The Southwest Regional Secretary of the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms, NCHRF, Christopher Tambe Tiku, says it is time for leadership to change in Cameroon. On December 10, Tambe Tiku declared his intention to run for the Presidency in 2011.

Born in Ossing, Manyu Division, Southwest Region, Tambe Tiku attended PS Mamfe, PSS Besongabang, CPC Bali, the University of Yaounde I and the University of Hull, London. He holds an LLB and a Masters in International Human Rights Law. He practised as a lawyer in Lesotho, Southern Africa, for close to four years and opened a consultancy firm known as Chris Debt and Legal Consultancy.

In this exclusive interview, Tambe Tiku explains why he wants to become President of Cameroon, his dreams and plan of action for the country. Read on:

Recently, you declared your intention to run for the Presidency of Cameroon in 2011; what motivated you?

Indeed, I made that declaration on December 10, 2008, during festivities marking the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. There are multiple reasons. Firstly, I discovered that I have made enormous contributions from the dawn of multipartism right up to the decentralisation of our University system.

I have always been at the forefront of major events in the country. Unfortunately, so many people have not noticed that and I think that we always have the tendency to work hard and push other people ahead and I felt that, having served my community a lot, it would just be an opportunity to have some power so that I can extend to other areas where I have not been able to.

The other reason is the failing system. I want to insist that Mr. Biya has failed to meet the aspirations of the youths. There is acute youth unemployment in Cameroon. That aside, even those who are qualified to work have been sidelined. When you carry out a survey of State corporations and even private companies, you would discover that there is a vacancy of leadership when it comes to getting the youths involved.

Youths are not being trusted by the regime and I think that it would be a platform for us where some of the issues could be addressed. Most of the leaders have been using the youths to get to the helm of power in this country; both the ruling party and the opposition but they have never given them their fair share of the cake. It would be the right time for the youths to stand up and speak with one voice and wage a challenge against a system that has frowned on them for many years.

Apart from having served or contributed in helping the community in one way or the other; what makes you think you can run the affairs of this country at the level of the Presidency?

I have been involved in managerial portfolios. I was manager of a law firm in Lesotho with six to seven lawyers. That aside, I also opened my own consultancy firm in Lesotho and was very successful by the time I managed it. I think that I cannot undermine the fact that the job of the President will demand other skills but I think that it is a matter of partnering with other people who have got skills.

Also, it is the idea of the man of integrity; the man who has love for his country, the man who sees black and calls it black. That is all that is needed at the helm of power. Presidents were born as human beings and the moment they take power there are other skills that are acquired naturally from that position.

Considering that you are Anglophone and also considering the francophone majority in the country; how do you hope to galvanise the majority of people to buy your ideology?

When we fought for multipartism in this country, I was a student in the University and an Anglophone for that matter. Although the majority of the students were francophones, but because we managed to pass through our message, they bought the idea. They were not buying the idea as francophones; rather, they bought it because they thought it was a good challenge for Cameroonians.

They all supported the leadership at the time and I think that most of those contemporaries with whom we were at the University at the time are still around the country and they would be identifying me not as the Human Rights Regional Secretary but as somebody who fought for multipartism. They know that all the leadership skills I had manifested at the time are still there. I don't think I would have problems convincing francophones to work on my platform.

What will you do differently from what other previous presidential hopefuls have done?

What we are interested in at the moment is to sell the idea and pass on the message to the youths that we are interested in taking leadership in this country. It is true that the electoral system has always acted as a bulwark for politicians who have aspired to take over leadership. But this time it is not going to be the same.

We are going to put in place a mechanism where we will check fraud. If we discover that the regime in place insists on using illegal means to remain in power then we would resort to other means.

How are you going to win elections in this country with what is considered to be an entrenched rigging machinery?

We would start by doing our home work; campaigning and getting the voters with us. Thereafter, we will start taking care of the electoral system that has been put in place. Already, we have identified a very disturbing situation; the appointment of the members of ELECAM, which I have repeatedly said in many forums that it doesn't meet the aspirations of Cameroonians. If the regime insists on maintaining the members appointed, then, we would first of all give them the opportunity to do their job.

The single candidate system is not yet popular in Cameroon; you are not a political party leader, how do you hope to go through to the Presidency?

The politics here is very simple. By the nature of my job, I am not supposed to take part in active politics but that does not deprive me from having my thinking about politics. Because I cannot actively take part in politics I would probably go in as an independent candidate.

There are political parties that have shown interest in putting me as their presidential candidate and, by 2011, I would be very free to run as a presidential candidate. There is another possibility that of creating a party that will meet the aspirations of the youths. We are also thinking along that line and, hopefully, by 2011 we will have something on the table.

The general opinion is that Cameroon is sick socially, politically, economically and morally. What are your prescriptions if you find yourself as President?

Well, we have identified our problems in Cameroon and you don't need to go to Harvard to come and discern what is happening in this country. What we need is a leader with a lot of love and commitment and patriotism for his country.

For example, when you talk of the economy there is one issue you can identify and it is the problem of corruption. Cameroonians are not interested in the number of people you catch and lock up in Kondengui; they are interested in getting back their money and ploughing in the economy. I think that any president who has goodwill and love for his country would ensure that all the billions that have been embezzled and stashed in foreign bank accounts be brought back.

It happened in South Africa in 2001 when Chebo Manuel, the Minister of Finance, went on air and declared that they have the details of all those who have stolen state funds and that the government was giving them some time and if they returned the money during that statutory period they would be granted some sort of amnesty, but if they didn't comply they would probe the accounts and culprits would be prosecuted.

Through this a lot of money came back to the country. But we have a situation here where declarations of that nature have never been made and the issue of corruption is checked only by the Head of State.

Even the outfit -CONAC- that has been put in place to check corruption are unable to do their job. They have limited resources and apart from that they are not skilled to deal with such an issue. Some of the members themselves are very corrupt. But you don't need an independent outfit like CONAC or the Head of State to deal with the situation of corruption in this country. The institutions that are put in place must do their job. For example, CONAC cannot initiate a very high profile case of corruption in this country. It has to be authorised by the Head of State.

On the contrary, if you look at countries like Ghana; they have the Ghanaian National Commission on Human Rights and Administration of Justice and within the commission you have a small branch that deals with corruption. They have some mandate and so long as they can be informed on deeds of corruption they open their investigations and even if you are the highest civil servant you have to be investigated. It tells you how an administration functions without any bias.

I think it is just the problem of commitment; addressing social and economic issues such as corruption and bribery. The political issue is that of putting in place an electoral system that would reflect the political situation of the country.

If you were voted President of this country; what things would you do differently from President Biya? Could you list, in order of preference, five issues that are your priorities for Cameroon?

The first thing would be to retire all those who are due retirement and create room for the employment of youths. The second thing would be to reduce the investment budget of some of the ministries. The third thing would be to check the way contracts are being awarded and the way they are executed because these are some of the problematic areas we face in Cameroon.

Fourthly, I would want to check the appointments of personnel in various institutions whether they meet the criteria or whether the appointments are based on ethnic relations etc. Also, I would want to check and improve on the Human Rights situation in the country. When you improve on the Human Rights situation of the country you are taking care of many other issues.

Apart from good governance, you are also giving credibility to the country. And the last, but not the least, is to deal with the low income earned by civil servants and other private employees. When you check on the wages, you are taking care of a lot of things; you are first of all taking care of corruption and also motivating people to function properly.

How do you hope to jolt the regime to bring about change?

We intend to use the therapeutic approach not only to scare the regime but to make them think rightly that time for games is over. We have made a lot of sacrifices in this country and we think that it is time for the leadership of this country to change. We are caught in an impasse where new measures cannot cure situations right now.

It would be a matter for the Head of State to pack his bag out of town in the language of the Americans. A regime that fails to provide food for its people fails in its obligations; it must pack out of town.

If you become President you would certainly hold a lot of power in your hands. Would you lock up this power in your drawer and use it for self aggrandisement?

I have always said that when you hold a public office you hold it to serve the people; for the interest of the people and not for self aggrandisement. My concern about the presidency is not to take over leadership and stay there for the next seven years. My concern is to get leadership, put the institutions in place and hand over to any right thinking person that can govern this country.

Are you thinking of full-fledged decentralisation or are you going to do it peace-meal as the regime is doing?

I am thinking of full-fledged decentralisation because it helps in sustainable development. The people decide for themselves their strength and what they can provide for themselves. And in that case you will have very little to handle at the level of the president because you will only play the supervisory role unlike grabbing everything and putting under your drawer. That is why we don't function well in this country.

You made your intentions to run for the presidency known after Obama made terrific history in the US. Was it because of the Obama hype or do you believe you have the kind of Obama qualities?

I think it would not be superfluous to say I was influenced by Obama's victory but I had this dream many years ago but unfortunately when I came back from South Africa in 2003 I had plans to study and it would have been impossible for me to run for the president given that the law prescribes that you can stand for president after an uninterrupted 12-month stay in the country.

At the time I had just stayed in the country for six months and would not have qualified. And also, my background in human rights has also contributed in me having such thinking because I know it is my fundamental right as a Cameroonian and spelled out in the Constitution of the country that any Cameroonian who is above 35 years of age can run as presidential candidate. I think it would be a welcome opportunity for a youth to stand as a presidential candidate in 2011.

Any last words for Cameroonians?

I just want to inform Cameroonians that I have got a dream to serve them wholeheartedly and I have never relented in any responsibility that I have been given and they can use my office in the Southwest Region to check my integrity and have more confidence in me come 2011.