FrancAfrique Dans L'Afrique: The Old Power Generation(1)

Louis Egbe Mbua

If we put it that a true and responsible government will exit power by the ballot box rather than recycling old hands tainted with their corrupt practices, then the regime of Mr. Paul Biya is a disgrace. For more than twenty seven years he has been peddling with the lives of the Cameroonian people with his useless and foolish tribal politics geared towards pleasing his colonial master, France while maintaining an incompetent regime; a justification which no one can put pen to paper. For several years, he has been deluding himself with one discredited cabinet reshuffle after another with an apparently warped view that the country will change by some enchantment from Le Grand Sorcier; and a magic wand.

In retrospect, his immature dictatorial regime has dragged the country into a league of unimaginable beggary. Since Mr. Biya came to power in 1982, he has been a dependent of the IMF for handouts and cut-throat loans, fraudulent privatisation of the country's patrimony, such as the Tole Tea Estate, with dreadful results; and which, the meagre funds, are again cyclically embezzled by gangs of national thieves over the years.

The problems of that West African country is so vast that it would take at least half a century to wipe out corruption and the wicked social and financial mis-education of the people. The first of this problem is that of peace and stability. In FrancAfrique of the old school, development and the well-being of the people is secondary to their so-called "Peace and Stability". When civilians protest against the myopic economic and social policies of the regimes in question, they are swiftly brought in front of a Kangaroo court, arraigned and jailed. A typical case in point is the jailing of a popular Cameroonian and international music artist, Lapiro de Mbanga. He is languishing in jail for no apparent reason but that he had been writing and singing songs pertaining to the social ills of the present Cameroon regime, infamously one of the most corrupt in the world.

Peace and stability must be earned through accountability of a government; and the incorruptibility of the judiciary. The opposite is true in the world of the present regime. Last week, the Supreme Court of Cameroon upheld the incarceration of Lapiro, claiming he incited the 2008 food riots. One begins to wonder whether Lapiro and other civilians who were killed or are in rat-infested unhealthily diseased dungeons must be at blame for the lack of vision of a 27 year old tyranny and disgraceful mismanagement. With one of the most fertile volcanic soils in the world, Cameroon has the potential to be the food basket for the entire West and Central Africa. Yet, that is not the case.

Apparently, there are no sustainable food policies; and that most imported food stuff are heavily taxed to pay for the good life of the French whose government take their cut in cash or in kind. While the elite have unaccountable and inviolable access to their loot in the treasury --they live in luxury like in France -- the poor are dependent on their various relatives in Europe and the Americas for monetary handouts. There is a problem here: because those living abroad will hardly garner enough financial critical mass to compete with their peers in their host countries. It is no doubt, at this point of overwhelming forbearance, that many well-educated and upright Cameroonians are now turning into financial white collar crimes to augment their incomes abroad while at the same time support the neglected destitute at home.

The counter-part African who stays behind is also in a timeless dragnet of beggary as the regime is firmly intent on "Peace and stability" with no responsibility. In this case, therefore, the people are psychologically demoralised; and since only a genuinely motivated population can muster enough energy to uplift a country from the doldrums of economic and social mutilation, there is very little expectation but stagnation and retrogression into the Dark Age.

It has to be recalled that Western Europe was deep in the Dark Ages for 1000 years. During this period, intellectual dynamism was discouraged by the authority of the day, dissent was brutally put down, diseases; such as the Bubonic plague wiped out a third of the population, food shortages were rampant; and wars were the order of the day; barbarians were on the match while the moral fabric of the society disintegrated. How they managed to reverse the tide of barbarism, greed, oppression, mis-education and disease is unclear. Nevertheless, if one may extrapolate or interpolate from their society today, it seems the only way they pulled it from the fire was to hold their leaders into account. Those who failed to account were unceremoniously thrown out in disgrace or punished as the system saw fit.

This writer believes that the ancient system of accountability is still in place today in Europe; and may account for the continuance to peace and prosperity. Not so, in FrancAfrique where there is "Peace" and no prosperity. This brings us to the question as to whether there can be peace without prosperity. The conjecture is that one cannot live without the other concept. Where there is no prosperity, there is no peace; and where there is no peace prosperity must not follow.

FrancAfrique Sans L'Afrique: The Old Power Generation

Louis Egbe Mbua

When I was a boy, I used to imagine that people in power never left until President Ahidjo of Cameroon resigned suddenly in 1982. This completely changed my perception of big power players. Ahidjo, although a dictator in his time, was wise in this respect: he knew that he was only mortal; and that having presided over a new country from independence, he must have made powerful enemies nationally and internationally. This writer believes this simple philosophical thought by Ahidjo must have provoked his sudden resignation. Furthermore, ill health in power has proven time again that it is an omen for a man in power to pack up his bags and leave. Ahidjo left behind a generation of men in power, who continue to wield power after 27 years. If we interpolate their total cumulative years in power, and assuming that most of them were with Ahidjo since 1960, then we must reach the conclusion that their time to go is up. This applied to Bongo of Gabon, Eyadema of Togo and Felix Houphouet Boigny of Ivory Coast, the colossus of FrancAfrique.

While some regimes have a gradual and steady decline, there is compelling evidence to suggest that the present Cameroon regime, an important member of FranceAfrique, headed by Mr. Paul Biya, has already declined to the last steps on the ladder stretching down the precipice onto the visible road to oblivion; and that a slight disturbance will precipitate its crashing and tumbling down into the Atlantic ocean to be buried as a monumental carbuncle forever. In this wise, it is important to examine the circumstances that brought about this decline; and then use them to predict a time scale for its demise so that the New Power Generation may gird their loins to seize the mantle; advance constitutional reforms; solve the Southern Cameroons problem; and clean the nation from 27 years of decay.

When colonialism was at her death throes in Africa in the 1960s, it seems that Africans who filled the prodigious power vacuum were ill-prepared for high-wired leadership in terms of experience and mastering the power levers of the state. In addition, they never understood the sacredness of a constitutional state, believing that once one ascends power one automatically becomes the Constitution; and therefore have the powers to disregard the law to reach their own goals. President Ahidjo, President Nkrumah, Sekou Toure of Guinea and a host of other African leaders began dismantling their countries' constitution as soon as they came to power; proclaiming one party state in violation of the same constitution that brought them to power in free and fair elections in multi-party democracies. The effects are still felt today in these countries, and to some extent, their neighbours.

In Cameroon, in particular, Mr. Paul Biya does not follow the constitution as he should have been doing at all occasions; but rather he appears to be bent on treating the Constitution as secondary to him. His recent manipulation of the constitution to perpetuate himself, and his gang of ethno-oligarchs, in power for another seven years was not only a fraud but only goes to buttress the point that he was ill-prepared to run Cameroon; and he is still politically immature.

The next factor to be discussed is the motivation of the old generation of leaders. There seems to be a psychological problem here as most of the old generation of African leaders have one goal in common: the vain glorious pursuit of power. This has been extremely detrimental to the African people and an affront to developmental efforts. While the pursuit of power to effect positive change may be beneficial to a people, that which is pursued for personal reasons to advance tyranny, terror and corruption appears to be the hall-mark of the old power generation.

The counter-argument is that one can pursue personal ambitions only for a limited number of years. Since it will eventually turn into a one-man show, together with a couple of 100s other coterie and flunkies, the power wanes away as their combine ages increase with time in power. The consequences are that the youthful fire that helped their personal ambitions to be fulfilled in the first place is lost; and since they have no philosophies to leave as a legacy of the own lives; and to attract the young and talented to keep their flame burning, the old power generation will eventually be removed from power by the same youths they could have attracted with a powerful positive message.

Furthermore, as the fire is lost, tyranny increases to put down fierce opposition as in the case of Cameroon riots in February 2009, the Buea University shootings in 2005 and 2006; The shootings in Abong Mbang, Kumba and Bamenda recently. Intimidation, and arrests are also common in a declining tyranny. All these have been noted by Living Lights as the signs signalling the end: the greater the violence against civilians; and the greater the arrests and intimidation the nearer the time of tyrannical regimes to go into demise. All that is required is but a spark and it will be all over within days.

Most African leaders of the old power generation were born during the period of French assimilation policy in Africa; and have become like Frenchmen. The more corrupt they are, the more assimilated they would delude themselves to have become. The reason for this tragedy is that most French-speaking Cameroonian elite especially, and in FranceAfrique in general, believe they have a divine obligation to live comme un Parisien, un bon vivant. Now to live in Cameroon, for example, and wish to own a house in Paris or the South of France is another matter.

The result is that most French-Speaking Africans in the elite bracket have a misguided and skewed vision on their goals, aims and priorities to serve their respective nations. Since their own concept of being civilised is to go to France and acquire property; and enjoy fine wines, they are forced to obtain the needed capital for this mission in one way, kind or form or the other. As it is quite clear that their African salaries are totally incapable of sustaining such an expensive lifestyle; and that they are determined to become assimilated in the FranceAfrique social hierarchical milieu, they are left with very few alternatives but to raid the nations treasury, loot some funds by any means possible; and then fly business class to Paris and acquire a villa. The recent internationally-investigated corruption scandals in some prominent areas of FranceAfrique -- Cameroon, Gabon, Congo Brazaville, Equatorial Guinea -- at the highest levels show that the old power generation are finished.

Diamonds Are Not Forever (2)

By Louis Egbe Mbua

Came they with askaris floated,
On rafts; ships with men bloated
With an army with big guns moved,
From the land of the Duchess carried
By servants of doom so parried,
To whimps; caprice of masters inclined,
To conquer; seize Diamond and plunder,
The indigenes starved and camped,
In a places crowded; to wonder,
Of what becomes them; to wander,
With no hopes of Diamond lost,
In fight, to preserve diamonds cached,
But found by the master; watched in lust;
As the owners forgot; vanquished
The battle, so tense, so hard, gained
In the highlands; to sea they chased
Until sweet victory was coined,
With diamonds on a date classed,
As of infamy; the day marked,
By the world; when time and land stood,
Motionless; generations passed,
And new diamonds found: shone
In the midnight moon circled,
By mysteries yet unknown.
So goes the history of old Cam,
Ushered into a new age of con;
With bright promise yet to come
'Cause diamonds are the land filled;
So came the Gems people; and some
Of good; meant good, others bad, so filed;
The natives in camps to form slumps
In the horror camp: toil forever,
So Gems may diamond inherit
And them take to Duchess: in fever
That gripped entire Eur' in an instant,
And causing all Princes a quarrel:
To scream; Give me more! my laurels!
The Chief Prince, a ruler a strike gave,
A glance on diamonds, a pen swiped,
The diamond, one-fifth gone, four-fifth came
To a frightening end, broken: smashed
Into parts; thrown aground wasting;
While natives weep for Diamond, wailing,
And all wailed; but Gems not anxious
To placate egos; of men trapped
By cunning, treachery; Gems conscious;
Of this weakness; apathy planted;
In minds; native Diamond owners;
Who continue in great poverty;
Then one-score years turned corners;
And Gems overthrown from property,
By one, no two kinds of powers,
From Eur' they came; shared spoils:
One-fifth that way; four-fifths of towers
Of aroma pleasant in leaf foils.
Then powers sat; in Versa decided;
Agreed hand on terre; entrusted
To champions; pax mondial chided
By men on mission encrusted
At helm 'seers of Diamonds captured
From Gems' first attempt designed
To rule en terre; with men tortured
As people; second class forced
To work on plantations seized
With no compensation sourced,
From Diamond product exports prized;
For their exotic character nurtured
As nature wills to command;
In Le Monde Diamond as cultured;
In songs, dance, drama to amend.

Diamonds are not for ever (1)

By Louis Egbe Mbua

How Happy does thou yesteryear
After many years spent: returned
To the smouldering land ; unplanned;
People pressed down by clay-footed deer
Heard not their groans; blood on ground flows,
Like the river in the city; divides in twos;
Two rivers; one, Diamonds; one Milk flows
One Land-two peoples; right left in twos
Upon centuries and millennial passed
On bedrock of was foundation laid
Happily ever after they lived; paid
Into Progress, steady, sure, they matched
Step by step the gains and game achieved
In aspects lost; some spoken in oral, unwritten
Until of late, the damage done traversed
Coming from the sea the man to be served!
And then began the brave men: of renown
Men of old, courage and honour known
Defend! The Land! lo it is taken!
Rise up! Put Pay and defeat adversary!
Friends and brothers we thought necessary,
For protection and sharing now greedy, turns
Into a ravenous wolf in deer fashion returns;
To kill, steal, plunder, to sea afar;
And the young and strong taken apart
To toil in chains and shame; no recompense;
For wicked pleasure; people's expense
In cries, anguish beyond woman and man
But Divine lifted up His hands mighty;
To Strike! the clay-footed deer: the hangman
And seize the shameful chain employed tightly
On the neck and feet for humans to choke;
And for women to sadness and tears come
For men to humiliation brought;
Children in shouts of horror thought;
A strange monster arrived from Hell
To dwell and eat in the Sacred Hall.
They toiled , chained backs over-bent
To pluck vain harvests,labour lent
For not future or hope; no pay relied
On for a day of rain, lightning pain but plied,
All trades that man thought and beknoweth
Known Old and New Craft man made doth,
Insatiable appetite, unqualified schemes
To exploit fellow citizens; stripped clean
Of dignity, weakened to mere bones
Flesh stripped to barest skeletons
Energy gone; no hope, future distant
And Benefits drained to Black Hole blanked
Bythe darkness of man's heart steeped
In power play game futility extant;
'Cause for ever not do men stay
In conditions advantage bestowed; styled
In delusion held captivated,
By self-conceit; virtue evaded
Hi-jacked, killed, buried to be reborn;
By persons to be conceived to be born,
To stand up in presence unfazed
By diamonds encrusted on walls blazed
In gold, silver, ruby, gem adorned,
The walls marbled to intimidate,
The unborn, the born on earth who donned
The armour of call to truth vitiate
In battle, war and peace proclaim;
By twos of River Diamond announced
By a clarion call; intruder denounced;
On this outrage: preposterous claim,
Of hand knoweth him no secrets;
That lurk in lush forests and hills set
To consume the arrogance from sea
Where seen from on high, they climbed
Breaching the ancient laws of battle chimed
By sages of old, men of wisdom wrote,
Today the dangers of laurels smote;
With the hardened iron and steel made,
By hands of skill: guns turned into spade
And ploughs to guns were they created
For the land of diamonds and milk blessed.

The Sage

Visits from somewhere starts:
From the heart, is the beat done,
To change the course of stars;
Not at night alone blown.

Our arrival: safe and sound:
The craft, level did it land,
On runway it sped: slowed;
Taxied: slowed down to stand.

Shouts of joy a distance heard:
Brothers! Sisters! Welcome back!
To my ears was the music led;
Blends of craft sound to blast.

At home arrived in time to ‘fast:
In the morn’ there he stood,
The new sage: jet black-locked,
In wisdom unblocked.