Biya, Marafat, Inoni, Mendoze, ... who is really guilty?
News of former Cameroon premier Chief Ephraim Inoni's arraignment has caused mixed reactions from the Cameroonian citizenry. It is very normal for pathos to be the keynote for those who have benefited from the former Prime Minister's largesse. I am here referring to people who eased themselves into positions of significant influence thanks to their relationships with Mr. Inoni. I do not know for sure but the list of his proteges should reflect a broad spectrum of the Cameroon civil service: teachers, judges, fiscal administrators, directors, medical doctors, military, gendarmerie, police force, etc. These people must have been trained through our "grandes ecoles" viz, ENS, ENAM, EMIA, ENPT, ENPURI, etc. The list of beneficiaries also includes business men and women fictive or real who make up the horde of private contractor supplying various materials to the Cameroonian civil service at exorbitant prices.
It is my belief that this circle of "friends of Inoni" those who will never find anything wrong with him, those who will justify his stuffing of ballot boxes to favor Paul Biya (yes that same Paul Biya!), those who think that the plundering of the South West Region is justified as long as there is a PM who hails from that region. These same people are prepared to concoct excuses for their benefactor regardless of what goes wrong in the SW or the country. They are responsible for countless motions of support, volumes of petitions against anyone or any views that threaten their new-found acquired relevance. As sure as there is a Biya cult, there was an Inoni cult. These people, as despicable as their stance may be, are simply victims of a conditioning that has transformed their reasonableness into abject complacency. They deserve to be understood.
On the other side, there are those who absolutely hate the man and will easily draw a parallel between their abject lots and his Machiavellian, sometimes, really far-fetched schemes. Add to this group universal conpiracy theorists and you are in for a real ride in the realms of the unimaginable. Of course, these people too have their story and their relevance in the universal culture of humanity's right and wrong. There is also incredulity and feeble protests from some South Westerners.
I join the friends of Inoni above not as a beneficiary, but as a proponent for strong institutions that are conspicuously absent in our Country. You see, we have a judicial system that is "very weak" to quote a veteran judge, Hon. Justice Paul Ayah. We all must be very offended by the way people are accused, detained, imprisoned in our country in clear violation of our constitution. I do not argue the facts against Mrs. Inoni, Marafat, Mebara et al, but the arbitrariness, incongruities, inconsistencies of these incarcerations in relation to the "Albatross" affair should be a warning to every single Cameroonian, with the exception of Paul Biya that we could suffer the same fate. Mr Atangana Mebara was arrested about 5 years ago for the same crime and other key actors on this saga parade around Cameroon freely. A mayor is sent to prison for stealing a ridiculous CFA 100,000 when in reality he questioned the fact that a French company had not paid taxes in his locality for over ten years. A critic of the Biya regime, Enoh Meyomese, is languishing in jail right now for stealing $1,000,000 CFA or some ridiculous amount, an accusation that surfaced "miraculously" after he was arrested. Remember Bibi Ngota, Lapiro and others? We know about these persons because they command a certain influence and benefit from some kind of publicity. There are Cameroonians like you and I languishing in abominable prisons for indeterminate periods while their families must learn to live without them. Some are guilty, some are not.
The one thing that this avalanche of arrests stemming from operation "epervier" as it is known in francophone Cameroon is the revelation that we have no justice in Cameroon. This may seem like a sweeping statement, but how else can one qualify a justice system where people can bribe justices, where the supreme court throws away petitions against voting irregularities without hearings; activist judges openly demonstrate their support for the CPDM party; a superfluous body called the Higher Judicial Council floats alongside our judiciary? This travesty has only resulted in widespread victimisation and pain for those who have had the misfortune of counting on the courts for justice; those who have gone silently in quiet indignation of our passive complicity. I need some reasonable people, with or without legal backing to explain to me the rationale of these arrests take place 5 years after the Mebara's and other's. I also want to know why others linked to the mishandling of funds during the Pope's recent visit to Cameroon are still parading around free and powerful and sometimes in high government positions. Does stealing money and returning some of it absolve one of the crime?
Corruption, corruption corruption!
Inoni's arrest may spark interest, but the facts surrounding the arrest reveal a tip of the expanse corruption iceberg that covers Cameroon and asphyxiates its prospects as an emerging nation. In 2001, the Biya regime decided to replace the "Pelican", the presidential plane purchased way back in 1978 and which was showing signs of fatigue according to the government. It was to be replaced by a new more comfortable corporate jet, worthy of an emperor like Biya. It seemed one of those trite no-questions-asked expenditures that Biya could wield. There was only one problem: the World bank, the International Monetary fund and other creditors of Cameroon. In the eyes of these institutions, such an expense, estimated at about US 45,000,000 (approximately CFA 35 Billion) seemed ill advised and extravagant for a country that was benefiting from a debt relief courtesy of the Heavily Indebted and Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. To put things in perspective, it's like somebody who has filed for bankruptcy buying a brand new Bentley Continental.
The corrupt think tank of Cameroon came up with a plan which is credited to Yves Michel Fotso who was then the director of the now defunct CamAir. It was simple: the plane will be acquired as a CamAir purchase and later on titled to the government of Cameroon, leaving no trace of the government's involvement in its acquisition. Voila! The deal due to its crookedness and the involvement of legal American entities soon fell apart with a substantial amount of money, about 3 billion CFA lost in non refundable security deposits paid, and even more stolen or as they say in Cameroon "disappeared". As an amend to this a second plan was crafted to lease a plane instead of buying. An old plane was spotted, repainted and voila! It developed mechanical problems on its maiden voyage with Mr, Biya, his family, Elvis Ngolle Ngolle and others en route Europe. It almost never made it. It was forced to land back in Yaounde, repairs made, and finally made it to Paris. Biya after being briefed on this promptly ordered the plane to be returned. That was the end of the Albatross and the beginning of the "the albatross" affair and the conspiracy theory about the Presidents assassination. It is a story that ordinary people like you and I cannot understand, one that can happen ONLY in Cameroon. A considerable amount of money was lost, business as usual in Cameroon.
Read a related cable leak here. See end for more links.
Reactions
As usual, events like this leave no one indifferent. In the North there are unconfirmed reports of tracts circulating in the Garoua area against what some call a settling of scores against Marafat for nursing political ambitions. There are those out to curry favors for the regime, a group of heavily tainted and questionable individuals who are professing their love for Mr, Biya for throwing their friends in jail. They hope , I assume that the hatchet never falls on them and that the picnic lasts forever. Some of them (highly questionable) may even hope that the man dies soon!There are some, of South West origin who think it is an insult to their Region that one of their illustrious sons is treated in such a disparaging manner. Some do not dispute the facts, but reflect my views on the mercurial judicial process, that seems ingeniously and uniquely tailored to each accused individual. Of course, South Westerners lack the backbone to take any particular or tough stance on any issue, so once again, the Emperor needs not be apprehensive about them.
L'Etat c'est moi, Biya!
Cameroon is the Presidency and the Presidency is Cameroon. Biya is the President ergo, Cameroon is Biya or vice versa. This warped syllogism does not come close to grasping the immense powers our complacency has heaped on Mr. Biya's lap. If a president does not reveal how much he himself earns, does not reveal how much he owns in assets in clear violation of the constitution that he wrote, appoints French Nationals to head Cameroonian companies like Adolph Moudiki, (who by the way has a hand in this affair too) orders money to be spent with no receipts, no accounts, presides over everything, oversees everywhere, has an extraordinary amount of money to use from the famous "caisse noire", travels to Europe for over 90 days in a year on private visits in the Presidential jet of the Republic of Cameroon ( paid for by taxpayers money), he can appoint and dismiss ANYONE in Cameroon, his close collaborators are carefully chosen and carry out the President's vision and policies (!) .... then there is only one person guilty of corruption in Cameroon: Paul Barthelemy Biya bi Mvondo. I accuse him! His debonair management of the Cameroon's treasury, his (and his clan's) penchant for la dolce vita has caused Cameroonian taxpayers to lose over 10 billion dollars, enough money to build two hundred and fifty classrooms at CFA 4 million per classroom in this deal only!
What does the president need a plane for? If one were to really examine the reasons why we should own a plane for our President's use we only have to look at the number of times the plane is used to justify its existence. I am not saying that Cameroon should not own a presidential plane, but on the scale of priorities, for someone like Biya who has preached "grandes ambtitions" and pratised "realisations minables" for three decades, the purchase of a plane is not and should not be a top priority from my perspective. Cameroon has only two functioning airports: Yaounde and Douala. The President rarely uses the plane to visit the people who vote for him day in day out for 30 years now. In 30 years, Mr. Biya has never sat down in a real life situation with ordinary Cameroonians, talked to them and listened to their stories. Never mind the staged-heavily guarded spurted appearances here and there to acknowledge CPDM militants or handpicked visitors to the heavily guarded, threatening and intimidating Etoudi palace where you are given a 10 mins audience.
The Inoni/Mebara arrests also serve as diversions to quiet very recent but meek resistance to the recent changes the President made to the eletoral code. The proposals were so unpopular that even CPDM Parliamentarians were very uncomfortable with them promting an emergency meetingin which CPDM MPs were reassured that raising the money for the increased security deposits for council and parliamentary elections will not be a problem for CPDM candidates. Translation: we will give you the money (that will come from taxpayers, of course!). Take a look at the consitution (all the versions!) and you will be amazed at how much power the president wields and paradoxically, how much immunity he enjoys.
One day, the passive nation of those who keep mumbling in their sleep on "va faire comment" and "na God put ye, na God go muv ye" , will wake up and find out that the dictator is long gone and they will sing the new song of praise: "Long live his Excellency Frank Biya!"
Sleep, Cameroon, sleep!
Read archives:
http://www.cameroon-tribune.cm/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=67878:fight-against-corruption-ephraim-inoni-hamidou-marafa-detained&catid=4:societe&Itemid=3
http://www.dibussi.com/2012/04/-why-inoni-and-marafa-are-in-jail.html
http://www.cameroon-info.net/stories/0,33678,@,garoua-arrestation-de-marafa-des-tracts-laquo-appellent-raquo-a-la-revolte.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/french/highlights/story/2008/05/080503_cameroon_corruption.shtml
http://www.camer.be/index1.php?art=8968&rub=6:1
http://www.postnewsline.com/2009/02/atangana-mebara-says-his-detention-is-illegal.html
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