Another Biya must not take over – Diaspora President

Franklin Nyamsi, President of the Cameroonian Diaspora Association is warning that ‘Another Biya Must Not Come,” stating that “Biya Must Go” is not a political programme. Nyamsi, a professor of philosophy at the Université Charles de Gaulle Lille 3, spoke recently in an interview he granted the French Language daily, Le Messager.

Going by the fire-spitting critic, President Paul Biya and his regime are people of the past who are very passive. “Cameroonians know their scratched disc, spotted with blood, deceitful, cynical and sterile. It is high time the CPDM experienced the fierceness of political opposition. This regime has failed since the confiscation of pluralism in the 1990s.”

Nyamsi said that Biya’s anti-democratic regime must be prevented from staying on.
According to him, “We should therefore no longer focus on Biya. Truly, he should think of taking a rest, without unnecessary humiliation. I don’t think Paul Biya is still to be fought against. On the other hand, if we want Cameroon to be truly republican and democratic, we should oblige Biya’s heirs to negotiate with the Cameroonian people, a new socio-political contract. And if they don’t want to negotiate, all we have to do is to mobilize millions of Cameroonians to oblige them to do so in a non-violent fight.

“This country, with its 25 million inhabitants, is in need of people who can manage and resolve its problems…Cameroon can hardly accept the suicidal luxury of a military transition resulting from a coup d’état. Chad, Cameroon, CAR, Congo, Niger, around our frontiers are in ebullition. We thus need a citizen-oriented leap in Cameroon, if we want to avoid three things: coup d’état, civil war or prolongation of the unfruitful regime of Paul Biya who only has his longevity in power as positive balance sheet.”

On the economic situation of the country, Nyamsi said youths are unemployed in their numbers; old people, in their numbers, have had their retirement stolen away; workers, in their numbers, are waiting for a real revalorization of their salaries. He added that “We cannot let or make Cameroon burn through our wait-and-see policy!”

Quizzed of what he makes of the numerous People’s Calls, the critic said: “Those who are asking President Biya to stay at the helm of the state till he dies are in reality living his vanity. The balance sheet is catastrophic. President Biya has just no reason to continue failing with his own sterile and often senile creatures…A true political figure has to emerge in Cameroon, one who will automatically assemble what is scattered…”