Politics

Cameroon Bassist  Richard Bona, was the first to publicly tell  the story of a Cameroonian minister who presented a French passport in front of him,something most people in Cameroon never thought of.

In its publication of October 11, 2016, a French newspaper in Cameroon "Le Jeune Enquêteur" published a "complete list" of ministers serving in the Biya's regime who are  bi nationals.

Out of the long list, three of the ministers are holders of an American passport, meanwhile (Henri Eyebe Ayissi, Ernest Ngoua Boubou and Paul Atanga Nji)all the others are French. All or almost all, since it is only rumoured that the Prime Minister, Philemon Yang, possesses a Canadian passport. Below is the complete list:

Prime Minister, Head of Government, Mr. Philemon Yang(Canadian passport ?)
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister Delegate for the Presidency in charge of relations with the Assemblies, Mr. Amadou Ali. (French Passport)
Ministers of State

• Minister of State, Minister of Tourism and Recreation, Mr. Bello Bouba Maïgari. (French Passport)
• Minister of State, Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals, Mr. Laurent Esso. (French Passport)
News
• Minister Delegate for the Presidency, in charge of Defense, Mr. Joseph Beti Assomo. (French passport)
• Minister Delegate for the Presidency of State Superior Control, Mrs. Rose Mbah Acha. (French Passport)
• Deputy Minister for Public Procurement, Mr. Abba Sadou. (French Passport)
• Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Mr. René Sadi. (French Passport)
• Minister of Social Affairs, Mrs. Pauline Irène Nguene. (French Passport)
• Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Henri Eyebe Ayissi. (American passport)
• Minister of Arts and Culture, Jean Narcisse Mouelle Kombi. (French Passport)
• Minister of Commerce, Mr. Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana. (French Passport)
• Minister of Communication, Mr. Issa Tchiroma Bakary. (French Passport)
• Minister of Lands, Cadastre and Land Matters, Ms. Jacqueline Koung A Bissike. (French Passport)
• Minister of Water and Energy, Mr. Basile Atangana Kouna. (French Passport)
• Louis Paul Motaze, Minister of Economy, Planning and Land Planning. (French Passport)
• Minister of Basic Education, Ms. Youssouf Hadidja Alim. (French Passport)
• Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries, Dr Taiga. (French Passport)
• Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, Mr. Zacharie Perevet. (French Passport)
• Minister of Secondary Education, Mr. Jean Ernest Ngalle Bibehe Masséna. (French Passport)
• Minister of Higher Education, Mr. Jacques Fame Ndongo. (French Passport)
• Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Sustainable Development, Mr. Pierre Helé. (French Passport)
• Minister of Finance, Mr. Alamine Ousmane Mey. (French Passport)
• Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reform, Mr. Michel Ange Angouin. (French Passport)
• Minister of Forests and Wildlife, Mr. Ngole Philip Ngwese. (French Passport)
• Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Mr. Jean Claude Mbwentchou. (French Passport)
• Minister of Youth and Civic Education, Mr. Mounouna Foutsou. (French Passport)
• Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development, Mr. Hernest Ngoua Boubou. (American Passport)
• Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Social Economy and Crafts, Mr. Laurent Serge Etoundi Ngoa. (French Passport)
• Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Mrs. Minette Libom Li Likeng. (French Passport)
• Minister for the Advancement of Women and the Family, Mrs. Marie-Thérèse Abena Ondoa. (French Passport)
• Minister for Scientific Research and Innovation, Ms Madeleine Tchuinte. (French Passport)
• Minister of External Relations, Mr. Lejeune Mbella Mbella. (French Passport)
• Minister of Public Health, Mr. André Mama Fouda. (French Passport)
• Minister of Sports and Physical Education, Mr. Pierre Ismaël Bidoung Kpwatt. (French Passport)
• Minister of Transport, Mr. Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo'o. (French Passport)
• Minister of Labor and Social Security, Mr. Grégoire Owona. (French Passport)
• Minister of Public Works, Mr. Patrice Amba Salla. (French Passport)
Delegated Ministers
- Minister Delegate to the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization in charge of Decentralized Territorial Authorities, Mr. Ndongo Jules Doret. (French Passport)
• Minister Delegate to the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development in charge of rural development, Mrs Clémentine Ananga Messina. (French Passport)
• Minister Nana Aboubakar Djalloh, Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Sustainable Development. (French Passport)
• Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy, Planning and Land Planning, Mr. Abdoulaye Yaouba. (French Passport)
• Minister Delegate to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Paul Che Eloum. (French Passport)
• Minister Delegate to the Minister of Justice, Garde des Sceaux, Mr. Jean-Pierre Fogui. (French Passport)
• Minister delegated to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of cooperation with the Commonwealth, Mr. Jospeh Dion Ngute. (French Passport)
• Minister Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of cooperation with the Islamic world, Mr. Adoum Gargoum. (French Passport)

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Rita Akana

21.Feb.2017

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His Royal Highness, Hon. N.N. Mbile has said Anglophone Cameroon is one and indivisible but added that this only holds true in a one and indivisible Cameroon. The former MP for Ndian made the declaration during a press conference he organised last February 17 at the Trinity Hotel in Limbe where he sought to set the records straight following comments he allegedly made during the South West Elite Forum that took place in Buea on February 2.

During the Forum, speaker after speaker took turns to state the position of the South West region regarding the current crisis rocking the two Anglophone regions of the country – North West and South West. The tone by most of the speakers was largely received as very harsh by Northwesterners who did not mince words to describe the forum as one cloaked in hate speech.

According to the Grand Chancellor of National Orders, Senator Peter Mafany Musonge , main convenor of the forum, the South West Forum was organised to situate, secure and consolidate the South West’s position as concerns the form of the state, get school functional and to educate the people on the present issues at stake.

“For close to three months now, our region has been subjected to disruptive forces, those who are trying to cast doubts on the unity and form of the state of our country. The people of the South West believe in a decentralised unitary state with 10 autonomous regions,” the Head of the South West CPDM Permanent Regional Delegation said.
The former Prime Minister said the South west Region is prepared to take control of its affairs and would not want to be influenced by negative forces. He expressed the need for schools in the region to resume immediately because nothing explains why the education of children can be sacrificed.

Hon. Mbile, who stressed that he was speaking for himself, said that during the Forum he made some comments regarding the implementation of a ten state federation which has always been the position of the South West region for a very long time. He also added that some Southwesterners support the idea of a two-state federation where a the Southwesterner who is generally very laxed will depend on the much more resilient, resourceful and more populous Northwesterner; leaving the Southwesterner to play second fiddle. He regretted that these remarks were regarded as insulting to the Northwesterner.

“By making such remarks, I was afraid that the Southwesterner will feel insulted but on the contrary, it is the Northwesterners who felt insulted for getting praises”
He added that his comments were never intended to insult his fellow brothers of the North West region but after receiving a lot of comments following the South West Elite Forum, the former MP said he thought it responsible to clear the air.
Firstly, he said he recognises the merits of the ongoing strike which has exposed the marginalisation by design or by coincidence of Anglophone Cameroonians of the North West and South West regions.
The strike to him, “addresses for the first time questions as to why the bi-cultural nature and bi-jural nature of the state were not respected and why the 1996 constitutional dispensation on the structure of the states has not been fully implemented.; I believe that the Southwest Region is a melting pot wherein peoples of almost all regions of Cameroon live within and have contributed to its social and economic development, that is why I believe that every inhabitant of this region enjoys full right of belonging and I will like to say that all inhabitants within the Southwest should feel Southwesternan.”

He also warned that should the Northwesterner leave the South West, the region will never be the same again considering the huge contributions and investments they have made in the Southwest.
He however warned that the voice of the Native Southwesterner should be heard and respected in matters of national concern.
According to Hon. Mbile, “ The South West region in all its organs has always opted for a ten-state federation; it is a logical evolution of the state of affairs, it will create less friction and it is implementation friendly.”
On schools boycott

Speaking on the boycott of schools in the South West and North West Regions, the initiator of the Operation Save the 2016/2017 Academic year said the boycott of schools in the English part of the Country is a time bomb.
The seasoned educationist who has used all available media organs to preach on the need for parents to send their children back to school added that the school boycott is time bomb and that the kids are angry and feel sacrificed.
He explained that the vices that comes with children staying at home during school hours are too many for Cameroonian parents to handle.
According to Chief Mbile, the children would have been allowed to observe the ghost towns and when business resumes the day after the ghost town, they too should be allowed to go to school so as to save the school year.

On the ongoing strike

While admitting that the ongoing strike has in the large parts has greatly exposed the plight of the Anglophone Cameroonians and pleased with the fact that it has given a platform for the Anglophone problem to be better explained even to ardent skeptics, Hon. Mbile stressed that the purpose of the strike has been achieved and the continues boycott is counterproductive.
He added that the government has shown remourse after the grievances articulated by trade union leaders during negotiations in Bamenda and Yaounde though the list kept on increasing.
He also regretted that the strike has taken the form of a social unrest with no leaders. “There is no strike that is indefinite, parents who have paid huge sums of money for their children’s school needs are the silent majority that is bearing the brunt of the suffering…they have paid fees for a whole year, rented hostels etc.”

Quizzed on whether the failure by the political and traditional elite to end the strike despite numerous outings is a disavowal of their leadership, the Hon. MP said the strike is a disavowal of many things and not only leadership. He added that a lot of people striking have been made to believe that this strike is for employment that is why many youths who are unemployed have turned into vigilantes in their respective quarters to enforce the strike. “They believe that this strike has come to solve all of their problems but they should understand that in every country of the world, people have problems and some people are unemployed.

Hon. Mbile concluded by calling on parents to send their children to school to save and guarantee their future. He also stressed that contrary to some interpretations of his comments during the South West Elite Forum, he has no hatred for his fellow Northwest brothers. On the contrary he sees them as a resourceful and resilient people who have contributed enormously to the growth of the South West region and have equal right as any other Cameroonian living in the region. He however added that the concerns by the native Southwesterner must be heard and equally respected.

The Sun

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Rita Akana

21.Feb.2017

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Southern Cameroons (20 February 2017) -- For more than half a century, the peoples of Southern Cameroons have suffered all forms of abuses, torture, violence, militarization, intimidation, rape, killings, abductions, maiming, marginalisation, poverty, inequality, unemployment, underemployment, etc., simply because they'd resolved to claim their rights to restoration of statehood; or to reinstate a two-state federal system of government with equal status as enshrined in the original 1961 constitution.

In recent months, the death toll of Southern Cameroonian killed by the gangster regime has spiralled uncontrollably. At least eight in 10 families living in Southern Cameroons have been affected by the regime's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy fighters, illegal abductions, intimidation, inhumane treatment, unlawful arrests, unlawful killings, harassment, etc. We cannot let this continue to happen.

Never ever! The entire Southern Cameroons is now a funeral ground. We cannot go on celebrating a "national. trophy that does not reflect any aspect of true unity, complete integration, and inclusive dialogue with us. The trophy is a mockery to our winning struggle and not an official apology for the aforementioned crimes committed by President Paul Biya's regime on our peaceful citizens.

We are not your slaves, Mr. Paul Biya. We, therefore, declare a boycott of this event on Wednesday, 22 February 2017, in Bamenda, and on Friday, 24 February 2017, in Buea. No Southern Cameroonian should go out on Wednesday and Friday. Already, they are budding plans to kill citizens on the streets on that day. Stay at home and be peaceful. We are in mourning.

Anglophone Consortium

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Rita Akana

21.Feb.2017

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Urgent Communication

We have seen a communication from agents of destruction going around Bamenda claiming Ghost towns for tomorrow has been called off so as to prepare for ghost towns on Wednesday against the Lions African Cup tour visit. The message purportedly said it is coming from the consortium. This is a big lie.

Ghost town continues tomorrow across all towns and cities in Southern Cameroons. However, the consortium will communicate shortly what the people of Bamenda should do on Wednesday when La Republique brings that their cup to fool at our people.

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Rita Akana

20.Feb.2017

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“A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance…” (Jawaharlal Nehru, to the Indian Constituent Assembly, New Delhi, August 14, 1947)
The current crisis in our Anglophone regions of the Northwest and Southwest regions seem to give credence to the above statement by the Indian nationalist, Jawaharwal Nehru some 70 years ago. This paper however argues that the recent uprisings in Bamenda and Buea are more than an Anglophone problem, but the symptoms of a national malaise which need a more comprehensive and truthful dialogue that will cover the media, the economy and the state structures. It is therefore a defining moment in nation that should be taken at the floods.

Anglophone Problem or National Malaise

The issues raised by our compatriots from the Southwest and Northwest regions are not just Anglophone claims, they are also Francophone claims, and therefore our national claims for several reasons.
Firstly, when the knell tolls in Bamenda, Garoua, Maroua, Bertoua, Bafoussam or anywhere in Cameroon, “…never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee” as the American writer, Hemingway remarked about the death or suffering of a human being as part of mankind. This sense of common destiny should bind all Cameroonians together, as parts of the same nation.
Secondly, more than an Anglophone problem, recent uprisings in Bamenda and Buea are indicators of a more profound national malaise, resulting from the institutional leadership and governance architecture of our country that was flawed from its original design. In the light of its experiments for the past 50 years, our institutional framework for the management of public affairs appears as not meant to respond to the people’s needs and aspirations.
What is called the Anglophone problem is a specific aspect of a more fundamental national problem that could be defined as a genetic default of a public governance system that is not responsive to the Cameroonian people’s concerns and needs, Anglophones and Francophones as well.

It could be likened to the human body where an infection of the entire body, and its proper treatment would require to tackle the root cause of the disease, which has dragged on for so many years with obvious consequences. The persistence of the disease, not to say its aggravation, should have been a wake-up call for the authorities, but our state-system was not designed with such a preventive built-in control mechanism to timely alert its managers about its dysfunction and eventually its near collapse, making it almost irremediable. Thus the general awareness of the institutions or state-owned corporations’ illness at its terminal stage.

Otherwise, how can an effective public governance system not be alerted promptly about the hurdles of its citizens on the road between Douala and Bamenda, or Yaounde and Bamenda and act accordingly? How many lives should be lost on our roads – and especially on the main ones – before a system understands the emergency of the situation? How many lives should be lost in hospitals before the rehabilitation of the healthcare system? How many mothers and babies a country should lose before its consciousness wakes up to the crisis?
The governance malaise could therefore be seen in the poor access of the population to basic infrastructure services such as potable water and sanitation, electricity, transportation, healthcare, education, housing, ill performing state-owned corporations chronically sucking subsidies and never self-sustaining; moribund function of several public institutions and enterprises (e.g. Social and Economic Council, National Investment Corporation, National Hydrocarbons Corporation, Douala Stocks Exchange), etc.

To better understand the genetic or endogenous nature of the disease, one could observe that for the past 30 years, President Biya, Cameroon’s Head of State (HOS), has continuously and unsuccessfully denounced in the public service those vices and scandals that impede our development, including inter alia corruption, bureaucratic red tape, embezzlement of public funds, administration bottlenecks, unfriendly business environment deterring investments.
In fact, over the years, the spread of the vices has become viral, with an upsurge of discrimination, injustice and economic inequality. Despite the frequent presidential warnings and criticism of the civil service, the persistence of the same problems over the years and the government’s inability to address and tackle them has only made the malaise structural. It has become a DNA-like weaknesses of the system’s public governance design, a sort of built-in genetic default that prevents the body’s system to perform at its best; and a default that can only be corrected by modifying the public governance system’s DNA.

No Piecemeal but Comprehensive, Truthful Dialogue

Whatever its outcome, the current negotiations initiated by the government will only address some facets of the problem. With regard to the structural nature and scope of the malaise that involves all national stakeholders – political, civil, religious, etc. there is a need to adopt long-term, broad perspectives for sustainable and lasting solutions. This demands a comprehensive, constructive and holistic approach. Otherwise it will bounce back again. “Law and order” is not a substitute for effective responses to people’s claims and concerns that can only be attained through a responsible and constructive dialogue, underpinned by good faith and open mind of the parties involved, in search of consensually and mutually agreed – and not imposed -solutions.
In this context, it should be clearly acknowledged that the case of the Supreme Court Judge, Paul Ayah and others, will do disservice to the cause of our democracy. We should therefore stand up for a state that protects its citizens’ rights and freedoms of expression, and not a one that terrorizes them.
Any piecemeal, partial or non-inclusive approach will reduce the issue to a bureaucratic transaction, and once more to look patchy and cosmetic, sadly reminding most of us of the Foumban scenario in 1961, that goes down in history for many as a cunning, a zero-sum game, whereby for one party to win, the other has to lose, for one party to fatten, the other has to starve.
Any piecemeal approach means not doing so, and will result in omitting the most serious questions, such as: how best to organize a balanced distribution of political power for inclusive wealth? How best to design a system of transparent democratic governance that promotes development? How to organize a political system that ensures an efficient allocation of resources, whereby the Public Service officials or managers are accountable before the people? How to build a nation whose main goal is to ensure freedoms and rights of the citizens in their pursuit of happiness? How to design and organize a Public Service that is devoted to the service of the community and not become its predator?
Besides, one important observation deserves notice: the so-called Anglophone claims or complaints are no more coming from the Founding Fathers, but from their children and especially their grandchildren. This means the collective memory is now the fuel of anger and frustration. Looking at 50 years back, they had the impression that the Foumban Conference on reunification was a travesty, whereby one party was duped by the other. Thus again our call for a transparent, comprehensive and truthful healing process, heavily involving the young generations, who make up 80% of the population, as about 20 million Cameroonians are under age 30.

The Role of the Media

The media is an indispensable instrument that should remain free and independent for the effective accomplishment of its role in the society, and not become a tool of manipulation by or propaganda for any special interest group’s benefit, at the expense of the general interest. As the watchdog for an effective democratic and transparent society, its role should be to provide the citizens with facts and information to keep them politically vigilant and alert about any threat that may arise against their freedoms and rights. In so doing, the media should be aware of the various threats to which it is exposed, inter alia corruption and different negative pressure that would prevent it from effectively fulfilling its duty.
The media should avoid become propaganda agents for some special interest groups, which would force them to disinformation and intoxication, for instance indexing the Anglophone as a bundle of Vikings ready to massacre the Francophone, with the obvious consequences of nurturing inter-community hatred and tribalism.

The Case of the Economy…

At the outbreak of the Cameroonian economic crisis in the mid-1980s, various audits attributed its root cause to the nature of the welfare-state, that had distorted the efficient and competitive allocation of resources, resulting in the economic recession, banking sector’s crisis (huge volume of toxic assets and credit crunch), across the board collapse of state-owned and para-statal corporations. These events led to massive job losses and triggered an unprecedented impoverishment phenomenon across country. For almost 20 years Cameroon embarked on a Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) under the auspices of the Bretton Woods’ institutions. It is only sad to notice that after so much sacrifice and sweat by the population, Cameroon is almost back to square zero, due to poor implementation of the structural reforms recommended by the SAP.
Over the period of more than 30 years, from 1984 to date, the annual growth rate of Cameroon has averaged circa 2 percent in real terms, as compared to a population growth rate of about 2.5 percent; the per capita GDP growth has hence remained stagnant if not shrunken. Adjusting the Boko Haram effect on growth and income distribution, the pattern of poverty curve has worsened over the last ten years, with worst incidence in the rural areas and Northern regions.
The perennial nature of these problems such as poor performance in development achievements, despite the partial public debt cancellation in the context of the Highly Indebted and Poor Countries Initiative (HIPIC), in 2006, has pushed many observers to conclude that the underlying causes of the “disease” are structural and endogenous, and stem from a root vice in the system’s public governance architecture.
Risky State structures …

The historical development of our state structure was underpinned by President Ahidjo’s grand design of a highly centralized state, almost akin to a totalitarian state, which explains many of its current poor performances on social, economic and political fronts. If a state is not designed to acknowledge and preserve the basic human rights of its citizens, how would it promote and protect the specific and historical rights of the Anglophone?
The whole process of state formation was flawed from the origin, with the clear design to emasculate people’s rights to emancipation. The event of Reunification was only a step within the grand design. It resulted into a vampire-like state wherein a small bunch of parasite citizens, suck the blood and sweat of the others; a system by which a small fraction of predators could accumulate large amount of wealth without strive and toil; that favors a welfare-state dependency instead of empowering individuals to forge the destiny of their choice. The main features of this formation process include:
-The political process underlying the dynamics from a multi-party system to one party regime;
-The change from a federal state to a unitary state, in fact a totalitarian state;
-A massive concentration of powers in the hands of one person, the Head of State, without check and balance mechanisms, namely as a result of expunging legislative and judiciary’s independent powers;
-A perpetuation of the colonial administration (Bureaucracy) that was not intended for development, but for the confinement and the containment of the people; enslaving citizens in a so-called “Law and Order” scheme;
-A highly centralized government system that is navel-centered and therefore unable to identify the environment’s threats and opportunities;
-A top-down decision making process, characterized by frequent bloating, lacking flexibility and reactivity to operate structural reforms, implement projects and address the global developmental challenges;
-A public service in which officials wield enormous powers without being accountable to the people;
The above dynamic associated risks include the isolation of the system’s center that becomes hostage of some special interest groups, nepotism and corruption, crony capitalism and market inefficiency, and lack of transparent decision-making process, mainly in the public contracts’ bidding process.

The adverse consequences for the society include sluggish and non-inclusive growth, public leadership distancing itself from people’s needs and expectations, collapse of public corporations, slowness in public reforms and projects’ implementation, (e.g. decentralization law enacted since 1996); high rate of public funds embezzlement and wastage, poor access to basic infrastructure services, high unemployment rate, poor private investment records, aggravation of impoverishment, uneven regional development, poverty aggravated, zombie and vassal citizens, loss of trust in the state by the youth culminating in loss of hope, self-pride and self-esteem, increase in tribalism, loss of solidarity and citizenry bindings, defeatism, fatalism and resignation among young generations.
In a compelling book “Why Nations Fail”, the authors, Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, respectively professor of economics at MIT and of government at Harvard, delved into more than three centuries of development history to understand why certain nations grow rich and others remain poor. The outcome of this research shows a strong correlation between the political power distribution and the prosperity dynamics in societies. They argued that:
“Countries such as Great Britain and the United States became rich because their citizens overthrew the elites who controlled power and created a society where political rights were much broadly distributed, where government was accountable and responsive to citizens, where, and where the great mass of people could take advantage of economic opportunities…. People fought for and won more political rights and they used them to expand their economic opportunities. The result was a fundamental different political and economic trajectory, culminating in the Industrial Revolution”

On Federalism and Secession

In a highly decentralized or federal-like society, the likelihood is higher to find a more balanced distribution of power that empowers regions, local communities and individuals to gain control over their destiny.
Federalism does not mean Anglophone or secession. It is a form of state organization, and it is a way of public governance, which has proved its effectiveness as a development accelerator in several countries including USA, Canada, Germany, Australia and several other countries. Let us not confuse people’s mind, federalism does not challenge or question the founding fathers’ pledge of ‘Unity in diversity”, on the contrary the prevailing highly centralized government does, as attested by its dangerous resulting consequences. The often heard outcry “Le Cameroun est un et indivisible” can only be justified in case of secessionist claims.
Only highly decentralized or federal-like systems of governance are genuinely inclined to empower people and local communities to become the main agent of their development, to be the major stakeholders of their life.
Constitutions are not inscribed on stone; the only permanent thing in this world is constant global changes, which continuously challenge our pattern of life, and it may compel a country to adapt its organization for the betterment of its citizens. Over the last 30 years, our world has witnessed the cases of former Soviet Union, Germany, Sene-Gambia, Brexit…Many countries are currently under similar pressure including UK. Anticipation and pro-activeness is the best guide to avoid brutal and undesired consequences akin to these patterns of evolution.

The Defining Moment for our Destiny

In 1947, at the dawn of the independence of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of this great country, addressing the Indian Constituent Assembly, told his fellow countrymen that:
“Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge….At the stroke of the midnight hour, while the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance…”
This is our moment of utterance and reckoning. This is a defining moment for our country. Let us frankly face the issues, and not deny it, or procrastinate for lasting and sustainable response. We owe it to young and future generations. We should seize the recent events in Bamenda and Buea as a “blessing in disguise”, as an opportunity to re-assess our State’s performance, with the aim of building a time-proof effective institutional public affairs’ infrastructure. Such an institutional infrastructure will make our country free of violence and free of corruption. It will align the state’s structure with the vision of the Founding Fathers for “Unity in Diversity”.

With regard to our poor past and present performance in matters of economic and social progress, we should not be afraid to question our present pattern of public governance, or our way of leadership with the aim to improve them and make them much more responsive to the needs of the people. In light of the above, our State, in its prevailing form and structure, appears as more of a liability than an asset. Hence the need for a critical and true assessment of our public affairs, leadership, and governance.
With regard to the high and frequent level of corruption of certain officials, we should not be afraid to discuss ways and means to uphold the public high office-holders accountable before the people.
Let us undertake to build a nation that provides all of its children with equal opportunity to fulfill their dreams and aspirations, to realize their own talents; a nation that indiscriminately empowers its citizens, regions and local communities to fully participate in their development process; a nation that gives hope to its young members; that restores their confidence in the State as an impartial institution, guarantor of the people’s security and justice; that engenders audacious and self-confident entrepreneurs, fully empowered to participate in mankind’s venture of value creation, in every avenue of life, be it technology, entrepreneurship, energy, water, urbanization, agriculture, manufacturing, biotechnology, physics, information and environment, technology, arts, etc.
Last but not least, let us undertake to build an inclusive nation, based on principles of equality in rights and freedoms for all, for only free minds can develop. That will be our best legacy for future generations. By achieving it, the generations to come 50 years hence, will be proud of us.

By Christian Penda Ekoka, Technical Advisor, Office of the President Republic of Cameroon...

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Christian Penda Ekoka

20.Feb.2017

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The SUN Newspaper

20.Feb.2017

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