Popular Action Party (PAP), of Ayah
Paul, which is calling for the resignation, notes that Biya's report card
is in red.
Below is a statement from PAP:
On Saturday November 5, 2016 (the eve of Biya's 34th anniversary as president),
the National Strategic Team of Popular Action Party, PAP gathered at the
Yaounde residence of their Secretary General, Akoson Raymond. Paul Biya’s
performance as president in the past 34 years in office was fairly assessed and
his Report Card is hereby published.
The PAP
team comprising mostly youth politicians evaluated president Biya on both the
Domestic and International Affairs. On Domestic Affairs, nine elements were
considered namely: the Economy, Education, Health, Democracy, Energy, Security,
Transportation, Communication and Sports. On Foreign Affairs, Biya was scored
on International Cooperation.
On the
whole, the youth politicians scored Biya a Grade F
and asked him to Resign.
ECONOMY
In most of 1981, Cameroon’s GDP growth rate stood
at 17.1% (Source: ReSAKSS, based on World Bank 2014). This means President Paul
Biya inherited a very healthy economy from his predecessor on November 6, 1982.
Despite richly blessed soils and fertile lands on which all manner of
agricultural products [coffee, cocoa, cotton, rubber, bananas, oilseed, grains,
cassava (manioc, tapioca); livestock; timber] do well, and endowment of
enormous mineral resources [Oil, hydroelectric power, natural gas, cobalt,
nickel], in 2016, the economy has nose-dived to the neighbourhoods of 4% GDP
growth rate.
What’s worse? Little can be seen in economic growth
terms from all the loans we have taken. According to the Autonomous
Amortisation Fund (CAA), the public organisation in charge of managing public
borrowing, Cameroon reached FCFA 4,502 billion during the first quarter of 2016
(3,480 billion representing the external debts and FCFA 1,023 billion of
domestic debts).
The unemployment rate is 30% while that of
underemployment stands at 75% (International Labor Organization). Our human
potential (mental capacity) is fleeing the country for jobs and better options
elsewhere. President Biya has failed woefully in the business of reducing
unemployment by industrializing our economy; create industries that transform
raw materials into finished products for national, regional and international
exportation. There’s no concrete There’s no concrete framework to encourage
youth entrepreneurial spirit with accompanying flexible loan structure.
Increase in agricultural production and the rise in
the per-capita income of the rural community, together with industrialization
and urbanisation, lead to more increased demand in industrial
production. President Biya just doesn’t know this.
PAP therefore scores him F for a missed opportunity and wasted 34 years in office!
DEMOCRACY
To fairly score President Biya, Popular Action
Party, PAP of Justice AYAH Paul splits democracy into five different elements
namely: Personal Freedoms, Press Freedoms, Political Freedoms, Political
Equality, The Rule of Law, The Common Good, Human Dignity, Being Informed and
Getting Involved, and Respect. Before we make an analysis of these elements, it
is worth mentioning that contrary to what some say, that Biya ‘gave Cameroonians
democracy’, this is completely false! On February 19, 1990, officers from the
CENER, Cameroon’s national intelligence service, raided the home and office of
Yondo Mandengue Black in the city of Douala. They arrested him and
confisticated a draft document titled “Coordination Nationale pour la
démocratie et le multipartisme” (National Coordination for Democracy and
Multipartyism). And in Bamenda on May 26, 1990 Fru Ndi defied government ban
and organized a rally where the SDF was launched … the lives of six
Cameroonians ushered in democracy to Cameroon.
· Personal
Freedoms: Freedom of assembly for religious purposes has been good but such
is hugely undermined by freedom of individual expression. Biya’s men in
uniforms has mightily clamped down on individuals who’ve voiced personal
opinions on burning political issues in the country. Biya scores a D on this.
· Political Freedoms: Though
it is easy to form political associations in Cameroon, PAP notes that the
proliferation of political parties is a Biya design to weaken the opposition.
The intelligence unit of the PAP Strategic deciphers four categories of
opposition political parties: satellite parties erected by Biya to spy on and
weaken the opposition (some now called presidential majority), political
parties for Business purposes (to enjoy campaign funds), real opposition
political parties (those that are consistently banned such as PAP from public
manifestations), parties that originally had good intensions but now cooperate
with Biya’s CPDM to colour Cameroon’s democracy in the eyes of the
international community;
- Skyrocketing amounts are fixed
for ordinary Cameroonians to cough out to register to run for council,
parliamentary and presidential elections thus making the dividends of democracy
for the rich only!
- Election managing bodies (MINAT, NEO
and ELECAM) are designed to rig elections for Biya;
- Intimidation at the polls and
vote buying: Vote buying is the norm. Citizens who stand up to the status quo
are intimidated. There are clear and documented cases of elites protecting the
regime getting into polling stations with guns and knives. These cases are not
isolated. PAP scores Biya an F on
EMB;
- Protest Groups: No
allowance for political manifestation against the regime.
PAP scores Biya an F on political freedoms
Press
Freedoms: There’s systemic clampdown on the press and the media in general.
Twitter has consistently been shut down and press organs critical of the
government are either severely sanctioned or bought over. PAP scores Biya an F on Press Freedoms.
The Rule
of Law: For the sake of justice, everyone must adhere to the same
laws. These laws are known, predictable and impartial (unbiased). However, the
justice system in Cameroon is highly rigged; justice is bought, the police and
the magistrates/judges are the most corrupt in the world. Generally, the system
is characterized by arrest without due process, endemic corruption, long term
detention without trial, inhuman treatment and torture of citizens etc. PAP
scores Biya F on the Rule of Law.
PAP therefore scores Biya an F on Democracy.
To make this publication brief, we will provide explanatory
notes for the reason behind the grades of every element. Find below grades per
element:
Elements
|
Score (%)
|
Grade
|
Domestic Affairs
|
|
|
Economy
|
15
|
F
|
Education
|
21
|
F
|
Health
|
20
|
F
|
Democracy
|
20
|
F
|
Energy
|
25
|
F
|
Security
|
30
|
E
|
Transportation
|
15
|
F
|
Communication
|
28
|
F
|
Sports
|
41
|
D
|
|
|
|
Foreign Affairs
|
|
|
International Cooperation
|
40
|
D
|
Akoson Raymond,
PAP
Secretary-General
