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