The American Midterm Elections

I followed the campaigns leading to these elections whenever I accidentally got on a channel showing an advert by one of the candidates or a debate. I actually enjoyed the issues that came up following to make or mar the pools either in favor of or against the contestants. I'm talking here about the Foley scandal, relations between Mr Bush, his Defence Sec. and the generals in Iraq, confusion in the White House as to what to do in Iraq amidst growing concern of an immerging imbroglio, facelessness of the Iraqi Prime Minister brow-beaten to take instructions as to how to run his country from Washington, the ever present (I was told) of abortion, hunting and taxation issues on the table of politicians, the sex scandal of the Evangelical minister, the sudden sentencing of Saddam, and list can on and on. What I gathered from this is a tradition that has grown with time. A tradition of politicians held accountable for their actions and the actions of those they appoint; even for those who are only members of the party. Accountability to the people can then be seen as that check of character, of excessiveness, of failure and of a possible reelection. This set me reflecting on the lessons that could be learnt from this democratic process.

The first question that came to my mind was to what extent are the elections going to affect the various states in providing better lives for everyone and a shift in global politics?

And talking about a new wave at the international scene, the Southern Cameroons question comes into the picture almost involuntarily. Long ago when Cameroon was a federation, real elections were held. Now, can free and fair elections be held in Cameroon? I listened attentively before and after elections to get anyone raise doubts as to the transparency of the pools and the fact that this didn't even come up was quite surprising to me. I think that if America genuinely wants to export democracy, she should start by creating a culture of credibility and accountability in countries that she has an overt or even covert interest like Cameroon. If gross corruption in nation states by leaders can be listed as one of the crimes against humanity, then most African states will build a foundation for good governance and sustained development. This can be enforced by economic powers by like the US that gives loans or aid without a follow up as to whether these funds were used for intended purposes. Leaders caught depleting their country coffers should then be tried in special tribunals and the stolen funds returned to their countries. This may sound like advocating the direct interference of super powers in local politics. But I think that is that is the only way to instill 'patriotism' in leaders like Mr Biya, then so be it.

Anglophone Cameroonians, I'm sure, are learning a lot from this. Afterall, this is what will guide them towards succeeding in setting up their Federated State of Southern Cameroon when the illegal occupation is over.

Ramitu (A Short Story)

The loud clap of thunder shook the huts of Baba Bouba’s compound making the goats to bleat frantically. In one of the huts, a young girl aged between twelve and fourteen, sat up on her hand-woven mat and listened attentively. At the corner of the hut she could see the eyes of the sheep that had escaped the rain and moved in to share her bedroom. With another flash of lightning, she noticed that she hadn’t closed the door. Although it didn’t matter since the cracks in the mud wall were nearly as big as the semi-circular structure that was used as a door, her father had told her that a door had to be shut at night to wad off evil spirits.

Ramitu, cast her eyes around unaware of the scent of animal urine and dung that hung in the air. That was part of her world. She didn’t know any other. She was born in their midst and shared a kind of bond with them. She knew without turning that Yasmiina (the she-goat that was given to her when she was three), lay either outside the hut or somewhere inside. As she lay back and slowly closed her eyes, the activities of the previous day slowly passed through her mind in circles.

Before dawn the previous day, she had tried to shout for help when she got an eerie feeling that there was something else in the room. Years of sleeping on the floor had developed her senses. She knew the different smells of their animals, loved the rich cold smell of the earth and could tell from the smell whether it was a dog, cat, ass, cow or goat that was behind her hut or not. But this time she could not place the smell. Her body went stiff as she felt the danger coming close. Something was moving towards her. With her ear pressed to ground she could detect tiny vibrations being released but there were not footsteps. She shut her eyes tightly. Felt tiny strands of sweat break off her brow and run into her eyes. Then something very cold started crossing her left leg that lay exposed out of the torn loin she was covering. The movement stopped when her body stiffened the more. Then a mouth seemed to close around her big toe. Her mouth opened wide to scream but nothing came out.

Not far away, to the left of her hut, was Mama Saley’s hut. She was the 4th wife of Baba and looked like the age mate of Ramatu’s eldest sister. The only noise outside apart from the sounds of crickets, an occasional hooting of an owl or a bitch barking far of in the distance to invite a lover for a sex deal, came only from her utensils. It was her turn to prepare breakfast for the family that morning. This breakfast had to be sumptuous because it was the period of fasting in preparation for the Ramadan and also had to be eaten early. In the half darkness, she chopped some wood, lit her fire and quickly put out the bush lamp. She had to save her oil since she didn’t know when Baba would issue the next ration.

A pot for the preparation of fufu (a meal made from corn flour) was set on the now blazing fire. Picking up a scarf, Mama Saley got ready to trek to the more than half a mile distance to get water.

Passing by Ramitu’s hut, an idea struck her to invite her for company. She stopped to call but before she could do that, a muffled sound came from within the hut. It sounded like someone was in pain.

“Ramitu”, she shouted rushing in.

“Allah!” Ramitu swore under breath. “Mame Saley”, she whispered, “something has bitten off my toe”.

Mame Saley rushed out to get her bush lamp and calling out at the same time for help. She was very scared. Ramitu was a nice, hard working girl and was growing into a woman. She had not ostracized her when she moved in as one of her father’s wives like the other women and children and had helped her so much when Saley was born. She had to get help to her fast. What greatly troubled her was the fact that Ramitu seemed transfixed in her hut. Couldn’t she run out and so get away from … whatever that was?

Nobody seemed to have heard her. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I’ll soon get to her”, she thought as she fumbled with the lamp trying to reach the wink with a twig she’d lighted from her hearth.

In the distance she could hear early risers start to pray. The Imam’s voice came distinctly to her as he intoned his “ Allah huk a kibar” and his brethren repeated after him.

The shrill cry from Ramitu’s hut shocked her out of her reverie. It cut the air like a dagger and brought the rest of the family rushing out of the huts they shared. She stopped short at the door and stared in disbelief as the circle of light from the lamp fell on the huge black snake that had curled around Ramitu’s leg. It was gracefully making its departure after biting and leaving its venom in this poor girl.

She was afraid of going in let’s the curse came on her. It was believed that this black snake known as yobam, didn’t bite anyone for nothing. Must often it was sent.

Ramitu’s brother damned the consequencies and rushed in to help his sister. First things first! He got a log of wood and beat the snake to an unrecognizable pulp.

Some one was quickly dispatched to call the native doctor who lived at the outskirts of the village. To stop the spread of the poison up her leg, Baba rushed behind the hut and got elephant grass, which he tied on her leg.

Ramitu continued to sweat profusely. The shock of being bitten by the evil snake had stunned her. She didn’t feel anything anymore. Stories had been told of those who had died of snakebites to her by her grandmother. She wondered how it felt to die. She could hear her mother weeping and cursing her enemies in the courtyard.

Then a thought crossed her mind and she sobbed even more as a kind of darkness was enveloping her. She had a hut all to herself as favor from her father because she was going to become the fifth wife of her father’s friend. The marriage would take place during the dry season. Alhaji Danpullo had done so much for her family. He had provided the money that had been used to pay the bride price of Oumarou’s wife; her stepbrother. “How was her father going to repay his past kindnesses?” The answer to this didn’t come as the darkness closed in.

When she opened her eyes, there was no one in the hut. She tried to get up but her leg was very heavy. She sat up and called out for her mother who came running. She explained to her that the doctor had rescued her from the snakebite and from their enemies who were jealous of her impending marriage. Her mother then begged her never to disappoint her family and gave her some food and set out for the farm.

News of her accident spread in the community like wild fire. At midday some children wearing uniforms came along with one old man carrying books under his arms. They said they had heard of her problem and had come to see how she was doing. In the village, the joy and sorrow of everyone was shared. This group from the Tadze Catholic School, wished her well, talked to her about her health and better treatment found five miles away in the Health Center run by missionaries. Besides, they asked her whether she didn’t like to go to school. Well, what was she to gained from going to school? She already had a husband but something in them attracted her. The smell they left behind was unlike any smell Ramitu had had before. She was sad when they left to avoid meeting her father.

As dawn slowly approached, these thoughts went through her head. She wondered whether she was going to be happy after getting married. She had asked her mother what it meant to get married and she had simply said that she was going to find out. It was generally known in the village that Alhaji beat his wives when they made errors as trivial as coming late from the stream or serving his food without enough hot pepper. Ramitu wondered whether she was going to be beaten too. The thought of running away from home and going to school as the old man with books had suggested looked appealing, but how was she going to do that with her swollen leg. Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard footsteps outside her hut. She could smell her mother out there. That reminded her of the promise she had made never to disappoint her family. The promise now stood in front of her like a wall as she fell into a fitful sleep.


10/31/06

Cameroon: The Land and the People

Cameroon, officially known as The Republic of Cameroon is one of many African countries. She is situated at the 'armpit' of Africa, that is, between West and Central Africa. The general conception about her is that she is Africa in miniature because nearly everything found in all parts Africa are found in Cameroon. With a landmass that stretches from the Equatorial rainforest, through the savannah grass fields to the semi-arid northernmost tip; Cameroon is blessed with an abundant biodiversity. To properly ride through Cameroon with speed and accuracy, it is necessary to follow some signposts.

History: The first Europeans that landed at the shores of Cameroon were the Portuguese in the early 1470s and because of the abundance of crayfish at the Wouri estuary, she was erroneously named Rio dos Cameroes. This name was used on Portuguese maps to identify her. It was later changed to Kamerun when the Germans colonized her following the partition of Africa in 1884, and then to Cameroun and Cameroon, when the French and the British defeated the Germans and took over control of the country after World War I. In sharing their spoils of war, three quarters of Cameroon went to France and one quarter to Britain. This detail is important if one is to understand the currents that have shaped the geo-political map of Cameroon up till today. The French section known as Francophone or East Cameroon, gained her independence from the French on the 1st of January 1960 while the British section known as Anglophone or Southern Cameroon gained her independence after a plebiscite on 11th February 1961 during which the citizens of this territory voted in a plebiscite to reunify with the already independent La Republique du Cameroun as the French territory was called after independence. This unity, forged by the political climate of the 1960s which is best summed up in the words of Harold Macmillan the then British PM: The wind of change is blowing through this continent. Whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact. The ‘new’ Cameroon enjoyed the joys that every young marriage is exposed to but this apparently ended with the honeymoon.

Geography: The size of Cameroon is 183,500sq. miles; maximum north-south length, 700miles; east-west, 450miles according to the Area Handbook for the United Republic of Cameroon (1974). The region to the south is made of coastal plains with its tropical rainforest and climate. This area is home to the rare species of monkeys and chimps found nowhere in the world. It is important to note here that this area constitutes part of the Congo basin that was not affected by the Ice Age. To the west, the main features are the mountains with the highest peak being Mount Cameroon, which is the highest in West Africa. There is also a plateau that rises up to the grass field. The flora and fauna changes as one moves across the country. The northern part is home to the Waza Park that protects a lot of wild life like elephants, lions, giraffes, hippos, rhinos, buffaloes, zebras, pythons etc. In the south, the rich array of birds, botanical gardens, zoos and parks with the beautiful sandy beaches are a come and see.

Cameroon and her neighbours:


The People: Cameroon is made up of more than 200 ethnic groups and languages. The north is predominantly Fulani whose main religion is Islam while the South is made up of diverse groups with Christianity being the main form of worship. At the heart of the Congo Basin are found the Pygmies (a race of stunted people) who are still living in a semi-perfect state with nature. Cameroonians are further broken up to two regions: the English speaking Cameroonians to the West and the French speaking Cameroonians to the East. Whether from the East or the West, Cameroonians are known to be very hospital, sociable and happy-go-lucky people. With her food self-sufficiency, the people have a tendency to live their lives according to the gifts that nature or providence have provided.

Culture: Indigenous cultures, it can be said, have been affected by long periods of colonialism especially with the French infamous policy of assimilation. In spite of this, there still remain a rich cultural diversity that is enjoyed by the various tribes and regions. What can be called Cameroonian culture probably is what the union of English and French regions have produced, that is, the creation the only bilingual state in Africa. The people’s love for bon vie is seen in the flourishing of the music and showbiz industries that attract artists all over the continent. If there is anything that has projected Cameroon beyond continental boundaries also, it is her cultivation of the culture of football: what Americans call soccer. In times of football everyone forgets tribal, regional, linguistic and political differences and rise up as one people, one nation with one soul mate: football! The political machinery, economic, social and even spiritual revivals are halted when the national team is involved in an important match at home or abroad. Her love for football has been used by the existing political structure as opium for the masses.

Socio-Economic: The currency in use here is the franc. One US dollar is equal to more than five hundred francs. This currency is used by a number of countries in central Africa. It is a derivation of the French Franc. The economic capital is Douala. Cameroon is a third world country and of recent the politicians are making the world to think that she should benefit from the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. This is a program that would have debts cancelled so that the money can be ploughed back to solve economic problems. It is saddening to reflect on the socio-economic situation of Cameroon. To imagine that a country with rich human and economic potentials has been abandoned to lie in a state of ruins makes conscientious Cameroonians sick. Illiteracy is still very high with the north being the hardest hit. Here most girls are either married off as young as 13 or take care of their parents’ herds of cattle, goats, sheep, etc. With the low salaries of teachers, state schools and colleges are poorly staffed. Those who successfully go through the universities have no jobs. The result is wide spread unemployment that has brought about an increase in crime wave. People in the rural areas constitute more that sixty percent of the population and most of them are living below the poverty line. There is no electricity, pipe-born water, and no good roads for them to sell some of their products, no money to pay fees for their children to attend elementary schools and health services are far apart. Many households live on less than a dollar a day.

The question that arises here is what about the many natural resources? What about the oil deposits and the other minerals? Although oil is refined at home, imported gas from Nigeria is cheaper than that produced in Cameroon. She could even afford to abandon the rich oil filled Bakassi Peninsula and remembered it only when the oil hungry Nigerians invaded the place and started tapping out oil!

Another factor, though equally shameful is the institutionalized corruption. Not long ago Cameroon topped the world chart for corruption twice and is currently still among the top fifteen according to Amnesty International. It is disheartening to note that a house that is built on corruption cannot fight this ill because that will initiate its own demise. In the last elections, numerous observatory bodies a lot of irregularities. The American Embassy also issued a statement to this effect but nothing was done about it. The head of state uses government ministers and other administrative arms to rig elections he has no moral control over them. He is known to have large assets stored away in banks abroad, owns a hospital in Germany, and Cameroonian oil industry is his special reserve. The General Manager of this sector once said on National Television, when asked what was happening to the revenue from oil that issues of oil were too complex for Cameroonians and only he and the head of state could understand them! When top officials are out rightly caught in corruption, there are not jailed but only reappointed to other functions. This has led to a situation in which personal interest comes first and patriotism sacrificed on the altar of egocentricity and avarice.

Political: From the last discussion of the socio-economic situation of Cameroon, it is clear that there is something wrong with her and her politicians. The one good thing about Cameroonians is that they are very religious and prone to complacency. There is cheap food, even if is carbohydrates, and liquor both locally brewed or churned out by the two major breweries Le Brasseries du Cameroun and Guinness Cameroon S.A. Those who cannot afford, beer can at least afford the traditional stuff known as kwog, odontol, shot, etc, depending on the part of the country one hails from. It is over this that the state of affairs is discussed and the conclusion is always that things will not remain like this forever. Probably another saviour will come to bring them out of Egypt. At first there was no freedom of the press. Censorship was rife and freedom of expression and others, a far-fetched idea. Now, with the multiplicity of parties, and an apparent freedom of the press, nothing is changing. Yeah, there’s democracy even with “commandement operationelle” (a government program in which arm robbers and persons who had committed crimes against the state were brutally eliminated without trial). After all, elections are held and the same person gets elected all the times since 1982. There is democracy even when the head of state is the commander in chief of the armed forces, head of the magesterium, appoints those who conduct elections and is still ruling by decrees through a parliament he controls. Cameroonians enjoy some peace in the face of all these and are happy for it.

The Present Trend: The Cameroonian past has sort of caught up her. On the 11th of February 1961, two states came together to co-exist in peace and harmony but that has failed. The first indication of that failure is the gradual and systematic subjugation of the Southern Cameroonians by the majority Francophones. Then came the change of name from the Federal Republic of Cameroon to United Republic in 1972, and to Republic of Cameroon in 1984. It is worth noting that the present name Republic of Cameroon is the name of the former East Cameroon, that is, before the reunification of the two states. Thus by reverting to this name, the East Cameroonians in effect concluded, in their thinking, the destruction and burial of the Southern Cameroonian identity.

Another trend in this direction is the conscious impoverishment of the Southern Cameroonians. Since reunification, the Southern Cameroonians for a short time enjoyed limited grants in rural and regional development. This gradually rolled to a halt in the early 80s when another Francophone president announced that there was economic crisis. It turned out that economic crisis was only for Southern Cameroonians as her roads, infrastructure and people were abandoned to rot. One thing that was not abandoned though, was the oil. Oil continued to be drilled out of her rich coastal waters, refined, hauled for storage, in the Eastern region and then brought back to be sold to Southern Cameroonians at increased prices. Most often, her cities are grounded for lack of fuel! It is ironical that one of the conditions that Nigeria gave as part of negotiations to hand back Bakassi to the rest of Cameroon was that the Francophone government should pay more attention to the development of this region! With roads full of potholes, dusty during dry seasons and very muddy and impassable during the long rainy season, this region looks like a creation in the movies for special effect, to illustrate poverty and misery. The situation of late has been aggravated by the sale of state-owned agro-industrial complexes found in this part of the country. Case in point is the sale of the Tea Estates through a shoddy deal by government ministers that have reduced most of the people who relied on this to near starvation. The organization of mass street demonstrations have met with nonchalance and at best half-hearted efforts by government ministers to talk the people back into silence. When this fails, troops are sent out to disperse the people with life bullets and grenades.

In the face of impending doom, what has come to give hope to the Southern Cameroonians is the formation of the Southern Cameroon National Council. This started off as a pressure group but La Republique du Cameroun, in her characteristic manner banned the movement. This political organization has since its inception in the early 90s gained grounds and recognition from the Southern Cameroonians as the only voice that is out to write the error of history: the reunification of the two Cameroons. Many Southern Cameroonians are in jail for expressing their views in the light of the ongoing economic stagnation and gross discrimination of this region. The call of the Southern Cameroon National Council has now changed and what is eminent is total independence from La Republique du Cameroun. Diplomatic as well as other maneuvers are being sought to achieve this objective. The name of the emerging state is Ambazonia (The Federal Republic of Southern Cameroon).

The following is its map:

Most of the citizens of Ambazonia live in fear of being attacked and brutalized by armed thugs of the French regime known as gendarmes or of being hauled and thrown in the smelly airtight jails without any provocation. It is this state of affairs, coupled with the other problems like malaria, AIDS, cholera, dysentery, etc. that have raised the death toll in the Southern Cameroonians. A leading critic of the Cameroonian political structure, His Eminence Christian Cardinal Tumi once said that when people sleep hungry, lose their children because of no drugs, are disgraced by the inability of pay fees or buy exercise books for their children to go to school, have no jobs because they cannot speak French, are perpetually slapped on the face by a system that treats them like foreigners in a country that they think is their own, they are like a time bomb that will explode when the time is up.

There is no doubt that the peace Cameroonians enjoy is found in few places in Africa. Probably this is one of her many blessings. With this fairly stable political climate, international investors are streaming in. The Americans have recently gone in to exploit the energy, the Chinese, everything from poultry to frying and selling doughnuts along the streets and the French are making a final bid to take control of every other thing apart from the exploitation of mineral resources, even cleaning the streets of garbage. I hope that La Republique du Cameroun will not be asking for any more bribes to let go of the Southern Cameroonians because they have taken enough already.

CAMEROON IS A GOOD RESOURCE TO THOSE INVOLVED IN INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, GEOGRAPHY, ECOLOGY, ETC. VISIT CAMEROON AND YOU WOULD HAVE GONE TO ALL OF AFRICA.

THE FOOD, THE LIFE, THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS REMAIN A PLEASANT SURPRISE FOR MANY A TOURIST.