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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