Mr Biya is not the one holding Cameroon together — A reply to Michelle Tchokote

The globalists would applaud, with excitement, the seemingly benign and harmless stance, espoused by Michelle Tchokote in her article, propagating Cameroonian unity. This oft-repeated sermon stirs memories of a time when we walked barefoot in the rice farms of the Ndop plains, fondly referred to as ‘Africa in miniature’ or, simply, Cameroon. It rekindles the yearning for a return to normalcy, away from the inferno that currently engulfs the once peaceful country.

It is, of course, no news that Cameroon has become a piece of meat on the grill of war where every move fans the embers beneath and the fat melts with the swiftness of morning dew at sunrise. It is also common knowledge that presidential elections since November 1982 have produced the same leader, the Paul Biya regime successfully fending off each and every opposition.

I was born in 1989, 30 years ago, and it is not with pride that I say that, for all of my life, I have known the same man as president. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that I do not support Tchokote’s stance that the current head of the masquerade should continue to lead the band simply for the sake of ‘unity.’ My position is, of course, further strengthened by the government’s mismanagement of the anglophone crisis that has bedevilled the country since 2016.

In 2017, whilst studying for a master’s at the International Relations Institute of Cameroon, I was entrusted with the task of investigating Cameroon’s membership of the Commonwealth of Nations. In the course of my research, I found that Cameroon application to join the Commonwealth was initially delayed for six years because of the country’s poor human rights and governance records. I also found that one of Cameroon’s reasons for applying for Commonwealth membership was to curb the rising dissident voices of the Anglophones. This concerted effort notwithstanding, the ever-increasing Anglophone voices led to the successful convening of the All Anglophone Conference in the early 1990s. This conference birthed the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC), the youth wing of the All Anglophone Conference. Still, every effort to air the grievances of the minority Anglophone population failed, partly owing to the declaration of a state of emergency in Bamenda in 1995. The issues remained unresolved until November 2016 when the anglophone crisis erupted and all hell broke loose; thousands of people died and another half a million were displaced. Interestingly, Tchokote prefers this state of affair—that continues to fester under Paul Biya—to the more viable option of making way for a better and more responsive leader.

Tchokote writes: Although I am from French Cameroon, I studied in the English part. I am actually in love with the English culture. There is something special about the way they do things—it’s a lot cleaner, a lot more organised than the French part… But they feel marginalised and I can perfectly understand that because I have lived there.

But she does not! How can she? It is he who wears the shoe that knows where it pinches. Here, one can draw parallels with discussions on, say, racism and white privilege. It is rather difficult, perhaps even impossible, to fully understand these concepts when one is not a victim—when one is not on the receiving end.

Tchokote goes on: I love Cameroon as it is …in fact, I do not take Cameroon to be two.

This statement is rather interesting given that she had earlier conceded that there are clear injustices in the system. That one thinks Cameroon’s unity more important than the human rights of a minority group is shocking, to say the least. I am tempted to liken Tchokote’s views to the unflinching stance of a married woman who, despite years of domestic abuse, refuses to leave the marriage for the sake of the family’s ‘unity.’ Is this the kind of Cameroon Tchokote wants?

My view

It would be a waste of time and energy to till and disturb the soil without planting any seed; so I will go ahead to state my views and vision for Cameroon.

Unlike Tchokote, I don’t want a Cameroon where democracy is a farce. I don’t want a Cameroon where it is shameful, even for the President, to speak English in public. I don’t want a Cameroon where it is suicidal to voice one’s opinion for fear of repression or disappearance. I don’t want a Cameroon where there is no respect for the law. I don’t want a Cameroon where votes don’t count—where the voice of the people is bought or falsified in the ballot. I don’t want a Cameroon where a decade hardly goes by without a sinister and contrived constitutional amendment. I certainly don’t want a Cameroon where people are judged and denied opportunities based on their ethnic origin or the language they speak. No. Instead, I want a Cameroon where there is equality and fairness—a Cameroon where people are measured and assessed by their character and intellect.

Cameroon is, in my opinion, the most beautiful country in the world and it would be even more beautiful and efficient if effective institutions were put in place rather than the perpetuation of strong men in office. Like Obama would say, Africa needs strong institutions and not strong leaders.

Mr Biya is not the one holding Cameroon together. No. It is Cameroonians themselves, people like Tchokote, who are holding the country together. President Paul Biya and his successors will come and go, but the Cameroonian people will remain. What Cameroon needs is not a life term Biya or even another Biya, but a visionary president who will be able to recognise the riches of the country and the value of its people and put them to good use through effective policies and good governance.