Cameroun’s Failing Policies in the Fight against Food Shortages

By Hinsley Njila
Here’s why Cameroon and others got to the recent commodity price explosion, and how governments are making it worse…

Pretty much every developing country (Cameroon included), no matter whether they have democratic or totalitarian political systems, heavily tax farmers in order to subsidize their urban populations, while developed nations like France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan and others heavily subsidize their farmers, no matter how small the agricultural sectors. In fact, some countries in Europe subsidize farmers more generously than the United States which has a slightly larger farm sector than most in Europe. On the surface, this universal tendency for rich countries to subsidize farming, no matter their political systems, is a paradox. For since only a small fraction of the populations of these countries work in agriculture, farmers cannot contribute much to any majority voting coalition.

Taxing of farmers in developing countries is as true of India as of China, Cameroon as well as Peru, Libya as well as South Africa, and similarly for the other poorer nations. In all these countries, farmers are a significant fraction of their populations, and they form a majority in many, such as Cameroon, India and China.
Make no mistake that the recent strikes in Cameroon, South Africa, and other developing countries about the global explosion in the prices of commodities is a direct result of these differences in the ways farmers are treated. The United States and European Union have been subsidizing biofuels which is an important factor behind the rise in food prices. Indeed, these subsidies directly raised the price of corn to consumers, and indirectly raised the prices of other grains. Riots broke out in many cities around the world in protest against the increases in the prices of bread and other food stables.

Well here’s the interesting part about all these. People like Paul Biya and others decided to either reduce the prices of commodities or restrict exports as a way of quelling the riots and increasing supply. Of course you don’t have to be an economist to realize that this obviously reduced the incomes of farmers (which are already low), and denied them the ability to trade on Global markets where prices are higher.
This response to rising food prices by third world governments is clear evidence that they have no idea how to fight poverty in their countries. Farmers in countries like Cameroon are on average vastly poorer than their city residents, and reducing their incomes in such a manner fuels migration, less interest in farming and continuing high prices because fewer crops will be grown, on top of the already poor investment in farm technology.

So by reducing the prices of commodities in the case of Paul Biya, or restricting exports in the case of China and others, developing countries are not only making their economies less efficient, but also they are adding to the overall incidence of poverty among their populations. The gap between the incomes of rural and urban families is much smaller in developed countries that subsidize rather than tax farmers.

It may seem very simple, but with high prices of commodities like cereal and other foods, subsidized farmers are getting far richer than city residents, while taxed farmers are getting poorer as the taxes have increased on those situations to accommodate city living.

In the last few months, everyone from the UK minister of Agriculture to the chief of the UN world food program have been warning of a looming global food crisis, but the only ones who do not seem to be bothered by such an alarm are the developing nations who incidentally are the most under-prepared to deal with it.

The solution to this crisis is not as simple as just subsidizing the developing farmers, for this would require imposing high per capita taxes on their relatively small urban populations since farmers are a rather large proportion of the total population in these countries. Instead, the same political pressures as in developed countries lead poorer countries, regardless of the nature of their political systems, to subsidize the smaller urban populations at the expense of the larger farm populations.

People far smarter than me have shown that a common approach to the political process based on interest group pressures can explain both the taxing of poor farmers in developing nations, and the subsidies to well off farmers in richer nations. Whatever the case may be, unless actions are taken urgently to help poor farmers in developing countries and the agriculture sector as a whole, we are in for a period of unavoidable violence resulting from massive global food shortages.

Hinsley Njila
Contributor
http://innocentsdeal.blogspot.com

Getting the Most Value from your Money Transfers

By Hinsley Njila
Many immigrants abroad have at one point or another used Western Union or similar services to send money to their families or friends around the world. Among the good things about these services; Western Union for instance is easy to access especially in third world countries, money can be sent quite easily (online, in-person etc), money can be picked up in minutes, their logo has bright yellow and other colors.
For all you who regularly use especially Western Union, take a second to see how just picking the right services can make an even bigger difference in the lives of your families, friends, communities, and above all help reduce poverty. No one can discount the great benefits of services like Western Union; they have breached the gaps in the complexities of currency trading markets, helped immigrants connect with their communities for decades now, and in so many situations have been the only reliable source of money that has actually helped to fight the severe poverty that exists in many of these communities.

Whenever you exchange currency through Western Union per say, you are simultaneously selling your own currency and buying the foreign currency. There are two main factors that affect your money transfer costs: the exchange rate and the spread. The spread is the difference between the bid price (the price you sell at) and the ask price (the price you buy at) of a currency pair, quoted in a decimal value called pips. Basically, the lower the spread, the better the exchange rate, and the less you pay in "fees" to your broker.

Pick up your last Western Union receipt and look at the price you sold your currency to Western Union for, then go to services like oanda.com or yahoo.com, and check the rate the currency was being offered on the global forex that day and youʼll understand what Iʼm talking about. Western Union, which incidentally is the most used money transfer service, has the largest spread of any other company. What does this mean for you, your family, friends and communities?

Well the immediate impact is that potentially millions of your local currencies are being withheld from your families and friends every time you use Western Unionʼs services. Money that would otherwise go to start a local business, send a kid to school or maybe just help a family put food on the table is being taken by Western Union because of reasons of excess profits. Choose a different service with a lower spread even by a few pips and youʼll get more money to your communities without actually putting more money in your transaction.

In addition to large spreads, Western Union also charges some of the highest transfer fees of anyone. If you think for a second that Western Union which has no employees of its own in these countries, no offices and therefore no operating costs besides a few percentage points paid to the banks as an outlet, itʼs pretty amazing what they charge for transfers.

Several years ago when I withdrew money from Western Union at a location in Cameroon, I found that the services were NOT transparent, cost-effective, convenient or secure. The lack of transparency was due to the fact that the person dispensing the money is usually corrupt, exploitative and would often keep a few hundred of the local currency because the receiver did not know exactly how much the exchange rate was at any given time. It was not cost-effective because it was certainly expensive. Nor was it convenient or secure because people who receive money through Western Union are usually not respected at banks especially in Africa. The scene is usually a very long line, with people waiting several hours at a time, no privacy, no respect and often with a rude teller left to attend to them.

You would think a multi-billion dollar company like Western Union that has spent decades exploiting poor people in some of the most depressing conditions around the world would do a lot to help some of these people get out of poverty, but youʼd be wrong. I have NEVER heard of a Western Union scholarship in any of the poor African or South American Universities, or maybe there is a Western Union water project I missed in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Kenya or elsewhere. At what point does social responsibility kick in for some of these companies doing business in third world countries?

Well, make the right choice by choosing the right service to send your money, and I bet these companies doing business in third world countries will have no choice but to embrace social responsibility that helps alleviate poverty. Social responsibility, accountability, and profitability should be mutually exclusive. In the fight against severe poverty like what we have in Africa, every little ʽpipʼ reduction counts and could potentially mean the difference in whether someone stays hopeful or dies in poverty.
Hinsley Njila
Blog Contributor
http://innocentsdeal.blogspot.com

VANHIVAX Has Cured AIDS Patients - Prof. Anomah Ngu

Interviewed By Walter Wilson Nana

Former Public Health Minister and researcher on HIV/AIDS, Prof. Victor Anomah Ngu, 82, and inventor of VANHIVAX vaccine, says he has made a breakthrough in the fight and cure of HIV/AIDS. Prof Anomah Ngu says that his vaccine has cured 18 people of the disease. Anomah Ngu, who was in Buea on Saturday, April 5, at the behest of the Catholic Men Association, CMA, Buea, Buea Diocese, after his insightful talk on HIV/AIDS threw more light on the potentials of VANHIVAX in this exclusive interview with The Post. Excerpts:
Your research work and the VANHIVAX vaccine have become issues of national concern. How much attention have you received from government?
To be frank, it's not very good, especially with the former Minister of Public Health, Urbain Olanguena Awono. He was not very pleased to see me. He didn't treat me too well.

What have been some of your impediments as you make efforts to bring your vaccine to the world?
Some people are still very much in the old school of life. They find it very difficult to accept what we're doing. People are still very ignorant of what we're doing. I can forgive them for that.

What is your relationship with fellow researchers who are in your domain of research?
I have been working with Americans and French researchers. We signed an agreement with them to last from 2002-2003. After these years, I have not heard from them. I don't know if they're making progress since they left.

Prior to your discovery of VANHIVAX, some international organisations had been reportedly pirating your findings. How did you react to that?
A lot of people have tried to copy what we've been doing, yet they have not really understood how we do it.

How successful has VANHIVAX been so far?
Each patient comes with his/her specificity. But the reliability is good. It can cure easily. If you are not so well, we can try and improve on your immune systems, not with drugs. Drugs don't improve on the immune systems.

Some of the people you've cured of HIV are not willing to testify to the public, why not do it on their behalf?
I don't have to do it against their will. I respect their privacy. They don't want to be exposed. I treated somebody in 1988, I asked him to come and testify, he asked me to pay him for that. I was embarrassed! When he was sick, he was thrown out of his family. At the time, there was no treatment, no drugs.
I took care of him, gave him food, cured him and gave him a job. Now, he works with the UN AIDS Programme. He travels first class.
How long does it take to treat somebody whose immune system is still normal?
Two months perhaps. Two or three injections will be enough. If not, that's when the trouble starts.

What will you tell people who don't believe that HIV/AIDS can be cured?
My message is quite simple. We've cured at least, on records, 18 patients. If these 18 patients cannot convince them, then nobody can. People should come and be treated. Even those who have advanced in the disease should come. The sooner they come, the sooner we can start. We have patients who come to us with CD4 of 1. They have taken drugs and it has dropped to CD4 of 3, 4. That makes it easier. Some are already dieing, when they come to us.
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How far have you gone with the international recognition of VANHIVAX?
I have opened a website for the vaccine. The following countries have recognised the vaccine; Nigeria, South Africa and Venezuela. Somebody came from Venezuela to record all what we've been doing with the vaccine.

We understand the government gave you FCFA 5 million to promote your activities, how beneficial has been the money?
It has been useful. I have bought a few things with it. However, five million these days can't take you very far; only equipments have cost me FCFA 7 million.
After VANHIVAX what next?
We want to code the virus in large quantities; HIV1.

What's the future of your clinic after you?
I hope it will go on. I am making efforts for other countries to accept what we're doing and for them to run it. It cannot be run from Yaounde, Cameroon. We want them to be interested, they give us some royalties and we give them the green light to go on. We don't intend to teach the whole world, we cannot.
When did you start research work on VANHIVAX?
I started since 1988. As soon as I retired from the government, I devoted full time to this.

Apart from HIV/AIDS, what other ailments do you treat at your clinic?
We treat Hepatitis B and C, Cancers (all types).
Monday, 07 April 2008 at 02:16 PM in Interviews | Permalink


Comments
Feed You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Dear esteemed professor: Your research on this very important disease is laudable and no doubt based on scientific principles. But this research must be replicable by the scientific community so that the whole world can give you credit, and you reap the just reward from your labor.
I am vey curious why this is not the case and why so many people the whole world over continue to die everyday from this intractible disease that you have ostensibly discover the cure. I mean if you have really discover the cure, you really merit a Nobel Prize and $$$$$ will beat a path to your door
Posted by: Donbon | Monday, 07 April 2008 at 07:50 PM
I would like to thank the professor what he has supposedly achieved this far but permit me also criticise the professor for his inability to push his vaccine to international recognition. I think its simple to do. If the professor is actually convinced that he has got the right formulae to treat HIV/AIDS, then I believe there is always an international forum where he can take his ideas to and depate if not defend it. It is then at this point that great researchers who find the formulae meaningful will begin to promote the vaccine further. I donot know if prof. has already taken this step but i think its a necessary first step.
Posted by: TabiSweden | Tuesday, 08 April 2008 at 03:49 AM

Poll Results

By Hinsley Njila & Innocent Chia.
Innocentsdeal is the place where YOUR vote as well as voice will ALWAYS count. It is our commitment to you.

Four of our polls just ended, and here’s an overview of what your collective opinions were.

When asked how you felt about the future of Cameroon, 50% of you thought it was Absolutely hopeless, 27% thought it was not hopeful at all, while 22% of you who responded thought there was something to be hopeful about.

We also did ask you if Biya should change the constitution and stay in power for life. An overwhelming 88% of you who responded gave an emphatic HELL NO his time was up. 4% of the people don’t care what happens, 4% don’t know enough to have an opinion, while 4% of those we can only assume to be Biya’s family members said they wanted him to go on for life…and guess what…Biya’s family members won because the moribund parliament endorsed Biya’s monarchy. A sackcloth day indeed!

On the question of what action you’ll be taking to help stop Biya from extending his reign over the people of Cameroon beyond 2011, 50% of you said you’d be calling/writing your congressman/MP, 25% of you just can’t wait to find a rally so you can get your voices heard, while 25% of you said you were too chicken to do anything and would be staying as silent as possible.

In keeping with the times, after the campus shootings at Northern Illinois University, we did ask you how such shootings can be prevented. 50% of you said installing metal detectors on campus will do the trick. 31% of you went even further by saying that gun ownership was the problem and needed to be limited. 18% thought it was a mental health issue and that more patients needed to be identified and helped on campus. 18% of respondents would vote for an outright ban of gun ownership, and 6% of you said shootings would be prevented if students wore bullet proof vests on campus.

Thank you very much for voting, and please do vote often to get your voices heard on the issues you care about the most.
Hinsley Njila &
Innocent Chia

President Biya En Route for Life Presidency in Cameroun

By Innocent Chia
His Royal Highness the Fon & Sorcerer-in-Chief of Cameroon, Paul Biya and his surrogates surreptitiously submitted a bill to revise the constitution in favor of scrapping presidential terms in Cameroon. The bill No. 819/PJL/AN, submitted at the tail end of the week ending April 5th, 2008 to the rubbers tamp National Assembly that is controlled at over 85% by Biya’s ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement, also makes a new provision shielding him from indictment for any crimes committed during his tenure. In what beats any twisted logical premise, its cynical authors claim that the amendment, when passed, will strengthen the democratic culture in Cameroon.

Earnestly, it would be pretentious not to admit that the foolhardiness of Biya and his griots is probably stunning every political guru and pundit that is paying attention to next Rwanda of Africa – Cameroon. We all remember the deaths of over 100 Cameroonians at the end of February 2008; lives lost to police and military brutality at the behest of an overzealous and mandate-less executive that has deafened to the cries of the beleaguered masses that are sick and tired of Biya’s 26 years of empty promises, poverty, and are forced to live from hand-to-mouth. But the improbability of Biya featuring on 2011 ballot now seems like a distant dream for Cameroonians, generations of whom are condemned to live with the choices of hopelessness versus Biya – both synonyms.

We learned from sources at the Presidency of the kangaroo Republique du Cameroun that President Sarkozy of France may have pulled the trigger that is causing Biya to be hell-bent on modifying the constitution in order to eliminate any term limits. According to these sources, several screws must have loosened during Biya’s premier working visit with the new French leader on October 26th, 2007 because it is purported that Sarkozy reiterated to Biya that he would not favor any constitutional shenanigans to keep Biya in power past 2011. It is on the heels of this intimation that Biya gave an uncharacteristic interview with the French cable channel “France 24” in which he said that the “constitution does not provide room for another term for him in 2011,” slyly adding “not for the time being”.

His entourage is said to have been taken aback and surprised by this answer to the question asked by Louis Keumayou, President of the Panafricanist Press Association. If anything, the entourage considered it a slap to President Sarkozy who was attempting to tell the ruler what to do in his country. This is said to have galvanized the CPDM bigwigs into multiplying their “pleas” for their parliamentarians to review the constitution for a life presidency for savior Biya. What hogwash!

But even sadder is the fact that while the populace is still burying and mourning the dead, vampire Biya and his acolytes seem to be unflappable and could care less about what the overwhelming majority of Cameroonians think. After all, did they not turn the February uprisings into a simple bread and butter business? Are civil servants not happier now that they have a 15% increase in salaries? Who cares or can even compute the fact that the increase only covers a three year inflation rate at 5% a year? Did Biya not order a reduction of gas prices at the pump by a penny and are drivers not back on the streets merrily grateful for this show of generosity? What else do I want for Biya to do?

One thing is certain: Biya will die; which is a no-brainer that sounds like what someone who is giving up and surrendering to fate would say. But it is true and it is unfortunate that he cannot swap places on death row with me. Paul Biya has the power to decree whatever he chooses, or to coerce his stooge parliamentarians and knucklehead advisers into passing any bill to protect him. However, what he has no power over is that of seeing into it that what he has decreed will come to pass just as he pleases. This includes the new Article 53 of the proposed bill. Section 3 of the said Article stipulates that “Acts committed by the President of the Republic in pursuance of Articles 5, 8, 9 and 10 above shall be covered by immunity and he shall not be accountable for them after the exercise of his functions”.

In the words of those “Wise men” that crafted the proposal, I can certify to them that those who will then be in power will not lose sleep over revoking Section 53 on the grounds that it was “designed and adopted in quite particular post-crisis context”.

Innocent Chia
Citizen Journalist
Email: innochia@gmail.com

Botswana: President Calls It A Day

The Nation (Nairobi)

31 March 2008
Posted to the web 31 March 2008

Wene Owino
Gaborone

President Festus Mogae of Botswana hands over power to Ian Khama on Tuesday, joining the small group of African leaders who have left office without seeking to extend their rule.

The smooth transition follows the example set by his predecessor, Sir Ketumile Masire, who stepped down in 1998, even though he had 11 more years to go.
Contrary to what many African leaders would have done, Masire did not contest elections in 1999 and 2004 to complete the newly introduced limit of two five-year terms. He had already been in power for 18 years, and there was nothing preventing him from exploiting the new law, like former Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi and Ugandaʼs Yoweri Museveni did.

However, he not only declined to rule for another two terms, but also heeded calls from within the party and stepped down 18 months before the end of his final term.

Mogae, his hand-picked successor, is similarly giving away 18 months before the next general elections after serving two five-year terms.

In reality, however, Mogae has not served 10 years because, for the first 18 months, he was completing Masireʼs term. But the Batswana and their leaders are faithful to conventions. That is why the matter of a third term for Mogae fizzled out within a week when the local Press tried to make it an issue at a time when a similar debate was raging in Nigeria and South Africa.

During his last days in office, Mogae has been at peace with himself. He has toured the country bidding the people goodbye and has already moved out of State House.

During Mogaeʼs 10-year rule, Botswana maintained its reputation as a politically and economically stable country. This is despite the fact that he was once derided as a reluctant president, a serial goofer, a shrinking president and a political coward. Early in his presidency, he committed a series of political blunders, one of which resulted in the countryʼs first and only state of emergency.

In 1999, an error by the Attorney-Generalʼs office saw Mogae sign the writ for the general elections before the names of over 60,000 registered voters were entered into the votersʼroll. To correct the anomaly, he took the drastic measure of declaring a state of emergency, which allowed him to recall an already dissolved parliament to pass a law to include the voters in the roll.

He then confronted the media to own up to the goof and take personal responsibility although the Attorney-Generalʼs office was responsible for the blunder.

Another slip-up involving Mogae led to the postponement of a national referendum for reform and a subsequent court case of unprecedented proportions. Once again, the blunder originated from then attorney-general, Phandu Skelemani, now Presidential Affairs Minister.
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A commission was set up to look into the matter but after it completed its work, Skelemani went to court and sued the president and himself as the AG. The case arose after Mogae insisted that the state would not pay for the AGʼs legal costs when he appeared before the commission probing the referendum mess.

Skelemani appeared before the commission with a highly-paid South African lawyer and countered that the state must foot the bill because he was being probed as the AG and not in his personal capacity. This set the stage for a major battle, with Mogae hiring a South African advocate to represent him.

He insisted that as the AG, Skelemani would also represent him in the case. But as the nation was preparing for a major battle, the matter was settled out of court in a deal believed to have been very favourable to Skelemani.

(Read more stories on President Mogae at http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/31/africa/AF-POL-Botswana.php)

Answering that "3.00AM Call" from Africa: Who is Best?

Innocent Chia
As Sen. Hilary Clinton rehashes her "3.00Am Call" ad touting her experience and readiness to be commander-in-chief of the U.S military and economy, it is no secret that the ambit of power of the U.S presidency extends far beyond its borders. Being the only super-power in a post cold-war era, the reach of the American Commander-in-chief is global. It includes Africa. All of it. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that Africa and Africans start having a discussion, if they have not already begun, about who of Sens. Clinton, McCain and Obama will pick up that "3.00AM call" from Africa and attend to the problem(s) when they take charge in January 2009.

Back in 1998, Tonni Morrison of the New Yorker euphemistically referred to President Bill Clinton as "The First Black President" at a time when the President was, like stereotypical black men, mired in an extramarital sex scandal with Monica Lewinski. Other aspects of "blackness" included the fact that President Clinton was born into single-parent household; born poor; working-class; saxophone-playing; and a McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas. While this context has been lost and the politicization of the label subsequently turned into one of endearment and fondness, there have been open-eyed African-Americans and other observers who have questioned what President Clinton concretely did to improve the plight of African-Americans radically or symbolically? As far as convenience and or political expediency go, it is no news that African-Americans and Africa(ns) generally fall under one and the same category - Black policy. Taking this cue as Africans, whether right or wrong, the question for us becomes that of knowing how this Black policy of the Clinton years affected Africa(ns)? Can it give any clue as to how well Sen. Clinton will do by Africa(ns)? It has to play an important part because Senator Clinton has trumpeted her experience on the hills of Mount Kilimanjaro and asked to be judged on it.

That 3.00am call from Africa came in not once, but quite a few times during the Clinton Presidency. While her White House, First lady embellishments have been established for what they were, there is consensus that she undoubtedly expressed her opinion of issues that she felt strongly about with her husband. While am not privy to what she shared with her husband regarding Africa as a whole, there are two crisis that give me a pretty good idea of what she may have done then, and might do tomorrow if given the chance:

The Rwanda Genocide of 1994. Over 800,000 Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda died under the watch of President Clinton. Those were either seven hundred and ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine unanswered calls by the Clinton Presidency or a colossal failure in judgment and understanding of real crisis. As of today, all what Bill Clinton concedes in his book is that he regrets not having acted on time. Sen. Clinton has been mute on what she did then and what judgment she showed when the people of Rwanda all but got: "sorry, this number cannot be completed as dialed", or "check the number as dialed and redial again..." or "this number has been disconnected and no further information is available".

The 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia (Black Hawk Down). The intervention that Bill Clinton called for turned out not only to be a catastrophic disaster, it may have influenced his non-interference when Rwandans desperately cried for help as blunt machetes axed down their throats. The case of Somalia showed just how much the Clintons could and will stomach violence in Africa. In policy terms, it is described as "cut and run".

If that "3.00am call" has to be answered by Sen. John McCain, there is very little one can say about what he would do or say. Apart from speaking easily about stamping out radical Islamic forces in Africa and promoting democracy in Africa, he is a fog when asked to outline his position on whether or not he would support the distribution of American-taxpayer-subsidized condoms in Africa to fight the transmission of HIV/AIDS. This ignorant posture on a scorch that is reaping some of Africa's best fruits and setting it so many decades back is quite worrisome. It could well be an indication of how much care he has for the continent. But judge me not on that, especially given how much more President George Bush has done for Africa - It is not only the increase in financial aid to Africa or his programs to fight AIDS and promote democracy. One has to acknowledge that his warning of President Kibaki of Kenya, to negotiate with opposition leader Odinga, set the ball in motion for the eventual settlement of the uprisings that claimed thousands of innocent lives.

Finally, if that "3.00am call" has to be answered by Sen. Obama, what would he do or say? This is where the candidacy of Sen. Obama has been challenged the most. In answer to his critics he has talked about his sound judgment when Sens. Clinton and McCain authorized President Bush to go to war against Iraq. But most recently, the question has come up again on his judgment and choice to continue worshiping in the controversial Pastor Wright's South-side Chicago Church. Sen. Clinton has said she would have fled from the Church. But she did not flee from her cheating husband. Still, the question of judgment remains unanswered. What will he do when that call comes in?

Excepting his speech against the war in Iraq and voting against a blanket check to invade Iran, Sen. Barack Obama may have given Africa(ns) a glimpse of what he would do. When the Kenyan uprisings broke out he picked up the phone and called the belligerent parties. He talked to them about the importance of settling the matter and saving human lives. That was action. That phone call, that moment in time spoke to his understanding of the complexities of democracy in Africa. Democratic rule in African societies is convoluted, not the least by the intricacies of the rich African cultures and their inherent opposition to some democratic principles. These conflicts will continue to bedevil the grounds made by democracy if time is not taken to build a democratic culture and institutions to outlive the puppet African leaders.

Innocent Chia
Citizen Journalist
Email: innochia@gmail.com

Renaissance or More Posturing...Ben Muna's reaction to an Ethnic Cleansing Call by the Mfoundi Elite.

By Valentine GANA

Bernard A. Muna’s write-up in response to a call by the Mfoundi Elite to ethnic cleansing in Yaounde, Cameroun can be summed up by this statement of his; “Till date, I have lived in the illusion that Cameroon was a nation”. His lengthy and seemingly passionate write-up tempts the casual observer to see it as a watershed moment resulting from troubling events that have compelled him towards having an epiphany. The statement by the “Mfoundi Elites”, pregnant with aggravated criminal intent, is no doubt a reckless expression by an alleged gang of guilt and ill-intent who hear the hoof-beats of justice on the horizon. Violence is most often the outcome of when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. This resistant object of injustice, indiscriminate loot, oppression and the decay of Cameroun is currently symbolized by the elites of the Centre and South Province. Its roots however trace themselves about 47 years back to 1961, when the Southern Cameroons State was betrayed through a plebiscite that was never implemented, imprisonments, physical eliminations and ultimately an annexation that was laundered through the illegal 1972 referendum.

The reason why Ben Muna’s write-up passes the humor test is that just like Paul Biya, his choice reasoning is limited to addressing only the symptoms of the Camerounian cancer. The dilemma that Cameroun faces is absolutely no BREAKING NEWS to any attentive observer. The transparent reality is that Cameroun’s progress has been held hostage by the fall-outs from the systemic betrayal of the Anglophones (Southern Cameroons) since 1961. To refresh your minds, permit me give you a simple timeline of this historical betrayal and injustice:

1. In 1953 Endeley, S.T. Muna and their Southern Cameroonian Colleagues resigned from the NCNC in the Nigerian Eastern House of Assembly due to a dispute with Dr Azikiwe; a dispute that hinged on Southern Cameroonian autonomy. They then formed the KNC (Kamerun National Congress) whose articulated initial goal was to fight for an Independent Southern Cameroon. When this was not feasible, owing partly to French and English conspiracy, they sought for autonomy by joining “La Republique du Cameroun”. Note……The pro-Cameroon crowd leveraged Southern Cameroonians away from Nigeria towards “La Republique du Cameoun”
2. In 1954 the KNC under, Dr. Endeley would win elections in Southern Cameroon to govern it as a self-governing territory.
3. 1957 -- Cracks develop in the KNC. The majority is leery of a speedy union with La Republique du Cameroun. S.T Muna resigns and joins Foncha’s KNDP which had sponsors from La Republique, and had a more gung-ho determination towards the union. Note: the KNDP stood for a two state Federal Structure in Cameroon.
4. January 1st 1960, La Republique du Cameroun gains its independence from France.
5. 1961 -- The pro-Federal crowd wins the plebiscite towards establishing a Federal Republic of Cameroon, but Jua’s coalition through ELECTORAL VICTORY retains the Premiership of the Southern Cameroonian state within an intended Federal Structure.
6. Between February and October 1st 1961, French forces move into the Southern Cameroons before the Union is consummated or before UN Resolutions including 1608 are implemented. Annexation by Brute force commences.
7. 1965 - Ahidjo is beginning to coerce political parties towards a fusion. The pro-Muna/pro La Republique followers see no reason for caution. There is dis-agreement in the KNDP, as the followers of S.T. Muna who refuse to tow the party line are EXPELLED. Muna resigns in 1965 and forms his CUC (Cameroon Union Congress). His CUC and other parties merge with Ahidjo’s UC, forming the CNC. He throws his total support behind Ahidjo and serves as Minister of Mines, Ports, Transport and Telecommunications. Note: Dr. Endeley’s CPNC also throws in the towel and succumbs to coercion from Ahidjo and merges with the CNC, now turned into CNU.
8. 1968 Ahidjo appoints Muna to replace Jua as Prime Minister of “West Cameroon”. Note; prior to this, the Prime Minister of West Cameroon seated in Buea came about through independent multi-party elections in West Cameroon (Southern Cameroons). Whoever gave Ahidjo the powers to appoint a Prime Minister of West Cameroon is anybody’s guess!!!
9. Between 1968 and 1970 -- Muna oversees the dissolution of the West Cameroon State. State corporations such as the CDC, Powercam, etc are taken over. Ben Muna was already a Government Counsel in Bamenda. As a lawyer, what did he advise his Dad about this?
10. 1970 -- Ahidjo’s mandate runs out. Now a Coerced One-party state, Ahidjo runs as a single candidate, while Muna runs as his Vice. Foncha is pushed aside. After the elections, Muna serves both as the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Cameroon and as The Prime Minister of West Cameroon.
11. 1972 S.T. Muna has already overseen the de-construction of the structures of the West Cameroon State. Anglophone resistance to this betrayal and back-stabbing are either killed, imprisoned, or exiled. In 1973 the system rewards him with “Speaker of Parliament”.
12. 1982 – Ahidjo resigns and Biya (Prime Minister) takes over as President. Note: S.T Muna having been loyal to Ahidjo and the Cameroon State as anyone could have been, was Speaker of Parliament and second in command. Prior to Ahidjo’s resignation, (S.T. Muna) an Anglophone is quietly sidestepped as the constitution is changed allowing the prime Minister (Biya -- A Francophone) to succeed the Presidency instead of the Speaker of Parliament. Note, this constitutional change was initiated during the Baffoussam congress of 1981.
13. 1984 -- Biya changes the name of the Country from “United Republic of Cameroon” to “La Republique du Cameroun”; reverting to its name before the 1961 plebiscite. He drops one of the stars on the country’s flag……..actions which amount to technically seceding from the intended, though unconsummated Union.
14. 1985 -- Bamenda Congress. CNU is renamed to CPDM, Fon Gorgi Dinka circulates tracks including “The New Social Order, Dissolve the Time Bomb, and Open Letter to the Cameroon Etat Major”. Gorji Dinka is locked up, tortured, tried etc, etc
15. 1988 -- S.T. Muna resigns from Parliament in a storm of angst against the machinations of La Republique du Cameroun.
16. 1990 -- The SDF is conceived, registered and launched against the backdrop of gunfire from an occupationist army. The sentiment in Bamenda is definitely of a political party to address Anglophone marginalization and enslavement in La Republique and hopeful emancipation of Francophone Camerounians themselves from a government of tyranny.
17. 1992 -- The SDF headed by John Fru Ndi wins the Presidency of Cameroon, but Biya’s La Republique Supreme Court declares him the winner. The North West leads a civil revolt with some support from the South West Province. The rest of the country (La Republique) stays mostly mute.
18. 1993 -- Southern Cameroon liberation movements are formed including SCNC, and later SCAPO, SCYL, and others, including the landmark All Anglophone Conference meeting in Buea.
19. 1999 into 2000 -- There is a symbolic declaration of Southern Cameroons independence by Justice Ebong over Radio Buea airwaves.
20. 2005 -- Ben Muna is readmitted and reconciled into the SDF after having been expelled a few years back.
21. 2006 -- Ben Muna Creates a faction and proceeds in attempts to Split the SDF. Mezam High Court rules in September against Ben Muna’s faction using the SDF Name, Logo etc. Ben Muna states through every available means that Yaounde is his core constituency, and longs for a lifeline from the Mfoundi High Court. Ref: http://www.postnewsline.com/2006/10/court_stops_mun.html. May 26th 2006 see him violate state statutes to hold a convention of the said “Authentic SDF”. The SDF is weakened. SDF members including retired Colonel Chi Ngafor are arrested and framed up for plans to disrupt his convention. Those arrested are still languishing in jail without trial!!

It is exactly in the above historical context that Ben Muna’s seeming epiphamy is laughable at best and most disingenuous at worst. By material and political yardsticks, Ben Muna and his coterie have been very successful under the fluid rules in La Republique du Cameroun meant to serve only the privileged few. It is the savvy Bill Gates who said “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people from thinking they can’t lose”. One thing that success under unjust circumstances also does is that, it blinds human beings into thinking that those circumstances will continuity into perpetuity.

Cameroun has had a few opportunities to right the wrongs that constitute the rotten core of its foundation. These rare opportunities include the SDF stolen Presidential victory of 1992 and the Constitutional Conference of 1996. Sadly, the abundance of unprincipled and expedient actors such as Joseph Owona, Bello Bouba, Egbe Tabi (of late), Ben Muna have led to a state where the constitution is meaningless and the law of the day becomes what Biya and his clansmen such as the Mfoundi Elite proscribe for the day.

The past always screams with reminders on how we should conduct our today towards a better future. Ahidjo danced away from helping to establish a truly democratic nation and today, his formerly privileged northerners are equally victims of this bunch of underachievers whom his parochial whims and caprices helped usher into power. It was Julius Nyerere who once said “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor”. Ben Muna’s father, a partner in crime to Ahidjo was not just neutral in the face of injustice to the Anglophones and disservice to the country’s democratic foundations. He was a card carrying enabler of the mess Cameroun is in today.

Despite overwhelming evidence that the Union was fraudulent, we haven’t seen Barrister Ben Muna leverage his resources and connections to right this historical wrong. When it serves his expedient aims, he is a full-fledged partner to Cameroun’s foundation of lies. The sharpening knives of Mfoundi today are an ire some reminder that truth, integrity and honor always eventually trump the expedient lust for power and material aggrandizement. His statement also make him the perfect poster boy for all in Cameroon who wrap themselves in self-deceit into thinking that a just and prosperous nation can be built on a fraudulent foundation. The outcome of Ethiopia turned into a slimmed down version, less Eritrea, the USSR turned to multiples of Lituanias, and Yugoslavia turned into Yugo-Failure just to name a few, are all ominous examples that emphasize to Cameroun that SHE has been going the wrong way for half a century.

The painful lessons of the past 50 years and today’s scores of scars act as daily reminders which should caution people from listening to unprincipled characters uttering cheap statements as a means to grab headlines towards selfish ends. Any statement by a seasoned actor on the Camerounian political scene portending to the fact that the illusion of a Camerounian nation is just dawning on them is indeed teary humor for the day. It would have been more sincere for Ben Muna to say “Till date, I have willfully lived in the illusion that Cameroon was a nation”.

The odds that characterize a peaceful transition of power in Cameroon truly vindicate those like Professor Carlson Anyangwe of the SCNC who walked out of the constitutional conference of 1996, designed to legitimize a state that lacks the basic requisites of a nation. Amongst the precious things on earth that are constant, TRUTH stands as a first amongst equals. Amongst the attributes of truth are that it is indivisible, it is neutral to privilege and it definitely cannot be treated like an occasional outfit that is worn when we see fit.

Valentine Gana
Contributor

Barrister Ben Muna Fires back at the "Mfoundi Elite" Genocide Ringleaders

By Barrister Bernard Muna
(Original Text in French translated by Fon Christopher Achobang, Freelance translator in Limbe)

I read the “Statement from Mfoundi Elites” published last week on the national daily, ‘Cameroon Tribune’ with rapt attention.

Till date, I have lived in the illusion that Cameroon was a nation. It is true that our country is made up of many ethnic and tribal groups. I sincerely believed that chiefs and the traditional leaders from these many ethnic and tribal groups, alongside their subjects had already healed the deep wounds of colonization and transferred the authority, which was theirs before the arrival of the colonizers to the central government of an artificial country created by the colonizer.

The different peoples of Cameroon, alongside their traditional leaders had, therefore, decided to be united by a social contract, implicitly to build a nation, which successively moved from the Federal Republic of Cameroon to the United Republic of Cameroon, and presently the Republic of Cameroon.

In fact, République du Cameroun was the appellation for francophone Cameroon at independence. Anglophone Cameroonians welcomed the old name “République du Cameroun”, as such, refusing to recognize Cameroon as unified.

It is this nationalism which spurred people like the late John Ngu Foncha, Solomon Tandeng Muna, my late father, and many other Anglophone Cameroonians to work hard and selflessly, in order that the two Cameroons became truly unified.

On my part, I have always been moved by the challenge of building a strong bilingual nation and it is for this reason that I relocated my law firms from Bamenda to Yaoundé in 1974.

I have always considered Yaoundé as the capital of our great nation. It is here in Yaoundé that people like John Ngu Foncha, Solomon Tandeng Muna, E.T. Egbe, Nzo Ekangaki, Bernard Fonlon and others came together with President Ahmadou Ahidjo and other Cameroonian patriots, from all the regions of the country, to work towards the building of a great nation called Cameroon, whose capital is Yaoundé.

In reading the abhorrent “Statement from Mfoundi Elites” I have the impression that these valiant people who fought and continue to fight for the fatherland had deceived themselves.

Is Yaoundé, therefore, no longer the capital of Cameroon? Are we still a nation? As such, therefore, Yaoundé belongs to natives of Mfoundi or precisely to the “sons and daughters, elites, notables and traditional chiefs of Mfoundi”.

Some of us who have only come to Yaoundé are simply aliens benefiting from the hospitality and goodwill the people of Mfoundi have accorded us. We should be prepared to be kicked out of Yaoundé by those who are the rightful owners of the town when we dare to open our mouths to say things, or when we commit acts they disapprove of. Therefore, we should expect to be driven out of Yaoundé with cutlasses, knives, sticks and even guns and forced back to our respective areas of origin.

I know it is difficult for you and your children to be obliged to trek because of social disturbances, and moreover after you have acquired huge and luxurious means of locomotion. Cameroonians are not asking you how you acquired such means. We also understand that it is annoying to see markets locked up just when you were about to shop for you and your family, especially as you have huge amounts of money in your pockets to spend.

Perhaps you do not know that there are millions of Cameroonians who always trek and many more that cannot go to the market, may be because they have no money at all, or the bit they have is not enough.

Concerning the damage of tarred streets in Yaoundé, I also understand your anger, since you are used to driving your luxurious cars on good roads. But there are millions of Cameroonians who travel on dust, either on foot or in old battered vehicles.

It might be necessary to remind you that roads, for example in Ndian, source of Cameroon’s oil revenue, are impassable for eight months of the year. And these inhabitants live in dust during the dry season and mud during the raining season. Many bridges between Kumba and Mamfe have been abandoned and uncompleted for close to 20 years. Bamenda, headquarters of the North-West Province has few tarred streets and adding to that Mbengwi, headquarters of Momo Division hasn’t even a meter of tar. We swim in dust during the dry season and mud during the rains.

I have not come to Yaounde because I do not have a village of my own. This is same for most Cameroonians living in Yaoundé. When we consider the intellectual and educational level of the signatories of this declaration, we are frightened by the document because the authors are sufficiently knowledgeable and intelligent to weigh the power of the words used.

I am sure most of us are ready to pack bag and baggage and trek back to our villages. As for me, I have taken this warning from the “sons of Mfoundi” seriously and I am actively thinking of returning to Bamenda and re-floating my law firms there, or I might decide to go to Limbe, where the natives are welcoming.

Today, in Limbe, there are many descendants of Mfoundi, and Bassa who escaped from the excesses of French colonization at the time, to establish a new home for themselves there.

They still feel at home there, in a part of the country they consider their fatherland, and they are not threatened under threat of being expelled, and can proudly and honestly say they have no other home. Perhaps, those of us Cameroonians still harbouring the idea of building a nation where all citizens have equal rights wherever they live, should come together to found a new capital for ourselves. In this new capital, everybody will feel at home; nobody will have the right to threaten the neighbour that, “hence we will reply tit for tat” or “from now eye for eye and tooth for tooth”, and nobody will be considered an alien predator expected to leave rapidly and definitively “our land” and tell the neighbour they will never be safe again.

Your statement has vindicated the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC), which like you preach the disintegration of our country. But as a credit to them, they have never used the type of violent words in your declaration. If the crime of the SCNC is preaching the separation of West Cameroon, your crime is worse because you have attempted to separate Mfoundi from the rest of the republic.

On the contrary, your act is of graver impact because you have not only attempted to secede Mfoundi from the rest of Cameroon, but you also want to cleanse Yaoundé of all those who are not of your ethnic group.

Drawing from my 4 years experience as prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, I can guarantee you that it is in the same manner that genocide started in that country.

I thank God because I personally know other respectable sons and elites of Mfoundi, who do not reason like you, the authors of the statement. They don’t believe in an ethnic nation. During these trying moments, they instead believe in a nation with many tribes. I am comforted in the knowledge that such people exist, if not I would have left Yaoundé.
As a matter of caution, I will do well to always keep my things together, in readiness to leave for Bamenda, if elements like you continued on the course of division and conflict.

In the hope that we are living in a republic where everybody has the same rights transcending ethnic origins, I hope steps would be taken in the next days to bring about a peaceful and calm atmosphere.

In this regard, I expect that:

1) The President of the République du Cameroun would sack all the signatories of the “Statement from Mfoudi Elites”.
2) The Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization confines the authors of this statement under administrative detention and that they be transferred to prisons as was the case for militants of the Southern Cameroon National Council;
3) The Minister of Justice orders the State Counsel to arrest the authors of this declaration of war and try them in court for inciting violence and threats under condition;
4) The National Assembly endorses a motion during the March session starting on 13 March, to condemn firmly this dangerous statement, for the sake of national unity. Once these measures are taken, Cameroonians will be reassured of their safety wherever they live, and that the State will seek to rid our country of dangerous ethnic and tribal sentiments.

Cameroonians, likewise I, are waiting, without guns, knives and cutlasses; we are ready to return to our own villages, if State authorities want to encourage division.

Long Live solidarity between ethnic groups and tribes
God Bless Cameroon

By Bernard Muna
Barrister-at-Law of Cameroon Bar Council
Chairman of Alliance of Progressive Forces

Friday March 14 DEMONSTRATION -- AN IMPERATIVE

By Valentine Gana

History has called us towards a rendezvous with fate. Cameroon is in dire straits and has been heading towards this high ridge of anarchy for over a decade. Paul Biya and his corrupt junta, steeped in unchecked thievery, insist through their actions on plunging Cameroon into this looming valley of doom. To avert Cameroon's unholy procession towards a carnage of "All Against ALL", the time to act is NOW!!. The demonstrations in Washington DC, being called by well meaning Cameroonian groups in the USA and around the world, are a Golden opportunity by Cameroonians to bring international pressure as well as galvanize domestic resolve towards averting a catastrophe in Cameroon. The participation by each one of us towards unseating this curse of dictatorship, occultism, oppression, corruption and injustice that has plagued Cameroon for about 50 years is the call of a generation. Our roads are in shambles, incomes trigger the misery index, bribery has been turned into a culture, our will at the ballot box is being repeatedly and arrogantly stolen, our friends are in jail without trial, our brethren are dying at the hands of ruthless oppressors. How much can we take? Every generation MUST, out of relative obscurity, DISCOVER its mission; FULFILL it or betray it. At this critical moment, will you help Cameroon's fists of freedom fulfill this mission?

Eighteen years ago, Liberians, Zairians, Sierra Leoneans, Ivorians, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Senegalese, Botswanans, Tanzanians, Kenyans and Cameroonians looked at Ethiopia and Somalia, engulfed in civil wars and shrug our shoulders saying, "That cannot be us". All of these countries amongst others who shrug their shoulders were living under dictatorships saddled by complacency and weak or absent constitutional systems. It wasn't long before Liberia, Sierra Leone, Zaire (DRC) went into a quagmire of blood letting civil turmoil. Again Ivorians, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Senegalese, Botswanans, Tanzanians, Kenyans and Cameroonians amongst others shrug their shoulders saying, "That cannot be us".

Within the last five years, we've witnessed Ivory Coast and Kenya descend into a killing inferno that none of us would wish unto Cameroon. The Nigerians, Ghanaians, Senegalese, Botswanans, Malians, Namibians, Malawians, Tanzanians amongst others, have made sacrifices over the last ten years to shape democratic structures with constitutions that distribute power between the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature. Can that be said of Cameroon? Can that sacrifice to avert the looming carnage in Cameroon be said of you? Is the slogan "YES, WE CAN" just a feel good sound bite? While these Democratic African countries are taking steps towards making their constitutions more robust and fail proof, Paul Biya and his clique of high noon thieves insist on looking at Cameroon through the lenses of nepotism, tribalism, and imposed misery even at the cost of anarchy.

History teaches us that the weak will let destiny control them. History teaches us that most would become wise only when they have exhausted all other options. In Ivory Coast, Kenya, Somalia, Chad, Ethiopia, Zaire, Sierra Leone, Liberia etc, that exhaustive lesson came through limbs of children being butchered, brutal rapes and merciless mutilations of diverse sorts, parents forced to rape their own children and vice versa, killings turned into ends in and of themselves, displaced peoples, families eliminated, whole towns and villages burnt to the ground including other atrocities which we would wish not unto our imaginations. Our silence and inaction will no doubt become our complicity in guaranteeing that Cameroon continues towards this end. That is why it is very IMPORTANT for US ALL to make our voices heard. A demonstration has been called on March 14th in Washington D.C. Tell your mothers, sisters, brothers, cousins, relatives and friends in Cameroon that you wish not for the worst upon them by SHOWING UP. If you can't make it, call a friend or relative and nudge them to be there. Take a day off work and let your actions speak loud and clear. In addition, forward the pictures of the recent carnage in Cameroon to your pastors, churches, civic groups and well meaning connections.

March 14th is the Day. Will you contribute towards Cameroon's freedom? Paul Biya, a fraud with blood all over his hands who has been in power for over 25 years, insists on his demonic wish to impoverish a good natured people. What will your response be?

On January 3rd 2008 in Cameroon, I met with Mr. Simon Nkwenti, President of the Cameroon Teachers Trade Union (CATTU). His resolve within the Civil Society to stop this aberration and naked play for oppressive power through a Constitutional Amendment was so strong, so unmistaken, so guided. Demonstrating in the West for this JUST and RIGHTEOUS CAUSE to end this demonic regime will only pack a punch to their actions. They are putting their lives on the line. WILL YOU ASSIST THEM?

May God Bless Our Efforts In Shaping Our Collective Destiny.

Valentine A. Gana
Kansas, USA