Considering the current
political dispensation in Cameroon, in which the very old have refused to cede
power to the youth, we must bear in mind what President Julius Nyere of Tanzania
(1963) said, “it would be both wrong, and certainly
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| ByJackson Nanje |
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It was John Keats, the
English Romantic poet who died of tuberculosis only at age 25, who, in his poem
“Ode to a Nightingale” authored the words, “my heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains my sense, as though of
hemlock (poisonous flower) I had drunk.” This is the same kind of sharp
pain I, and many Cameroonians felt when the Constitutional Council, summoned by
the President of the Republic of Cameroon to examine the petitions of the
October 7, 2018 Cameroon Presidential Elections, tabled by Prof. Maurice Kamto
of Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MCR) and Hon. Joshua Nambangi Osih of the
Social Democratic Front (SDF), were rejected. I and many others were completely
discombobulated even so the following Monday, when they declared the incumbent,
President Paul Biya, the winner much to the chagrin of many in the nation. The
election has been stolen, again, the people screamed after it was alleged to
have been stolen before in 1992. At this point, it is therefore needless to
conduct any elections in Cameroon because the outcome is already known. It will
be rigged by the old oligarchies whose goal to maintain power supersedes the
desire of the people of Cameroon who want to create opportunities for all.
President Paul Biya has
been in power for 36 years now and many who thought he was going to leave the
presidency gracefully this time around (the 2018 Election cycle) and fold
quietly onto retirement, were wrong. A clear win is usually celebrated; this
was not one of them. It was undoubtedly stolen for him by the Constitutional
Council Members who do not have a regard for the youth and the nation of
Cameroon. Heartless, they are, indeed! They have caused tremendous pain to the
nation in the favorable decision they rendered to the President despite the overwhelming
evidence that showed the voting intentions of majority of Cameroonians to the
contrary.
After the October 7, 2018
elections, exit polls undeniably indicated that Prof. Maurice Kamto was leading
all candidates and most Cameroonians, who have known only Paul Biya as
president in the last generation (30 years) or more, were already celebrating
the impending change of government which had eluded them for many years. And
because of the positive in-coming results from majority of the 2500 Polling
Stations throughout the country, it was safe for Prof. Kamto to confidently
proclaim himself as the victor of the election. He did; however, knowing the heavy-handedness
of the Cameroon’s People Democratic Movement (CPDM) party, they were not going
to rely on the exit polls if they were to maintain their candidate (President
Biya) as president. Also, knowing that the composition of the 11-members of the
Constitutional Council that oversaw the elections were members of the
president’s ruling CPDM party, the chances of election rigging by the CC therefore
became worrisome and apparent to the Kamto camp. Also, to guarantee that no
errors were made in ensuring a favorable election results, President Biya immediately
went native by appointing Clement Atangana (from his native area) as the
president of the Cameroon Constitutional Council. The Cameroon Renaissance
Movement (MCR) and the Social Democratic Front (SDF) parties quickly mobilized
the best lawyers in their respective camps, to ensure that Clement Atangana did
not change the voting will of majority of Cameroonians who had voted for a change
in Cameroon’s Presidential leadership. In addition to Clement Atangana, these are
the other members of the Cameroon Constitutional Council who abated in swaying
the results to the incumbent who will equally go down in the annals of Cameroon
history as individuals who dashed the hopes of Cameroonians because of the
quest to maintain President Paul Biya in power:
1)
Mr. Emmanuel Bonde
2)
Mr. Joseph Marie Bipoum Woum
3)
Ms. Florence Rita Arrey
4)
Mr. Emile Essombe
5)
Mr. Paul Nchoji Nkwi
6)
Mr. Jean-Baptiste Baskouda
7)
Mr. Oumarou Bah Sanda
8)
Mr. Charles Etienne Lekene Donfack
9)
Mr. Jean Akame Fouman
10)
Mr. Tidjani Ahmadou
The MCR and SDF lawyers
were extremely splendid in defending their case in front of the Constitutional
Council. They made the more than 15 million viewers who watched the live
proceedings on Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV), to be proud of a country that
the old and sleepy-eyes politicians have deprived them of, in bringing the best
for their country for far too long. They mirrored the desires of the youth who
have been yearning to take control of their country and run it for the best
interest of all Cameroonians. The lawyers demonstrated that, they are the
finest in Africa in their lawyering profession. In addition, they provided
ample evidence to demonstrate the multiple election irregularities by exposing
the judges as “bought overs” of the regime for whom they worked for, and rather than for the Cameroonian people whose interest they should protect.
At some point in our
political lives, as citizens, we must outweigh the option of doing a collective good, which brings happiness for all as opposed to individual good, which satisfies just
a handful. It is this individual good which causes pain to the nation that made
the African great, President Julius Nyere of Tanzania to muster these words (January 1963; Freedom and Unity:202):
“It would be both wrong, and certainly unnecessary, to feel we must wait until
the leaders are dead before we begin to criticize them!” Even as a member of
a political party (CPDM) when you observe that the norms of democracy are not
maintained, staying quiet and not criticizing the fictitious practices of your
party like most CPDM militants do always, it is wrong. The CPDM party can still do
good for our people if militants decide to eliminate corrupt practices inherent in most militants
and to start adopting initiatives that will better the lives of Cameroonians
without regard to ethnicity, age, creed or the origins of citizens. Rather, merit
and disadvantage people should dominate the decision of the CPDM-led government. This was
the cry of the lawyers in the most part, and the reason most people yearning for
change voted for Prof. Maurice Kamto by rejecting the failed polices of the CPDM
party. The CPDM party might have clandestinely won the 2018 Cameroon Presidential
Elections but they are riding on the backs of unwilling horses (the people) if they do not
change their corrupt practices. There is pain looming in the nation and it is
only a matter of time before it becomes combustible.
We must constantly look
in the mirror and ask ourselves, why is it that a few are happy in a country
that boasts of plenty of resources and majority of the country’s people are
unhappy?! Because of good leadership?!
