By Neba-Fuh
A recent decree by Cameroun's ruler, Paul Biya renamed the ten
provinces of that nation. They will henceforth be called regions. This
decree is a follow up of the amendment of the 1972 constitution adopted
in 1996; which was later manipulated in 2008.
The so called 1996
constitution stipulates the creation of regions, which are suppose to
be semi-autonomous. It has taken 12 years to name those regions, and
it will surely take another 12 years to make them semi- autonomous.
The merits and demerits of the 1996 constitution is another story itself.
For
those who have had a cursory look at the constitution, especially the
section concerned with the creation of regional councils, it can be
described as a continuation of the charade of unbridled power
aggrandizement that has ruined the basic tenets of the notion of a democratic republic. A system where appointed individuals overlord and supervise elected officials, undermining the role of the judiciary.
For example, Article 57(3) states that:
'The regional council shall be headed by an indigene of the Region elected from among its members for the life of the council.
The President of the Regional Council shall be the executive organ
of the Region. In this capacity, he shall be the interlocutor of the
state representative. He shall be assisted by a Regional Bureau elected
at the same time as himself'.
Article 58(1) states that:
'A
delegate, appointed by the President of the Republic shall represent
the State in the Region. In this capacity, he shall be responsible for
the national interests, administrative control, ensuring compliance
with laws and regulations, as well as maintaining law and order. He
shall under the authority of the Government supervise and coordinate
civil state services in the Region
He shall exercise the supervisory authority of the State over the Region'.
It is only in Cameroun's 'advanced democracy', whatever that means,
that elected authorities are always under the authority of appointed
quacks, in the name of representing the state. What makes an elected
official incapable of 'representing the state'?
This torturous psychic humiliation started when the whole idea of appointing Government Delegates was introduced . A system where a council won by an opposition party in local elections can not have the luxury of executive power. In some urban councils, Biya exercised utmost provocation by appointing the loser of the council elections in that council, as Government Delegate of that council, just because he is of the ruling junta. what a mess!
Today, we are witnessing another gamble of people's power, where a Region with an elected official will be inferior to an appointed stooge under the decoy of 'Government supervision'. The likes of stooges like Peter Oben Ashu( who once called citizens 'settlers' in their own country), will be resurrected from retirement to be appointed Government regional Delegate or is it Regional Governor?
How can a man of conscience tolerate a system that does not listen to the cry of its people?
One would have expected the Biya dictatorship to critically examine the
Joseph Owona's plagiarized 1996 constitution before sending it for
adoption, by the people's traitors in the glass house. It would have
been an opportunity for the regime to placate the moderates of the
Southern Cameroon's insurrection and the core opposition who could
settle for a ten-state-federation; not people like me who is
tagged an 'extremist or 'radical'.
The regime in Yaounde today listens to nobody but the echoes of its egoism. They don't care about the people's opinion, after all their mandate expired in 1992, and anything after that is a spiral effect of illegality.
The unbridled power of the regime is becoming uncontrollable. The semblance of false democratization is spreading at snail speed. The people are constantly deceived and their sufferings perpetually magnified by a system adamant to change and ruled by unrepentant stooges clouded by quenchless personality cults.
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