Open letter to President Biya

33 Years of reign- Isn’t it time to say goodbye?
Mr President ever since you became Head of State some apologists of your regime can be boasting that for 33 years you have been able to take the country to another level. That you have made the country better!
    Politically, you boasted of how Cameroon’s democracy is ‘advanced.’ Is the democracy advanced because the country has more than 200 political parties which are just a shadow of themselves? Even then how many of them are represented at the National Assembly? Is the assembly representing the Cameroonian people or is composed of a group of your cohorts and apparatchiks answerable only to you? Can the parliament hold you responsible like in other countries? I personally don’t think so.
    Mr Chairman of the CPDM, can we boast of an advanced democracy when for 33 years, there is still no Independent Electoral Commission in the noblest sense of those words? The contests after every poll; the appointment of CPDM cronies at the Elections management body, Elecam shows that you actually control the executive, judiciary and legislative arms of government.

Electoral fraud has characterized your administration leading to voter apathy!
    For 33 years, you have changed the constitution more than once. The most annoying to many compatriots was the modification of article 6.2 (eliminating the clause that limited presidential terms) and then Art 55 which prevents the president, (you in fact) from being prosecuted once you leave office. If you have managed Cameroon so well, why do you fear prosecution? It is strange that while other countries… Ghana, Niger, Senegal, Nigeria are cited like shining examples of democracy in Africa, Cameroon is never mentioned. Yet we are an advanced democracy!
    Mr President, I hear your ‘militants’ are asking you to stand again as candidate during the 2018 Presidential elections. Given your age and the manner in which you looked frail, (when I look at your recent pictures) I don’t think you would want to die in office. Not that you are too old to run. But that you have tried what you could. It would be logical to peacefully leave office like other presidents have done and enjoy a peaceful retirement. I don’t expect you to be moving and falling like the President of Zimbabwe.

PLUMMETTING ECONOMY
    Mr President, for 33 years you keep telling your compatriots in your state of the nation address about ‘croissance economic’ (economic growth); how we have dams and so on. The economic growth seem to be enjoyed by a selected few who loot and steal, buy luxury cars, build mansions for themselves and their families while the majority of tax payers are wallowing in abject poverty. Honestly I thought when our country reached the completion point of the HIPC initiative in 2006 the living conditions of Cameroonians would improve. But it worsened as days go buy.
    If the economy was on good footing, why are a majority of Cameroonians fleeing their country which they love so much in search for the most part for improved lives? The people pay their taxes under duress yet they cannot benefit even the barest public utilities. I hear bike riders pay for windscreen licenses when actually bikes have no wind screen.
    To open a company, the administrative bottlenecks one goes through, the complication in the process of compiling documents is scaring many potential investors away.
    Mr President, Cameroon imports virtually everything including drinking water and tooth picks. How can an economy grow when production is not encouraged? I hear in Nigeria today, import of used cars is discouraged through the very high customs duty charged. The reverse is true for new cars where the customs duty is very minimal. In Cameroon it is the contrary. It has made our country to become a dustbin for old and worthless vehicles and equipment. Can what is happening elsewhere not happen in Cameroon?
    Mr President, since you took over office, several companies have closed down…National Produce Marketing Board, Powercam, Sacherie du Cameroun, Cellucam amongst others. The Tiko airport and others remain a shadow of themselves. The name of the national airlines company has changed more than ones. The country has only three planes. The roads are fast degrading with some inexistent. How can the economy develop without an adequate transport system?
    Mr. President you travel regularly to other countries- France, Geneva etc., how do you feel seeing their airports and roads when you compare to what we have in our country?
    Mr. President, have you heard that ‘small’ Rwanda is fast becoming an African economic hub attracting many investors because the conditions for setting up businesses are quite easy? Honestly the Cameroonian economy can be improved if there is that wish.

DEGRADING RIGOUR AND MORALISATION
    When you took over office in 1982 you came out with ‘rigor and moralization’ then communal liberalism. 33 years after, the moral decay in the country can only be compared to what obtained in Ghana when that country’s writer, Ayi Kwei , wrote that The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born.The country under your rule has been twice the most corrupt country in the world. Almost your entire government (from the Prime Minister to Ministers, DGs) is in prison for theft of public funds(Though some claim they are political prisoners) The stealing is ongoing and the country is continuously going on its knees. Have you noticed that the road linking Rond Point Deido and Bonaberi are tarred almost every year?
    Mr President why have you and your Ministers not respected article 66 of the 18 January constitution and declare your assets 19 years after? Do you realize that the moral decay has made it in such a way that some of your compatriots are looking at stealing (scamming, faymania, drug peddling, prostitution etc) as the only means to use and improve their living conditions? Why do you keep appointing the same people who you accuse of stealing and inertia time and again? Do you not bear full responsibility for appointing and then accusing them of being responsible for some of the failures of your 33 years in office?

SUPPRESING OUR LIBERTIES
    Your Excellency, for 33 years we notice that your regime became subtly dictatorial, crushing all opposition. We saw this in in 1990, in 2008.We saw how opposition political leaders,( Hon Jean Michel Nintcheu, Mboa Massok, Kah Walla, Joe La Conscience and others were molested only for staging simple protests. Your government again has been manhandling journalists, closing down radio and TV stations, newspapers, jailing journalists and rights activists. It is surprising because when you took over power 33 years ago, many Cameroonians including Anne Marie Nzie composed the song ‘Liberte’(Liberty). You recently promulgated an anti-terrorism law which seems to be used to clamp down on any decent. where is that liberty Mr President?
    Mr President your compatriots are good at insulting each other, with one of them arguing that they were copying your footsteps. When I argued, they told me how on TV you have called your compatriots ‘apprentice sorcerers ‘and all other names. They buttressed their argument with your recent catch phrase ‘ c’est le qui peut’!
    Mr President, you are right when you say the country is peaceful. It is a fact when we look at what is happening to other war torn neighbouring countries. But do you actually think people are at peace when they cannot afford food, clothing and primary health care? Is Cameroon really peaceful when ‘everyone’ seems to want to leave the country, preferring to go and ‘suffer’ elsewhere? Is the peace your supporters claim you have achieved not relative?
    We understand you have created universities and have contributed enormously to educate Cameroonians. We understand you have tried what you could for 33 years to keep the country going. Honestly I think your legacy is still to be felt by compatriots.

Mr President, before you leave office it would do our country well if you do the following:
1) Put in place an independent Electoral Commission

2) Allow our country to organize credible elections in 2018 and not before then.

3) Declare your assets and ask your appointees to do same (since the country is waiting for a text of application for that declaration to be possible, and the text must be signed by you)

4) For the love and respect of the Cameroonian people, repatriate the mortal remains of late President Ahidjo still from the Yoff burial ground in Dakar.

5) Allow all those who have been accused of embezzlement to pay back the money and gain their freedom.

6) Construct a ‘ Paul Biya Stadium’ like ‘Stade Amadou Ahidjo’

7) Put a halt to suppression of liberties of expression and basic rights.

8) Hold discussions with disgruntled Cameroonians- ‘opposition’ party leaders and especially Anglophones

9) Work on the tax policies in a way the investment and the creation of companies would be encouraged.

10) If necessary, honorably retire and have some rest!
    PS: Mr President, I write as a concerned compatriot who actually wants to see change in our country.
    Long Live Mr President, Happy 33 years in power!

By Solomon Amabo A.
Journalist, Media Consultant,
Johannesburg , RSA
Tel : +27 (0) 786270155
Email: soloamabo@yahoo.co.uk
Skype : solomon.atanga