Editorial:Yearning for a smooth transition

There is no doubt that Cameroonians have witnessed a long period of peace under the leadership of President Paul Biya, who succeeded the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo in 1982.

An account of Ahidjo’s self-acquittal from power has only enriched our history, but an appraisal of his chosen successor remains a matter of honest thinking and unflagging commitment to the prosperity of our country.

It is, therefore, honest to admit that the past thirty-two years of this nation Cameroon, under the leadership of Paul Biya have been eventful. Events both pleasant and worrisome.

The result of it all is that the country still remains intact and forcing its way through barriers which characterise politics and which have shaken the very foundations of some nations, both in mother Africa and elsewhere in the world.

We therefore feel justified to join other Cameroonians who hold this nation close to their hearts, to celebrate the passing of thirty-two years of President Biya at the helm of affairs in Cameroon.

Having, therefore, admitted that these thirty–two years have not gone without challenges that required sound judgements to overcome, it becomes pertinent to re-examine our strides towards a yet-to-attain democratic excellence, with particular emphasis on our electoral process.

We have moved from an election observatory, symbolised by the body – National Elections Observatory, NEO (1) and (2), and we have landed at Elections Cameroon ELECAM. Looking back at ELECAM’s performance in the last municipal and parliamentary elections, we find a remarkable improvement in the management process, although there are still loopholes to fill.

The single voter card remains the missing link in a chain that binds the democratic experiment into one piece. We certainly have to move towards this goal.

In the economic sector, the President seems to have been awakened from slumber to face the realities of a competitive global community with his vision of 2035 intended to lift the country up from its near-economic doldrums.

In the education sector, much has equally been attained by way of authorising the establishment of educational institutions at various levels, even though government seems to have excluded itself from the engagements of providing the necessary infrastructures to accommodate the schools. Decrees are usually signed creating institutions leaving out the important part of providing facilities for smooth take-off.

This apart, similar progress has been made in other areas such as health, agriculture, and the mining sector, to name but a few, which indicate that the past has not been altogether meaningless and uncomplimentary.

There have been challenges, most of them counted under natural disasters like the Lake Nyos tragedy, the Noun landslides, the Mount Cameroon eruption which fortunately caused no human causalities.

The peaceful resolution of the Bakassi crisis and now the war against Boko Haram, has not only raised the ratings of President Biya as an astute politician, but has equally shown the rest of the world how not to choose war as a panacea for crisis resolution.

But while all this credit for unity and peace seem to go one way to the President, it is important to note that most of this could not have been achieved, without acknowledging the fact that Cameroonians are by nature peace-loving and the President being well aware of this, has always involved Cameroonians to come along with him in achieving what we have so far achieved.

We base our conviction on President Biya’s declaration on November 6, 1982, when he said “I solemnly call on all Cameroonians to translate into reality their commitment to this great task of ensuring unity, peace, progress and to remain great, united, hardworking, aspiring, prosperity and justice”.

We strongly believe that Cameroonians are endowed with these qualities by nature and that these are the qualities that have helped to sustain the ultimate disposition of endurance of Cameroonians to keep the peace.

While the President is still in the middle of his current term in office, there are some pertinent issues that need to be tackled and these concern what he himself has always kept hammering against, in most of his speeches, namely; corruption, inertia, and to a certain extent, the glaring lack of patriotism on the part of those who are given posts of responsibilities.

In most cases, the ones well placed are those that have all the accesses to hierarchy, yet they most often use this opportunity to distort the facts on the ground. It is a false show of loyalty to hierarchy and a sure way of destroying the good intentions from above.

This state of mind is overtly exhibited by civil administrators, politicians, parliamentarians and you name them. For the legislative arm of government, it has failed to take its pride of place as an independent body with such a lofty mission that touches directly on the people.

The law makers have put aside their role as representatives of the people and have largely failed to address the worries of their people for swollen envelopes of betrayal. At one time they tend to act as though they are a department under the Executive.

As we write this editorial, we are of course influenced by the recent run of events in Burkina Faso. It is an incompatible coincidence that, while we are celebrating thirty-two years of our beloved President in power, Burkina Faso is chasing away their President with such ignominy.

Of-course the arguments of the people is that the means by which Compaore took power and has held it for twenty-seven years, does not justify him manipulating parliament to amend the country’s constitution to give him the lee-way for another mandate.

Reports from that country say, as soon as the law makers passed the Bill through, the rage started and parliament building was set ablaze with all anger directed towards the inmates of the Parliament building. To the people it was a betrayal of trust. To the people the law makers had been manipulated to amend the constitution to give Compaore another mandate.

This is certainly not a good example to emulate, but it looks more like a good lesson to learn from, particularly on this singular tendency of presidents manipulating lawmakers on the amendments of constitutions to seek extension of their mandates.

In Cameroon today, we have blossomed in the eyes of the international community as an example of how a peaceful country can be identified. Our commitment to peace has made us so. The lesson to learn from Burkina Faso is that we must prepare our minds for a smooth transition. At 81 and in power for 32 years, President Biya has far lesser years to serve this country than what he has put in.