Ignorance: The Cancer of Cameroon’s Democracy.

Cameroonians need a lot of education to wriggle out of misinformation

 By Bakabaka*

I am irritated by the way the government of Cameroon is running her administration. If for any reason I decide to forgive her, it is thanks to the fact that, I am a child of God, and secondly because I know there was no formal preparation by the imperialist colonial masters to hand over power to the Negros, a failure which left a big gap of ignorance and unlearnt lessons.

That notwithstanding, I cannot forgive misdemeanor forever. We must realize ourselves and arise from a great slumber. What keeps Cameroon in the permanent backward position she occupies is the lack of competition. 

Competition is a catalyst of development and improvement. Each time one makes an allusion to a developed country like America, China, S. Korea, a Cameroonian politician who is determined to  keep Cameroon on the same spot of shame would quickly shout out “we are not China, we are Cameroon.” So long as we continue to say we are bound to be where we are, that we are not Senegal to organize elections on two rounds; not America to make strong laws which spare no one etc.., nothing will change.

I was abused when I read from The Post, a news feature about a D.O in Bamenda who disrupted a graduation ceremony in a private university. I did not know we are still at this level of oppression, ignorance and above all, lawlessness. It is absolutely primitive! 

In the colonial days, dictatorial imperialist administrators insisted on being invited for all occasions under their jurisdiction simply because they feared subversive messages could be passed in meetings held to push them out of the country. That was when human beings paid taxes for being alive-the infamous poll tax. Today we are living the realities of fast moving democracy yet nothing is different. The D.O is still the same in every perspective like the French/ British colonial D.O.s. of those dark ages.

I have to forgive Cameroonians here again because they are mostly ignorant. I am sincere about this. How many Cameroonians know that in the 21st century it is wrong for people whose highest qualification is the First School Leaving Certificate to carry guns for the protection of the nation? Who should protect the other? The ignorant protecting the knowledgeable or the knowledgeable protecting the ignorant? How many know that the president’s salary is not supposed to be a secret and  that every political party needs to own private party halls and not usurp public buildings? Do you think if the government of Cameroon depended on the people’s votes, businesses would be forced to close down each time a government official is being installed? Or ministers instead of the candidate himself would be sent into the field to campaign for the election of a president they never see in decades? This is just a pinch of what we do not know in Cameroon.

The first step to solving a problem is identifying it. Here, our first problem is education. We know very little and unless we are educated no solution would ever be reached. I doff  to Simon Nkwenti for the incredible job he is doing for Cameroon.  He no doubt will be on the right side of history.

 Talking education, we must be able to define key terms with clarity to understand them. Most Cameroonians feel we are in a democracy simply because we regularly cast votes.

The old school believes this is the most democratic situation we have ever had in Cameroon. To them, defining democracy is comparing Ahidjo’s era and that of Biya. Unfortunately, if we are not educated that dictatorship is a situation whereby the president works by presidential decrees and not referendum we will never know. 

Dictatorship is a situation whereby the president, the speaker of the national assembly, the justice department, and the military are just one man. In a dictatorship, the president of the republic can use a decree to extend the mandate of parliamentarians at will. Ministers campaign for the president who is never seen or heard more than twice a year. Dictatorship is when the press-radio, TV, newspapers have to keep renewing their authorization to operate, and in most cases some are closed down for enjoying press freedom. Dictatorship is a situation whereby in a country the financial account of the ruling party, the president, his wife, and the public treasury are one. In a state of dictatorship, private member bills in the national assembly are never looked into. All sessions of the assembly aim to permit the president of the republic to ratify international conventions. In a democracy, key posts like the prime ministry, speaker of the national assembly and the president of the republic cannot belong to one political party alone. A dictatorship does not permit independent candidates to contest for election, and no member of government can resign and stand against the dictator. 

Do you now know the litmus test for dictatorship? D.O. in a dictatorship decides if you will be inside or outside a prison cell. The gendarmes and policemen abuse humanity with impunity. Some people are above the law for sharing political ideas with the president of the republic. It is not about multiparty elections or a diverse house of assembly. Democracy is about equality before the law for every citizen without discriminating. It is respect for humanity, and transparency in the management of the national cake.

 My fellow Cameroonians do not know that the people they vote into the national assembly are their mouthpiece and servants.  The parliamentarians are  not a birthday cake for the president of the republic but people voted to provide basic needs like road infrastructure, schools, security, employment, fight against poverty etc… It annoys me that Cameroonians vote and know nothing about the benefits of voting. Before voting, candidates should be prescribed what they must do for the electorate and not wait for the candidate to tell them whatever they would like to do for them.

 The political party does not matter. What matters is the output of the parliamentarian. If parliamentarians pressurize the president about the needs of the people at the grassroots, the president has no choice but to act. He must for failure to act would cause the parliamentarians to refuse allowing his bills to pass and that means doom for him. Our local parliamentarians go into the house to enrich themselves over the poor masses. With exaggeratedly large pay packages, the micro project grants are always perfectly embezzled yet. Again ignorance plays on Cameroonians here. We need to start telling our candidates what we need from them when they are voted into the house so that at the end of their tenure, we judge them from it and see if they are fit for another term. It should cease to be a foolish blind fight between govern and opposition political parties. It should be which candidate will meet the aspirations of the citizens need.

 The CPDM party ,for instance ,can continue winning free and fair presidential elections, if we ever come to that level but without the same candidate. My conclusion here is that Cameroonians need a lot of education to be able to wriggle out of misinformation. It is easier to change the unfit parliamentarian than change a dictator. If any community lacks water, electricity, roads, etc …the parliamentarian should be put to task.

*Bakabak is a Researcher in Education/Human development,based in the USA

Cameroon:Dr. Richard Fru-Man of Awards

By Christopher Ambe

Dr. Richard Fru:  Award-winning trad-practitioner

Dr. Fru Richard, is the Founder/Director of the famous Dr. Fru‘s Garden of Eden International Healing & Research Foundation with headquarters in Wonya Mavio- Buea, Southwest Region of Cameroon.

Although headquartered in Buea, the GEIHR Foundation has established branches in some town s and cities of Cameroon. Towns and cities already having branches of GEIHR Foundation are: Kumba, Douala, Yaounde, Bamenda, Limbe and recently Bertoua.

Dr.Fru, The Recorder gathered plans to establish more branch clinics in Maroua, Ebolowa, Ngoundere and Graoua-especially as the demand for his drugs and consultation is greatly increasing as the days pass by.

 

Why Dr.Fru is so Popular

Dr. Fru, as young as he is, has become a famous  modern traditional doctor who has proven beyond doubts that, traditional medicine is the bedrock of all medicine on earth and remains the future of all medicines 

Cameroon has  thousands of  traditional practitioners or doctors/healers who are practicing .But Dr. Fru  has, for years now,  been a household name not only  in Cameroon but also abroad because of  the effectiveness of his  medicinal drugs, that knock out diseases from the body - even some considered by conventional doctors as incurable.

“I don’t believe there is any disease that is incurable. If I am not curing a disease, it does not mean traditional doctors elsewhere can not cure it. If I am not curing this or that disease, there may be somebody in say Yaounde or Fru-awa or India or Nigeria curing it.

“Traditional Medicine has no limitations. This is why traditional medicine is referred to as holistic medicine; it is medicine that widens and extends beyond the narrow world view. It is super medicine; it has a lot of super natural properties in it”, Dr. Fru told The Recorder on  August 31, 2010 as he celebrated the 8^th African Traditional Day. 

It is worthy of note here that Dr. Fru, as one of Cameroon’s leading modern traditional doctors, has made it a duty to organize celebrations yearly-and in a grand style- in honor of the Day of African Traditional Medicine, which is August 31

Based on his strong belief that there is no disease that is incurable and motivated by the World health Organization (WHO) conclusion that more than 80% of Africans depend on traditional medicine for the their health needs/care, Dr. Fru engages in serious research on medicinal plants in order to produce quality but affordable made- out -of -plants drugs to treat and or cure patients.

His dedication to research on traditional medicine has led to his discovery and production of not only effective drugs but award-winning drugs.

 The GEIHR Foundation has to its credit many Made- in -The Garden of Eden drugs /medicines, which thousands of Cameroonians and foreigners alike have been relying on to prevent, treat or cure diseases. Many can publicly testify.

Some of the popular and effective drugs of Dr.Fru include Try-Me (The Miraculous Powder, the Balm of Africa), which cures and prevents several ailments. Consider 25 Star Tea, the tea of wisdom

Another recently produced drug is Anti-oxy-Toxin (AOT), which reportedly fights against AIDS ant its causative agents as well as body terrorists; cleans, heals and protects the blood TRIDESOL (Try-Dis One) - a cancer treatment will be launched, The Recorder learned.

It is on the strength of Dr.Fru’s medicinal research and production of many effective but affordable drugs that he has, for several years, been receiving different awards from different organizations especially the media, in recognition and appreciation of his continued contribution to development, by promoting good health. Health is wealth, it is said.

Two Days, Two Awards

Last May 12 at Ayaba Hotel Bamenda, the Life Time media group  pleasantly surprised Dr .Fru with two awards ,one labeled “The Best All-round Modern Tradi-practitioner in Research” and  the other for his drug,TRY-Me,which was rated as “Best Curative Modern Traditional Drug”

Then the next day, May 13, still in Bamenda, The Watch Dog Newspaper also handed him another prestigious award-all in recognition for his sustained efforts in the field of traditional medicine, towards improving and restoring good health. It was “The Watch Dog 2011 Award to the Garden of Eden in Buea”

Dr .Fru thinks that all the awards have been inspired by the Almighty God, adding that they only show how appreciative Cameroonians are, of his medicinal products and that the awards would further motivate him to do more for humanity.

Dr. Fru had before been handed several awards by other media outfits such as The Guardian Post Newspaper and Cameroon Association of English-speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ) Buea chapter. But Dr.Fru wants to gain even greater recognition beyond Cameroon and Africa. “We want to spread our services all over the world, so that in future we can receive international awards”, he said.

A good traditional doctor

According to Fru, “He or she must be morally upright. He must have a good sense of judgment, and conscience. And above, he must do research and adhere to the ethics of the profession of traditional medicine. For, once you go beyond the ethics you become bad.

“A good traditional health practitioner must have the health of his patient as his priority, and not put money first. He must ensure that his practice does not jeopardize the physical well being of the patient, the spiritual or emotional well-being of his patient”

NB:First Published in The Recorder Newspaper,Cameroon,of June 18,2012,under the column The Exemplar.

University of Buea: Dr. Ernest Molua, Resigns as Head of Department

*Cites Massive Corruption, Threat to Life etc as Justification

By Christopher Ambe

Dr .Ernest  Molua:

Dr.Ernest L. Molua, Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agro-business in the Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine of the University of Buea(UB), has resigned from his administrative functions as boss of the department. 

But hierarchy is reportedly still hesitant to endorse his resignation, which is considered by many as a serious crack in the newly created but important department.

 In his letter of resignation dated December 14, 2011 to the Minister of Higher Education, Dr .Molua, said to be the only agricultural economist at UB now, has, cited Personal threat to life, unaccommodating work environment which defeats the vision and mission of the University, and Persistent sleaze and moral impropriety at the University of Buea, to justify his decision to abandon the duty post of HOD.

Concerning Threat to life, Dr. Molua recalled how on February 11, 2011, he was physically attacked by students of the University of Buea Student Union in public at Buea Bongo Square while he was organizing students of his department for the Youth  Day march-past. But even before the February 11 incident, he wrote that he had years back been attacked and injured by UB students, reportedly sponsored by some of his detractor colleagues.

Concerning Unaccommodating work environment, he expressed regrets that, since assuming office as HOD in January 2010, “I have virtually worked as Courier, Messenger, Clerk, Typist, Secretary, Computer Clerk etc.” He blamed in his letter,the University management for failing, despite repeated requests, to deploy personnel to facilitate work at the Department.

“This to me is a glaring strategy to frustrate my output and sabotage not only my efforts in administration but also to obfuscate my responsibility to teaching and outreach”, stated the don in his letter. 

On Persistent sleaze and moral impropriety, Dr. Molua, known for his outspokenness, noted: “ The work environment at the University has in recent times been characterized by heightened impropriety in student-teacher relationship, the recruitment of non-academic staff, the award and execution of contracts with some administrators fronting as suppliers and contractors; the gluttony of teaching-hours accumulation and supervision of long essays by some junior administrators perceived to be protected by senior kinsmen who think they have an ordained right to financial gain  from rendering services to the University of Buea and the State. These persistent sleaze and moral impropriety are a distraction to my rendering of quality services to the university.” 

However, Dr.Molua, who has proof of his allegations, did not mention names of those involved in the alleged malpractices.

Even as he has resigned from his post as HOD, Dr. Molua has expressed his readiness to “ remain one of the teaching personnel to guarantee a serene mind to achieve the primordial mandate for which I was hired by the Ministry of Higher Education to teach and research.”

Emphasizing his patriotic spirit, Dr. Molua told the Minister of Higher Education, in his letter of resignation, that: “I shall therefore be glad to be offered the opportunity to teach courses and supervise students’ research in the University

“Should the Ministry of higher Education and allied departments engaged in the mission of capacity-building of young Cameroonians think I can be of value to their development plans, I shall be glad to serve my country in another capacity”

On a related development, Dr.Molua, before submitting his resignation letter to the Minister of Higher Education, as HOD, was reportedly at loggerheads with Associate Professor P.N. Sakwe, who is Vice-Dean at the Faculty of Agriculture and veterinary Medicine, over academic and administrative matters.

Also published in The RECORDER newspaper, Cameroon ,of June 18,2012

Cameroon:Ex-SCNC Lobbyists Uncover Plans by the Separatist Group to Target Government Officials

 President Paul Biya Alerted !

By Christopher Ambe

 A group of former Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) activists and lobbyists, who now have grouped under the banner of Cameroon Council for Reunification’ (CAMCORE), claim they have information about plans by some SCNC members to "to exterminate collaborators of the ruling government in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon.

In a press release sent to The Recorder by CAMCORE Campaigner, Cameroonian-born rights activist Emmanuel Neba-Fuh but now resident in the UK, they condemned such a diabolic plan.

“We will not allow the greed and arrogance of a few self-made Anglophone secessionist leaders to drag our beloved nation into a conflict that will destroy the lives of millions of people, mostly the poor and vulnerable, taking away livelihoods and causing deaths of biblical proportions” said Emmanuel Neba-Fuh campaigner at CAMCORE.

 “The solemn task of keeping our nation united and peaceful is not the responsibility of one section of our society alone, but a lengthy community consultation task that requires a degree of prolonged and sustained effort from Cameroonians of all ages, at local, national and international levels"

 Neba-Fuh said the Government of Cameroon and some traditional rulers have also be notified about the SCNC Plans.(Read the CAMCORE Press release  below).

Cameroon Council for Reunification (CAMCORE) was initiated by Multi-Award winning Human Rights campaigner Emmanuel Neba Fuh and senior optometrist Edwin Achu, in response to President Paul Biya’s 2011 call on Cameroonians in the Diaspora to put their intellectual and technical expertise at the service of their country,the release said.

The Recorder could not immediately contact any known SCNC officials to find out if they were aware of such a plan.

But the Recorder understands that, the motto of the SCNC is: The Force of Argument and not The Argument of Force.

Meanwhile The Recorder will publish an exclusive Interview with Emmanuel Neba-Fuh ,a multi-award winning Human Rights campaigner in UK,on the subject and more in the near future. It is a must-read.

Below is the CAMCORE Prease Release

SCNC Genocide Plans Exposed at  The Eve of Reunification Celebrations

A group of former Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) activists and lobbyists have exposed the organisation’s plan to exterminate collaborators of the ruling government in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon, prompting the sapping of confidence across the land, and an inevitable nagging fear that Cameroon might become another Biafra.
 

In a letter to President Paul Biya, which was copied to the leader of Cameroon’s opposition - Ni John Fru Ndi, foreign embassies in Yaounde, South West Chiefs Conference and the North West Fons Union, the group uncovered SCNC’s links with terrorist groups and said their Rwandan style doctrine of hate and exclusivity constitutes a total negation of the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Conventions on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination.

Earlier, the group won the support of senior British politicians when they symbolically launched the ‘Cameroon Council for Reunification’ (CAMCORE) in the House of Commons, where 92 years ago the decision to partition Kamerun - was debated and agreed

“We will not allow the greed and arrogance of a few self-made Anglophone secessionist leaders to drag our beloved nation into a conflict that will destroy the lives of millions of people, mostly the poor and vulnerable, taking away livelihoods and causing deaths of biblical proportions” said Emmanuel Neba-Fuh campaigner at CAMCORE. 

 “The solemn task of keeping our nation united and peaceful is not the responsibility of one section of our society alone, but a lengthy community consultation task that requires a degree of prolonged and sustained effort from Cameroonians of all ages, at local, national and international levels”

Emmanuel Neba-Fuh,
Coordinator
CAMCORE-The Diaspora Unit

Contact: +44(0)7534893025  Email: camcore@live.co.uk 

 __________________________________________________________________________________

Cameroon Council for Reunification (CAMCORE) was initiated by Multi-Award winning Human Rights campaigner Emmanuel Neba Fuh and senior optometrist Edwin Achu, in response to President Paul Biya’s 2011 call on Cameroonians in the Diaspora to put their intellectual and technical expertise at the service of their country.
 

Launched in the House of Commons on 7th November 2011 as part of the Big Society Initiative for Africa, the initiative brought together senior UK politicians from the Houses of Parliament and members of the UK Cameroonian Diaspora.

The birth of CAMCORE is symbolic because it took place in the House of Commons, where 92 years ago the decision to divide Kamerun on 28th June 1919 between French and British League of Nations Mandate was debated and agreed.

Reunification speaks to the highest aspirations of Cameroonians and CAMCORE is committed to preserve its dividends - by mobilizing sons and daughters of Cameroon both at home and abroad to act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood, and to fully support the government’s efforts towards peaceful coexistence.   Cameroon Council for Reunification can be accessed at: www.camecore.org

Also published  in The Recorder Newspaper ,Cameroon, June ,2012

 

Cameroun’s Parliament Rejects Draft Resolution to Set up Commission of Enquiry

By Ayah P Abine

At the beginning of the present parliamentary session in Cameroun, Hon Mbah Ndam Joseph of the opposition SDF tabled a draft resolution to probe the crash of CAMAIR (the country’s defunct airlines) Boeing 737 in 1995 and the alleged misappropriation of the funds destined for the compensation of the families of the deceased victims of the crash. 

The Bill was considered properly before the House.

But when the Bill came up for debates in committee on the morning of June 13, 2012, at 9 o’clock, the ruling party’s members of the committee, who are four to one as against the Opposition, moved that the Bill be thrown out at the pleasure of the Emperor. Even as the Opposition MPs clearly demolished the flimsy arguments of the ruling party, the chairperson of the committee cut short the debates and put the motion to the vote with obvious results.

 CPDM, the ruling party, has demonstrated just again that our parliament is a mere formality institution that works at the beck and call of the Emperor. It is inconceivable that the Chairmen’s Conference that is the body competent to judge whether or not a Bill is properly before the House so held but a committee of the House arrogates to itself a role that is not theirs as per the Standing Orders of the House.

 Yet could it not have been otherwise given that, from every indication, three ministers and other high-ranking personalities of the ruling party were to be exposed during the probe. In Cameroon, it is a fact most notorious that belonging to the ruling party is tantamount to insuperable immunity till one falls from grace to grass. Ours is really a most advanced democracy! God save Cameroon but not Cameroun! 

Below is the Draft Resolution by the SDF, the leading opposition party,which was tabled in Cameroon's Parliament ,but to the surprise of millions of citizens,it was rejected by the majority CPDM .

DRAFT RESOLUTION FOR THE CREATION OF A PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION OF INQUIRY IN RESPECT OF THE NON INDEMNISATION OF THE SEVENTY ONE (71) VICTIMS OF THE BOEING 737-200 (THE NYONG) THAT CRASHED IN DOUALA ON 03 DECEMBER 1995

To,

The President of the National Assembly,

Yaounde,

Honourable Joseph Mbah-Ndam and members of the Social Democratic Front Parliamentary Group (SDF), at the National Assembly;

HAVE THE HONOUR TO STATE AS FOLLOWS.

That in an open letter written by Minister of State, Marafa Hamidou Yaya, presently in prison custody, addressed to the President of the Republic and published in numerous newspapers, it emerges from the said letter that the seventy one (71) victims of the Boeing 737-200 belonging to the defunct CAMAIR which crashed on 03 December 1995 have never been indemnified despite the fact that the legal proceedings against TRANSNET-SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS resulted in the payment of a colossal sum of Thirty Two billion, Five Hundred Thousand (32,500,000,000) FCFA.

Indeed, it emerges from the said letter that in May 1994, written agreements had been entered into in Paris, France, by which TRANSNET-SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS undertook to ensure the maintenance of Boeing 737 and 747 belonging to the defunct CAMAIR;

That it is because of the corruption of certain Cameroonian authorities and workers of the defunct CAMAIR with the South African Company cited above, which resulted in failure and groos negligence in the execution of the said contracts, leading in consequence to the crash of the Boeing 737-200 baptised as “Le Nyong” in 1995 and occasioning the loss of human lives, the loss of the reactor of Boeing 747-200, in the course of a flight in Paris, France;

That this corruption was exposed by the follow-up Committee of the execution of the said contracts of maintenance created in consequence by arête (order) No 530/CAB/CAB/PR of 14 November 2000 rendering null and void the said contracts and the restitution of the sum of Thirty Two billion, Five Hundred Thousand (32,500,000,000) FCFA unjustly paid to the said South African Company without taking into account damages that were equally paid;

That the Follow-up Committee of the execution of the said contracts of maintenance had also as mission, inter alia, to commence legal proceedings against TRANSMET-SAA for and on behalf of CAMAIR and the state of Cameroon;

That after several years, he, (Marafa Hamidou Yaya) has been informed that the matter was heard and determined and TRANSNET-SAA found guilty and the state of Cameroon indemnified;

That he had at that time, proposed to the President of the Republic, to indemnify the seventy one (71) victims in the sum of 100,000,000 FCFA per victim, making a total of 7,100,000,000 FCFA and the rest of 25,500,000,000 FCFA plus the damages paid to the defunct CAMAIR;

That up to date neither the victims have been indemnified nor the sum of 25,500,000,000 FCFA plus the amount of the damages paid to the liquidators of the defunct CAMAIR whose ex-employees have never been paid their rights;

It is worthwhile emphasizing here that had these billions been paid to CAMAIR, it would not have gone into liquidation;

That curiously and to his great surprise the beneficiaries of this corruption that was the fundamental cause of these sad events, some years later, have been promoted and some to governmental functions;

It is for these Reasons That They Solicit, Most Respectfully, Mr President of the National Assembly;

Mindful of the Constitution, the Fundamental Law of the Republic of Cameroon, which provides in sections 14 (2), 29 and 35 the oversight of government action through, inter alia, the establishment of Parliamentary Commissions of Enquiry for specified subjects;

Mindful of the provisions of section 67 of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly as amended by Laws No 93/001 of 16 June 1993 and 2002/005 of 02 December 2002, read in conjunction with Law no 91/029 of 16 December 1991 which specifies the procedure in this regard;

Hereby request in consequence, the establishment of a Parliamentary Commission of Enquiry to investigate the said allegations and apportion responsibilities with a view to:

1. Indemnify the families of the seventy-one victims of the Boeing 737-200 crash of 03 December 1995

2. Pay back to the liquidator of the defuct CAMAIR the sum of 25,500,000,000 FCFA plus the damages that were recovered to enable him pay the rights of the ex-employees who up to date have not been paid;

3. Bring to book before the competent jurisdictions authors and accessories of these heinous acts that resulted in the loss of human lives, the destruction of public wealth and the embezzlement of public funds.

Much Obliged.                                                                                     

Yaounde 05 June 2012

Signed: 

Hon. Joseph Mbah-Ndam