The Problem of Governance in Cameroon - Thesis Example

Cameroon and the Dysfunctional Nature of its Political Establishments number Cameroon and the Dysfunctional Nature of its Political Establishments The problem of governance and an equitable distribution of wealth that culminates in a certain kind of prosperity for the citizens of a certain country or community is a one that has plagued people for centuries. The crises that result from the resentment of people who are marginalized within a certain political framework may be dangerous to the very existence of the government that engenders the resentment. Governance and the effects that it produces creates a complex web of causes and effects that then go on to the creation of societies that are divided on the basis of parameters that are difficult to be bridged. The case of Cameroon is similar in that it is a country that attained independence after the Second World War in a series of events that makes it similar in a number of respects to other African nations. It was colonized by more than one European power and its history is thus a complex and varied one that reflects upon the present culture of the nation. The problems that it faces are partially due to the problems of its colonial history and partially due to its pre-colonial history, both of which have great bearing upon its post-colonial history that has so far been a disturbed one that is beset with internal problems of strife and divisions. The pre-colonial and colonial histories of a nation or a community, or in most African cases, a group of communities are very important for an understanding of the present situation in these communities. This was demonstrated in one of the greatest works of post-colonial fiction, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe. The story of Okonkwo and the Igbo tribe during a period that cuts across the pre-colonial Igbo society and the colonial society of Igbo communities is an excellent example that serves to prove how these histories are essential for an understanding of the divisions of modern African society. The dismantling of traditional structures of the society that served, in an indigenous manner to maintain the balance of the society through colonialism is demonstrated in Achebe’s brilliant novel. The final death of the protagonist, Okonkwo through a suicide spells the tragedy of a society that is pushed too soon into modernity in a manner that is defined through the perspective of the west. Achebe in this novel is not against western modernization per se but the manner in which it made its advent in Africa (Achebe). He himself is a product of western education and an example of how the two civilizations can merge in a constructive manner that does not discard the good elements of either culture, while retaining a great degree of tolerance for the cultural other. The novel’s stress on history and its employment of methods that are both western and African point to the importance that Achebe laid on the processes that have created the society that one sees today. Cameroon today is able to see the difficulties that are posed by its colonial past and an unplanned modernization into forms of organizing the society that are completely western. Even though observers like Kofi Annan argue against laying the blame at the door of colonial endeavours (Annan), the role of colonialism in the shaping of Cameroon’s society as one sees it today is undeniable and seminal. The party system of governance is an example of a system that is imported from the west and implemented without a proper understanding of the realities of Cameroon at the ground level. Such an unscientific implementation without sociological studies would have been difficult to implement in any African country as a result of the pre-colonial forms of arrangement of the society that were based on tribes and structures that centered on tribes. Since the very use of the word ‘party’ in the political sense came when the term faction was discarded, the arrangement of the society and divisions are intrinsically linked to this word (Sartori, 3). The reason as to why modern western structures would be ineffective is not because of the primitiveness of the African systems or because people of this continent are inherently regressive but because of the hasty manner in which these systems of social and political arrangement were implemented. This does not also invalidate the effectiveness of pre-colonial arrangements of African society that may have been more suited to the political and social landscape of countries like Cameroon. Cameroon has to an extent realized the need for a fusion of such arrangements along with western forms of governance and this has led to an acceptance of tribal forms of justice in certain areas to a certain extent. The dictatorial nature of the successive governments in Cameroon makes it difficult for such arrangements to be effective to the fullest extent possible but such initiatives are important for they recognize the impossibility of escaping history, be it pre-colonial or colonial. According to Eric Ngang Ndeh Mboumien, one of the important reasons as to why political formations do not work in Cameroon and fail to quell public resentment is that they fail to provide them with a voice. This refers to a mechanism that would enable their needs and demands to be heard by the people who run the government. This would also gain for the people of Cameroon a greater say in the political affairs that would enable them to decide the fate of their agricultural produce and also the fate of the petroleum resources that it has. This needs to be accompanied, according to Mboumien, by responsiveness on the part of the government without which the entire enterprise would remain a failure (Mboumien, 29). These two aspects of a policy aimed at increasing the interaction between the government and the people who elect the government would go a long way in reducing the deficit of trust that is felt, at this moment by the people of Cameroon vis-à-vis their own government. This lack of trust can be inferred from the following statement from a citizen of Cameroon- “The state should ensure the respect of law and security of its citizens” (Knight, Chigudu and Tandon, 135). The lack of trust that people of Cameroon feel is also a historical mistrust that has been felt by the black races against forms of governance that have been borrowed from the white man. Such forms of governance have historically been used to oppress the communities that live in Cameroon and thus have to be implemented only after securing the trust of the people. Sadly, this is often not the case and rulers of Cameroon, including Paul Biya and Ahmadou Ahidjo, have subverted the rule of justice that is expected to prevail in such circumstances. Investing a majority of the power that is supposed to reside in the people of a democratic country in themselves and placing themselves above the law of the country, these dictators have created the impression of an ungovernable Africa that only serves to play into the hands of those who are unable to look beyond the stereotypes of the ‘dark continent’. Such stereotypes are powered by people who have vested economic interests in keeping most of Africa underdeveloped while reaping the benefits that are offered by the vast amounts of natural resources that are offered by the continent. To save itself against such neocolonial interests, there have often been talks of a pan-African nationalism that would enable a united Africa to tide over the problems that are created by its own diversity. This would enable them to dispel popular derogatory notions that have built up about Africa in the past few centuries. The responsibility to do so was taken up by the intellectuals of this continent, a class of people who as a consequence of this nationalistic fervor, had to obey the whims and fancies of dictators who would seem to agree to further the cause of African unity. This however, only served to deepen the distrust that the masses felt against the elite sections of the society whom they thought were all connected in a plot that would loot them of their traditional resources and wealth in collusion with foreign colonial powers (Mkandawire, 3). In such countries, it is seen that NGOs often take up the work that governments are supposed to do and this results in parallel centers of power evolving in a country that would not benefit the political structures of the country in the long run (Mkandawire, 185). While trying to solve the problems that are peculiar to Cameroon, it is also important to look at the problems that are a feature of the continent that Cameroon is a part of. The common problems of this continent are what have given rise to calls for a greater unity among member countries of this continent. The transition to independence for many of these countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Zaire, Ivory Coast and Cameroon was accompanied by bloody struggles that went on for a long time during which there were various pulls that the local populations were subjected to in terms of ideologies. These pulls led to the creation of various factions within the countries that then went on to deepen the lines of division in these countries (Ake, 5). The strongest of these factions were most often the ones that were able to exercise their power at any certain point of time. Claude Ake speaks of how dictators like Paul Biya were able to maintain the pretence of a democracy without changing the essential characteristics of their regimes that were tyrannical and not conducive to the growth of democratic values. He cites the hastiness in the implementation of multiparty democratic structures following the cold war when the globalization of democracy was sought for, as the reason behind the stagnation of the political culture of the country and the refusal of autocratic regimes to die down (Ake, 130). Such hastiness has always produced results and as recent political events have shown, such results are not exclusive to the African continent but also to other countries where democracy is sought to be implemented hastily without taking into account the different factions that are a part of the political and social landscape of that country. Ake in his book, The Feasibility of Democracy in Africa, talks of the democratic fervor that is present in the people of Cameroon and in other parts of Africa that needs to be channeled in the proper manner. According to Ake, the promise that was held out to a marginalized continent was in every way compromised and perverted not by the masses but by the people who were in power. Corruption, according to Ake, arose from above rather than from the bottom of the hierarchy in the system (Ake). Ake talks of the commitment to democracy that is present in the people of Africa and in Cameroon in a manner that is reminiscent of the work of the great thinker, Samuel P. Huntington who spoke about the “third wave” of democracy that followed the Carnation Revolution of 1974, which occurred in Portugal and set off a wave of protests for democratic forms of government in different parts of the world (Huntington). The wave that supported democratic impulses also found expression in the hearts of the people of Cameroon that culminated in the resignation of Ahmadou Ahidjo, only for the promise of democracy to be subverted all over again by the ruler who installed himself as Ahidjo’s successor, Paul Biya. The United Nations Development Programme seeks to ensure that people all over the world may be able to attain empowerment, equity, cooperation, sustainability and security in the world that they live in (Good governance - and sustainable human development). This society would be possible only in a democratic society. The establishment of such a society would thus consist in the erection of social structures that enable the sustenance of a democracy. In a country like Cameroon which is blessed with natural resources, the people should be able to live happily and peacefully. This is not, however, the case. An equitable distribution of the resources of the land including the petroleum resources would be a good first step to take in order that the people regain a certain amount of trust in their government. Apart from this, they must also be sure of the fact that the government that is in power at a certain point in time is the one that they elected after a process of free and fair elections that are the most important aspect of a healthy democracy. Such a process not only makes the leaders of a country responsible to the people, it also makes the people responsible to themselves and enables them to make choices without a feeling of resignation pervading their entire lives. The importance of elections need not be stated too often, since they are obvious in a world which is increasingly being made aware of the pitfalls of an autocracy. A break away from the policy of concentrating the entire power of the country in the capital, Yaounde, is another mistake that can be easily rectified through an allocation of responsibilities to local councils. This would be a difficult job in a place like Cameroon where there are various tribes and loyalties to tribes are high. Thus posts being assigned to different people can always turn into a very political affair that could deepen the rifts between the different sections of the society if not handled in a very careful manner. This can be done by respecting the tribal structures in different parts of the country. This process can actually lead to a strengthening of the different tribal networks of the country, thus enabling further networking between different member countries of the African continent. This can then be converted into a process of multicultural networking where people of different cultures and races come together to form a collective where various issues can be discussed and solutions that are possible can be discussed. Various structures that existed during the pre-colonial eras can be revived that could lead to a change in the way in which Cameroon is perceived by the international community. In moves that may increase the educational standards of the people in Cameroon the masses can be encouraged to start schools and send their children to these institutions. Such initiatives, by attempting to solve the roots of the problem, shall be able to lay the foundations of a society that would incorporate what Achebe considered to be the best possible elements of a multicultural society, indigenous elements that were modified according to the critiques that they were subjected to from within and without the nation. Cameroon as a nation needs to come out of the problematic cocoon that it finds itself at this point in history from where it needs to pick itself up and take the long road to democracy, which may be difficult at first. The fruits of this expedition, would, however, justify the efforts. Works Cited Achebe Chinua. Things Fall Apart. London: Heinemann, 1958 Mboumien, Eric Ngang Ndeh. “The ‘Projectisation’ of Governance: Its Implications for Development”. Commonwealth Foundation. Eds. Lartey, Seth; Sastry, Deepti. London: Commonwealth Foundation, 2010. p 29. “Good governance - and sustainable human development”. UNDP. http://mirror.undp.org/magnet/policy/chapter1.htm#a Accessed on 10th February, 2012. Ake, Claude. The Feasibility of Democracy in Africa Dakar: CODESRIA Publication, 2000. Knight, Barry; Chigudu, Bagyendera Hope; Tandon, Rajesh (Eds.). Reviving Democracy. Citizens at The Heart of Governance. London: Earthscan Publications, 2002. p 135. Huntington, S.P. The Third Wave. Democratisation in the late Twentieth Century, Norman Okla: U of Oklahoma P, 1991. Ake, Claude. Democracy and Development in Africa. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 1996. p 5, 130. Mkandawire Thandika. African Intellectuals – Rethinking Politics, Language, Gender and Development. Dakar: CODESRIA Publications, 2005. p 3. Sartori, Giovanni. Parties and party systems: a framework for analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge U P, 1978. p 3. Annan Kofi. “Stop Blaming Colonialism”: Business Day, 10th July, 2001. South Africa. 2001. Read More