GEF's Outlook

Titbits on Cameroon Today and Tomorrow Based on leaked U.S. Diplomatic Cables

Cameroon should be in the news in the weeks and months to come in the run-up to, and after,Presidential elections set for 9 October. Paul Biya, the country's ruler for 29 years, will be running for another 7-year-term in office. 

Here are some tit-bits on Biya, some of his aides and opponents and concerns about democracy, governance, stability, and security in that West-Central African nation of about 19 million inhabitants.  

These are drawn from leaked U.S. diplomatic cables released via Wikileaks. 

Of Paul Biya (see photo) and his rule...

U.S. Ambassador Niels Marquardt said in a May 2006 cable: "In its 46 years of independence, Cameroon has only known two presidents, Ahmadou Ahidjo (1960-1982) and Paul Biya (1982-present)...Under Ahidjo, Cameroon's economy fared well; the country enjoyed some of the strongest economic and social indicators in Africa.  Since then, Biya has transformed Cameroon into a multi-party democracy with a growing focus on human rights and civil liberties.  His economic legacy, however, has been marred by massive indebtedness, corruption, a ten year economic downturn and falling social indicators..."

"The outstanding question is whether Biya is capable of engineering a turn-around of his negative legacy of corruption, stagnation and neglect in the five years remaining in his presidency."

U.S. Ambassador Janet Garvey said in an August 2009 cable: “President Paul Biya has been masterful at balancing interest groups and staying in power for almost 27 years.  He has survived a coup attempt (1984), a period of economic crisis (mid 1980s-early 2000s, leading to a 75% salary cut for civil servants and a painful devaluation), contested election results (1992), and nationwide riots (1992 and 2008).  Even his most ardent critics admire his political skill, including his ability to maintain an aging elite support network through patronage and a permissive attitude toward corruption.”

“Nonetheless, Cameroon has many of the ingredients of a failing state, and rising political and economic risks bear close watching.  Cameroon could be wracked again by social unrest similar to the February 2008 riots, which some analysts classified as a "wobble" in historically stable Cameroon.  Biya's failure to shore up the foundations of his regime's legitimacy - in fact eroding many sources of stability - will hinder his ability to bounce back from the next wobble.” 

of Corruption in Cameroon and the anti-graft effort known as Operation Epervier (Sparrow-hawk)

Notes from Watching Cameroon v Mauritius on TV

Just over 20 minutes into the first half of the Cameroon against Mauritius game there was a blip on the telly and off went the images of lumbering Lions at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaounde. In came pictures of studio guests and presenters rushing to their seats for an impromptu chit-chat. 

The discussion went on for more than 30 minutes -  ranging from Orange Cameroon's latest  products to the absolute need for more international friendly matches for Cameroon.

But no one really explained to the millions of Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) viewers in Cameroon and elsewhere why we were unable to see the rest of the first-half of the game. 

When the pictures from €nhthe stadium returned to our screens Cameroon were leading 1-0 in the second-half of the game.

There were no commentaries from the field so the studio presenters took over. One of them saw Henri Bedimo everywhere on the pitch whereas the Montpellier left-back had been replaced by Leonard (Leonie) Kweuke who had scored the curtain raiser.

OLD MACHINES

Transmission failures occur everywhere but CRTV seems to have made them the norm in their live broadcasts.

A fellow Cameroonian watching the game in Dakar asked me (as an ex-CRTV man) why in this 21st Century the national TV station should have problems transmitting a game taking place barely 5km from its production centre!