Politics

The on going reorganization of the basic organs of the ruling CPDM party, suffered a major set back in Kumbo, Bui Division in the North West Region and home constituency of Prime Minister Philemon Yang. The North West Regional team leader, Chief Dr. Dion Ngute at a rally in Kumbo lamented that “if the CPDM cannot win elections in Kumbo, headquarters of the PMs Division of origin, then we are wasting our time”.

The regional leader was visibly comparing the crowd that turned out for the exercise [about a hundred people] to the massive attendance in Ndop, Ngoketungia division. Dion Ngute also regretted that most Sections appear only on paper contrary to the real situation on the ground, reason for the poor results in elections. The CPDM member of government added that the party hierarchy has decided to reorganize the basic organs so as to master the situation in the field. He said the low turnout was due to the lack of enthusiasm and commitment and cautioned supporters of the six sub sections in Bui against infighting and disunity noting that when militants get together, the party becomes stronger hence the need for the CPDM to fortify.

Other speakers included former Minister Ngafesson Emmanuel who lampooned the people of Bui saying they were “cutting down the branch on which they were sitting”. Both Hon. Kwei Andrew and Prof. Uphie Chinje, President of the Bui Divisional reorganization committee called on the Bui militants to rally behind the government. Despite constant appeals from party officials in Yaounde on a nationwide consensus where need arises, there are visible signs that the plea is falling on deaf ears.

Some incumbent Section presidents are not willing to relinquish power to the new comers despite their age and health reasons. New comers are warming up and are determine to flush out some sit-tight old guards by any means. There have been continues call on Yaounde authorities to stay clear of grass root politics as they do not master the terrain. The sum of 500.000frs. was distributed by the North West reorganization team leader to each of the six subsections in Bui Division as support and warned that the money was meant for logistical expenses related to the exercise only.

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Ngwa Bertrand

07.Nov.2015

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The African Union (AU) has warned that the continuation of the political crisis in Burundi poses a major threat to both the country and the region. AU Commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma made the remarks in a statement on Thursday, calling on the conflicting sides in the country to work to resolve their differences peacefully. 

Dlamini-Zuma warned that if the conflict continues, the situation will “create conditions for more instability, with devastating consequences for Burundi and the whole region.” She also said the situation could send the country back into a civil war and called on leaders in Burundi to “demonstrate the sense of responsibility that the situation demands and to place the interests of the Burundian people above any other consideration.”

The AU official also repeated threats of “targeted sanctions” previously made by the union against some of the warring sides’ leaders. She further voiced the AU’s support for mediation efforts by Uganda.

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Ngwa Bertrand

06.Nov.2015

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305 militants of the ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement including a former municipal administrator have resigned from the party. Their resignation came on the day that marks the 33rd anniversary of the accession to power of the party’s chairman President Paul Biya. In a letter addressed to the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the CPDM, the 305 members from the Yagoua Section in the Mayo Danay Division revealed that they could no longer tolerate tribalism which has rocked the section under the leader of Hon. Silikam Isabelle.

Some of the militants who spoke to the press on condition that their identity should be concealed said President Biya has failed and that his new agenda is focus only on keeping his kinsmen in power. The CPDM militants argued that they were at a loss to understand why Yaounde has made it completely impossible for them to change comrades Makassia Jean and Isabelle Silikam-Section and WCPM Section presidents respectively of Yagoua.

One of the many resigning, Ousmanou Yaya, noted that ever since the last parliamentary elections, the leadership of the Yagoua section has been targeting the Fulani ethnic group painting them as supporting Boko Haram. For his part, Aliou Gobio Hamadou, the former mayor of Yagoua explained that “today’s resignation is justified through deplorable findings and deficiencies related to the management of the party”.

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Ngwa Bertrand

06.Nov.2015

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The 4th of November 2015 marks 33 years since Cameroon’s first President, the late Ahmadou Ahidjo resigned. The former President’s resignation was announced on Thursday, 4th November 1982 during the 8 pm news on radio. When it was time for the news, the jingle played on and on and people began to speculate that it was a cabinet reshuffle.

Earlier in the day, those at the radio house noticed that the neighbouring building which was the Prime Minister’s Office (now the Ministry of External Relations) had some unusual movements. Speculations were rife that the President was preparing to change his Ministers. The news presenter of the 8 pm news that day, Jean Claude Ottou explained how he got the information.

He mentioned that his boss took him to the studio just before the news, gave him the tape to play and told him it contained the then President’s resignation message.

Some Cameroonians who listened to the message that evening, especially historians, still retain the late President’s words, “Camerounaises, Camerounais, mes chers compatriotes, J’ai décidé de démissionner de mes fonctions de Président de la République du Cameroun.”

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Ngwa Bertrand

05.Nov.2015

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A group of German Parliamentarians have visited Buea, capital of the South West Region. The Governor of the South West Region, Bernard Okalia Bilai received the German delegation who were accompanied by the Ambassador of Germany to Cameroon, H.E. Holger Mahnicke.

Holger Mahnicke hailed Cameroon’s efforts towards ensuring security in the country and decried terrorism, calling for a global response to stamp out terrorist incursions. This visit was a remarkable one considering that Buea was the capital of Cameroon during the German administration from 1901 to 1909.

The German visitors stopped over at historic German structures like the German Governor’s residence which is as old as 1902 and the Bismarck Fountain constructed in 1899.

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Ngwa Bertrand

05.Nov.2015

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Homelessness, disease, poverty, poor maintenance culture, corruption, the complete absence of an acceptable transport network is rocketing and millions languish in poorly equipped hospitals around the country. But this CPDM Government are oblivious to the human suffering this is causing. The government dither over rent controls in urban centres, do nothing to answer the urban questions and propose miniscule home-building no more accepted even in mother France. They allow sell-offs of land in Southern Cameroons territory when these could be used to alleviate the poverty crisis. They actually cut salaries, increased social insurance contribution and gave sweeteners to the local population by pretending to decentralize the National Social Insurance Fund.

There are currently so many concocted judicial proceedings which have generated clashes among senior dignitaries of the regime. Biya is a political disaster that has been around for the last 33 years. We can’t and won’t wait any longer for action. The new anti- terrorism law was enacted to stifle the right to protest-just so the rich CPDM families can get richer. The so called emergency plan is a bonanza for Mr. Biya and members of the CPDM Central Committee including those of the National Executive Committee of the SDF to increased their wealth. The new economic plan is built on very low salaries and diminished rights for the majority. To be sure, it is inherently unfair and offers no future.

Yet, the CPDM government and its SDF collaborators are defending this inequality by attacking those who resist it. Soldiers killed innocent students at the University of Buea protesting against dubious admission policy into the School of Medical Science. Now those who ordered the killings are running away from doctors made in Cameroon and are seeking treatment abroad. Consequently, the French now have the bill of health of all senior Cameroon government officials.

The recent reorganization of the CPDM Government by President Biya painted a picture of a system that is bound to fail. Many of the ministers are the same men who have ruined the country. One of the most incompetent Cameroonian citizens ever, Laurent Esso, Minister of State in charge of Justice in the new cabinet, was appointed Minister of Justice in 1996 and headed the justice department till 2000. He was successively Minister of Public Health in 2000; Minister Delegate in charge of Defense in 2001; Minister of State in charge of External Relations and Minister of State, Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic in 2006. In 2011 he returned as the head of the Ministry of Justice succeeding another recycled CPDM minister, Amadou Ali. So, his appointment on October 2nd, 2015 as Minister of Justice is simply an excellent backward trend.

Martin Belinga Eboutou, Director of the Civil Cabinet at the presidency of the republic is the cold schemer plotter of the regime. He was Director of State Protocol since 1989. He was later appointed Director of the Civil Cabinet from 1996 to 1997. He was sent as Cameroon Representative to the United Nations. In June 30, 2009, a presidential decree brought him back as head of the Directorate of the Civil Cabinet-a post he still holds even after the last cabinet shakeup.

Pierre Ismael Bidoum Mkpatt was a Cameroonian artist and a relation to the first lady Chantal Biya. Appointed Minister of Sports and Physical Education from 2000 to 2004, the October 2nd, 2015 presidential decree gave him back the same job he left in 2004. Philippe Mbarga Mboa was appointed Minister in charge of Missions at the Presidency on August 2002 to December 2004. In 2004, he was appointed Minister of Sports and Physical Education. In 2011, he was back again as Minister in charge of mission at the Presidency of the Republic.

Louis Paul Motaze, current Minister of Economic Planning had been in that ministerial department from 2007 to 2011, when he was appointed Secretary General at the Prime Minister’s Office. Martin Mbarga Nguele, the national police boss, had already been Delegated General for National Security from 1983 to 1984. He returned to the policing business in 2010. Amadou Ali has been everything but Head of State. No wonder, some cabinet ministers from the Far North were quick to tell Prime Minister Philemon Yang recently that they wanted to visit their own head of government in a hospital in France.

If we aim to build a movement for fundamental change where wealth is used to benefit the majority not the few in the CPDM Central Committee and House of Senate, Anglophones and Francophones should and must read from the same script. There should be a general demand for the closure of the Special Criminal Court. All the members of the special police unit carrying out spying operation on the Cameroonian Diaspora should stop doing so. The Cameroonian Diaspora should suspend indefinitely all economic activity with the country and clamour for regime change.

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Ngwa Bertrand

03.Nov.2015

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