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Wednesday, October 25, 2017

OPINION: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CAUSE DECENTRALIZAION WITHIN THE FEDERAL STATES?



By Dr. Nick Ngwanyam, MD. 19th October, 2017

Dr. Nick Ngwanyam
This morning I had a call from one of my brothers and friend who is a University Professor. Last night, he read my article on, “The Way Forward for Cameroon”. He said he read it then for the first time and went over it again this morning. In his opinion, it makes a lot of sense and he hoped that we will all look at the message therein and use it as a template on which to build by adding and subtracting where need be and bringing clarity in some of those areas and concepts that are not well understood. He feared that some people might stop looking at the material and concentrate on throwing it away because it came from X and not Y. A wise old man once said something very catchy. He said he was pointing at the moon while some fools were looking but at his crooked fingers.
The professor expressed a worry. He wanted to know what I meant by causing decentralization within the federal structure. We both agreed that I should write this explanatory note to help us think more fruitfully as we wait for the national dialogue that will thrash the issues. He wondered whether the current mission of the Prime Minister and others on the field was the supposed dialogue or something else.
EXPECTED DIALOGUE
I was of the opinion that the current Mission by some elites from Yaounde along some CPDM barons on the field is but a soothing balm on the wounds and emotions of the people of the North West and South West Regions following the tragic events of the 22nd of September, 2017 and 1st of October, 2017.
The expected national dialogue which has different actors and stake holders is supposed to deal with the systemic problems as well as the definition of the Anglophone in the whole.
It is supposed to come up with strategies to fight corruption in high places; improve on governance, the economy and development; it will also create a lot of jobs and opportunities for youths by changing the type of education in the country to copy from Finland and South Korea.
Anglophones have problems and they are part of a greater Cameroon which is sick, very sick indeed. She has a surgical problem that we have been treating with tablets, syrups, surface balms, rice and drinks. She needs a painful surgical operation to deal with the cancer.
UNDERSTANDING DECENTRALIZATION WITHIN THE FEDERAL STRUCTURE
What do these two terms mean?
If we harvest a bunch of bananas and take them home, we can learn a lot from the ripening process. By day 4, some will be streaking with the yellow color. Midway down the process there will be a beautiful mix of light green and bright yellow. By the end of the process may be on day 8 or 10, the bananas will be beautifully yellow, soft and sweat and some might start taking on dark patches.
This process depicts decentralization and federation. These two are concepts belong to both ends of the same spectrum where decentralization is the early process of ripening say on day 5 or 6. Federation represents the process on day 9 or 10. It is perfect.
Some people of bad faith say decentralization is like federation and yet when you say federation is better, they start calling you names and report you to the secret police for mentioning or even using the ‘f’ word which is taboo.
Decentralization is like putting two cubes of sugar in your cup of tea. Yet when you put three it makes it better even though the tea cup does not split into two. The tea cup is still one and indivisible but the content tastes better. Federation has more clauses that give more power to the federated states and allows them to function even better.
Federation into ten states or decentralization into ten states is one at the same thing. In this dispensation, the central government still exerts too much pressure on the small ten units. Corruption will still be galloping. Have you ever asked yourself why we have CONAC and many other structures yet corruption still rides high in Cameroon? All the 24 million Cameroonians can be recruited into CONAC or even recruited into the police and gendarmerie yet corruption will continue to gallop on. It is a system problem.
DECENTRALIZATION AND FEDERATION ILLUSTRATED.
Let us take 11 ‘bobolows= baton de manioc’ or 11equal sticks. Color 8 sticks yellow (A= East Cameroon). Color 2 sticks red ( B= West Cameroon) . Color one stick black ( C=Yaounde Federal Capital City)..
Take one blue string and tie the two red sticks and lay them on the table. Take the 8 yellow sticks and tie them with a green string and lay them on the table as well. Bring along the black stick (C) and bunch A, B and C together. Take a metal chain and tie the three lots so that they form one parcel that is one and indivisible. This is Cameroon.
The red pile represents the Anglophones and the string that ties them are those clauses put in the constitution to protect them. The yellow pile represents the 8 Francophone regions and the green string is the constitutional clauses that protect them and define who they are as a people in the union and what they have and do not have.
Some people have been asking whether or not an Anglophone can ever be the President in this nation. This is where questions like these are answered. If it is a taboo for and Anglophone to ever the president, it should also be stated clearly and written down in the constitution so that our children will never think of it. In a decentralized system, they will say that an Anglophone will be president based on majority vote and the Francophones will use their demographic weight against the Anglophone till they kingdom come.
The Federal system protects the Anglophones from the demographic weight of the Francophones. It also will fight corruption and inertia generated from the centralized system of governance.
THE PLACE OF DECENTRALIZATION.
This is a weaker version of federation. If we cause decentralization in East Cameroon, all the 8 regions will function independently of the Capital city on the banks of the River Sanaga in Bafia. This capital city will have a coordinating effect and then report to Yaounde. Regions will have no direct access to Yaounde.
In like manner, the South West will function independently from the North West Region. However, they are bound together by a federal string which gives them some bargaining rights as they face the Francophones as a cultural identity with a history and a language of their own.
Anglophone in the Cameroonian context does not mean any one who can speak English. If it were so, our grandparents in the villages would not be Anglophones. Anglophones refers to people whose genetic material originates from the North and South West Regions. This is same thing for Francophones. We have an 11th Region/ Province for people with a mixed origin from mixed marriages or long standing migrations.
A SUMMARY OF MY WRITE UPS; Starting 25th of Septeber, 2017.
1)    PEACE, JUSTICE, TRUTH &HAPPINESS
2)    Open Letter Against Violence; to Elder Tassang Wilfred et al.
3)    THE WAY FORWARD FOR CAMEROON
4)    THE ADVANTAGES OF BUILDING A NEW FEDERAL CAPITAL OF EAST CAMEROON
 ON THE BANKS OF THE SANAGA RIVER IN BAFIA.
5)    WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CAUSE DECENTRALIZAION WITHIN THE FEDERAL STATES?
Thanks for taking your time to read through all these information. I just hope that it will help us to move forward as we seek to create a more just society in which truth and love would be our guiding principles where we show respect for each other as we build a strong and indivisible Cameroon.
Remember that Peace is a concept. It cannot be forced nor decreed on a people. Peace is a by-product of a process in which truth, love and respect for others are a way of life.
Christ says, ‘All ye that are heavily laden, come unto me and I will give you rest. Peace can only be obtained in the presence or on the condition that we dwell in the presence of God where truth resides. This is the same God worshipped by Muslims; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There is no other one that made heaven and earth besides Him.
The god of power, money and fame; sects and whatever are illusions. They come to kill, deceive and destroy. You might be powerful now, with a lot of money and influence. Just make sure that you are on the side of the Lord like Prophet Joshua and his family and you will be safe. If not you are doomed, you and your family for four generations. It is written in black and white in the Bible and it will come to pass. Material things, power, money, women and booze cannot help you.

DR. Nick Ngwanyam, MD

 
( PS.. You might find a few typo errors here and there in what I write. No one proof reads for me as I want to be responsible for what I say. I have noticed that each time I ask for help, the style and ideas get battered out of recognition.)


When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

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