Sam Nuvala Fonkem
20 November 2008
column
President Paul Biya says he would like to be remembered as someone who brought democracy to Cameroon.Tough luck. One of his detractors sought to know from me if I could recall the type of bag in which the man had carried democracy and where he got the bag from. I was at a loss.
When the democratic wind of change swept across the world after the collapse of the Soviet communist system, Cameroonian banker and columnist, Celestin Monga, who now lives in exile in the US, published an open letter to President Biya in 1990. He described Mr. Biya as an incompetent leader, saying he should resign.
Monga and Pius Njawe were later tried on charges of contempt of authority and were sentenced to six months in jail.Another Cameroonian writer, the renowned novelist, Mongo Beti, who returned to Cameroon in 1991 after a long exile in France, did not, unlike most Cameroonians, warmly welcome Mr. Biya's accession to power in 1982. He described Biya and his predecessor Ahmadou Ahidjo as two sides of the same coin - "bonnet blanc, blanc bonnet".
Mongo Beti said Ahidjo had handed over power to Biya as if it were some bequest to enable the latter to perpetuate post-colonial autocratic rule. When the writer died in 2001, the government attempted to make political capital out of the event by sending a top official to confer a posthumous medal of honour on the fallen hero.
The official was severely chastised by the writer's widow who warned the fellow to take his medal elsewhere and refrain from insulting the image of her late husband who was a virulent critic of the Biya regime.
Vincent Satz, an indefatigable correspondent of Reuters, who covered Cameroon in the heady days of the early 1990s, described Biya as a right royal president whose style of governance was not only autocratic, but also monarchical. Monarchs are usually disdainful of the common man. They are aloof, cynical and more concerned about preserving their throne than anything else. Paul Biya seems to fit the bill.
President Biya and his predecessor developed a dangerously conflictual relationship because of the latter's continuous presence on the political scene. Ahidjo had exploited his position as leader of the ruling CNU party to maintain a high profile, which had the effect of belittling and overshadowing his successor, his appointee.
Biya, as president and chief executive, did not have elbow space and had to consult Ahidjo on the least executive decision he took. Matters got to a head when, in blatant violation of the constitutional law, Ahidjo was about to introduce an amendment that would endorse the primacy of the party over the state.
In short, Ahidjo had handed the presidency over to Biya but was not prepared to relinquish the seductive charms of power. He wanted to continue ruling by remote control with Biya as a mere figurehead.
A new set of lexicons had suddenly been introduced into the Cameroonian political vocabulary and words like diarchy, bicephalism, and dualism kept cropping up in the press and in every group conversation and a variety of political caucuses that had emerged as a result of the friction between Ahidjo and Biya.
Cameroonians, who in their majority had welcomed the transition with much enthusiasm, were not prepared to entertain Ahidjo's political chicanery. Ahidjo had ruled for 24 years and Cameroonians thought he ought to take a well deserved rest and stop meddling with politics.
Cameroonians were then creating newspapers every other day as the government adopted a policy of tolerance. Biya needed the press very badly to help him in the fight against Ahidjo's overbearing presence on the political scene.
Every progressive-minded Cameroonian, the academia, civil society and the press took a strong position in favour of legality, in favour of Biya who was looked upon by the populace as someone who might lead the country away from neo-colonial dictatorship and usher an era of democratic freedoms.
At the height of the Ahidjo-Biya conflict, Ahidjo backed down and went on voluntary exile in July 1983 as the argument for legality won the day. Ahidjo's partisans were not about to let up and in August, the government uncovered a coup plot and the following year in April, a pro-Ahidjo faction in the army attempted a coup d'état. The rest is history.
During his maiden nation-wide familiarisation tour, President Biya exhorted the crowd that had come out to welcome him in Garoua to take cognisance of the fact that "no tribe should take upon itself the right to dominate the others and that no tribe should presume to have a legitimate right to rule the others..."
Ever since Biya emerged victorious in the political struggle with Ahidjo, Cameroon has witnessed a steady monopolisation of the political and administrative arena by his Beti tribesmen. They dominate the government at cabinet and other levels. They control the lion's share of state corporations and the military hierarchy.
They have a disproportionate access to bank loans which they squander like nobody's business. Because of their easy access to state funds, they undoubtedly dominate the list of looters of state coffers. It is not surprising that Mr. Biya's tribesmen form the majority of scapegoats that have been caught as sacrificial lambs in the current anti-corruption campaign that has been imposed on the government by Western creditors and donors.
If Biya wants to take credit for bringing democracy to Cameroon, a phenomenon that was evidently beyond his control, so be it. He should, however, be honest enough to admit that he has contributed immensely in stifling the democratic process by attempting, like his predecessor, to use the constitutional instrument to perpetuate his grip on power.
This year's constitutional amendment, which allows him to seek another term of office when the current one expires in 2011 is the most grievous political sin he has committed so far. Even his most ardent supporters have lost enthusiasm for him and the lacklustre manner his 26th anniversary was celebrated last week is a clear indication that the man has outstayed his welcome.
Cameroonians have been going through a severe economic recession for more than two decades. Unemployment has been on a steady rise and instead of poverty eradication; we now talk of poverty reduction. Public utilities are grossly inadequate and unaffordable. The greed of public officials has taken a heavy toll on the nation's resources. Despite all these, Mr. Biya does not think it is time to quit.
All great leaders know exactly when to quit power before it quits them. A good actor leaves the stage before the audience turns its back on him.
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