Urgent need for Anglophone as Head of State.

However, pundits and keen watchers of the socioeconomic and political landscape of the country, hold very strong the opinion that there is the urgent need for an Anglophone to be given his or her turn to lead the country as Head of State.

Though a minority in a bilingual, bi-jural and multi-cultural country, Anglophones (aborigines of the North West and South West Regions), have been clamouring to be given the chance to prove their mettle as far as leadership at the helm of the State is concerned. 

The voices fronting for an Anglophone as Head of State seem to be muffled by Francophone dominance. However, analysts (both of Francophone and Anglophone origins), say as the countdown to the 2025 presidential election narrows, there is the urgent need for an Anglophone to be given the mantle of leadership at the helm of the Supreme Magistracy.

The political pundits buttress their arguments using several parameters; one of which is the power play within the State machinery. 

It should be noted that Cameroon’s first Head of State, the late Ahmadou Ahidjo, originated from the Grand North. He handed power on November 6, 1982, to President Paul Biya, who originates from the Grand South.

Meanwhile, the Grand North, even if discretely, has been nursing the wish to see power return to them.

It should be restated that Aboubakar Ousmen Mey, an elite of the Grand North political zone, comprising the North, Adamawa and Far North Regions, has announced the existence of a grouping, working to dismantle the Biya regime in the next presidential poll.

In the exchange, Aboubakar said, 42 years is more than enough for Biya and the CPDM to hold the reins of power in Cameroon. He declared that he and other persons are working on what he repeatedly referred to as “Coordination,” to put an end to the Biya regime. 

Quizzed on the long ties between the Grand North and the New Deal regime of Biya, Aboubakar said in the last 42 years, there is nothing the people can be proud of having benefited from the Biya regime.

Sizing up what has been cooking in the shadows, Aboubarkar said, on June 18, 2024, they held a meeting at the Lac neighbourhood in Yaounde, to deepen exchanges. 

This, he said, was under the banner of the “Coordination”.

 He said they chose the date in reflection of the June 18, 1983, meeting former President, the late Ahmadou Ahidjo, held in the same neighbourhood, when he fell out with Biya. 

He recalled that at the time, Ahidjo had asked some of his confidants in the Biya regime to resign.

Fast forward to now, he said the Coordination has been formed to complete what President Ahidjo started then. Aboubakar said that mission is to remove Biya from power. 

Quizzed if the grouping is pushing for a forceful takeover, Aboubakar quipped: “It is the field that determines strategy” 

“We have serious issues to explain to Cameroonians,” he said, before insisting that: “I can’t decide for everybody. My mission is to tell you that the train has left the station. The Coordination is not an alliance. We are talking of so many organisations still in the shadows with same objective”. 

Insisting what he claims is the work being done underground, Aboubakar gave to understanding that there are several persons behind the scenes. 

In addition, he said the Diaspora is very much involved in what the Coordination is doing. 

“I am not doing this alone. We are working together with the Diaspora that is very active. I mean very active. The Coordination is above alliances. You should understand.  We don’t want Biya again”.

However, the Grand South, analysts say, will do everything possible to see that power rests with them. This, we gathered, is emboldened by the fear that if power returns to the North, Northerners, who are known to never forget or forgive, will revenge what happened to them during the abortive 1984 coup d’etat. 

Analysts say it is the fear of a repeat of what happened to Northerners in 1984 that Grand Southerners are vowing to see power leave them over their blood. 

With this power play taking centre stage within the polity, analysts say an Anglophone as Head of State will be a veritable middle-of-the-road alternative that can prevent any power tussle, which may go overboard and lead to civil strife.

Unique Anglophone management style

Another reason being put forth by pundits justifying the urgent need for an Anglophone as Head of State, is the unique Anglo-Saxon management style that aborigines of the North West and South West Regions inherited. Analysts say their management style, which is embedded with probity, accountability, fairness of justice, equity, selflessness, rectitude, among others, would be able to take the country out of the current stagnation. 

This, they say, will also be able to reed the country of graft, mismanagement of public funds and outright embezzlement and mismanagement that have eaten deep into the State fabric.  

Other analysts also say with an Anglophone as Head of State, there will be a sense of belonging, because an Anglophone will be able to look at the grievances of Cameroonians from across the board.

Looking down memory lane at the former Southern Cameroons and later West Cameroon, analysts point to the avalanche of development that was noticeable due to the astute Anglo-Saxon management style. 

Though then with very limited natural resources than what currently obtains in present day bilingual Cameroon, Anglophone managers of Southern Cameroons could still develop a quasi-state that had much to show for and provided for citizens in terms of amenities. 

Political watchers thus say it is now time for the managerial savvy of Anglophones to be put to test at the helm of the State in Republic of Cameroon. This, they add, gives credence to the call for an Anglophone to be Head of State.

Economic analysts are unanimous that Anglophones who have been handed top positions within the State machinery and/or State corporations, have proven that they are the cream within the crowd. Others have also been making waves within the private sector, civil society and other sectors in the country.

Public institutions like Chantier Naval, the Directorate General of Treasury, Financial and Monetary Corporation, Directorate General of Customs, CAMTEL, CSPH and PAMOL; to name just these few, that have had Anglophones at their helm, have witnessed excellent and transparent management style.

This, watchers are unanimous, are strong indications that if entrusted with the highest office of the land, an Anglophone would take Cameroon to a new higher level. 

Minorities shouldn’t be disenfranchised 

Given the fact that Anglophones are a minority in Cameroon, analysts say giving them the chance to also have one of theirs as Head of State will erase the longstanding believe that Anglophones are being disenfranchised and shortchanged in a country they call theirs. 

There is also the growing understanding that having an Anglophone as Head of State will also protect minority rights.

A top Biya regime baron of Francophone extraction, who did not want to be named, told The Guardian Post: "If we stick to the idea of majority, an Anglophone will never be President of the Republic of Cameroon…it is important, and even more urgent that the campaign for an Anglophone as Head of State, should be an issue of national interest". 

“Let us touch the minds and hearts of Anglophones and make them feel that they are part of this country,” he said.  

The Tanzania example

There are some similarities between Tanzania and Cameroon in terms of the unions that created both countries. Like present day Republic of Cameroon, which is an offshoot of the union between minority Southern Cameroons and majority La Republic du Cameroun, the Republic of Tanzania was formed on April 26, 1964, when the larger mainland territory of Tanganyika and the minority coastal archipelago of Zanzibar united.

However, Zanzibar, being a minority in Tanzania, has had the opportunity of having a Zanzibari-born person holding the post of Head of State. The current president of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, is from the minority Zanzibar. 

In sharp contrast in Cameroon, the minority Anglophones are a distant fourth position in the State apparatchik. Political analysts thus say if somebody from a minority can be president of Tanzania, then Anglophones in Cameroon also have a genuine claim that now is their turn to hold the post of President of the Republic. 

Cameroon should borrow a leaf from Nigeria

Analysts say the majority Francophone Cameroonians must immediately part company with egoism, pride and power-drunkenness and borrow a leaf from neighbouring Nigeria.

Former Nigerian leader, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, who is from the minority Ijaw tribe in Bayelsa State, was sworn-in on May 6, 2010, as the President of the giant of Africa, which has large tribes such as Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo. 

During Jonathan’s tenure of office, the crisis in the Niger Delta, areas of Nigeria, from where he hails, was brought under control. His rule of Nigeria was seen as a veritable effort for inclusive governance in a nation known for its rich cultural diversity. 

Analysts say a country like Cameroon, also known for its sociocultural diversity, should borrow a leaf from Nigeria and give an Anglophone the chance to be Head of State.

Francophones seeing need for Anglophone as Head of State

Pundits say every right-thinking and rational Cameroonian will buy the idea of an Anglophone leading the country. It is for this reason that even some Francophones are beginning to imbibe the assertion of the urgent for an Anglophone as president.

One of them is Prof Nkou Mvondo, president of Party Universe. 

Speaking at a political event in Yaounde on September 28, 2024, Prof Nkou Mvondo, advocating an Anglophone for president and expounding on the advantages of having an Anglophone as Head of State, said this will usher in hope for a new Cameroon.

For her part, the president of UPC, Habiba Issa, speaking at the same event, was firm that it is time to “give power to Anglophones, who must also feel like Cameroonians”.

“…we, the citizens have the final word. We can decide our own destiny. If we don’t decide our destiny, politics will…,” she said.

The no-nonsense politician added categorically that: “We are bringing shame to African people. After 63 years, Cameroonians are living in misery. Let us choose a peaceful transition, free and transparent, for an Anglophone candidate, because two Francophone mandates are enough”. 

Rotating presidency 

While the rising calls for an Anglophone to be Head of State reverberate within political circles and beyond, there have also been appeals for the institution of a system where the post of President of the Republic and Head of State should rotate between Francophones and Anglophones. 

With a system of rotating presidency, analysts say, Anglophones and Francophones will have their turns to rule and will be held accountable if they fail to deliver positive results during their tenure of office.

With the aforementioned therefore, pundits are unanimous, and rightly so, that an Anglophone as Head of State will be the messiah, who may lead Cameroon to heavenly bliss.  

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3267 of Tuesday October 22, 2024