Peterkins Manyong
11 April 2008
Buea — At last President Paul Biya did what Cameroonians and all lovers of peace had dreaded. He tabled the controversial constitution amendment bill.
He took the suicide plunge on Friday, April 4, after a meeting with George Serre, French Ambassador to Cameroon, who came to emphasise the opposition of his country and the European Union on the life presidency bid.
The tabling of the bill was a killjoy decision because it followed on the heels of two high profile arrests, which was highly welcome by Cameroonians who think enough of the nation's wealth has been pocketed by white collar robbers. It confirmed the suspicion that the arrests were nothing but a diversionary strategy.
What makes the Bill so controversial is not only the call for the scrapping of Article 6(2) limiting President Biya's mandate, but the introduction of Article 5(3) to ensure he is not tried for crimes committed in office.
The Bill, while conceding that the President can be impeached, makes such an impeachment a near impossibility as it would require the approval of four-fifths of the National Assembly and Senate members in open ballot to do so.
Lament Of An SDF MP
The MP for Bamenda/Bali Constituency, Hon. Simon Nchinda Fobi, elaborated the obnoxious nature of the Bill on Sunday, April 6, during a press briefing in Bamenda. Fobi said if the Bill is allowed to pass would put an end to whatever was left of democratic institutions in Cameroon.
The MP picked holes in the Constitutional Court that would handle election disputes and proclaim results. All 11 members of the Court shall be designated by the President. Even when there will be a vacancy at the presidency, as there is bound to be sometimes later; Biya would still control the choice of his successor.
The MP pointed out that the Bill had further weakened parliament because it restricts the Legislature only to the vetting of the members of the Constitutional Council instead of being consulted on it. Members of Parliament have also been excluded from the Electoral College that will elect Senate members.
Defying Foreign Donors
The tabling of last Friday's Bill came as an embarrassment, but not as a surprise. Cameroonians who, conscious of their helplessness, had hoped that opposition to it from the US, France and the European Union, which constitute the bulk of foreign donors, would deter Biya. They were sadly mistaken. Biya knows very well that these nations would eventually join him when it would become inevitable that they can't beat him.
When the US government criticised the 1992 Presidential polls and went further to publish the results, stating that Biya had been defeated, the regime's spin doctor, Konchou, told off the world's superpower .The Commonwealth is equally helpless before Biya who has never respected the terms of the Harare Declaration.
In 2006, Biya gave the Commonwealth an uppercut when he made a complete u-turn after the world's second largest body, which had been working with his regime towards the creation of a truly independent body to monitor elections in Cameroon.Surprisingly, it was Biya who invited the Commonwealth to assist him in perfecting Cameroon's democratisation process.
France has received all the insults imaginable from Cameroonian nationalist since the days of Um Nyobe for supporting the two regimes that have ruled Cameroon since independence. With the coming to power of Nicholas Sarkozy, things have changed.
Sarkozy has not only opted to let democracy reign in all former French colonies, but also stated publicly that France was reviewing its military agreements with its former colonies by which she automatically came to the assistance of their leaders in the event of a war or military coup. Biya had since decided he would lean on China from which the regime is said to be dependent on hardware military equipment.
The tabling of last Friday's bill can be described as a sucker punch on the jaws of the US to whose President, George W. Bush, Biya made a solemn promise to step down in 2011. Janet Garvey, US Ambassador to Cameroon, also made clear her country's opposition to Biya's mandate extension bid.
By doing what he did, Biya has acted exactly like the wrestler in the fable who challenged his personal guardian spirit to single combat after beating all other spirits in the land of the dead.
Democracy By Horsewhip
It is to be seen whether these nations would make Biya pay for his arrogance, or be cowed by the Presidential epic hero, the way Cameroonians have been since the February strike action. Marafa's attack on Fru Ndi and the deployment of troops around the National Assembly is a perfect example of democracy by horsewhip.
It is indeed unfortunate that Janet Garvey should be talking of encouraging American business people to invest in Cameroon, which World Bank statistics have confirmed as investment unfriendly. But she would be scraping an already painful wound by making declarations which give the impression that Cameroon under Biya still has a modicum of credibility.
The amendment bill is certainly the most unwelcome document crafted since independence. Its tabling after over 87 percent had rejected the idea is unarguably the most sublime act of provocation imaginable. It is tantamount to a declaration of war.If Cameroonians stay silent after it would have been voted into law, it means they are cable of accepting anything.
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