The Republic of Cameroon has set the golden standards for just how to mismanage tribal and cultural diversity. With the plethora of tribes, the Ahidjo and Biya regimes have exhibited the textbook definition of ethnic and cultural chaos. As Maurice Kamto defends his inalienable right as a citizen, this dramatic and shameless judicial masquerade comes in the background of significant, multiple and delicate tribal tensions and suspicions. The only therapy that can hold the falling pieces of this nation together is DEVOLUTION OF POWERS. GENUINE DEVOLUTION OF POWERS. Call it what you like ( federation or decentralization or whatever),
I will prefer to define the content of the said devolution of powers rather than playing around with the literary definitions and differences between the different forms of devolution of powers.
1) It has been falsely claimed by the Biya regime for over 4 decades that all tribes are represented in the gigantic and cumbersome administrative set-up headquartered in Yaounde. That the president of the senate is a Bamileke, that the president of the national Assembly is a northerner, that the prime minister is an Anglophone, and that the president of the Republic is a Bulu and then logically, Anglophones, northerners, Bamis, etc, etc are all well represented. FALSE and FALSE Again. What is germane is the perspective of the man on the Clapham omnibus. The people themselves. Don’t tell me I look at Mr Atanga Nji or Navola or Dion Ngute as representing me or the Anglophone community. No. These people represent Biya; they are Biya’s servants, they work for Biya and not for Anglophones. They are Biyas creatures and may die for Biyas’ sake and not that of the Anglophone community. The setup is the archetypal characteristic of a hyper-centralised unit. The people should feel, believe and think that those claiming to be their elites or representatives in the state apparatus are products of their will and desire. That is not the case at all.
2) What do I or what do my people have in common with the colonial appointees called prefects and sous-prefets? The people see these fellows as biyas agents, not theirs. I said I will define devolution of powers by its contents. The people should vote for their local administrators. I would prefer an elected mayor with full administrative powers to an appointed DO. Period.
3) That the national budget should be rationally devolved to local administrative units voted by the people. The gargantuan structures in the name of ministries in Yaounde that consume 90% of the budget should be dismantled, personnel and budget relocated to local governance and only a limited and necessary central service maintained in the nation’s capital. The current centralized structure that has been there for 7 decades has only nurtured deep-seated tribal unease and tensions. Why? The power of appointment. If there’s one curse that has ruined this nation is the godly, unlimited, unchecked powers of appointment. A good chunk of these powers should be scrapped with local governance via elected officials executing some. There’s been an ongoing catastrophic war or chaos in the Anglophone regions for the past 8 years. This undoubtedly is the outcome of a hyper-centralised system that has abused, misused and terrorized various groups for decades. It has virtually killed the last remnants of the national Spirit. It has highlighted and exposed all that sets us apart from what brings us together. Call it what you want, but only a genuine and profound devolution of powers can save this highly diversified and tribal nation. The frantic, brutal and repressive last efforts of the neo-colonial regime in Yaounde to cling to power in a hyper-centralised system will bring more chaos, unrest and perhaps the fragmentation of this nation. As Maurice Kamto stands to defend his rights in front of one more achaic structure of power conservation, the alarm bells keep sounding desperate echoes for an urgent and compelling change
CHANGE HAS BEEN OVERDUED IN CAMEROUN
