After having taken the oath of office and re-emerging as the President of all Cameroonians, President Paul Biya should undergo a spiritual transformative change in order to triumph as the ideal President that the greatest majority of Cameroonians have been yearning for.
Against all odds, Cameroonians are praying hard for Mr. Biya to metamorphose as a new leader who will give the country a new hope, energy and a path for the realisation of their aspirations. Biya should instantly divorce with the statusquo so as to atone for the errors of commission and omission in the past 43 years of his presidential tenure. Emphasis should be laid on this because, a critical look at the anthology of presidential speeches over the years, betrays the fact that there was little novelty in his inaugural address at the National Assembly last November 6.
That speech was largely a deja entendu and a déjà vu marked by old promises, a cavalier endorsement of the institutions involved in the management of elections and threats. For one thing, many critics have pooh-poohed and interpreted his congratulatory messages to ELECAM, the Constitutional Council and the forces of law and order as a tacit approval to the electoral gerrymandering and other forms of fraud that characterised the October 12 presidential election. Observers put the credibility of ELECAM in doubt when reports clearly showed that some of its representatives were involved in the falsification of results sheets that led to a travesty and a blatant miscarriage of the truth of the ballot box. Despite this, the Constitutional Council went ahead and endorsed the results that stirred widespread protests across the country marked by destruction of property and loss of lives. Besides, the forces law and order were quite barbaric while dealing with the nationwide demonstrations against electoral banditry. According to UN sources, they carried out illegal arrests and killed 48 unarmed civilians.
As the President of all Cameroonians, Biya ought to have pronounced a word of caution on these excesses by the electoral umpires that were accused of playing for one of the teams. Given the circumstances, the President should not crackdown on some his opponents who say that he did not win the election fair and square. After all, he has already been declared winner and sworn-in by the competent state institutions. Given that the nation was seized by a wild vortex of protests following the proclamation of results, it time for the President to rise above any form of partisan petite-mindedness and sire an initiative for national reconciliation and appeasement. That way, this beautiful country, that already has its own fair share of multifaceted conflicts, will spare itself the nightmare of another internal crisis. Otherwise, last Thursday’s speech will be jettisoned by political analysts as yet another yakety-yak hardly potent enough to give Cameroonians hope.
Insisting to get the proverbial pound of flesh from those opponents who challenged his victory is the super highway to a protracted post-election crisis. After all, it is such challenges that usually enhance the hurly-burly of an election. Such a disapproval has rankled the President and those who worked hard for his victory, but it can be ignored for the general health of the nation.
The current arrest and detention of political opponents, especially those who share the same views with the opposition candidate, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the self- proclaimed winner of the election, is at odds with democratic freedoms that the President promised and continues to promise Cameroonians. One of the President’s campaign mantra was the “the best is yet to come”. Thus, it will be an unpardonable bloomer and the betrayal of a people if that “best” begins with the arrest of political opponents like Prof. Aba’a Oyono, Anicet Ekane, Djeukam Tchameni and Parfait Mvoum and others. The continuous detention of these people, cast a somber of uncertainty on the country. What obtains now is a phantom calm, animated by fear and uncertainty.
When the President mounted the saddle in 1982, he said citizens would not need to hide before expressing their opinions on national issues. What obtains now is an affront to that laudable statement that gave hope for a democratic dispensation. Thus, it sounds preposterous that Cameroonians are being hectored to clip their tails like frightened dogs, seal their lips and stay united in mysophobia even when the odds against them are dangerously high. We need the enhancement of a more democratic talk-back culture, especially in a situation where there is arrant disregard for the poor and dispossessed.
The oath-taking ceremony of the Head of State was followed by clapping, singing and swaying. His supporters were vivaciously immersed in joy since there was beer, whisky and wine alright. Yet, such glittering externalities cannot give him a faithful picture of how the greatest majority feels after he succeeded himself at Etoundi. The hapless citizens and the hunger-stricken multitudes watched from a distance, wondering what the future holds for them in the circumstances. To them, that celebration was the hallmark of privileged classes whose positions are unearned. At this juncture, the President should call some of his overzealous collaborators to order. For, they spend time threatening and mocking citizens, especially those who do not agree with the establishment. He should give every Cameroonian a peace of mind and a sense of belonging by releasing all the political prisoners and forming a government of national unity, appeasement and reconciliation.