Cameroon: The land where logic is Defied:Paul Biya and the Political Mafia in France that keeps him in Power

A close monitoring of Cameroonian and world economic trends over the past three decades has revealed an unadulterated and persistent fact that no conscientious person, African, Cameroonian, altruist or otherwise would be indifferent about after it has been brought to his/her attention. Over the past five decades, the French-imposed system has brought what was once Africa's most promising land to its knees and eroded its sense of direction, putting it in the grips of despondence and the worst mafia the continent has ever experienced.

Cameroon's GDP over the decades has shown that the Biya regime is the only governing entity the world "that becomes popular and wins elections with landslides whenever the national economy is in a recession”. The chutzpah of the Biya regime defies logic to the point where the administration manufactures victory in elections even at a time when Cameroon is ranked as the world's most corrupt country.

Considering the decades of inflation, the more than doubling of the national population, etc., what becomes evident is that the average Cameroonian is living on less than thirty percent (30%) of the real GDP per capita of his compatriot two and a half decades ago. Poverty is more rife today than it was before independence. Moreover, we are one of the few countries in Africa and the world that has no sense of direction. The reasons are obvious. The system is anachronistic. It is a fake structure of clay that cannot be reformed. It promises only doom.

Legislative and Presidential Elections in Cameroon since the Return of Multi-party Politics in 1990

Election Type/Year	Paul Biya’s “% Win”?	Ruling Party (CPDM) “%Win” --- No of Seats	Number of  Candidates or Parties with Seats
Parliamentary Election, 1992		88 Seats (45.5 %)	4
Presidential Election, 1992	40%		6
Parliamentary Election, 1997		109 Seats (61%)	7
Presidential Election, 1997	92.57%		7
Parliamentary Election, 2002		149 Seats (83%)	5
Presidential Election, 2004	70.92%		16
Parliamentary Election, 2007		153 Seats (85%)	5
Presidential Election, 2011	77.99%		23

Cameroon GDP between 1980-2017 ($1,000): Real and estimates by the IMF. Cameroon Gross Domestic product (GDP) between 1980-2017 ($1,000,000): Real and estimates by the IMF. Cameroon Gross Domestic product (GDP) between 1980-2017 ($1,000,000): Real and estimates by the IMF.

Country	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
Cameroon	7,649	8,665	8,310	8,376	8,853	9,246	12,052	13,960	14,176	12,640
Country	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Cameroon	12,654	14,109	12,931	13,492	8,912	9,036	10,335	10,343	9,875	10,424
Country	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Cameroon	10,046	9,497	10,888	13,630	15,784	16,593	17,957	20,433	23,732	22,194
Country	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Cameroon	22,468	25,759	25,538	27,482	29,283	31,137	33,258	35,596

Paul Biya, the head of state of Cameroon who was schemed onto power by French President Francois Mitterrand of France in 1982 after the Frenchman manipulated the former Cameroonian president Ahmadou Ahidjo into handing power to Biya, who at the time, was Ahidjo's prime minister, has been making himself the winner of pseudo-elections in order to renew his presidential mandate. He organizes this charade of fake elections to legitimize his rule, something his Western backers (puppet masters) validate by recognizing his victory in these sham elections.  Is he blind to the fact that the world knows he is loathed by the Cameroonian people; or is it an extreme case of chutzpah as he grants to himself higher percentages of victory in every following election even despite the fact that the economy has been declining in a persistent manner, especially vis-a-vis the economies of neighboring countries and the rest of Africa?

In a nutshell, the population of Cameroon has more than tripled since Paul Biya became the head of state in 1982, but the Gross Domestic Product has not even quadrupled. And taking account of inflation which has more than quadrupled over the years, we see that under Paul Biya, the standard of living of Cameroonians has dropped and their real purchasing power and per capita income have reduced by more than half.

Election years are highlighted in yellow.

Saturday, June 11, 2016                            Janvier Tchouteu

By Janvier Tchouteu, author of “Cameroon: France’s Dysfunctional Puppet System in Africa”  https://amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ5NZXL/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_ZSJY62088EQE8AYPFM0X