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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.
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.
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