Appointment of permanent delegates:

Biya withdraws power from elected section presidents

Militants of the party say the appointment of regional and divisional delegates to Lord it over elected officials at the grassroots is a source of real frustration to these officials. They say it is the same like appointing government delegates to rule over elected mayors.

By Ojong Steven Ayukogem in Yaounde

If there is one thing the president of the ruling CPDM party, Paul Biya, excels at, it is his use of the principle of divide and rule. President Biya would never allow any body or institution under him to enjoy absolute powers. Whenever he sees that you are becoming too powerful for his liking he immediately decrees something that would considerably weaken your powers.

                For example before President Biya came to power, state corporations were managed by all-powerful President Directors General PDG. These PDGs were both the general managers and the board chairmen of these companies. Because these PDGs wielded exorbitant powers as to do and undo, Biya decided to reduce their powers by creating the position of board chairman. The Board chairmen preside over the management board that must vet the action plan of the general managers of these parastatals.

This is idem for the city councils were appointed government delegates lord it over elected mayors. It should be recalled that before Biya came to power in 1982, Cameroon already had government delegates, but these GDs headed what was known as Urban Councils with special status notably Douala and Yaounde at the time. Both the GDs and mayors were appointed by the president so they could be easily controlled.

But because mayors are elected today and because it is difficult to control elected officials, Biya decided to appoint GDs to preside over city councils and thus lord it over elected mayors. This has made it such that even in cities where the CPDM has no political control, Yaounde still keeps watch over the management of the councils through the appointed government delegates. And needless to mention that while mayors or allegiance to the masses that elected them, government delegates owe allegiance only to the authority that appointed them.

                It is no news to any one that in most city councils today development projects are blocked because the government delegate and the local mayors are fighting over who should control what project. Because GDs want to seize whatever is lucrative and leave only the crumbs for elected local mayors, this is a source of permanent conflicts in city councils.

                That is why it is believed that the appointment of permanent CPDM central committee delegates will only brew the kind of conflicts that exists between appointed government delegates and elected mayors of city councils.

                One thing is certain namely that, those section presidents who are financially viable enough to hold their own will not allow themselves to play second fiddle to these appointed officials from Yaounde. It should be noted that because the Central Committee cannot adequately finance party activities, in the CPDM today it is he who pays that piper that calls the tune.

                However, it is also understood that more often than not party bigwigs in Yaounde always subvert party texts just so that their stooges are undemocratically elected at the base. And because these elected local officials are not financially strong enough, they are forced to always genuflect in front of appointed officials from Yaounde just so that they can have even the crumbs.

                So, as the scribe of the CPDM party goes round the country installing the permanent delegates, he can be sure that he will have to go back to some of these regions and divisions to resolve conflicts that the permanent delegates would create sooner than later.