The Bushfallers: The Rise of a New Breed of Cameroonians

 

  By Emmanuel Konde

      The years between 1975 and 1991 something happened in Cameroon that transformed the generations after into creatures radically different from the before generations.  This work is about the generations after.  It traces their development through the prism of Cameroon’s political history. As the first generation of Cameroonians born under the United Republic of Cameroon, their character reflects the political changes of their country.  They attained maturity with the political maturity of Cameroon.  

                                                 Prologue

      A new kind of Cameroonian, either derogatively or approvingly designated as bushfallers in his native land, was conceived in the 1970s by a variety of social forces that intersected and then converged to give social birth to this formidable breed in the early 1990s.  These forces, mainly political and economic, also contributed to the inauguration of a quasi-multiparty political system in the erstwhile single-party state of Cameroon, and, accordingly unleashed a new ethos of aggressiveness among Cameroonians hitherto known for their passivity as a people who were always seen but seldom heard. Bushfallers, the human product of these forces of social change, are not only smart, determined, daring, calculating, enterprising, at once assertive and aggressive, but also seemingly unstoppable.  There seems to be nothing that this edition of bushfallers cannot accomplish if they set their minds on it.  These are the new exports of Cameroon to the world.  They are out to make money, the one thing that sets them apart from many generations before, and the one and only thing that compelled them to venture out of the Land of Promise into foreign lands far and wide.

     Markedly different from their antecedents who traveled abroad for various reasons, the driving force behind this driven breed is money. Again, unlike their antecedents, bushfallers never forget their roots.  They are first and foremost Cameroonians, nationalists of sorts, and totally devoid of tribal sentiment; they love their country, eschew tribal affiliations, are determined to make an indelible mark on the history of Cameroon, and to that end are making magic, literally, by their own exertions.  This new breed is transforming Cameroon from the coastal town of Limbe through Kumba to the Bamenda hinterlands.  Former shanty towns are being remade by the remittances of bushfallers.  Here and there marvelous buildings sprout from the soil like the corn crop. Indeed, even in the Bassa quartier Nkong Mondo in Douala, Francophone bushfaller wealth filtering into Cameroon from Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, France, etc., is wreaking wonders there to the utter amazement of Bamileke merchants who once thought of the Nkong Mondo Bassa youths as lazy and un-enterprising. 

     Never before has Cameroon beheld a marvel like the one being wrought almost everywhere in the country by bushfallers.  It is improbable that such a breath-taking marvel could again be fashioned in the future; neither shall the country ever again behold a breed in the likeness of bushfallers. This newness,   this transformation of the Cameroonian being is novel as it is unique and epochal.  

     Bushfaller wealth is also transforming the lives of many in their respective families, clans, tribes, and the entire country. Because of the special qualities of bushfallers, this breed constitutes the wave of the future of Cameroon. What is not clear at this time, however, is whether this new wave of change represented by bushfallers portends good or ill for Cameroon.  Admittedly, the ultimate end of “bushfallerism” in Cameroon is a prognosis too premature to make at this juncture.  Time will, however, tell.

     The emphasis on bushfallers should not be misconstrued as a denigration of non-bushfaller achievements; for, we recognize that bushfallers were assisted by their older brothers and sisters who either preceded them to Mbengue Europa and Mbengue Amerika, or labored in the Fatherland to ensure the advancement of their brethren.  But the visible achievements of the Cameroonians who first ventured abroad simply fade into insignificance when compared to those of bushfallers. On this conclusion I stake my reputation as an observer of social change in Cameroon..

      I write as a social philosopher and student of history, whose task is to interpret and explain the workings of the social order as accurately as possible. I examine how individuals and groups behave in society; I analyze the actions of individuals and aggregations and draw general conclusions from these about society.  From this vantage point, I am able to discern a striking social phenomenon that has been unfolding before our very own eyes during the past 16 years or so.  This phenomenon is now taking concrete form.  Its locus of incubation is the Fatherland, Cameroon.  Although there was in fact a commingling of variables that ushered in this bushfaller phenomenon, I have decided to isolate a few pivotal ones that influenced the making of this new breed.

     My last teenage escapade in Cameroon happened in Victoria, present-day Limbe, in 1975.  We were in Bay Hotel one Sunday afternoon dancing to Makossa during “Tea Time” when a scuffle ensued between one local boy and a military man over a girl.  I was inside gyrating to the deafening blast of a medley of Toto Guillaume and  the Black Styl, and did not witness the scuffle.  The soldier carried a pistol, which he pulled out.  He did not fire a single shot.  But the mere sight of a small gun sent more than 100 civilians running helter-skelter for dear life.  I was one of those civilians, and those were the waning years of Ahmadou Ahidjo’s Cameroon when some contemporary bushfallers were either toddlers or yet-to-be-born.  Fast forward to 1991, sixteen years later during the teenage years of our bushfallers now come of age.  We behold them battling armed soldiers with fists and stones during “Operation Ghost Town” under the auspices of John Fru Ndi.  From all apparent indications, a lot had happened in Cameroon that created something of a generational gulf between my teenage years and those of our bushfallers.  It is that something, which distinguishes the new breed of Cameroonian, that this work promises to unravel.

     The years between 1975 and 1991 something happened in Cameroon that transformed the generations after into creatures radically different from the before generations.  This work is about the generations after.  It traces their development through the prism of Cameroon’s political history. As the first generation of Cameroonians born under the United Republic of Cameroon, their character reflects the political changes of their country.  They attained maturity with the political maturity of Cameroon.  When in the early-1990s Operation Ghost Town released Cameroonians from the dictatorship of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), an offshoot of Ahidjo’s Cameroon National Union (CNU), the children of the Unitary State were the foot soldiers of this struggle and contributed to the making of the new epoch President Paul Biya aptly called the “New Deal Society”. Born in chains, these children were released from their chains by the promises of Biya’s New Deal Society, which opened up the closed society of Ahidjo’s “Old Oder” and gave vent to Fru Ndi’s “Operation Ghost Town”.

     If Operation Ghost Town provided them freedom domestically, the forces of globalization extended this freedom internationally. By the late 1990s, the would-be bushfallers were looking outward to the larger world for those things that the sagging Cameroon economy could not offer them.  Once abroad, their intermittent visits to Cameroon, which revealed behaviors, attitudes, and showmanship never before seen in Cameroon, won them the sobriquet bushfallers—those who fall bush (chappia bush), work (plant), and after harvesting come home to show off their newly acquired….

     The Bushfallers: Rise of a New Breed of Cameroonians is the story of their origins, growth, and transformative power.  As chronicler of the compelling story, that follows, I cannot help it but echo the sentiment of American sociologist C. Wright Mills: “I will try to be objective; I do not claim to be detached,” for, I am an offspring of Cameroon and can therefore not pretend detachment by any stretch of the imagination.

     This exegesis is an exposé of bushfallers cast within the context of some defining moments in the history of Cameroon from 1960 to the present. It does not attempt to pass judgment on this new breed because they defy social conventions and their proper place in the social order is yet to be defined.  The narrative style employed in this expose is the motif, drawn from music, whereby certain musical patterns recur time and time again throughout the piece.  In the case of this work, instead of musical patterns the focus of emphasis is on ideas, which are reiterated over and over again at different points and in different chapters of this work.  This narrative strategy is adopted in order to drive home the significance of the rise of bushfallers and the role that history seems to have pre-determined for them.  But, will they defy historical imperative?   



 

Cameroon: The Challenges of New Year 2014

With serious economic, infrastructural and security challenges to contend with, Cameroonians no longer expect the scandalous and profligate posturing that dominated the country’s leadership in 2013.

                                                 By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai*

     New Year Day is a day to rejoice and congratulate each other for witnessing another calendar year; and for many Cameroonians, it is a day to celebrate the hope that survival imposes on the country, even in an atmosphere of poverty and widespread lamentation. It is also a day to cast an introspective look into personal, corporate and national affairs in the year just gone by, to take stock and to chart a new course for the year ahead.This past year was strewn with many booby traps, both literally and metaphorically. On the whole, 2013 saw Cameroon developing into a nation in conflict with itself, a nation living in outright contradiction to its declared development objectives.

     For the umpteenth time, Cameroonians have had, at the turn of each year, the assurances of thePresident that better times are at hand. For that many number of times, Cameroonians have ended up with shattered hopes, broken promises and failed commitments. From all indications, it would appear that Cameroonians have been swindled again by their own government. In fact, not only have situations not improved, they have actually deteriorated. Most of the promises made, if not all, have gone unfulfilled.The Biya regime continues to harvest corruption scandals, with half-hearted pursuit of high profile culprits of audacious corruption. Whichever way Cameroonians turn, they are confronted with the overarching presence of pervasive corruption and societal decay.

     With serious economic, infrastructural and security challenges to contend with, the attention of the country’s leaders was in the course of the year 2013 often consumed by vaulting ambition, pursued with intricate permutations, manipulations and maneuvering. The Senate, Legislative and Municipal election saw a vicious, if not subtle hold-up of the electoral process whereby tired old men tottering on the borders of senile decay, were recycled with impunity!To add salt to an already festering injury, the youths were told to go and “wait for their turn.” This, indeed, is unacceptable. Even if the age of these gerontocrats is no problem, what about the age of their ideas?

     What the country deserves at this critical point is a crop of leaders that are endowed with the gift of steady application, imbued with the ability to control events rather than drift with the tides, and who in range of vision and depth of conception, tower above their contemporaries. Cameroon needs leaders of iron resolve, indomitable courage and sharp intellect with acute and exceptional sense of history to lead the people out of the doldrums. Such people abound in their numbers in this country but are choked by warped and corrupt recruitment processes, the major albatross of the country. Something, afterall, is wrong with a process which makes a few persons, in certain offices, or with some dubious connections; see it as their exclusive right to nominate people for appointment to public offices.

     As a New Year begins again, Cameroonian leaders must stop and think just where the country is headed. Does the experience of the last 30 years aggregate to development in a land so abundantly blessed but so deeply violated and desecrated? Pathological lust for power and greed for money have rendered purposeful leadership prostrate. It has become more and more apparent that the fortune of this country is confiscated by those concerned with maintaining and expanding their private economic and political estates, hence whichever way the dice falls, there is a sense of foreboding thatpeace will soon go into exile, and prosperity will be long in coming.

     The colossal waste and looting in government makes it now obvious that Cameroon’s problem, truly, is not money but where to spend it.The families and cronies of public office holders have constituted themselves into patronage cartels at whose disposal alone the public treasuryis placed and they alone decide who gets what. Vanity, of course, rules and their lifestyle is so opulent and extravagant in ways that are highly offensive to public sensibility.Large-scale looting, misappropriation of public funds and sundry acts of impunity anda culture of waste has taken root, fuelling an unmanageable cost of governance and, consequently, poor service to the people.

     It is so bad that, untested hands are appointed into sensitive public offices. The refrain is that the best of Cameroonians are outside the government. This tragedy is a vicious cycle: The collapse of businesses and poor economic environment due to poor political and economic decisions have made government and politics a major and most rewarding source of livelihood, the only thriving business, the surest way of climbing to the top with little or no sweat. Those who failed in business, in their education and some who at one time or the other, contributed to the economic downturn of the nation continue to be recycled in political offices giving them the opportunity to perpetuate their failure in the affairs of the nation. The result is what obtains today: widespread ineptitude in the body politic. No country, after all, can rise above the level of its workforce, especially at the decision-making or leadership level, hence the parlous state of the nation.

     The slogan of Vision 2035 remains for many critical minds a huge joke, a wild and idle prediction of the place of Cameroon’s economy by year 2035 on the global scale. The country’s path to greatness will be defined by the choices it makes today. Those who have had the primary responsibility to lead this country to greatness have often paid lip service to a nation; one, united and indivisible. Cameroon is nowhere near its potential; rather, it is a jungle to be plundered and violated with impunity.The bigger picture of the Cameroonian national mosaic demands the undivided attention of leaders who, of their own choosing, have come forward to govern. That mosaic must encompass the multi-dimensions of nation-building - education, healthcare, the economy, security, social services. These must be pursued simultaneously in an environment of social justice and equity, and it is what democracy is all about. Where any aspect is left unattended, development becomes stunted. We cannot claim to develop when access to jobs is effectively closed to the teeming products of the education system. We cannot develop when leaders go abroad for painkillers and surgery, rather than build functional health facilities at home.

     As Cameroonians enter a New Year, they expect of their leaders a change of heart, a resolve to put in hard work in legislation, planning, execution and oversight and accountability. What Cameroonians no longer expect is the scandalous and profligate posturing that dominates the country’s leadership today.Without the hope of a better tomorrow, life would be sterile. The experiences of 2013 serve as a reminder that justice as a primary condition of human existence remains a critical undercurrent of the nation’s travails. Cameroonians can only continue to embrace the peace, which the President often talks about so thoughtlessly, in an environment of justice and equity. They have no other country but this one to call their own. If so-called leaders aspire for peace and development, they must embrace justice. The country’s leaders must renew their pledge to diligently assume a leadership anchored on integrity, principles and exemplary self-sacrifice. Cameroon will stand or fall on account of how it tackles corruption. On this note, I wish all Cameroonians a Happy New Year!

*Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai is a Public Intellectual and graduate of Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he was Managing Editor of the Harvard Journal of African-American Public Policy. A former Research Analyst for Freedom House, he is a Consultant and lives in Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Leasing Vs. Purchasing an Automobile



After reading the last paragraph of my reply to Sango Samuel-King Etongwe on "Njangi", a few folks called me directly, asking why I think leasing an automobile is a better option or choice than outright purchasing one. Because these fellows were very satisfied with my response, I thought it would be important to share the same information with you, for better decision making in 2014 and beyond.

     I do not know much about automobile sales in Europe, Asia or Africa, but if you live in the U.S, there are 4 ways you can acquire any vehicle or mode of transportation;

1) Leasing

2) Cash Purchase

3) Purchasing through Financing (OPM)

4) Stealing/Carjacking????

I do not recommend option #4 because you might end up in prison or getting killed. So, my discussion will focus on the first 3 options.

1) Leasing.

     When you lease an automobile or any other commodity for that matter, you are agreeing to use it for a specific interval or period of time, the duration of which is embedded in the contract. In the case of an automobile, the contract will include the monthly payments, residual value or future market value of the machine, mileage requirements, term of lease to include termination date and other conditions, etc.

    

You can also have a close ended or open ended lease, but that is another matter. However, in leasing, you will always have the following options to exercise during or at the end of the lease agreement;

a) You can purchase the vehicle at the end of the Lease period or before.

b) You can trade in the vehicle for another one.

c) You can sell the automobile to a third party and use the proceeds from the sale to pay off any balance owed.

d) You can also return the vehicle to the dealer at the end of the lease.

     Most people are only familiar with the last option, i.e. return the vehicle. Hence, they fail to take advantage of the other options available to them. This lack of information compounds the misconception the general public has about leasing.

2) Purchase.

There are two primary methods involved in "purchasing" an automobile.

a) Cash Payment.

b) Financing.

2(a) Cash Payment.

     Here is when you have decided on what vehicle make and model you want, and you do not desire having a monthly "car note" or payment. So, you use your hard earned money, to pay cash for the automobile. As soon as you make the total payment in cash or check, the vehicle becomes YOURS, because you own the Title, free and clear. And if the cash you have on hand at the time of the transaction exceeds $10,000.00, then your purchase has to be reported to IRS as a security measure against "money laundering" or what have you....

2(b) Financing or Loan.

     Here, you decide that you do not want to pay cash or cannot afford paying cash for the automobile of your choice. So, you elect to use "Other People's Money" or OPM, via the Finance option. You either borrow money from your Bank or Credit Union or any other financial institution made available to you by the dealership. You will agree to pay interest (APR) on the loan you take and that increases the cost of the automobile at the "back-end". And the cost of the loan or APR will depend of your credit rating and/or market conditions. The higher your credit score, the lower the interest rate you'll have to pay, and vice versa. Poor credit ranking means higher risk for Banks. Very bad credit rating or lower score can stop or prevent a "cash strapped person" from acquiring a decent mode of transportation. However, dealers have devised creative ways to give folks "second chances" at extremely high interest rates, e.g. "Buy Here, Pay Here" or "Owner Financing."

Question #1; So why is Leasing better than Purchase?

Answer;

A) Unlike a piece of Real Estate, an automobile is a depreciating asset. The longer you own and keep it, the lower its market value. That is not the case with a house. In proper finance management or asset allocation, you want to own an appreciating asset but, lease depreciating assets if you have to, and invest the difference in savings.

B) Leases are generally less expensive in terms of monthly payments than Financing. A good negotiation can save you between $75.00 to about $100.00 on a lease transaction. That nets to about $1000.00 annually. And although you pay "money factor" on leasing, when converted the rate is generally lower than what you would pay in APR. The reason why leasing is less expensive is primarily because you are only paying for the duration of the lease agreement, as opposed to the "life" of the automobile. It's akin to eating and paying for 2 slices of Deluxe Pizza from Mellow Mushroom, instead of paying for a whole pizza that you may not want. You only pay for what you need.

C) Your automobile is under the manufacturer's warranty during the period of the lease. The most service you'll do on the vehicle is change the oil and gas it up. Most power train warranties are 3/36 and bumper-bumper=5/60. So, if you lease a vehicle for 3 years @ 12000km/yr, then you are completely covered under warranty for the duration of the lease. That alone is an attractive feature.

D) Most leases come with ''gap insurance" as part of the package. The leasing company seeks to protect its "asset" so it ties "gap" to the deal, in the event of an accident, God forbid.

E) In purchasing, you have only 2 options to exercise, (a) sell, (b) trade. Otherwise, you're stuck with a depreciating asset, which may eventually become a liability.

F) If you owned a business, and leased the automobile in your company's name, you get to make tax deductions at the end of each fiscal year. You can deduct all your or most of your payments on the lease, but you may want to consult with your accountant to be sure about how that works.

Question #2; But I do not own the vehicle when I lease it. What happens to the money I have paid?

Answer.

    That is a normal question from people who don't understand the concept of leasing. You pay for the time you use the automobile and still reserve the right to exercise all other options available to you as aforementioned. Residual value means future market value of the product, subtracting what you've already paid. It's like putting a down payment on something to limit your "financial liability" or "obligation".

     On the other hand and for starters, when you purchase an automobile through the second option, e.g. Financing (OPM), you do NOT "own" the vehicle until the 60th or 72nd payment is made, that is if the financing is for 5 or 6 years. In a Title holding State such as Kansas, you are issued a Title with a Lien on it, and the Lien is only released after the final payment is made. In most other states, you do not get a Title, so the vehicle does not belong to you until you make the last or final payment.

     If you lived in Atlanta-Ga. for instance, where the city is spread out and you drive approximately 20,000 miles a year, then the damn machine will have more than 100,000 miles by the time you assume full ownership of the vehicle after 5 or 6 years or 60 to 72 payments. That is the age of a normal vehicle in terms of mileage. Now, what do you think your vehicle will be worth, with the meter reading 100,000 miles? Check with Kelly Blue Book. The bottom line is that nobody wants to hold onto a depreciating asset at a time when it is turning into a liability.

Question #3; If I pay Cash, then The vehicle is mine and I can do whatever I want with it. What's wrong with that?

Answer; Sounds great, but here is the problem;

     You drive that new automobile off the dealership lot, make a wrong turn and get hit. You will not receive the same amount of money you paid for it from the insurance company. You will be short by at least 3 grand. That is how fast the thing depreciates. Secondly, if you decided to sell the vehicle after 2 weeks of purchase, because something came up and you needed cash and fast, you will not get the $30,000.00 you paid for it. The most you'll get will be $20,000.00 to $25,000.00, because at that point, it is a second hand or used automobile and the value drops like lead. Automobiles are depreciating assets, and the value decreases rapidly during the first few years. Thirdly, if you did not buy extended service contract or warranty upfront, you will incur additional cost in repairs when the baby gets old and that is when the liability factor kicks in.

     For the above reasons and more, I strongly recommend the Leasing option to a majority of my clients who desire to drive new vehicles.. In most cases I recommend the purchase of "second hand" automobiles, especially Lease Returns, because they are cost effective ad well taken care of. Auto Auctions are also good places to shop for great automobile bargains.

     At this juncture, I'm available to answer any questions that our readers may have on this subject, cognizant of the fact that there are many here who may disagree with my position on "Leasing versus Purchasing". And if I do not know the right answer, I promise to find out from more knowledgeable folks in the industry. That is why forums like these are important. They offer all of us an opportunity to share our opinions on important subjects. This is a very extensive topic that cannot be exhausted in one posting. But I hope I have made my case to your satisfaction. Whenever you can, please use the information contained here and remember that an "educated or informed consumer is often a very satisfied customer or buyer."

Dr. Sam Esale is a Senior Partner with Invictus Afrika Consulting Group headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. For your consulting businesses please, visit our website at www.invictusafrika.net  and learn more about us. Also visit www.iicfip.org  for more information about IICFIP.

Christmas and Cameroon's Redemption

   Christmas and Cameroon’s Redemption

Beyond the festivities of Christmas, Cameroonian Christians are once again challenged to live up to the core values of their religion, and impact positively on their socio-cultural and political environment.

                                        By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai*

     The birth of Jesus Christ, which is celebrated every December 25, is the portentous event of the Incarnation, from which Christianity draws its essence. Christians the world over, mark the birth of the Son of God and the Savior of mankind, whose spectacular life of virtue, revolutionary teaching and sacrificial death on the Cross of Calvary, form the basis of the over two thousand year-old Christian religion. Even in a world overrun by secularism and materialism and other social forces impacting negatively on religion and morality, a world witnessing an inexorable decline in Christian values and Christian worship especially in Western industrialized societies, the continued influence of Jesus Christ in a global context is unmistakable.

     Across the globe, Christmas has come to be associated with the festive spirit, family reunions and the celebration of family life and friendship with the exchange of greetings, visits and gifts. It is that time of the year when many are inspired to stretch out the hand of fellowship and solidarity in charity and thanksgiving to all who have survived the stresses and the strains of the passing year. The legend of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of all generous people played out in the form of Father Christmas or Santa Claus, has always excited the curiosity of children, while orphanages, hospitals and prisons will often witness a boost in charity visits at this time.

     For Cameroonians, however, Christmas 2013 brings to a close a year of shocks and pains and blood and tears. Cameroonians have been struggling to cope with bad governance, decrepit social infrastructure, worsening economic fortunes and widespread social insecurity. And as the year draws to a close, many are counting their losses with a fair dose of stoicism and characteristic hope. Given the terrible scenario playing out in the country, manifested in mass poverty, high corruption in government, gross official recklessness and near zero governance, this Christmas should serve as a poignant reminder to those in power, to embrace service to humanity and improvement of people’s welfare as a central theme of their governance activities. This, in any event, is enjoined of them in the 1996 Constitution, which Mr. President swore to uphold.

     In spite of the agony and the social chaos that have endured in the country, however, the celebratory spirit of the Cameroonian will not be dampened. The incurable optimism in the Cameroonian; their resilience and undying spirit, now obviously stretched to the limit, is what appears to have secured the peaceful quiet that prevails amid the subsisting trauma of life in the country. Perhaps in the view of many, Christmas is too important a milestone in the Christian life cycle to be abandoned to the vagaries of disoriented and misguided politicians and robbers in government who are in the habit of distributing food items to the poor during Christmas, as if the beneficiaries have no need to eat outside of the month of December. Ideally, government should do better to embark on measures to empower such poor people to feed themselves all year round. Many Christians will go out to worship and to celebrate, if only to demonstrate to their so-called leaders that they do indeed have a substantial stake in this country, and that despite the wholesale plunder of the treasury, they cannot and will not be denied the conduct of their religious obligations and festivities.

     The Cameroonian condition has taken on a life of its own, however, somber such life. The mindless looting that is going on in the country in the name of governance, with telling outcomes in mass poverty and collateral damage, has become an embarrassing trademark of public office. Cameroon’s social conundrum today is exacerbated by the heightened incidence of corruption and obscene display of stolen wealth by public officials without due regard for the majority of citizens who continue to wallow in poverty and misery. The result has been rising criminality by unemployed youths who have resorted to armed robbery, such that travelling home for Christmas has become risky and daunting as weathering the siege of war. The government has dropped the ball allowing bike riders to take virtually every principal city in the country hostage; all in the name of survival. The bend skin menace (for want of a better expression) has been allowed to fester for too long and has now degenerated into some kind of a low-intensity insurgency against state authority. It has gotten to a stage where the government is now helpless and clueless on what to do to address the issue. This is an affront on the government and the people of Cameroon that is unacceptable.

     Christmas is, however, the proclamation of good news. It is a celebration of joy and of hope. The Christ, whose birth is marked every December 25, has given the world a roadmap to abundant life, peace and prosperity. Taken seriously and applied in our individual and corporate lives, the values preached by Jesus, namely sacrificial love, justice, compassion, leadership by service, forgiveness, humility and purity of heart, will transform Cameroon for the better. The disposition towards crass materialism, excessive wealth accumulation and blind pursuit of pleasure is clearly at variance with the spirit of this holy day.

     And so beyond the festivities of Christmas, Christians in Cameroon are once again challenged to live up to the core values of their religion, and impact positively on their socio-cultural and political environment. There is need for sober reflection on the moral imperatives of the political and economic choices before the nation. The values which symbolize the life of Christ – love, truth, justice, humility, service, self-sacrifice, forgiveness, remain elusive as Cameroonians struggle for the soul of the nation. Incumbent and aspiring Cameroonian leaders must abandon the path of selfishness, greed, primitive accumulation and inordinate ambitions if the country would prosper. Christians and non-Christians alike must embrace the higher value of sacrificial leadership that make for lasting peace and prosperity.

Merry Christmas and a more prosperous New Year 2014; to all Cameroonians.

*Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai is a Public Intellectual and graduate of Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he was Managing Editor of the Harvard Journal of African-American Public Policy. A former Research Analyst for Freedom House, he is a Consultant and lives in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.



Cameroon:The Civil Status Registration Ordinance

JUDGE DIVINE NJIKANG METIEGE IS A PRESIDING AND EXAMINING MAGISTRATE AT THE MBENGWI (MOMO DIVISION) HIGH COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE. THIS DOCUMENT WAS FIRST PRESENTED ON AUGUST 8, 2013 DURING THE MONTHLY JUDICIARY CLUB MEETING IN MBENGWI. However, some modifications have been made from when the document was presented to the Judicial Panel.

THE CIVIL STATUS REGISTRATION AND VARIOUS PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE STATUS OF PHYSICAL PERSONS AND THE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES AS IT RELATES TO BIRTHS, MARRIAGES AND DEATHS.

        Law N⁰ 2011/011 of May 6, 2011 amending and completing certain provisions of Ordinance N⁰ 81/02 of June 29, 1981 on the organization of the Civil status Registration and Provisions relating to the status of physical persons is the instrument to determine the legal status of persons in Cameroon. In this regard, it creates and extinguishes status such as births, marriages and deaths.  These different statuses are evidenced by issuing of certificates drawn up by a civil status registrar. Given the legal implications that arose from these statuses, the Law N⁰ 2011/011 of May 6, 2011,  in  articles 4, 5 and 6 obliges every Cameroonian, whether residing in Cameroon or elsewhere, to declare his/her birth, deaths and marriages with the competent civil status registrar of his/her area.  Failure to comply with these mandatory provisions, constitute a criminal offence punishable under section 370 of the Penal Code. This also applies to foreigners residing in Cameroon.

From these legal implications flows a bundle of rights, obligations and consequences.

                                               BIRTHS

    ARTICLE 30-33 (NEW) of the Law is to the effect that, every birth shall be declared to the civil status registrar of the place of birth within 60 days following such birth. Where a child is born in the hospital or other medical institutions, the head of the hospital or in his absence, the doctor or any person who attended the birth shall be bound to declare the birth of the child within 30 days of such birth. If the birth was not declared within the period stated above, the parents of the child have an additional period of 60 days within which, he/she must make the declaration before the civil status registrar of the place of birth.

  ARTICLE 32 (NEW) is to the effect that births declared after the expiry of the periods referred to above, may be registered at the instance of the competent State Counsel seized of the matter, who shall move the competent court within the six months of the birth.

  ARTICLE 33 (NEW) Stipulates that if a birth was not declared within six months, it can be registered by the civil status registrar only by way of a judgment of the competent court, and in accordance with the conditions laid down in article 23 and 24 of the Law. (Applications for rectification or reconstitution of civil status certificate shall be brought before the competent court under which falls the civil status registry in which the certificate was or ought to have been drawn up. Such applications shall state, inter alia, the full name of the applicant, the full name, affiliation, date and place of birth of the person whose certificate is to be rectified or reconstituted. Detail reasons justifying reconstitution or rectification, full name ages and place of residence of witnesses, and the civil status registry where the certificate was or ought to have been drawn. The court seized of the application under the above condition must, before any decision is taken, forward the application to the Legal Department for purposes of inquiry and to ensure that:

1)      another civil status certificate of the same type does not already exist for the same person; and,

2)       to ensure that the witnesses presented by the application are likely either to have been actually present at the birth, marriage or death they are attesting to, or, to furnish proof of the same, that, the declaratory judgment sought will not have the effect of fraudulently changing the full name, affiliation, date of birth or death, in marital status.

The inquiry (is necessary) but shall not be obligatory in the case of applications concerning minors less than 15 years old.)

If a person is found in possession of two birth certificates only the oldest in date shall be taken into consideration without the prejudice to any legal action.

  A birth certificate is indicative of the fact that a human being has been born alive. It also informs of a person’s affiliation if he or she is an illegitimate, recognized, adopted or legitimate child. These are different statuses which must be reflected in a birth certificate at every giving time. As a matter of fact, a person’s birth certificate should be able to reveal his/her complete identity. Unfortunately, in Cameroon today, the situation is the reverse. It is therefore important for the lawmakers to enact bills, which ought to be signed into law, to rectify the said problem because birth certificates can hardly be relied upon for information. This is so because the birth certificates only provide inadequate information (like the place of birth) of individuals and not specifics like the hospital of birth. Firstly, the paternity often given to the wrong person, since tradition hold that a child born out of wedlock belongs to the grandfather or the relative who is raising the child up, to enable them claim family allowance from social insurance fund.                                             

   As such, the natural or biological father is hardly ever known. This is another aspect the lawmakers must rectify because it contravenes the provision of Article 34(2) which demands that, a space for father should be left blank where the natural father is unknown. In this way, it is easier for the natural father’s name to be inserted as soon as he recognizes or legitimizes the child as per Article 41 and 44 of the Law which states that, the recognition or legitimation of a child born out of wedlock shall be established by court decision. The same shall apply to cases of adoption. However, delivery shall be equivalent to recognition of the child by the mother and marriage celebrated after recognition shall imply legitimation of the children recognized as born of the spouses. A point to note is that recognition and legitimation, excepting adoptive legitimation shall be based on the blood relationship. Once the relationship has been established, no one may raise objection to recognition. Court judgments on recognition, legitimation and adoption shall be inscribed as marginal notes on the birth certificates.

  Recognition of children born out of wedlock may be done by declaration made before the civil status registrar during birth registration. In such a case, the declaration of the presumed father shall be accepted by the civil status registrar after consent of the mother and in the presence of two witnesses. The civil status registrar shall identify the parents and shall transcribe the declaration into a register numbered and initialed by the president of the court of First Instance and kept for that purpose. Such declaration shall be signed by the father, the mother, witnesses and the civil status registrar before the birth certificate is drawn up. If one of the parents is a minor, his consent shall be given by the father, mother or guardian. Consent shall be given verbally before the civil status registrar or in writing dully legalized and annexed to the register. This procedure shall not apply when there is a dispute especially if paternity is claimed by several persons before the establishment of the civil status certificate.

    Moreover, anything to the contrary creates a cloud on the parentage of the child  and it is tantamount to forgery contrary to, and punishable under Section 314 of the Cameroon Penal Code i.e. forgery. S.314 (1) is to the effect that, whoever forges or alters, whether in its substance or in the signature of parties or witnesses or in its date, any private document having effect of an obligation, discharge or disposition shall be punished with imprisonment for from three to eight years and with fine of from 50.000FCFA to 1.000.000FCFA.

S. 314(3) of the Cameroon Penal is to the effect, whoever makes use of such a document shall be punished in like manner as if he forged the document.

   Secondly, today, most birth certificates in Cameroon reflect the wrong ages. The tendency is for people to change their ages following the indication of the time because of the laxity, on the part of both court and the civil status registrar in the issuance of birth certificates. It is therefore not strange to see one person with ten birth certificates which may indicate that she had her first child at the age of three. Strange!! Isn’t it?

   The importance of age cannot be over emphasized. One’s age has a bearing on his civil right as to voting, his personal right as to when to contract a marriage etc. Age also determines one’s criminal responsibilities and a person’s capacity to enter to some contracts. In effect, one’s age is such a determinant factor in all areas of life. That explains why people have a multiplicity of birth certificates just to put themselves within the demand at the time. This attitude is criminal, and is contrary to the provisions Article 2 of the Law which is to the effect that a birth, marriage and death certificates, once issued is intangible and final. This means that once you have been issued a birth certificate it cannot be changed nor the facts altered except by a court decision. Age affects the foreigner’s right to Cameroon nationality. A foreigner born in Cameroon has a right to elect Cameroonian nationality 6 months before attaining majority before the court. This is because Cameroon does not recognize dual nationality as of this moment.

   We are therefore calling on the courts (Magistrates and Registrars) to make sure that, all, the required documents have been produced such as marriage certificates and a delivery certificates before establishing a birth certificate or a declaratory judgment. Another point of note is for these officers to ensure that the birth certificates or declaratory judgment is within their jurisdiction as per Article 30 of the Law, to ease investigation. Today, a proper investigation still remains a dream because; the provisions of Article 30 which states that, a birth shall be declared to the civil status registrar of the place of birth within 60 days following such birth, are never respected..

   Furthermore, where a child has been recognized, legitimized or adopted, these facts should be inscribed as marginal notes on the birth certificate, mentioning the court’s decision or marriage certificate which has empowered them to do so. See Article 41(3) Court judgments on recognition, legitimation and adoption shall be inscribed as marginal notes on the birth certificates.

    As earlier mentioned, a person’s birth certificate should speak for itself, because it has its bearing and gives rise to legal implications on paternity, maintenance, nationality, and inheritance.

    An illegitimate child has the right to maintenance and education from the natural father. Initially, the law provided them with no legal safeguards. However, a recognized child has similar rights but very limited rights of inheritance in cases where the parents remain unmarried. Legitimate and adopted children have the same absolute rights to all the items mentioned above such as rights to maintenance, custody, control and inheritance.

                                                             MARRIAGE

            A marriage certificate, which is a proof of marriage, signifies that one has graduated from a single status to a married status. A marriage shall be celebrated by a civil status registrar of the place of birth or residence of one or both of the spouses to be as indicated in Article 48 of the Law. The following are therefore the content of a marriage certificate:

1)      Name of the main or secondary civil status centre or name of the centre to which it is mainly attached

2)      Name surname, date and place of birth, nationality, profession and domicile of the husband

3)      Consent of the parents in case of minor children

4)      Place and date of the celebration of the marriage

5)      Mention of the type of marriage: whether it is polygamy or monogamy,

6)      Mention of management of property either community or separation of property,

7)      Name and surname of witnesses,

8)      Name and surname of the civil status registrar and secretary,

9)      Signature of the spouse’s witnesses and the civil status registrar and secretary.

*Mention of the marriage shall be made in the margin of the birth certificate of each of the spouses in compliance with article 19 of the Law and by the initiative of the competent civil status registrar.  Failure to forward a copy of such registration shall be punished by a fine of five hundred francs (500FCFA) to be imposed by the competent state Counsel. In case of divorce, mention of it shall be made on the birth and marriage certificate of the spouses on the initiative of the legal department.

Article 19 (NEW) (1) States, “where reference to a civil status certificate must be made in the margin of a certificate already registered, this shall be done automatically or at the request of one of the parties.”

(2) “The civil status registrar who drew up or registered the certificate, to which the reference shall be made, shall forthwith make such reference in the register in his possession and forward an extract to the court of first instance territorially competent and a copy to the national civil status centre.”

(3) “Where the certificate on to which marginal notes must be made was drawn up or registered in another civil status registry, notice shall be given within 15 days to the civil status registry preserving the certificate and to the national center.”

   It automatically becomes an offense for spouses married monogamously to contract another marriage without first dissolving the previous one. Only a polygamous marriage authorizes a man to contract as many marriages as he deems fit, while a woman can only be married to one man at a given time. A marriage certificate therefore, affects the party’s capacity in a monogamous marriage of remarrying when the marriage has not been dissolved. Any attempt to apply one’s self contrary to these laws so inscribed constitutes the crime of bigamy, an offense contrary to and punishable under Section 359 of the Cameroon Penal Code (BIGAMY).  Whosoever is in a polygamous contractual marriage, who contracts a monogamous marriage before the dissolution of all previous marriages or being married under the codified law, contracts any marriage before dissolution of that former marriage, shall be punished with imprisonment for up to two months to a maximum of two years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of 25.000FCFA to 500.000FCFA. It is important to know that the burden of proving any dissolution of any previous marriage is on the accused.

   A civil status registrar should investigate the marital status of a person through publications of banns before contracting any marriage between parties. Many women are known to have suffered the undesired effects of a marriage that never was.

   A marriage is a contract from which flow rights and duties. One of such rights is the co-habitation. As such, where one party abandons or deserts another, he/she is liable to criminal sanctions under section 358 of the Cameroon Penal Code for desertion. Section 358 of the Penal Code states that, any spouse or parent who without just cause evades whether by desertion of the family home or otherwise however, the whole or part of his/her moral or material obligations towards his/her spouse or children shall be punished with imprisonment for three months to one year or with a fine from 5.000FCFA to 500.000FCFA or with both such imprisonment and fine. Where a spouse alone is deserted, no prosecution may commence without his/her complaint.

   Marriage gives right to inheritance. One spouse can inherit from the other. Marriage further gives rise to property rights depending on the choice at marriage. Joined or separate property.

                                             DEATH

      The death of a person signifies that he is no more alive and this is legally proven following the issuance of a death certificate. A death certificate on the other hand can only be issued on the strength of a doctor’s attestation, or a declaratory judgment. The death certificate extinguishes the status of the person showing that he no longer alive.

      Article 78 (NEW) of the Law is to the effect that deaths must be declared to the civil status registrar of the place of its occurrence, burial, residence or both of the deceased within 90 days by the family head, a relative of the deceased or any other person having known for certain that the person so described is deceased. In case of death in a medical institution or penitentiary, the head of the institution must make a declaration within 90 days following the death.

What is the content of a death certificate? A death certificate shall contain the following:

1)      The name of the main or secondary civil status centre failing which, the main centre to which it is attached.

1)      The name, surname, date and place of birth, sex, matrimonial status, profession and residence of the deceased.

2)      Date and place of birth.

3)      Name, surname of the father and mother of the deceased.

4)      The name, surname, profession and residence, relationship and domicile of the declarant.

5)       Name, surname, profession and residence of witnesses,

6)      The date the certificate was drawn up.

Where the body of the deceased person is found and cannot be identified, a death certificate shall be drawn up, by the civil status registrar of the place where the body was found on the declaration of the judicial police officer. If the deceased cannot be identified, the death certificate shall give the fullest description possible and refer to the investigation carried out by the police

  A death certificate also puts to an end person’s criminal responsibilities and his/her rights to vote. Unfortunately, there are many dead persons whose rights and benefits are still flowing not as deceased, but as though they were alive simply because their death certificates never got to the right quarters. A proper example is that of the “antelope exercise” carried in the public service some years ago, where so many ghost workers were uncovered. Amongst these groups, were persons who had died years ago but because of the absence of death certificates in their files, they were continuously paid their salaries as though they were alive. In other words, it is only the production of a death certificate that can legally extinguish his right to a salary.

   Another point of note is the fact that a death certificate should only be issued to the right persons. The civil status registrar and the courts should always investigate as to who wants a death certificate to be established for a dead person. There have been some cases where people who have either forged death certificates for their own selfish aims. There is the case of Peter Akwe Massango, who resides in TOMBEL, South West Region, whose salary was automatically stopped because somebody had established a death certificate that indicated that he was deceased and same was included in all legal files, simply to hurt him.

   It is our fervent desire therefore, that in issuing out these certificates, the civil status registrar and the courts alike, should be very diligent and every fact should be properly investigated. It should be known that every act of theirs has far reaching effects and the legal implications are numerous. And, the government should establish an electronic or computerized recording and filing of all these three (deaths, marriage and birth) documents, which could be easily verified by any agency. This will reduce or eradicate any such falsification of these documents and ease up verification of copies presented to any agency by comparing it with the original in a government established registry.

SOME LIMITATIONS/WEAKNESSES OF THE LAW N⁰ 2011/011 OF MAY 6, 2011

      After carefully examining some of the provisions of this Law, it is obvious that there are many limitations, which lawmakers need to review in order to give judges clear guidelines during sentencing and to erase ambiguities of the law at its present state.

   Article 41(2) States that “Recognition and Legitimation, excepting adoptive legitimation, shall be based on blood relationship. Once the relationship has been established, no one may raise objection on the recognition”. The law though, does not explain the process and procedure of establishing a blood relationship. We have seen situations where a man wishes to legitimize a child he presumed to have had with a woman out of wedlock but the woman vehemently refuses to give her consent (or the mother of the child claims that the man seeking for a relief is not the biological father of the child) to blood testing. It is usually the desire of the courts to accommodate the wishes of the man to carry out a DNA Test to confirm that the child is, indeed, his. However, he may be unable to do so because of the cost involved in carrying out the DNA Test. And, because the courts too are not in the position to absolve the cost of the test for him, the man, who is without financial means, may end up losing the child to a mother who is desperate to keep him out of the child’s life. The courts, in this regard, are powerless. The issue here is at whose expense should the test be done if the applicant or petitioner cannot afford the cost? Is it at the expense of the court, state treasury? This is the issue that the Law is silent on that lawmakers need to address. And since the fate of the child is extremely important here, and also because of the desire of the court to unite the child with both parents, the lawmakers must therefore address this lapse in the law so as to enable the courts to interpret and apply the law as it well should. The lawmakers must put the interest of the child above any financial limitations which the suppose father may have.

   The present law makes consent of the mother mandatory but not that of the father. We have experienced situations where a man is refused paternity of a child he had out of wedlock because the mother of the child has refused to give consent due to the fact that he lacks the financial means to play the role of a father to the child. The lawmakers must address the issue because lack of money by the father should not be the singular factor to determine parenting capability; other factors like emotional and social bonding, are also relevant factors binding a child and his father.

   The law is equally silent on the issue of runner-away fathers, who only surface to claim paternity after the woman has suffered to bring up the child alone. My humble opinion is that a runner away father, who only comes to claim paternity after a reasonable period of abandonment minus criminal sanctions as laid down in Section 358 of the Cameroon Penal Code, be ordered by the courts to compensate the woman or guardians (alimony or child support), calculating from the period of birth (of his absence) to the period he shows up to assume his fatherly obligations. However, if the man does not have the financial means to repay the mother of the child during the period of neglect and abandonment, should paternity be refused him of his biological child? We call on the law makers to look for solutions of these difficulties. It will be helpful for lawmakers to research on this issue how other countries have addressed this problem and import the best of solutions if they cannot formulate theirs.

   The law in its article 55 states that, “the state Counsel may for serious reasons demanding immediate action grant a total or partial waiver of the publication of banns. A waiver of publication of banns shall be requested through a reasonable letter of either spouse-to-be, their father, or guardian in case of minors”. Most legal departments have forms which they only fill and hand to Applicants who come to apply orally for a waiver of publication. I propose that the State Counsels should carry out proper investigations and to always order the Applicants to write a reasonable letter explaining why they need a waiver and the urgency of it. A waiver should be an exceptional measure.
  The Law in article 10 (4) is to the effect that secondary civil status centre may be created in certain council areas and civil status registrars and secretaries appointed to head them. The law does not explain the required qualification for one to be eligible. We have come across civil status registrars who do not know how to read and write but they are exercising their functions through a 3^rd party. This causes one to wonder which criteria was considered before the appointment. The Law should specify the criteria and qualification of appointment or should mandate that civil status registrars are well knowledgeable of the law.

   Some of these weaknesses and limitations are worthy of a review by the lawmakers.

                                           REFERENCES

1)       LAW N⁰ 2011/011 OF 6^TH MAY, 2011 TO AMEND AND COMPLETE CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF ORDINANCE N⁰ 81/02 OF 29^TH JUNE 1981 ON THE ORGANISATION OF CIVIL STATUS REGISTRATION AND VARIOUS PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE STATUS OF PHYSICAL PERSONS,

2)       THE CAMEROON PENAL CODE

3)       DOCUMENT PREPARED BY FIDA AFTER A TRAINING PROGRAM FOR CIVIL STATUS REGISTRARS IN BUEA 1998