EDITORIAL: President Biya and his way forward

On December 31, 2014, President Biya faced the nation with his traditional New Year address. The President’s address understandably dwelled almost in its entirety on the war against Boko Haram.

Appreciating the might and bravery that the Cameroon military is proving in the war front, Biya laid out plans – what lies ahead. Amongst them, the imminent signing into law of the abhorred anti-terrorism bill voted in November by Parliament and other plans he said will annihilate Boko Haram.

He hoped that Boko Haram learns its lessons from the recent offensive that has seen hundreds of its associates obliterated by the Cameroon Armed Forces.

Then the President touched on issues affecting the economy of the nation – from highlighting his achievements for the last year to re-pushing what he has often described as Gov’t Emergency Emergence Plan, Biya said that his administration will in the months ahead be fighting hard for moves aimed at encouraging private participation in economic investment and development. The plan he said, will see the State-dominated economy turned into a more liberal system in which private enterprise outweighs gov’t’s.

Others may disagree with us, but as far as the Cameroon Journal is concerned, we think that President Biya didn’t only come across in this year’s address as the man in charge; he equally came across as a visionary leader. He came across as a different Biya – not the Biya of the 80s and 90s who presided over a handicap economy with impunity.

We want to commend the President for this sudden awakening and this new sense of nationalism and patriotism to see Cameroon emerge from the ranks of poor, corrupt, underdeveloped, unemployment stricken nations of Africa.

Particularly, we at the Cameroon Journal did like to thank the President for the indiscriminate arrests that have landed some of the most corrupt officials of his administration behind bars. If anything, the message is succinct, and it is that the President appears determined to leave behind a country cleanse of corrupt and fraudulent officials.

However, we would also want to remind the President that there are still some very demanding innovations desired in many gov’t sectors in the country and a little attention to them will go a long way to kind of facilitate not only the kind of economic liberalization that he talks about but also censor unemployment.

And these are simple things as small as the eye of a needle – things that probably have never appeared in the President’s big picture/program, but things that the regular citizen sees and has to confront on a daily basis. Things that hinder investment and progress.

We will mention just one of them now. We did bring the rest subsequently. Take the Douala Port Authority for one. It is a major problem and a major source of embarrassment especially to a gov’t that seeks to facilitate private enterprise.

At the Cameroon Journal, we cannot count the number of times we have received requests from businesses asking that we investigate why it takes so long for containers to be cleared in this port – the only gateway port into the country. But the problem with the Port Authority isn’t just that of prolonged clearance, even worse is the degree of bribery and corruption in the establishment.

Imagine that it is IMPOSSIBLE to clear a container in Douala Port without having to ‘settle’ tables! In some instances, we learned, some containers have had to be abandoned at the port because the ‘settlers,’ though they had enough money to pay for the regular duties, didn’t have enough to spread round the illegal tables. This is a far cry from what should be happening in an emerging country.

Ports anywhere in any country are the major routes for fixed investment capital. One of the ways the President can motivate private investors to experiment in Cameroon is to do a clean sweep, A VIGOROUS SWEEP of the entire bureaucracy infested with bribery and corruption resulting into massive waste and lose at the Douala Sea Port.

Once it becomes easy for potential investors to ship machinery into the country without the hazards of losing all their capital in bribery, the sky becomes the limit for private investment. President Biya and his advisers know this. This ought to be a priority reform area if he truly wants to stimulate the Cameroon Economy.

Cameroon has millions in the Diaspora who can in a twinkle of an eye transform the country’s economy if such favorable conditions were created. But what stands in-between them and investment isn’t the taxes they have to pay – it’s basically the bribery and the fraud at the Douala Sea Port. In fact, we will suggest that the Douala Port Authority be privatized and put under the supervision of a ministry.