Background of Ruin XVII: Of Biya and of political hand clappers

Many monsoons have come and gone and yet one man is leading us in a kleptocracy or Government of thieves. Too unkind have the mornings been within these 32 years. The heart wished to say things, but its dejectedness remained unsaid, after all else has been said by praise singers and sycophants.

Cameroonians, in their cowardice, have forgotten that in a true democracy, members of the same community have a hand in shaping the contours of their nation’s future; that democracy needs a public that can think rightly, develop judgment and set direction about things common to all.

It is sad that we have been unable to express ourselves in our timidity and sublimate our longings and aspirations. It is a shame that we have gone on praising our leaders not for what they have done, but for what they plan to do.

I have the highest respect for President Biya, who has been trying hypothesis after hypothesis to bring change, but his methodology is haphazard. Misuse of Government power for other purposes, repression of political opponents and other forms of political corruption have continued, and they have been countered only by half measures, false flatteries and subjective motioning.

We have gone on clapping and singing alleluia for the same men who have failed us, at a time when our country is passing through tough times due to political kickbacks and the highhandedness of Government men.

Biya and his ilk have been overstepping their bounds and contradicting the core principles affirmed in the preamble of our Constitution; neglecting the resolve to harness our natural resources in order to ensure the well-being of every citizen without discrimination, by raising living standards and also ignoring the firm assertion and determination to build the Cameroonian fatherland on the basis of the ideals of fraternity, justice and progress.

We have lost touch with the original point of reality. Many Cameroonians have misconceived the picture of the real “real” and there are many more whose hands are blistered because of too much clapping even when nothing is said or when things are said nonsensically.

Article 66 of the constitution of the Republic of Cameroon is repeatedly contravened by Biya and his dear ones who hitherto refuse to declare their assets and property at the beginning and at the end of their tenure of office. For Biya, there is no need because his tenure is one that will never end, bearing in mind that his hand clappers have multiplied.

Cameroonians ought to be ashamed, when contrasting scenes appear to us of a people in faraway Burkina who reject their leader for attempting to alter the Constitution after 27 years in power, while, here; we are clapping again and again for Biya who has been ruling since November 1982. As time goes on, even good-willed Senators will certainly relapse into hand clappers like the vast majority of their compatriots in Parliament, as nothing ever changes here in Cameroon.

For 32 years, Biya has been associating entirely with his own flatterers; those who, in gullibility, are ready to bow before him and profess every sort of affection for him just to gain their point. It is always clear that servants will target empty praises on their master who certainly never enjoys true freedom or friendship.

Recalling the words of Epictetus the Stoic in his philosophical discourse, I neither fear anything which a tyrant can do to me, nor desire anything which he can give. Why do Cameroonians, including Fru Ndi, still look on with wonder at Biya? Why are they confounded? Why do they fear to speak-out? Why are they so pleased if he speaks to them in a friendly way, and receives them?

Cameroonians are guilty of self-deception and cowardice; they have been kissing the hands of the giver as slaves do, fooled with beer and freebies and forgetting that it is better to be kissed by a fool, than to be fooled by a kiss.

The opposition should know that no man can make progress when he is wavering between opposite things; and for the good actor, he preserves his character and integrity by stopping when he ought to stop, better than when he goes on acting beyond the proper time.

As Epictetus again, says, we must think of these things, these opinions, and these words if we want to be free, if we desire a thing according to its worth.

“For so great a thing; for the sake of that which is called liberty, some hang themselves, others throw themselves down cliffs, and sometimes even whole cities have perished just for the sake of the true and unassailable and secure liberty.”

Until Cameroon can create pathways for its citizens to talk with each other, create meaning and shape their political world, it will not be different from the many oppressive societies where members are alienated in nefarious machinations.

Today the demeanor of men in our country has been disillusioned and stripped of its transcendence and inwardly genuine plasticity. When shall we ever see the spring of unstained green in this tamed place?