2018 Elections in Cameroon

“Transparent elections can’t take place with Oligarchy in power”

Barrister Fih Davidson, President, Tiko Lawyers Forum. 

What do you think were the peak moments of 2017?

Barrister Fih Davidson

2017 in the history of this country is a year that will never be forgotten. It is a year during which the Anglophones caused the history of this country to be rewritten. The historical facts of the country had been twisted by some individuals to suite their interests. It is a year that the Anglophones stood out strong and made Cameroonians to know the real facts about the history of their country. It is during this year that many Cameroonians came to know that Southern Cameroons was a state with full status like any other state. It is a year in which Anglophone Cameroonians decided to regain the status of a state which they already had. They came out strong to claim these rights calling for a restoration of their state. They came out as one and decried their rights that had been trampled upon. This cry for restoration had no answer from the authorities. Because of 2017 Cameroon will never be the same again. 

People expected much from the end of year speech of the President and Anglophones expected something concrete to be said in the direction of solving the present stalemate…

I know the authorities that are ruling us and I cannot deceive you that I was expecting anything from President Paul Biya’s End of Year speech. It’s an Oligarchy that is ruling the country. They have clung on to certain prerogatives and rights. There will never be any alteration at the helm of the state and a few individuals are lording it over the entire nation. They don’t want to listen to any other reasonable idea and have fashioned the army in a way that suites them. Once there is nothing that touches on the security of the state then there is no problem. The clamouring by Anglophones for the restoration of their statehood has embarrassed them and we know from all the memoranda and all the petitions that have been written, be it from political parties or from the defunct consortium, the authorities in Yaounde have had no answers to them. This is simply because the creation of the State of Southern Cameroons means the end of that dictatorship. 

Apart from the Anglophone issue, what other issues do you think were not addressed or were only partially touched?

The whole country is rotten. There are no roads and the President did not address the issue. The Private Sector is dead, he did not address it. How can we host the Nations Cup without infrastructure? The Railway System is dead and he said nothing about it. We have to host the event in a year and this year has equally been declared the year of all elections in Cameroon. This means about four or five elections will take place within the year. This is not possible. An election cannot take place in a country where there is no peace and where there is war on many fronts. There is war in the North, war in Southern Cameroons and instability in the East as result of the situation in Central African Republic. 

The President once more reiterated the confidence he had in the people he chose to constitute the multi-cultural and Bilingualism Commission. What do you make of it?

The President knew very well that the commission was just a farce. There is no legitimacy here. That commission which was made up of a few hand-picked people has nothing to do with a majority of Anglophones. The head of that Commission Senator Musonge knows very well that the people have rejected him. He knows this himself and has remained in Yaounde doing nothing. The only thing that has been done is the fat budget that has been voted and placed at their disposal. They have been in their cozy offices in Yaounde since the creation of that commission.

You are at the head of Tiko Lawyers Forum, one of the most buoyant groups of legal practitioners in Anglophone Cameroon. What message do you have for them?

I know there is a lot of frustration because over the years we have not had transparent and fair elections in Cameroon and there will be no transparent and fair elections if the oligarchy remains in power. I want to congratulate my colleagues particularly here in Tiko for they set the ball rolling and a lot has been achieved. It is not the translation of OHADA which was just that spark that was needed. I thank my colleagues for having opened the eyes of English Speaking Cameroonians. Things will never be the same again in this country and I call on Cameroonians to be calm and English Speaking Cameroonians in particular need to be very focused in the struggle to restore their statehood. Things cannot happen through elections with the oligarchy in place. The electoral landscape has been fashioned in such a way that they can win elections even for the next seven years.

Interviewed By Francis Ekongang Nzante

Edev Newspaper: Email: edevnewspaper@gmail.com/francoeko@gmail.com/ Tel:+237696896001/ +237678401408