allAfrica.com: Cameroon: The Cameroon Tragedy (Page 1 of 1)

The tragedy in Cameroon is more profound than the one found in a mental hospital because lunatics have trace elements of sanity and they know where madness is sweetest.

The Cameroon tragedy is like a pirate ship; ant-eaten and infested with fierce rats. A ship whose captain has been thrown overboard, propelled by gusting winds in choppy waters. A ship filled with angst where everyone knows that disaster is on the horizon but they do not know when it is going to strike, or who is going to start it. A ship on which everyone knows they are going to die somehow.

How can we in the 21st century begin to comprehend the insanity of African leaders who propose that the constitution be amended to favour their atrocities and protect them after leaving office? Hear this: "Acts committed by the president of the republic... shall be covered by immunity and he shall not be accountable for them after the exercise of his functions" (proposed article 53 (3).

This simply means that a man like Paul Biya can nod to his dogs of war to exterminate a region because it opposes him and get away with it. The same scallywags who have wrongly advised the head of state shamelessly suggest that "The head of state shall be indicted only by the National Assembly and the Senate deciding through an identical vote by open ballot and by four-fifth majority of their members."

This is arrant nonsense considering that the parliament is a house of docile domestic pets. Besides, it insinuates that the president is for parliament and senate, not for the people.

The above articles are workable for thieves and wizards who want to justify their crimes.

That the government pushes a bill to amend the constitution is a blatant parody of democracy. Biya is only trying to ease his fears, which is only reasonable on his part, and assuage his private grief and to guarantee his survival in power as well as escape from trial. Biya doesn't want to die anyhow, in a sick bed. He wants to die in a grand way - on the throne.

The amendment bill seems to be another insidious scheme calculated to further ransack the country as there are newly recruited thieves and uncertified lunatics working with the cabinet. There is one particularly new recruit; a low-down, snake-eyed, mealy-mouthed, long-fingered confidence trickster. He is barely a footnote in a badly written history book.

He talks too much impeccable nonsense. We don't know whether he believes that he can restore slavery in Africa. Cameroon has suffered keenly in the hands of such nincompoops, one of whom if he paused to consider, and if he had a little intellectual drive, would understand that his own salvation is no laughing matter. He should be thinking of going back to finish his jail term before he is thrown back into it. And if Paul Biya is not careful, his namesake will "double" him.

As for the Abah Abahs and others yet to be caught, they crippled themselves in the service of the head of state - stealing on his behalf as well as rigging elections for his benefit. They are guilty of both serving loyally their master and depriving Cameroonians of hard-earned livelihoods. In their selfish pursuit of their own advancement, they broke practically every commandment.

In the same way the head of state's recent delightful somersault of policy and attitude in the war against corruption and embezzlement added joy and wonder at his magical gestures, the tremendous value in arresting corrupt government officials cannot be overstated. The lovely music we will soon be hearing from the Kondengui Orchestra will be coming from none other than Biya's choir boys.

The breeze that has brought these drastic changes in Biya's heart, it is hoped, will stir the slumbering Cameroonian society. From the blossoms will soon grow a new nation. But something doesn't just jell. Biya claims that some 80 percent of Cameroonians voted for him in the last elections. That, according to him, shows how much they love him. If that is so, did he have to deploy troops when he hurriedly amended the constitution? Or is that his own way of expressing his love for Cameroonians?

After all has been said, Biya can go ahead and even amend the constitution to prolong his life. Because, even though Biya knows as well as anyone that the law in Cameroon is loose, and even though he might recover some of the ill-gotten wealth and redistribute it amongst those from whom it was stolen, and even though he would leave his cronies behind to hang, he should understand that the human being thirsts for vengeance; and that international humanitarian law has acquired new jurisdiction - no immunity for international criminals.

Look at what is happening to Hissene Habre. The man believed that he had run away from the law, forgetting that the law has long arms. Hissene has proved to the world that a constitution can be amended for the benefit of one man only. We hope Biya is reading the lines well.

Cameroonians have two alternatives to choose from; physical violence and compulsion are drastic alternatives to gain freedom from tyrants, but this is rather costly and unpleasant. The political plan and constitutional amendment are preferable.

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