OUR PRIDE IN CAMEROON

  

My observation in a generalized form is that the Cameroonian soul is subconsciously nationalistic in the civic sense of the word, but the mindset is impulsively divisive. We love our different dishes, wriggle to our numerous music, cheer and grief for the national team, pride over our bilingualism and ethnic diversity and collectively hope for a change and a better future New Cameroon.

When confronted by a challenge that is not easy to overcome, we impulsively become divisive, dwelling on differences instead of compatibilities, and falling back on our ethnic groups, tribes, provinces, regions and villages; all depending on the severity of the challenge. This mindset enables us to escape from self-blame and pushes us to limit collective blame to a point where we tend to exclude ourselves as a people (region, province, ethnic group, tribe, village or religion) from the Cameroonian malady.

It is this malady of an impulsively divisive mindset that makes us, the commentators in various fora( a microcosm of present day society as a whole), who before identified themselves as members of the opposition and advocates of change fighting for a New Cameroon,  but  who yesterday constrained  themselves  from the national goals  by advocating for  the objectives of  different interest groups---the numerous Southern Cameroons  factions, the various religious groups, the thousands collaborating with the outdated and corrupt system; to portray ourselves today as propagators of NW/SW divide, anti-Anglophone, anti-Francophone and as ethno-centrists or tribalists.

As exponents of change, we shall never move forward in any direction unless we mitigate or suppress those divisive impulses.

I weep for that Cameroonian soul that began the march to the New Cameroon (1946-1966), the Cameroon that united the people in their total and complete rejection of the anachronistic system and the Biya regime (1990-1993)

Cameroonians should regard with skepticism those political figures that use the regional or tribal cards for personal reasons.

It shouldn't be strange to anyone that Biya and the leaders of the so-called opposition are intrinsically ethnocentric, having little experience outside of their ancestral lands or provinces. In a curious way, they don't have a deep empathy for other Cameroonians. It takes a great deal to try to understand how others who are not from the group we come from, think or feel in the collective framework of Cameroon. Being  advanced psychosocially, which involves the ability to relate to other Cameroonians in an in-depth manner,  is a major prerequisite for being a true union nationalist, and it is a quality we should be looking for in our leaders in the next phase of the struggle.

Posted by: Janvier Tchouteu | Tuesday, 17 January 2006 at 05:50 PM

CAMEROON: The Haunted Heart of Africa

by Janvier Tchouteu,

Cameroon: France’s Dysfunctional Puppet System in Africa

by Janvier Tchouteu,

CAMEROONIAN OPPOSITION LEADERSHIPS: Myths and the Future of their Parties:

Cameroon is not  a  country of slaves that no man can free. All we need……

Just before the last masquerade called the 2004 presidential elections, I decided to profile the prominent so-called opposition leaders (Fru Ndi, Ndam Njoya, Bello Bouba) in the best unbiased manner possible. The befitting title I came up for their profiles was; "THE LAST GASP OF CAMEROON'S POLITICAL MEGALOMANIACS. I decided not to publish those profiles.

The biggest mistake made during the last phase of the struggle was to invest overwhelmingly in individuals rather than the ideal of the struggle. It was the easiest route to power, but a disaster in waiting when those individuals become powerful and lose their heads (by having delusional fantasies of wealth, power, or omnipotence). That is what happened to the above figures while in the opposition, a condition already suffered by Biya after he was given power and survived coups.

Leaders for a cause are promoted, like products. And the image makers in the early days of the SDF did a good job. Fru Ndi, Ndam Njoya and Bello were not the smartest in their parties, they did not confront danger more than everybody, they did not pay the highest price (lives, property, family etc) more than everybody, and they were not the major brains in the scheme for the successful expansion of their parties or the biggest contributors to the party’s' ideologies. Dedicated people to the cause pushed their names to easily sell the party and to win popular support in order to assume power. The populace, unfortunately, buys the myth of the leader. It is however the responsibility of the new leader to balance the myth built through expectations and publicity, with reality.

But then, often in history, the leaders come to believe that the image projected of them is the reality of their true selves. And it becomes a disaster when these projected leaders are made to see and think that way by those close to them who have a vested interest in keeping them delusional. Nero, Caligula, Idi Amin, etc suffered those fates. Initially blessed with overwhelming public support that arose from the situation at the time, these leaders often fall to the psychopathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of wealth, power or omnipotence in their later rule.

Those who oppose these pathological egoists become targets to be rid of because they spoke contrary to the leader's wishes. In the blind quest to leave a legacy based on the myths, these political megalomaniacs end up destroying the forces (party, country, army, organization)that gave them power, wealth and omnipotence. So, is there a future for CDU? No. there is no future. It would die with Ndam Njoya. Is there a future for NUDP? No. It would die with Bello Bouba. Is there a future for SDF? The best that can come out of it after Fru Ndi is that it would be a pale shadow of its former self.And the CPDM? It would be wrecked by havoc after Biya and it is going to die the day it loses its ruling party status.

So, what is the future? Many will ask. The future is a new force built around tested advocates of change who never folded under the last phase of the struggle, and advanced representatives of the embracing ideology for the new Cameroon that embodies its union nationalism and revolutionary path.

Janvier Tchouteu      13^th  of  February 2006

Janvier Tchouteu is the author of " The Mistakes To Be Avoided in Building The New Cameroon"

Cameroon: France’s Dysfunctional Puppet System in Africa

by Janvier Tchouteu

The Mistakes To Be Avoided in Building The New Cameroon

by Janvier Tchouteu

Why Cameroon Needs a Fundamental Change

by Janvier Tchouteu

Who the Enemies of the People are, and How They are Fighting Against Change: and Others

by Janvier Tchouteu

DISENGAGING FROM THE SYSTEM'S CHARADE CALLED ELECTIONS IN CAMEROON UNDER THE BIYA REGIME

Two days and a day before the elections, this same message and others went to many foreign papers and to SDF, etc.

THE OPPOSITION’S LAST SALVATION:

Hours before this presidential masquerade, genuine Cameroonian union nationalists and patriots with a clear vision for the New Cameroon understand that our only victory tomorrow is an opposition disengagement from Biya's fraud. What does this mean? Fru Ndi, Ndam Njoya and the other contestants should pull out of the race, which they are going to lose by the way, even though more than 80% of the Cameroonian population is against Paul Biya. It is claimed that there are 4.6 million registered voters. Actually, less than 20% of Cameroonians of the voting age actually registered. The inflated figure stems from the handing of more than one and in several cases even ten voters card to CPDM supporters. Election results are already being whispered around, even though Cameroonians have not yet voted.

If Fru Ndi, Ndam Njoya and others continue into the race, then they are merely giving Paul Biya more ammunition to defend his false results. And Cameroonians of the post-independence generations will not forgive them. These so-called opposition leaders will be considered as traitors to the spirit of the struggle. They have made too many mistakes in the struggle starting with the TRIPARTITE; taken too many wrong actions, considered by many to be intentional, pursued strategies, which are devoid of advanced, patriotic and embracing ideals. In short Fru Ndi, Ndam Njoya and others have acted like amateurs confronting this monstrous, corrupt and anti-people system under the Biya regime, amateurs who lack an essence of the struggle. They have been allowed to carry on because Cameroonian union nationalists of the revolutionary brand are not yet fully organized. By failing to redeem themselves by pulling out of the race, Fru Ndi, Ndam Njoya and the others would be committing political suicide. The post-independence generation who got involved in the struggle with virginal intentions, who risked and lost their lives, and who feel betrayed today by the opposition, will consider them too as enemies of the people and obstacles in the struggle.

Janvier Tchouteu

                                                                  Janvier Tchouteu | Monday, 11 October 2004

Afterthought: 

There has been a growing consensus that   the current anachronistic system is irredeemably bad, that it is an insult to the progressive Cameroonian mind and soul, that it kills hope and that its retention is an acceptance of the dictatorship and tyranny of Paul Biya as the system Cameroonians deserve.

Seven years after, even elements of the pre-independence generation are echoing their support of the revolutionary path of the Cameroonian struggle and accepting the fact that changing the system is the only salvation for Cameroon.  From Professor Asonganyi who was  skeptical about it  sixteen years ago, to fork-tongued Francophiles and  even  pro-secessionist Southern Cameroons  advocates; the battle cry is for the New Cameroon that would be born from the rejection of Biya's election masquerade where he and his regime are the election administrator (restricting registration of voters), umpire, judge, competitor  and declarer of the results.

The system can not last another 5-10 years  and would be completely dismantled by the end of the decade. Even if the Biya regime goes ahead with its masquerade and give Paul Biya some more years in power, it would be of little effect, just like Mubarak rigged elections in 2010 and got booted out in 2011. The only thing advocates of change need to do is to dissociate themselves from the masquerade.

In a nutshell, Cameroonians who participate in the masquerade would be making themselves traitors to the struggle. We should rally behind Cameroonian Union Nationalism and build the conflagration of forces that would  realize the New Cameroon. Then, hand in hand as committed Union Nationalists, we shall set the momentum that would generate the wind of change that would sweep the system away and realize the change that Cameroonians have been looking forward to for the past six decades.

The fourth phase of the Cameroonian struggle cannot and will not be lost.

 

Cameroon: France’s Dysfunctional Puppet System in Africa

by Janvier Tchouteu

The Mistakes To Be Avoided in Building The New Cameroon

by Janvier Tchouteu

Why Cameroon Needs a Fundamental Change

by Janvier Tchouteu

Who the Enemies of the People are, and How They are Fighting Against Change: and Others

by Janvier Tchouteu

LONG WALK OUT OF DARKNESS---AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

February 9, 2011

By Janvier T. Chando

As the world watches the manifestation of “Peoples’ Power” (PP) in the Greater Middle East, the question that dominates is---How far would it go? Would it be like Eastern Europe between 1989-1990 when undemocratic leftist regimes were brought down, ushering in a new era of freedom, reforms, economic liberalization, liberal democracy and integration with the rest of Europe; or would the rumblings in the Middle East produce anarchy and provide a fertile ground for the emergence of barbaric regimes like post-shah Iran, Hamas-controlled Gaza in the Palestinian territories, post-Siad-Barre Somalia or post-Najibulla Afghanistan?

Whatever the outcome, the region will never be the same again. In a region where the myth of a strong man justifies political repression, economic stagnation, religious intolerance, the failure to embrace progress and modernity, the cultivation of myths that are out of touch with reality and where an external enemy must always be found to blame for the peoples’ miseries; the feet and voices in the streets come as a welcome relief.

Whether we like it or not, the chaos in the streets is producing positive change that the dictatorial Islamists, pro-Western regimes and anti-western regimes can not stop. The peoples’ voices will never be taken for granted again. It is against this backdrop that The Muslim Brotherhood is shy about advocating a radical agenda of seizing power for itself in Egypt and why fundamentalists were left in the cold in Tunisia.

Never again would a dictator impose himself on the Tunisian people for more than a decade. Never would an absolute Monarchy in Morocco deny the people their basic rights and freedom, and never would presidents impose their sons on their nations as successors after their deaths. That means Assad would have to leave either honorably or otherwise.  The mullahs in Iran would have to give power back to the people or lose their people and give their interpretation of the religion a bad name.  The Gulf States would have to implement social and political reforms to march their economic progress and even Saudi Arabia would have to stop treating its people like clueless children. The other Maghreb states and the rest of the region need to move with the positive wing of change or else find themselves swept by it.

It is against the backdrop of a progressive and tolerant Middle East emerging from the current uncertainty that the Big Powers should revise their policies on treating other dictatorships in the rest of the world. Corrupt anti-people dictatorships abound in Africa. Paul Biya of Cameroon otherwise known as the crafter of the best election-rigging machinery in the world has been in power for twenty nine years, supported in his stay by his French masters. He would practice his election-rigging art again in October of 2011. Others like him thrive in central, west and southern Africa. Only with the dismantling of these regimes will there be economic and democratic progress in these regions.

Strong voices are emerging to facilitate this process of democracy. The progressive world should not fail to take sides with these advocates of democracy and freedom when the moment arrives. They are the African continent’s only bargain with the future.

 Janvier T. Chando is an author and political writer.

The Bamileké Factor in the Cause for the New Cameroon: and Other Articles: The Successful Century-Old Divide-and-Rule Policy in Africa Brought About by the Creation of a Virtual Enemy Within

by Janvier Tchouteu,

Disciples of Fortune

by Janvier Chouteu-Chando,

The Usurper: and Other Stories

by Janvier Chouteu-Chando, 

Flash of the Sun (Compradors Series)

Book 1 of 2: Compradors Series  | by Janvier Chouteu-Chando, 

Triple Agent, Double Cross

Book 2 of