Cameroon:Sustaining Flawed Elections

By Tazoacha Asonganyi in Yaounde

For a long time now, there have been repeated calls in speeches, discussions, newspaper columns and election reports for the cleaning up of the electoral system in Cameroon.

Sometimes, so much tension builds up around the issue and results in the loss of lives - adding names to the long list of unsung heroes who have laid down their lives in the struggle for change in the country.

And yet at the end of the day, it is a pity to note that many actors have engaged in more prose than concrete action; more theory than practice!It is in this light that in spite of the postponement of the advent of ELECAM, Parliament sat and rose for the June session without doing anything about the myriads of obstacles to the successful organisation of transparent elections in Cameroon.

We cannot hope for any action from Parliament in November because there will only be time for the budget. In the meantime, if Paul Biya does not play another fast one on the people, ELECAM will come to life around December 2008...

Commonsense tells us that if we want to improve the electoral process, we have to take note of its ideals and the hard actualities of why the electoral law is so fragile during elections, and act on them.
Expressing the need for cleaning up the electoral system while ignoring or wishing away the obstacles to transparent elections is as harmful as the hostility of those who perpetuate electoral fraud; it is as unconstructive as those whose sole wish is the perpetration of one man rule.

The regime under which we live is a breeding ground for the values and spirit that gave birth to the mean, nasty and inefficient behaviour that governed past elections. Corruption and generalised unpatriotic behaviour are as entrenched to our governance system as electoral fraud.

Legislative manoeuvring and behind-the-scene machinations have been strong weapons for outwitting adversaries and making electoral processes irrelevant to the attribution of power. These have all reduced life in Cameroon to satisfying the narrow electoral need of gaining power through the ballot box without enjoying the confidence of the people.

Many issues in the electoral law cry out to be addressed. They include inference from other laws that operate side by side with the electoral laws. For example, when I went to Nde Division in 2002 for the repeat legislative elections, I spent the election eve having the last coaching meeting with all my electoral agents from across the division (Tonga, Bazou, Bangangte, Bassamba).

At the close of the meeting we went to bed in full expectation of the excitement of the following day, without knowing that the police had been lurking around to arrest the agents as they left the meeting to return to their various stations. The following day when the polls opened at 8 am, there were hardly any of my agents in the polling stations. We spent till around midday struggling to get the administrative authorities to cause their release.

In the process, the elections were going on "normally"...The administrative authorities derive this power they use to modify the state of the playing field from law N°90/054 of 19 December 1990 on the maintenance of law and order which gives them wide-ranging powers of arrest and detention of citizens according to their whims and caprices. The law has usually governed the activities of administrative officials, not only during the pre- and post-electoral periods but on Election Day! It is of interest that the law will remain in force when ELECAM becomes operational!There are many other fuzzy areas related to interference by administrative authorities using powers derived from other laws.

Further, there are many vague dispositions in the ELECAM law, like section 42(2) which states that the electoral duties of relevant State bodies shall be transferred ... to Elections Cameroon, under the supervision of the President of the Republic.

Instead of depending on such vague dispositions, Parliament would have proceeded to completely rewrite all the electoral laws to fit in ELECAM so that by the time it actually comes into effect, we have an unambiguous picture of what its role is.

Otherwise, we shall suffer again the pain of discovering only after the fact that many legal desiderata do not square with the actual practices in the field.We all talk about electoral fraud but the regime visibly courts it as a weapon for gaining cheap victories.

There has to be more serious effort to force the regime to understand the importance of free and fair elections in the promotion and sustenance of national development.

Free and fair elections in a country have returns in prestige, credibility, knowledge and material benefits because they heighten competitiveness, strengthen the feeling of participation and ownership, and unleash the God-given talents of each and every citizen.