The Mystical Elitism and Power Play in Cameroon

Attorney at Law Wilson Ngoh

The  current Anglophone struggle, protest, uprising  or strike, call it what you may choose to, affecting former  British Southern Cameroon, initiated by the Cameroon Common Law Bar  and Teachers’ Syndicates of the English-speaking Cameroon has without doubt shaken the foundation of our very existence and has exposed the supposedly 'unity and solidarity" of our country.

It has also exposed the vulnerability of, and created visible fault lines in President Biya’s governing structures. It has revived the ashes of history and pricked our collective sub consciousness, to embolden us and, to give us expression in topics which hitherto were considered taboos.  It has redefined and reshaped the concept of State Power. It has equally changed the perception on how we view each other vis-à-vis in this fragile union between the French-speaking and English-speaking Cameroonians.

For more than 30 years President Biya has effectively maintained his grip on power, commanding almost a godly-like respect from the people amidst mind-boggling corruption, rising youths’ unemployment, poor infrastructures, executive arrogance, abuse of human rights and marginalization of the English-speaking folks, ingredients that undoubtedly in other countries would have easily provoked a revolt or a civil strife before now.

                      How is Biya managing it?

The question asked in another way is, how has he been able to pull this power-grip off? This is what this paper seeks to accomplish and how it correlates with the Anglophone crisis? The Cameroon political landscape is a complex vertical structure of power consisting:
The president (the puppets’ master)
The elite (many tiny puppets)
The ‘grass rooters’ (includes the ordinary citizens.)

In a normal democracy, you have the government (president) and the people.
This mean there is a free flow of communication, access and contact between the president and the masses. The people own the system and hold the government to account. Since we do not operate in a normal democracy, there is an opaque and seemingly isolatable wall between the president and the masses superfluously created by the regime, making it impossible for the people to communion or inter-face with their government. And this has been a policy strategy, enforced and maintained by personality cult and it has invariable given rise to the monster of elitism in our body polity.

This monster called Elitism operates and thrives on a diabolic system of political patronage, deeply anchored on hand-outs, blackmail, backdoor political appointments, backstabbing to win favors, mind control, greed, manipulation, sycophancy and racketeering, which the end game is self-survival. The monster of elitism is made up of tiny puppets called elite, drawn from all the regions of Cameroon to bind together with the conviction that, their survival and interest is paramount to the collective interest of the masses. It is this group that has rushed in and occupied the gap between the people and the president, pretentiously acting as a bridge and message-bearers between the people and the president. Their common denominators are their affluence, flashy cars and ostentatious lifestyle which does not impress the common man on the street.

                              Elitism Politics in Cameroon

Permit me to advance some definitions of ELITISM.
According to Wikipedia, elitism ‘is the belief or altitude that individuals who form an elite –a select group of people with certain ancestry, intrinsic quality or worth, high  intellect, wealth, specialized training or experience or other distinctive attributes, are those whose influence or authority is greater than others’

And Dictionary.com defines elitism/elite as, ‘in political and sociological theory, for a small group of powerful people that controls a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege or political powers in the society’ The term originates from Latin (meaning to choose or elect). Being an elect is underpinned by the elitist belief that government should be by a self-appointed group who are considered superior to others by their higher birth or material possession rather than it being for, by and of the people.

In all these definitions, a few elements run across power, wealth and control for selfish interest. It is this belief which makes the concept of ELITISM dangerous and which should be castigated and suppressed in our body polity and not the fact of being an elite itself. This paper is not a punk on the elite class, as there is nothing wrong with being elite. I consider myself as elite.

Throughout history leadership has evolved from the elite class to the larger society. Leadership role is a vocation for the elite. So, Elite per se is not under condemnation here; but when the elite become greedy and self-conceited thereby failing in their role of providing positive leadership for the masses (leadership that solves societal problems), then, we should all rise in good faith to condemn them.

In our country, because of the easy access that this exclusive group has to pilferage the wealth of our nation, belonging there has become a full-time career for many. Unconditional support is what is needed to the president and to these chaps, the president is elevated to the statute of a demi-god, so that the fear of the president is the beginning of wisdom or, is paramount.

The concept of elitism is almost assuming the coloration of a cult, since they control everything in the polity and practically decides who gets what, when and how. While only the scrums trickle down to the masses, this has made the race to become elite to remain elite almost a deadly one since only a few are admitted. This system has effectively acted as a shock absorber, in diffusing stress and tension in the system and continue to guarantee grass root support for the president, bearing in mind that tribalism is rift in our veins as Cameroonians, this system seeks to promote same.

Since our dear president does not inter-face or interact with the citizens except on very rear televised speeches and does not campaign during national elections, the Elite class as a necessity does campaigning for the president. And when this happens, they become the only gate way for the masses to see or hear from the president. I must admit that the elite have effectively played their role as it pertains to calming down the tension within the system. Some instances to be mentioned are: in the 90s they were able to reverse the rising tide of SDF populism. In 2008, the diffused the tension following the general strike. They have practically given the president victory in all elections that he has participated logically so, since the elite does the campaigns for the president.
      
On their part, the incredulous masses have remained loyal and respectful to their elite class, almost always clinging piously to their every word as the gospel truth. And since Yaoundé is the seat of power where the national cake is shared, it seems too distant away from the common man. With all these mysteries and myths, it becomes imperative that every region is hooked to this idea that, only the elite class, with their experience, supposed intellect and exposure can go on board, withstand the heat of the kitchen, grab their own share of the cake and bring it down to them for equal distribution.

Over time the people pin much hope on these elites, but as time goes by the masses never saw what is rightfully theirs. The elites with their predatory instinct have been preying on the gullibility of their prey (the masses) and have fed them with lies, false hope and vain promises that has never materialized while ignoring the genuine cries of the people, promising to channel the people’s complaints to the right quarters. Truth is that, most of these elites the people depend on have never gone beyond the first gate of the presidency. In as much as I begrudge the altitude of the elites, I must take a pause here to acknowledge their ingenuity in keeping the frustration and anger of the masses in cheek from reaching boiling point. Their ability to make the masses to make reason and understanding even in the most ridiculous and incomprehensible situations, is unquestionably unquestionable.

-To understand why some of them have never seen even a meter of tarred road in their area since independence.
-Why they are made to pay as much 2500 FRS as transport fare for five kilometer distance due to bad roads.
-To understand why petrol is oozing out from their soil but don’t have a single pump station
-To understand why their children don’t have jobs.
-To understand why some of their children study under terrible conditions due to the lack thereof of classrooms.
-To understand while there is so much waste in the system why many go hungry.
-To understand why there is unchecked and institutionalized corruption.

  The Anglophone crisis poses another test for the elite. As the crisis escalates in scale and scope and snowball from a syndicate issue into a national crisis. President Biya once again rely on his elite class to quench the fire in the house rather than to talk directly to the people and profiling an acceptable solution for the country. These elite group went full swing into action, starting by outright denial of the existence of the Anglophone problem. That effort hits the rock bottom, the elite re-strategized, then tried negotiation but that too failed.
They equally tried to stem the rising tide of the tension by beaten down the strike. But here too they met their waterloo. With their tails in-between their legs, they resulted to applying the force of intimidations, it is only then that the elite class realized that something greater than the ant has entered the ant hole. By not harkening to the voice of the elite class for the first time, the masses are just beginning to tear down the walls of elitism that has being a major problem in our body polity. It likens to the scenario where ‘the falcon can no longer bear or listen to the falconer.’
      
As the house of cards begin to crumble under the crushing anger of the masses, Biya has to look for a new model of communication to pass his message to the people, first for the good of the country and secondly, for his own survival. It must be emphasized that the lack of effective and direct communication is at the heart of this crisis. you hear it echoed from many different quarters that the president’s collaborators are not telling him the truth in respect to what is going on in a country he has been president for close to forty (40) years. Should this be true, then, there is an urgent need for the him (the president) to step down from his comfort zone and meet and discuss with the people directly. For the old system of elitism has failed this country and no longer sustainable in the long run. Or may he consider resignation for the good of his country?


 Wilson Lobe Ngoh is an Attorney at Law in Kumba, Meme Division in the South West Region of Cameroon. He could be reached @ lobengoh@yahoo.com