Kini Nsom
3 October 2008
President Paul Biya has indicated that he will appoint a new government in December.
Biya is quoted to have said he would do a clean sweep of government in the shake-up including changing the Prime Minister.
According to international authoritative weekly, Jeune Afrique, President Biya mooted the idea of a major cabinet shake-up to his French mentors during the UN General Assembly that ended in New York recently.
The Jeune Afrique story came in the heat of persistent speculations about a cabinet shake-up.Biya is said to have told the French authorities that he would name a solid government with a new Prime Minister.
If the revelations of the newspaper are anything to go by, Chief Ephraim Inoni will be shown the way out of the Star Building. If it happens that way, the Bakingili chief may not be quitting the stage on a clean slate.
For one thing, Inoni is said to have been fully enmeshed in the Albatross affair (Presidential jet scam) which compelled the police to interrogate him last July 24. But he has since denied any involvement in the shady deal that led to the purchase of the faulty aircraft that nearly cost the President his life in 2004.
In the same vein, it is alleged that the police also grilled the Minister of Basic Education, Haman Adama, the Minister of Secondary Education, Louis Bapes Bapes and the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, on issues of corruption and the embezzlement of public funds.
The fact that the President authorised the interrogation of these personalities, has been interpreted to mean a prelude to their dismissal from government. This interpretation fits neatly with Biya's recent announcement in New York that he will effect a sweeping cabinet shake-up.
The President is said to have expressed disappointment that the present government, bloated as it is, has not produced the expected results.Instead, its members have engaged in internal squabbles, running rackets to line their pockets and condoning other acts of corruption.
At one moment, a simmering conflict was reported between Marafa Hamidou Yaya and Inoni.
Some Ministers were reported to have been too haughty that they flagrantly scorned instructions from the Prime Minister.
Others reportedly grumbled whenever Inoni presided over cabinet meetings at the Star Building. At one time, one minister was accused of sponsoring newspapers to run derogatory articles against Inoni.
Speculations are rife that many members of the present cabinet will be arrested on charges of the embezzlement of public funds if they are finally sacked in December.The spectre of a more dramatic situation looms given that Biya reportedly instructed members of government not to be going out of the country at will.
Following rumors that Inoni will be sacked, speculations are rife that a Northwesterner will be appointed in his stead.But some big shots of the regime hold that the Star Building tenant will still come from the Southwest Province.
There is a strong argument among Southwest politicians that the new Prime Minister should not come from Fako given that the Division has kept the post of Prime Minister since 1996.
The Ndian and the Kupe Muanenguba people say they need one of theirs to be appointed Prime Minister so they can have a taste of the national cake.
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