Instituto para el Voto Calibrado

La democracia y la corrupción en Camerún: desde los primeros días de la independencia a la actualidad - Un enfoque crítico Observatorio.

Promedio:

0

Su voto: Ninguno

Historia

When a society finds itself engulfed in every facet of its life that is opposed to the virtues of democracy and good governance, that society is decadent. This means people would have to lost touch of reality and governance is being abused. A reign of terror has been established and people are running the nation as though all screws and bolts are loose.[1]

 

During the early days of independence, the state was almost entirely responsible for the education of most Cameroonians. Education was free and university students were receiving salaries/incentives. Their training in developed countries was greatly sponsored by the state.

 

This was in a way, laying a strong foundation for a strong, vibrant, dynamic and prosperous Cameroon where the majority of Cameroonians could enjoy a good standard of living. Those who were educated from the early 60s till the early 90s were thought to be the flag bearers of that wonderful Cameroon our forefathers had in mind.

 Yaounde, Mballa II Neighbourhood, children Trying to Get some Water, September, 2008.

 

In 1987, when a renowned Cameroonan journalist told the head of state, President Paul Biya, that his government was full of corrupt officials, he requested for proofs. Cameroon after a flourishing economic history, at one point, found itself in a state of despair and unfocussed management. When a country or a society attains a stage of uncertainty, something has to be done to save it from total collapse. [2]

 

In the early 90s when the “wind of change” brought in the spirit of diverse ideas and criticisms, we had the birth of many political parties with each nourishing the people with its ideas of streamlining government and making Cameroon a better place for all.

 

This flow of ideas did not go without strike actions. University students staged a strike when their salaries/incentives were suspended. This strike action was to tell the government that they were not ready to accept that idea of living without salaries. Despite the strike actions, not only were their salaries/incentives suspended, a tuition fee of 50,000 FCFA was imposed.

 Mmmm, One of my Favourite Meals - "Corn-Chaff" (Corn boiled with beans) Obili-Yaounde, February 2008.

 

Civil servants had their own shock, when, not only did they had to start deducting a large portion of their salaries to educate their children, these salaries of theirs equally observed a sharp fall-down by almost 70%. With this, most students had to drop out from school, and some parents had to device another means, legal or illegal to get their children educated.

 

What has become of our education and educators? What has become of those who are trained to serve the nation? From a critical observation I made of many institutions around me, I concluded that more 60% of those trained from 1993 to 2005 and above, to handle most posts or responsibilities are not the right persons because they are full of corrupt approaches which are only helping to bring this nation to its knees.

 Ndu - Donga Mantung, NWP Cameroon, March 2008.

 

When you hear stories of what happens when we sit-in for public exams, how all the big personalities have lists of people who have to be admitted even if they are numskulls, and how the poor ones would never have a chance to go to some of those big schools, you would not be surprised at what is happening. You would not be surprised if I tell you that some of those admitted will cheat at every instance. Peter Essoka, crying over the question: “Why have we become so vengeful”, says:

 

Like the case of this young lady who was cheating in an exam and when she was caught and sent out of the exam room following regulations that had been set by the rector of the university, she called her mother to come to her rescue. When she came, because she was some ‘heavy weight’ in the society, she ordered for her daughter to be readmitted. When the immediate authorities of the higher institution showed signs of resisting her orders, she summoned the Rector of the university to come to the scene and reverse the decision of the school authorities.[3]

 

What has that mother just done? Is this what an educated mother should do? Why then do we say everyone has to be formally educated to have a better place in society? Is it wrong in being formally or informally educated? What should be blamed; education or the idea of more education more wealth hence more power? What do you think will become of an institution, this young lady, after graduation, is sent it?

 Bonamoussadi - Student Residential Area Ngoa-Ekelle Yaounde, February 2008.

 

Concerning the medical field, medical institutions have collapsed; treatment that was almost free in the yesteryears is becoming more and more expensive for citizens. One can easily die in the corridors of a public hospital just because he/she lacks 500frs to tip the doctor or buy a syringe. Gottlieb Lobe Monekosso, retired medical doctor and professor of medicine, now 80 of age, and former Minister of Public Health, in an exclusive interview, remarks:

 

When we created the Medical School in Yaounde (CUSS), we ran the country as ideal people. … We had our salaries on regular basis…. We never charged patients. It was unheard of that a doctor will ask a patient to pay him some money before being consulted and treated. Now, things have changed radically. When I became Minister of Health, that was the first shock I noticed. Nobody would do anything unless they were motivated; even jobs supposed to be their duty. There was inertia in many hospitals. Some of the major hospitals had run down because the same health professionals set up parallel structures to sell drugs rather than having them in hospitals. They asked patients to meet them in their private clinics.[4]

 Student fetching well water, Bonamoussadi, Yaounde, July 2008.

 

In 1998/1999, much ink flowed in the papers about the incarceration a minister, who was charged of embezzling a sum of about 2 billion francs CFA. His incarceration was like a surprise to many because it was hard to believe that a minister, who was looked upon as a demi-god could be humiliated in such a manner.

 

Barely 10 years after, the story of corruption and embezzlement of state funds has become a way of life. Some people even seem to see nothing wrong in carrying out these horrendous acts. Cameroonians, especially the downtrodden, in their majority, have become fade-up with the fruitless “Operation Sparrow Hawk”[5]. Gottlieb Lobe Monekosso thinks again that:

 

…if you go to the logical conclusion of this “Operation Sparrow Hawk”, half of the civil servants in this country will be put in prison. Not because they are bad people or that they deliberately want to destroy the country’s economy. The fact is that we need to go back to the basics.[6]

 

The funny thing in this, again, is that most of these embezzlers are highly educated Cameroonians, who were trained with state funds, and who have attended renowned institutions in Europe and North America. My worry again is, why should educated people be doing such a thing? Does is mean that, the more people you educate the more you push society to a collapse? If yes, then we need to slow down; and if no, then let’s embrace the approach of separating wealth from power because everyone with wealth or with power falls in this trap of more money more power which is the main root cause of corruption and has completely taken over democracy and government. Again, Monekosso thinks he was happy to leave government because:

 

as I told some of my colleagues at the time that if you admit a healthy child in the Measles Ward, that child will catch measles.[7]

 

So people have understood that this operation will go nowhere in helping them and that is why, they think that bringing back their money, so that their economy could be revamped is the only way out. They are fade-up with the “Operation Sparrow Hawk” because despite all the noise, a tremendous decline is observed in the living standard, of the so many miserable Cameroonians, who cannot even afford to treat themselves in the so many corrupt hospitals; who find it uneasy to educate their children; who find it uneasy to cope with insecurity; ill-health and hunger.

 Yaounde-Bafoussam Highway, August 2008.

 

Getting into decision-making places like the National Assembly is becoming more and more expensive and gives admission only to the wealthy. Why should government make it easier, for people whose money protect them from insecurity, ill-health, corruption, embezzlement, failing elections, expensive education, floods, house-breaking, water scarcity, price hikes, hunger, pollution, and strikes; make decisions that will affect the rest of us? One should not be surprise to learn that these people, in their majority are not always in touch with the reality. Someone who has money, obviously has done a lot of investment, and wealth we know, is a very difficult thing to defend. Why do you entrust the future of a powerless majority into the hands of a person, who is CEO of a government institution, who is president of another association, and who is, may be, an investor of his private enterprise. At the same time, because of wealth wants to be mayor or parliamentarian. Will he really be able to defend his wealth and at the same time, manage the needs of the people accurately? Gottlieb Lobe Monekosso referring to the disastrous nature of his area council, Dibombari, in the Littoral Province, posits:

 

… I say it is a disaster. This is one of the problems of modern democracy. Modern democracy and elections revolve on money. He or she who offers the most during elections gets elected. After being elected, you don’t see him again. Our own Mayor seemed the best profiled, well educated, well indicated, well placed, quite high in Civil Service. Since he took office, I am told he is never seen in his jurisdiction.[8]

 

Is there any fairness for a country whose main objective; is the wellbeing of all, to have a few have all the money and all the power while the rest of us is left to wander in misery and have our children born into abject poverty and with no hope of one day going to school; having portable water at their disposal; having affordable, cheap and highly equipped education and health centres?

 Fetching Tap-Water, Obili Yaounde, July 2008.

 

It is easy to hear people portray Cameroon as a growing democracy and a state of law. This is because people are being sent to jail, “free” to speak, “free” to published, “free” to strike, “free” to participate in radio and TV debates to share thoughts and voice out their troubles.

 

But what was the fundamental meaning of democracy when our forefathers in the beginning thought of it? What really provoked them to think of democracy? Was it to just get people speak “freely”, write and debate without their ideas having any positive impact on their lives? It is easy to deduce that, today, the more people complain and cry, the tougher life becomes for them. They are either killed, like we saw in the February 2008 strikes on price hikes in Cameroon or sent to jail or simply ignored.

 

Democracy according to our forefathers was/is supposed to be a tool to promote the wellbeing of the majority of the people, no matter how it is practised. This according to Vote Sizing approach can be possible today, only if people, those who suffer most from bad governance; are given the powers to control that government.

 Goat in Mindiff, struggling to get green herbs from the plant. December 2007.

 

During my day-to-day discussion with people about vote sizing, and how it can help us build a better Cameroon and Africa for its citizens, people have been asking one question, over and over. “Why do you think poorer people will not simply grab all the moneys of the rich if given the powers to control government”?

 

And I will ask, them, “Why do you think they will want to take the money”?, they will reply, “because more money means more power”. And I will ask again, “do you think making it a principle, that during elections or any decision-making, the more you earn the less your vote counts and vice versa, wouldn’t solve this”? They always reply by saying, “we should encourage people to work hard and make more money and those with more money should be honoured and not discouraged because they’ve worked hard for it”. This is the kind of thought that annoys me most. In anger, I will ask a series of questions, “do you think society can function with more investors than employees? With more drivers and pilots than passengers, with more teachers than students, with more presidents, ministers, CEOs or directors than the govern, with more plane and car manufacturers than users,…” and they will start to mumble and I will continue, “why do you think it’s productive to tell everybody to “work hard”, which is practically impossible;  in order to have all the wealth and all the power? Do you think a CEO, or a Director, or a Minister will live long if this kind of provocative and practically impossible thought is propagated?” 

 

Again, “if you encourage this idea, then don’t blame Presidents, ministers, CEOs, Directors, who embezzle state funds, don’t blame doctors who insists for patient to tip them before they are being consulted and treated, don’t blame school teachers who give you better marks only when your money makes them smile, don’t blame principals of government schools who admit only children whose parents bribe for them, or who force children, to bring each two bags of cements in order to construct classes which in reality is to construct their homes, don’t blame journalists who write good articles about the worst people in society, don’t blame those who play all kind of tricks to  flee away or minimize their taxes, don’t blame those who rig elections to stay in power, or who use their money to stay in position of decision-making, in order to make legal, what was regarded illegal,  in the name of protecting their wealth.”  

 

Houses in the desert regions of Maroua, Cameroon, December 2007.

 

Above all, instead of deceiving people to waste their precious time to go cast meaningless votes, let us allow society to collapse freely, by simply, which I presume will happen in the near future, set a scale for positions of responsibilities.  That is being a director, a CEO, a mayor, a parliamentarian, a minister or a president of the republic people should be chosen on the weight of their bank accounts.

 

Today, life is becoming tougher; the so many inhuman acts that were forbidden and even banned by some of our customs and traditions in the yesteryears are becoming humane. This is so because; some people have taken upon themselves to secure their interest and have to hide behind the word “democracy” to legalise all kind of acts which are out to take humanity to a crash.

 

For how long are we going to be humiliating and sending to jail our fellow compatriots who have been trained by the state to serve the state? Is it possible to punish all the victims of “1-man 1-vote” machinery of democracy which has today become a trap to the citizens of our nation?

 

With Vote Sizing’s democratic-reform approach, we think that, no human being is born an embezzler, a corruptor, a thief, lazy, smart, intelligent, unintelligent, and even if we know that there is usually some genetic trends (negative or positive) in humans, society and its rules are they to guide people.

 

The failure of any voting process, puts in place an ineffective government which will only lead to ineffective appointments, laws, decrees and resolutions. The ineffectiveness of any structure; put in place; either by the government, foreign body or private individuals is the result.

 

The false and outdated belief of equality being the fact that everyone has one vote is what is killing us today. Equality, should not be measured by mere ballot papers. It should be portrayed by equality in power, the average of each individual’s political and economic power. That is what we call equality and it is the only way, to scrape-out the impact of big money over decision-making, thereby enabling us restore democracy in our society.

 

 

By Awafong Julius

Outreach Coordinator – Vote Sizing

Yaounde, October 2008.

---

[1] Peter Essoka, Reflection on “Morning Safari”, CRTV, 07 July, 2005.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Peter Essoka, Reflection, “Morning Safari” CRTV, 01 March, 2000.

[4] “Cameroon Tribune”, N° 9196/5395 of Friday, 03 October, 2008, pp. 16-17.

[5] This in an operation launch by the Head of State of Cameroon, aimed at tracking down embezzlers of state funds.

[6] “Cameroon Tribune”, op. cit., pp. 16-17.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.