November 6, 2012 is
coming. It is coming with President Biya and the ruling CPDM celebrating his 30
years at the helm of the Cameroon
nation as Head of State. History has recorded that President Paul Biya rose
from the post of Prime Minister to the Presidency when late Ahmadou Ahidjo
resigned on November 6, 1982. Thus for 30 years, President Biya has been on the
steering wheel of the Cameroonian state. Many have rated his performances as
Head of State for these 30 years and have given him an excellent mark. Some say
the mere fact that Cameroon
is an Island of peace in war torn and coup prone Africa
is a plus for President Paul Biya who has been able to use tact and vision to
arrive where the nation is today. But the road has not been smooth. The ride
has been bumpy and President Biya has on several occasions shown exceeding
skills in order to avoid a crash. But these incidences have served more as
lessons since each of them acted as a stepping stone on which Biya had to stand
to clearly see the road ahead. It is often said that uneasy lies the head that
wears the crown. President Biya has not had it easy for 30 years. He has had
his glorious moments but he has also had tempting moments of serious
tribulations.
CNU To CPDM
President Biya took over when Cameroon had
the unique part system. And the ruling party was the CNU, with President
Ahmadou Ahidjo as the party leader and Head of State. Logic would have had it
that when President Biya became Head of State he was supposed to take the helm
of the party. It was not so because late Ahmadou Ahidjo remained head of the CNU.
President Biya was the vice president and on December 11, 1982 the central
committee and political bureau of the CNU placed him in charge of party affairs
in Ahidjo’s absence. Despite Biya’s loyalty to Ahidjo, a rift occurred in 1983
and Ahidjo went into exile. He accused President Biya of plots against him and
even resigned as Head of the CNU. President Paul Biya became CNU President
during an extraordinary session held on September 14, 1983. He held that
portfolio for two years but another sad incidence forced him to transform the
CNU into the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM, in Bamenda in 1985.
Attempted Coup Plot
The rift between President Biya and his predecessor
Ahidjo, widened as the latter fled into exile. He constantly accused President
Biya of undermining his authority and legacy left behind. When President Biya
took the helm of the CNU, he announced Presidential elections for January 14,
1984. He precipitated the elections for they were earlier scheduled for 1985.
As the only candidate to this election, President Biya scored a walloping
99.98%. President Ahidjo who had fled into exile was put to trial in absentia
for his involvement in a coup plot perpetrated in 1983 by him and two others.
The court slammed them death sentences, but President Biya used his
presidential clemency and commuted the sentences to life imprisonment. Biya was
now in a fix. He decided to disband the Republican guards who were loyal to
Ahidjo. He did this on April 5, 1984 and on April 6, 1984 another coup attempt
on President Biya was foiled. The northerners
were blamed for the coup and the hand of Ahidjo was suspected to have
instigated the coup.
Wind Of Change
The wind of change that started in Europe and blew
through Africa did not leave Cameroon
indifferent. People manifested for multiparty politics. The nation was on a red
alert. President Biya granted the wishes of Cameroonians with the liberty laws
of 1990. Many political parties cropped up like mushrooms and were duly
registered. Presidential elections were organized in 1992 and President Biya
met his first ever real challenge. He won the elections with a score of 40 %.
Ni John Fru Ndi of the opposition, Social Democratic Front, SDF followed
closely with 36%. The opposition candidate contested the results claiming
victory. This set the entire nation into a polarized state leading to strikes
and marches for the stolen victory. And President Biya had to form a coalition
in order to escape an imminent dominance of the opposition in parliament as
they won a majority of seats.
Ghost Towns
If anything has ever shaken the very foundation of Cameroon and
put President Paul Biya in difficulties it is the ghost towns in the 90s.
During the ghost towns declared by the opposition that transformed itself into
coalitions, the economy slummed as economic activities were halted. The
government machinery could not grind smoothly. Investors were no longer coming
and the tax evasion became the order of the day. The nation was paralyzed and
the government confused. President Biya had to employ his wits to call for
dialogue with the opposition that were the main brains behind the ghost towns.
But the opposition was clamouring for sovereign national conference while the
government wanted something else. However, the tripartite talks organized by
the government diffuse the tension and economic activities resumed. But the
opposition SDF boycotted the 1997 elections. In this election, President Paul
Biya secured a 92.6% win over the other opposition candidates.
Economic Crises And Devaluation
The economic crises had rocked Africa
since 1974. Cameroon did not
feel the pinch until 1985 when the economic crises hit Cameroon like a
bomb shell. President Paul Biya tasked Cameroonians to embark on agriculture as
a means of solving the crises. Cameroonians who were already use to
white-collar jobs found agriculture a bitter pill to swallow. Many did not even
attempt to swallow the pill. But while President Biya was still looking for
ways to take Cameroon out of
the economic crises, a natural disaster hit Lake Nyos
on August 21, 1986. People and their cattle were killed by the poisonous gas
that came from the lake. International humanitarian efforts were mobilized and Cameroon
benefited enormously from gifts donated by international organizations. But
this cap in hand attitude was not going to help all Cameroonians or last for
long.
Another devastating blow was dealt Cameroonians by
the devaluation of the CFA currency. Civil servants had to see their salaries
slashed. Ends were no longer meeting and tension was gradually boiling in the
nation.
Corruption and Inertia Sets In
While President Biya was struggling to manage these
very difficult moments, his closest collaborators were busy swindling state
funds. They took more than their mouths could chew. But not only were the
President’s collaborators involved in corruption, they were involved in
inertia. The state machinery was bogus and ineffective. People were spending
four hours at work and not even four hours of work. Despite President Biya’s policy
of rigour and moralization, nothing was moving, as these slogans felt on deaf
ears. And the consequent result was that Transparency International ranked Cameroon as the
most corrupt country on three runs consecutively. President Biya set to work to
reverse the situation. And he had to make hard choices as most of the
embezzlers were his closest collaborators. He made the hard choices and threw
most of them into prison. This reversed the trend and Cameroon had to
honourably lost the trophy of corruption.
The Bakassi palaver
The Bakassi peninsula is today part of Cameron. It
has for time in memorial been a headache to Cameroon leaders. Cameroon has
lost valiant soldiers at Bakassi and even administrators. President Biya had to
employ diplomacy at international level for Bakassi to revert to Cameroon as Nigeria
had claimed ownership over that oil rich peninsula of the SW region of Cameroon.
Although Cameroon
had legitimacy over Bakassi, the area still remained a headache to President
Paul Biya as soldiers were killed there regularly. Pirates had made Bakassi
their safe haven and had taken hostages there, requiring the joint efforts of Cameroon and France before their release. And it
was still from this area that pirates had been operating and raided banks in
Limbe and Douala.
Thus the Bakassi palaver up to its peaceful settlement had been one of the
tempting moments of President Biya within the past 30 years.
Revision of Constitution
The Cameroon
constitution was revised in 1996. Before the revision of the constitution,
there were heated debates on the necessity of its revision. President Biya
created the enabling environment and the constitution was revised given new
dispensation in the functioning of the state machinery. There was going to be a
constitutional council. There was to be the creation of Regions to replace
provinces with decentralization, the creation of the senate and regional
councils. But this very constitution placed a two term bar on presidential
elections. This therefore meant that President Biya’s mandate acquired in 2004
was the last, because his first seven term mandate was acquired in 1997.
But President Paul Biya said the constitution limited
the choice of Cameroonians. He asked for its revision. This met with stiff
resistance from the opposition who saw it as a ploy to allow President Paul
Biya another opportunity to contest the 2011 presidential elections. Marches
were organized by some civil society organizations to denounce the revision of
the constitution. The long and short of it is that the bill passed through
parliament and the majority CPDM MPs voted for it while the opposition
boycotted. Although the bill passed, it was one of those incidences that gave
President Paul Biya night mares.
Stolen Wallet, G11 Syndrome and Misinformation
Lieutenant Luc Emane, one of President Biya’s closest
collaborators stole his suitcase while they were on mission abroad. This act
was so treacherous that President Biya ordered for his immediate arrest and
repatriation home to face the music of justice. This came just at a time when
the G11 syndrome (G11 are those who want to replace President Biya in 2011) had
gained some prominence. Some of President Biya’s collaborators who had
embezzled state funds were allegedly said to be using the funds to sponsor a
smear campaign on the personality of the president. And that these detractors
were trying to undermine the peace reigning in Cameroon through their nefarious
plans of seizing by power what they can never achieve through the ballot box.
For this reason, many fabricated reports were being circulated by agents of
these detractors that President Biya and family have ill-gotten wealth starched
in bank accounts abroad.
The February Strikes
In February 2008 there was an uprising that paralyzed
four of the ten regions of Cameroon.
People went on the streets because of rising food prices. The strike that was
purported started by tanker and taxi drivers escalated, resulting to losses in
human lives and property. The gravity of the strike could be measured in the
down turn in economic activities. Looting became the order of the day. It was
actually a challenging moment for President Biya. But as a serene leader, who
knows how to absorb the shocks, he called the shots and the strike action
ended. What is important today is that a soft cushion has been provided by
government to absorb all the negative shocks of the rising food prices. The
prices of basic commodities were reduced with an increase in the salaries of
civil servants. Also subsidies and custom duties waved on so many imported
basic commodities.
Lessons Learned
If there are any lessons to be drawn from the
tempting moments of President Biya within 30 years, there are that great people
are not those who have never fallen but those who get up after each fall. Also
that trials and tribulations are moments of great reflection. Because after
each tempting moment in President Biya’s 30 years reign comes a brighter idea
for improvement. The result is the astronomical improvement in infrastructure,
economic, social and political life of Cameroon. Much has been achieved in
30 years, but not without sacrifices by the population and steadfastness by
President Paul Biya.
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