Editorial: If I Were the President

By Ireneaus Chia Chongwain

One of this country's most prolific writers of English expression, Professor Bole Butake, once wrote that the things happening in this country are very pregnant. Whatever things he was referring to have either given or continue to give birth to progenies that are beyond the common man's understanding. Reactions of some CPDM militants to a French Catholic non-profit organisation's report on President Biya's supposed ill-gotten wealth, may not only indicate how politically retarded some Cameroonians are, but also signal how far developed this country's destructive sense of political complacency has become. If I were the President, I will prove even my own party militants wrong.

In a competitive political atmosphere like Cameroon's, where political predators hunt and live off each others weaknesses, political foresight, tenacity and astuteness, are indispensable requirements. In a political jungle like Cameroon's, strategists should take advantage even of the most damning allegations to score political points. Even when nothing significant is happening in the political marketplace, ingenious political actors should create events, not just to make their presence felt, but even more importantly, to show the political Lilliputians their adversaries are.

If a golden opportunity, however unpleasant, shows up and is not fully exploited, it will constitute a significant mistake and could have immeasurable political repercussions. If I were the President, I will use the French Catholic NGO's report to show the political prodigy I am. In or out of politics only the guilty are afraid. The claims made in the report are not a political first in this country. Since Cameroon returned to multi-party democracy in the late 80s, what has one not heard about the President's and other State functionaries' ill-gotten wealth. A golden opportunity has therefore been given to the Head of State to clear his name once and for all, prove his political astuteness and give his detractors a memorable political whacking.

If I were the President, I will order an independent inquiry to prove my innocence. After all, has the President himself not spoken out time and again against the double-headed hydra-corruption? Has he not said there are no hiding places for corrupt functionaries in Cameroon? Has the President not acted on his words by ordering the arrest, trial and imprisonment of corrupt State functionaries? What could be more befitting than the President setting an example in transparency by ordering an independent inquiry into claims of his ill-gotten wealth? In a State of Law like Cameroon, the law must not be seen as unevenly or only selectively applied. In a State of law there are no predetermined saints.

In ordering an independent inquiry into the French NGO's claims, the President could set a political precedent in matters of transparency in this corruption-besieged nation. This could significantly move the fight against corruption forward as the Bishops of Cameroon have posited that impunity from high profile State functionaries is only contributing to the growth of corruption in Cameroon.

In a recent Pastoral Letter on Corruption the Bishops of Cameroon, referring to corruption, wrote," We are particularly alarmed by two factors: The first is the example from above, in the sense that the people who are highly placed in our society are implicated in this scandal, thus giving others the facile pretext to do likewise. The second is that the children of our country are now being born and bred in an atmosphere of corruption, which perverts their consciences at a young age by making them believe that success is achieved, not by studies and hard work, but rather by trickery and theft." An independent inquiry will definitely assuage the bishops' fears in this regards and show that Cameroon is not only a State of Law in words, but more so in action.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Article 66 of the 1996 Constitution provides a safe way out of this ignoble situation for the President. It I were the President, I will simply declare my assets as the article requires and put my detractors to shame. Why not even drag the French NGO to court and seek redress? What are these motions of support and marches, some from and by CPDM militants, who do not even know the content of the French NGO's report? These militants' reactions may just be counterproductive for they only draw more national and international attention to the allegations and only push the report initiators to do more work to prove their point. If I were the President, I will keep a tight rein on my party militants and tell them the best way to kill any controversy is not to go agitating or bickering about it.

Do those speaking on the President's behalf know that on the basis of similar reports from the same NGO, some former and acting African heads of State have been charged with plundering their countries' resources? If I were the President I will take the allegations seriously and prove my detractors wrong.