End-of-year address

Biya’s 25 minutes of all and what!
The operation sparrow hawk, article 66 of the constitution which talks about the declaration of assets, the Indomitable Lions’/Lionesses’ participation in upcoming continental and international competitions, statistics on Boko Haram casualties, etc. are only some of the issues the Head of State either avoided completely or touched on superficially
By Ojong Steven Ayukogem in Yaounde

Biya

True is it that during his end-of-year address to the nation on 31 December, 2014, President Paul Biya could not have been able to address every aspect of Cameroon’s political, social and economic life. It is understood that the 25 minutes or so that he used on the occasion were too small for all of that.
    Nevertheless, there were pertinent issues the president ought to have addressed but which he either avoided completely or talked about only superficially. If anything the Etoudi Palace tenant touched on several burning issues but dwelled on any.     In fact, the president ended his address just when his hearers adjusted their buttocks and focused their poise in the hope that the president would now delve into the real issues. IIt was a forlon hope, afterall.
    The first thing the President failed to address, to the astonishment of most Cameroonians, was the operation sparrow hawk. Many thought he would say something at least, after the recent arrest of Professor Gervais Mendo Ze and Jean-Marie Akono Ze. Sensitive and exciting as the crackdown on graft has been, many expected the president to say how far the fight has gone and where next it has go.

    That Biya did not say anything about corruption only fuels flames of speculation in the minds of Cameroonians. Those who know the President very well said this attitude is very typical of him as he has proved over the years to be a man who likes to test the waters with rumours before acting in a way that takes everyone aback.
    Second is the issue of the decree of application of article 66 of the constitution which requires managers of public property to declare their assets at the time of their taking office. Cameroonians have  waited too long for this decree of application and thought this was the time for the Head of State to make a most awaited statement about it. They were wrong. The issue still eluded the president’s speech.
    Furthermore, the President, who had always used such occasions to shower praises on the Indomitable Lions, heralding their fighting spirit and encouraging them to shoot to higher heights, uttered not even a single word to them this time around. This was evidently surprising to Cameroonians given that the Lions, after missing out on two editions of the AFCON, brilliantly qualified for Equato-Guinea 2015.
    Not even the country’s victory to host the 2019 AFCON caused the Head of State to allude to Cameroon’s darling national team. Analysts were quick to surmise that it was the team’s lacklustre performance at the Brazil World Cup which saw the Lions occupying the last position amongst the 32 participating teams that turned him away from them.
    If president Biya failed to talk about the men’s football team which has been so dear to him in years past, it was expected that he would say at least a word about the female national football team that qualified for the Canada World Cup in June this year and are supposed to host the feminine AFCON in 2016. He did not.
    As commander-in-chief of the armed forces, one would have expected President Biya to also present statistical details on the war against Boko Haram. For instance, he should have specified how many Cameroonian soldiers and civilians have died since the beginning of the Boko Haram attacks and related figures. But the Head of State simply saluted the bravery of Cameroon’s forces and changed the topic.
    It was equally expected of the President to say in what position Cameroon finds itself at this time when the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) defined by the United Nations have practically come to an end. This is especially so as the country’s economic performance has always been criticized by those in charge of evaluating the said goals. However, to the Head of State, that was not a priority.
    It was on account of the absence of these important issues from President Biya’s address to the nation that many consider it an empty rhetoric not worth deliverance.