Yang Philemon, Achidi Achu and the 2013 Senatorial Challenges in NW

Ailing Rt. Hon Achidi Achu and PM Yang

I will consider here some of the main beliefs and schemes of the North West CPDM political elite, as they deal with dissenting voices ahead of the April 14, 2013 Senatorial Elections. As any philosophy graduate knows, the key statement in Machiavelli’s The Prince make it crystal clear that if a prince wants to maintain his state, he must “learn how not to be good” and then use that knowledge whenever it is necessary. In philosophy, this is known as the “dirty hands” problem. And in politics, it has no name since the entire game is dirty. The reason why it is necessary for a prince to sometimes get his hands “dirty” is that he will be overcome by those around him if he doesn’t. To cut it short, Machiavelli puts it: “A man who wishes to profess good at all times will come to ruin among so many who are not good”. Machiavelli did not have an impracticable analysis of people, calling them “a wretched lot” who in general are “ungrateful, fickle, simulators and deceivers, avoiders of danger, and greedy for gain”. Pretty much the opinion we have of all North West CPDM politicians today could easily be likened to the views of Machiavelli.

The fact that Machiavelli wrote that a prince needed to get his hands dirty in order to maintain himself in power, is equal to what the CPDM politicians in the North West Region today have learned to do well. The so-called “Yaounde Elite Group” under Prime Minister Philemon Yang are willing to do that which is “not good” and, as John Stuart Mill wrote, “Visit harm” upon their own citizens in order to keep anyone from questioning what they are doing. North West journalists have been victimized by these hawking politicians due to their pretending nature to “not do good”. A memo in that line addressed to President Biya and PM Yang Philemon speaks volume as journalists are quoted to have declared that they would prefer to support SCNC than a government that marginalizes. Even though it is widely acknowledged that a ruler should not keep his word when it’s not to his advantage, must not hesitate to employ cunning, faithlessness and deceit, and should know to be “a great pretender and dissembler”, the CPDM in the North West has been rated as being in the worst of shapes with people like Yang, Achidi Achu playing key roles. It has not just been transformed into a sinkhole for character assassination but made up of people master well the practiced in such vulpine ways.

On March 23, 2013, the Yaounde Group staged an in-camera meeting at the Ayaba Hotel in Bamenda under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Philemon Yang. The guests of honours were CPDM senatorial candidates. As usual, a team was dispatched to all CPDM run councils to meet councilors who made up the Electoral College.

Yet before the Bamenda meeting, sources linked to the Prime Minister’s office hinted that PM Yang summoned CPDM aspirants whose names were rejected from the lists. Ostrich-like, the attempted candidates were told to shot their mouths. They were told that some of them have been earmarked for appointment as senators. And before leaving Yaounde for Bamenda, they were told to work as a team with those who were selected by the Central Committee.

An atmosphere of stale familiarity reins in the CPDM run Councils in the North West Region ahead of the April 14, 2013 senatorial polls. Some CPDM Councilors we gathered have expressed their disgust on the maltreatment from Prime Minister Philemon Yang. According to the hint, the councilors have vowed to vote against the CPDM senatorial list. The reason being that of late PM Philemon Yang dispatched CPDM emissaries to the councils with chicken fees to buy their consciences, yet some of the councilors we learnt raised hell when they were told to sign 15.000 FCFA each. They are also aghast that PM Yang manipulated the Central Committee to impose his stooges on the list. The case in point is Bali in Mezam where councilors have vowed that none of them will cast a vote for the ruling CPDM. Bali Council according to what we gathered is the only CPDM run Council in Mezam, yet Yang maneuvered for Achidi Achu to surface as head of the lists. The most pathetic thing is that the names of the Fon of Bali as well as that of Prof. Doh Anderson were rejected and Fon Nana of Bawock preferred. “We will not vote the CPDM list”, one councilor told this reporter on phone.

In Bui, Yang Philemon is on a hot stole for selecting Eno Emma Lafon who according to the people of Nso doesn’t represent them giving that she is married in Mamfe. Sources say the choice of Eno Emma Lafon was masterminded so much so that PM Philemon Yang remains the only cock in the CPDM. More so, Noni people are aghast that Yang had angered them for long. An authouritative voice hinted that when PM Yang was appointed, everyone thought that his Director of Cabinet was to come from Noni, yet he ignored the Noni people in his choice. The Nkor Council we gathered is divided over who will vote for the CPDM.

In Menchum, the situation is pitiable. Sources say the choice of Wallang David continue to create cracks in the CPDM. Councilors of Zhoa, Wum and Benakuma have also said they are going for a void ballot. Furu-awa Council on the other hand is threatening to boycott giving it loyalty to the CPDM has never given them anything. It is alleged that the absence of Chou Cyprian on the list is becoming problematic.

In Momo, Awanga Zacharia sources hinted would have to face the reality of life giving that even though a business magnet, his charity begins and ends in Oshie. 

The "North West hunting practice of running in different directions" could not be disguised, given the limited time. Running in different directions, four CPDM lists emerged; headed respectively by Fon Chafah, Former PM, Achidi Achu, Former Minister John Ndeh and Dr. Nick Ngwanyam. Given the speed at which things are done in Cameroun, one would think that so many lists will complicate things for the CPDM Central Committee. In record time, the Central Committee came out with a North West list among others. The remarkable work of the Central Committee has in no way mask what is glaring of the North West CPDM. Fon Chafah had a more impressive list.

If the Kanyimi Ihmbru on the final list is the Ihimbru Kangeli on the Fon's original list, then the Fon's list has contributed to nine of the fourteen persons on the final list. Interestingly Achidi Achu whose list contributed a mere four to the final list, seems poised as the leader of the North West list; with Fon Chafah not featuring as even an alternate. If really there was a Central Committee meeting to produce the final CPDM electoral list, the heads of three of the initial North West lists (Fon Chafah, Fomer Minister John Ndeh and Dr. Nick Ngwanyam) unlike Former PM Achidi Achu are not members of the Central Committee.

The Fon might have had the Central Committee on his mind; which might be why he included the banker, Awanga Zacharia (Awanga Zacharie) on his list as a Central Committee Member. Mr. Awanga seems to have represented the Fon well on the committee but could not get past his "CPC Big" (Former PM Achidi Achu) to have the Fon on the final list. The Former PM other than his Mezam choice (Substantive and Alternate) had only the Nguketunjia choice to also defend from his list. In the possible "Big" and "Small" discussion the possibility of the Fon coming in and elbowing to lead the final list might have also been raised. Whatever the seeming CPC understanding, it remains a mystery that Awanga's alternate (Ndifor Raphael Usongo A.) from Momo appeared from the blue. He does not appear on any of the initial four lists unless he is the victim of a serious typographical mistake for the Raphael Nkuah on the Fon's list. If he is, then the Fon's list produced ten of the fourteen names on the final list; making the Fon's list even more remarkable. 

Whatever the CPDM game from the North West, the Central Committee might have schemed things into the promise or understanding made with the SDF Chairman. Mezam may be the more likely CPDM "sacrificial lamb" in the deal. It could be a reason why the Chairman wants to throw himself in the ring. In keeping the deal, the CPDM sees the opportunity to humiliate Former PM and Former Minister for having not worked hard enough to elbow the Chairman out of their native Santa. The Central Committee might have further noted that of all persons, the Former PM and Former Minister were least expected to submit incomplete lists.  For a start, the Former Minister's list was completely ignored as was Dr. Ngwanyam's. Dr. Ngwanyam can walk away as a seeming CPDM "outsider" in reserve for use further in the humiliation by being appointed senator. The eventual appointment of the Fon as senator for fishing out a CPDM list from a difficult North West will add to that humiliation by virtue of being the corner stone earlier rejected by the "builder".

Keeping the Former PM's choice for Mezam helps the CPDM to effortlessly keep its seeming assurance to the SDF Chairman. In terms of Mezam, the Former PM comes from peripheral Santa Sub-Division which shares a parliamentary constituency with Bali Sub-Division. Having Achidi Achu as substantive senator and the Fon of Bawock as alternate from the same parliamentary constituency is insulting to the rest of Mezam. However the initial Achidi Achu list came about, he owns it as head of the list. As a member of the Central Committee from Santa Sub-Division he should have known that the Fon of Bali and not the Fon of Bawock is the Central Committee member from Bali Sub-Division; and that the Fon of Bali brings with him at least two subjects that are also Central Committee Members; not forgetting the paper boss of ELECAM. The bitterness to be starred by the Former PM's list will help the SDF Mezam list headed by the Chairman win in ways that it will be suicidal for the CPDM locals to count on state agents to try the Santa thing again. This gives the Chairman something to savor regardless of what the CPDM does elsewhere; including in the rest of the North West.

The CPDM goes to the polls scared by the fact that two of its big wigs (Former Minister and Former PM) could not complete their lists having claimed in recent elections that the North West has become CPDM country. The Former Minister could not find any takers for his list in all of Menchum and Donga-Mantung and no alternate for Boyo? It is interesting that the Central Committee trashed his list without consideration for the great Fai Yengo Francis (Former Governor, Former Governor, Former Governor, Former Secretary General, Former SDO, Former SDO and Chairman of Rural Electrification) on it. The Former PM seriously could not find an alternate for Forgwe Alfred of Bui and JC Kangkolo of Menchum? The inadequacy of the two "big wig" lists notwithstanding, how does the CPDM feel about the fact of its four initial lists from the great North West, two were from persons sharing Santa origin with the SDF Chairman? Is Santa really the center of the North West? If the CPDM assumes it is, the incomplete lists from there should be an eye opener as to how the skewed center is out of touch with its periphery and leaves naked how the CPDM wins.

 By FC Junior with additional input culled from a write-up by the Political analyst Ndi Manjong

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa