Below is the policy speech of SDF National Chairman Ni John Fru delivered
at his Ntarinkon Residence today January 14, 2016
I would once again wish to pay tribute to those Cameroonians who, under the
reign of Mr. Biya, have made the ultimate sacrifice for the construction of a
democratic, peaceful, free and prosperous country, where the well being of
Cameroonians must be at the heart of all our preoccupations. From 1982 till
today, in all regions and all families, many of our compatriots have lost their
lives through torture, bullets or speedy tele guided trials.
Today, our country is waging war against the Boko Haram sect in the far
North, fighting insecurity in the East and great banditry in the hinterlands.
We must reflect on the very fundamental and remote causes of this state of
affairs. We have lived through decades of discriminatory and unbalanced
development of the National territory. Some regions of our country are swimming
in luxury while some other regions are in abject poverty. It is no wonder that
Boko Haram found fertile ground in the far North region, and would have done
same if it penetrated into some parts of our hinterlands. We had over the years
drew the attention of the Biya regime to the evil consequences that would
befall Cameroon as a result of this discriminatory development of the national
territory.We continue to congratulate and encourage our valiant soldiers who
are fighting at all these fronts to defend the integrity and sovereignty of our
territory.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
Fellow Cameroonians, Ladies and Gentlemen, brave people of change,
Twenty-six years gone! Yes, twenty-six years already. How quickly time goes
by! Twenty-six years since, together, we have been struggling for the advent of
a new and better Cameroon! But that important time span cannot make us forget
that for thirty-three years, our dear country has been languishing under the
reign of a dictatorship masterminded by a group of corrupt and dishonest
officials.
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| Ni John Fru Ndi |
I would once more like to pay glowing tribute to those Cameroonians
who,since 1990, under Mr. Biya’s regime lost their jobs, property, were maimed
and sacrificed their lives, fora democratic, free and prosperous Cameroon; a
peaceful Cameroon whose interest is at the center of our activities.
I wish also to pay tribute to Pa Nicolas Ade NGWA, our compatriot who passed
away on 3rd January 2016. Pa Nicolas Ade Ngwa who, not only
fought along with us, but served the Party over a long period of time as the
first National Administrative Secretary and used his administrative know-how to
set up the archives and filing system of the Party.I humbly ask everyone to
observe a minute of silence in memory of this great man and many others who
contributed in no small way to the struggle.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The reasons for which we created a political party:the Social Democratic
Front (SDF) is still topical and is proof of the fact that the fight for
democracy is ongoing.We have the firm conviction that the one party system has
never succeeded in either guaranteeing fundamental human rights nor has ever
provided efficient and accountable governance. Rather it has often bred
tyranny, corruption and perpetual oligarchy. Were main determined and committed
to the struggle to rid our society of these ills. We reaffirm our commitment to
our relentless fight against social injustice, tribalism, nepotism, corruption,
wastage, moral decadence and all forms of discrimination.Democracy remains the
only genuine and commendable means by which a people can get to power, build
their future and live in harmony.
Together we should without discrimination, and with the help of each and
every one,deploy all our efforts to force the Biya regime to institute
democratic governance in 2016by carrying out the following:
- The
Constitutional Council provided by the constitution20 years ago has become a
necessity in order to enable it contribute to our evolving democracy;
- A
consensus electoral code, an independent electoral Commission and an electoral
calendar are the minimal conditions for free,pluralistic, transparent and
democratic elections;
- Introduction
of the single ballot paper, the only means by which the buying of consciences
at the polls can be checked;
- Revisit
the audio-visual law so as to grant subsidies to all media institutions and not
only to CRTV;
- Effective
implementation of the collective agreement and auto regulation laws which are
the guarantors of a free and independent media landscape ;
- The
effective implementation of section 66 of the constitution on the declaration
of assets by those who hold public offices;
- The
passing of Legislation on double nationality.
I call on our parliamentarians as usual to seek ways and means to bring the
above into fruition in the interest of our dear fatherland.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Like other preceding years,2015 was characterized by very disturbing
situations for us as individuals and as a nation. Those who govern this country
considered hawking, moto-taxi, call-box, the indiscriminate opening of off
licenses, churches and other dangerous activities as assuring employment, to
the extent that they considered them as having created hundreds of thousands
and even millions of jobs.It is awfu lfor a regime to consider such precarious
activities as a mode of development of a model economy.
Again, the 2016 Finance law remains a faraway dream to our citizens. When we
consider that the prices of a kilogram of rice and other basic necessities have
risen by more than 200 francs. cfa as a result of the implementation of the
common external tariff of 5% on food stuff, it becomes evident that life will
be unbearable to the ever increasing poor Cameroonians in 2016.
A reduction of 20 francs per liter of fuel means that in 2016 the price of
fuel at the pomp shall continue to be expensive, whereas the price of
crude oil in the world market had dropped drastically by 60% since March 2015
and we ought to have had corresponding reduction by 60% which is 402 francs
since then.This is an insult to Cameroonians as fuel prices shall continue to
be more expensive in Cameroon than elsewhere in Africa and the world, despite
the fact that Cameroon is an oil producing nation.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Close to half of our compatriots live on less than 500 francs a day which is
less than the poverty line and worst still, this amount is far less in the
rural areas and in the northern part of our country.In real terms, more than
70% of our youth are unemployed; our real inflation rate leaves much to be
desired and our growth rate does not predict better days to come.While
Cameroonians are over-taxed, the very low investment budget is not consumed.
Ladies and gentlemen,
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| Ni John Fru Ndi |
This also gives us the occasion to reflect on the future of our country with
the view to charting a better tomorrow for our people. In this wise, it is our
bounding duty to dissuade our children from easy going life and inculcate in
them the indispensable values of good morals and hardwork which constitute the
bedrock of a sane society and a prerequisite for our development. The education
of our youths and the guarantee of primary health care are the indicators of
prosperity.Adequate training will enable the citizens to acquire decent jobs.
In the domain of agriculture, we continue to
practice subsistence farming. We should modernize in order to make it
competitive and to guarantee self-sufficiency. Our population should be the
first to benefit from our resources.Cameroon covers 1.6% of the surface of the African continent and ranks 5th
in biodiversity after the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar,
Tanzania and South Africa. Cameroon is rich in natural resources
and contains approximately:
-* 21% of the African fish species
* 48% of the mammals
*54% of the bird species
* 50% of known continental
amphibian species
* 50% of the reptile species
* 42% of all recorded African
butterfly species.
Despite such an endowment in rich resources, the
country of plenty is characterized by severe poverty.
The Social Democratic Front seeks to address the
poverty situation of the citizens through proactive and progressive
agricultural policies. Such policies will address some of the known
obstacles to agricultural development in Cameroon particularly deforestation,
wind and soil erosion, indiscriminate exploitation of our natural resources
(forests, fisheries, livestock,), insufficient involvement of the local
populations in decision-making, weak legislation and law enforcement,
entrenched corruption and inefficiency and institutional inertia.
The liberalization of the fertilizer sector was
not in itself a bad thing. But poor focus, inadequate preparation for the
transition, inefficiency and corruption in the bureaucratic machinery of the
State created artificial scarcity leading to skyrocketing prices which have
contributed to cripple Cameroon’s agriculture and preclude its industrial
development. The situation has been compounded today by the consequences of
global warming and climate change. In order to adapt to the changing climatic
situation and also mitigate its consequences on agriculture in our country, we
will develop partnerships with
the youths, women and the private sector in general for the effective
participation in the provision of inputs. In doing this, we shall ensure
that biological and environment friendly methods of protection are widely
adopted. The use of manure from household refuge and animal dung, the
preparation and production of compost manure and the use of vegetable remains
on our farms will be promoted.
This will bring to a halt
the burning of our vegetation and charring our soils which has resulted in the
destruction of the texture of the soil, its humus and its beneficial
micro-organisms that enhance plant growth. These policies and measures will
enhance our agricultural production and also go a long way to contribute to the
reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases.
We are therefore compelled
to make some reflections on the concept of climate change. Generations to come
will better apprehend this world phenomenon if, while they grow, they are
taught the fundamentals of weather observation which has been abandoned in our
school programmes. These principles used to be acquired during “Nature
Studies” in the primary, secondary and professional schools. It was
during these studies that climatic elements such as temperature, humidity,
amount of rainfall, wind direction or cardinal direction of the wind, just to
mention these few, were studied by the pupils and students alike at all the
levels. In the implementation of such basic principles, future generations will
be able to mitigate the consequences of climate change and adapt to changes in
weather and seasons in every sphere of life. So, we on the Biya government to
reintroduce these programmes in our educational system.
It is sad that today the
CPDM obese Parliament blocked an SDF Private Member Bill on the protection of
wetlands and water catchments only to turn around to pretend to be fighting
against climate change. That is political demagogy.
Be that as it may, we call
on the developed and industrialized countries whose attitudes and activities
have depleted the ozone layer of the atmosphere and facilitated the conditions
for climate change, to take their responsibilities to stop climate change.
These countries have exhausted the tropical rainforests of the world through
selfish and indiscriminate timber exploitation.
We call on them to repair
the damage already caused by stopping indiscriminate forest exploitation and
compensating for damage caused to the regions which are primary victims of such
exploitation.
The planting of trees
should be devoid of politics. We have pretended for too long in the planting
trees in our country; the facts are clear that there is nothing or very little
to show for it. The desert continues to threaten the northern region of our
country more than ever before.The SDF, therefore, proposes that for every tree
cut, two or more of the same species be planted and for the northern region generalise
and intensified tree planting should be the order of the day. In this
wise, we call on the exploiters and the government of Cameroon to create tree
nurseries of the exploited species and Sahel tested species to make planting
and replanting possible.
Lodging, potable water, electricity, our roads and highways continue to pose
a great challenge. Talking about our road infrastructure and transportation, this is a sector of our society that
is devoid of policy, is destitute and has fallen into ruin.
The regime purports to
spend colossal sums of money yearly on the maintenance and construction of
roads but we do not have the roads. No sooner do the CPDM contractors leave the
job site than pot holes start appearing and wind and rains start washing away
the thin layers of poorly mixed tars and undrained earth roads. Road
construction and transportation in general has been arrogated to the financing
of the party in power. The only qualification to win a road construction
contract, importation of transport equipment such as railway coaches and air
planes in our country is to belong to the CPDM. Everything in this sector is
done with nothing but political patronage.
Our vision is
to ensure sustainable maintenance of the road infrastructure with revenue
derived from toll gates and weighing bridges. The Biya regime high jacked this
vision, as it did with many other SDF visions,implemented it haphazardly with
disastrous consequences leading to our roads becoming death traps and the funds
derived from them being diverted into unwarranted and even destructive
political ventures. We call on Cameroonians to dislodge all tollgates found on
the dilapidated sectors of our road infrastructure and civil disobedience in
the payment of tollgates by all road users until the roads are properly
maintained.
It is very disturbing that
roads are allowed to be damaged completely and then repair contracts are
awarded to unscrupulous contractors and embezzlers of the regime in power. We
shall not let gullies cut across our roads, take lives, destroy vehicles and
paralyze economic activity.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Social Democratic Front celebrated her silver Jubilee in 2015. Twenty
five years of existence, Twenty five years of battle; Twenty five years being at
the forefront of the fight for change in our country.
We have lived exciting and memorable moments together.Moments of communion,
joy, happiness and pleasure as well as moments of crisis which we cannot
overlook. That has been our political journey.At this point, it is an
opportunity for each and every one of us to ask for pardon and to equally
forgive others.
The dream of our fathers of independence and the founding fathers of the SDF
has been to build a Democratic, modern, prosperous and peaceful Cameroon where
every son and daughter will have equal rights and equal opportunities. It is
against this backdrop that I wish you a happy and prosperous new year 2016
Ni John FRU NDI
National Chairman
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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