern times. News black-outs on CRTV and Cameroon Tribune, or false announcements about deals with leaders to call off strikes are for the past, not the present. People have better ways of talking to each other over the heads of these controlled channels.
Indeed, the talk about modifying Article 6.2 of the Constitution is sugar-coated in various forms, but it is uncalled for. If Biya feels that he can embarrass the nation by a sudden exit, he should give way rather than try to convince us that he wants changes to save the nation from a 45-day or other embarrassment. We should leave the business of papering over the cracks; the whole governance system in Cameroon has to be changed.
We have to rebuild the foundation, but Biya has shown us his bad faith in the implementation of the 1996 Constitution. Therefore, the proposed total renewal can only be properly done after 2011 under new leadership. Biya should no longer confuse the leader pages of Cameroon Tribune for vox-populi.
He should listen to the people attentively. He definitely has a lot of advice, but he should know that much of it is from those who want to use him. In moments of crisis, or when issues are controversial like the one concerned with the amendment of the constitution, it is his bounden duty to listen to the people.
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