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