90 hot files staring Biya at 90!.

Cameroon’s number one public servant for 41 years and still counting, President Paul Biya, clocked 90 years yesterday. It is an age which many say remains a blessing for one to live up.

Even as dotted celebrations went underway nationwide; especially those staged by his supporters, observers posit and rightly so that, there are other issues worth talking about at a time such as this.

Pundits say even as they are grateful to God for adding another year to President Biya’s age, at 90, they maintain, he has hot files staring at him as he begins another year in his life.

For admirers of the Head of State, yesterday was just a day to merry and move on.

But for those who look beyond the immediate, Paul Biya’s 90^th  birthday should also serve as a new beginning for certain issues within the Statecraft.

Without using the day of the President’s birth to assess his performance at the helm of State in over four decades, wisdom, others say, demands that President Biya be reminded of what citizens expect from him amid the surfeit of birthday wishes that may want to drown issues of general interest.

The Guardian Post herein wafts through 90 hot files staring at Biya in the face as he clocked 90 yesterday February 13, 2023.

Born February 13, 1933, Biya, by destiny and Divine orchestration, has moved from being an individual to a distinguished Statesman. He has been leading and still heading a nation facing a myriad of challenges.

From these challenges, many Cameroonians believe that a birthday gift from Biya to the nation can best come through handling the nation’s 90 most pressing files.

 

Anglophone crisis

While celebrating the gift of life, the Head of State, President Paul Biya, observers say, must not forget that he has not addressed the root causes of the Anglophone crisis.

The crisis linked to the country’s thorny history, resurrected in the last quarter of 2016 in the form of a lawyers’ and teachers’ strike before morphing into an armed conflict in 2017. 

Analysts say rather than playing with time that has failed to solve the problem, Biya most act and urgently so, to address the root causes of the crisis. 

They say he must be made to know that the Anglophone crisis touches  on the history of the form of State and is different from the armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions and socio-professional demands which he has attempted addressing.

 

Armed conflict in NW, SW Regions

Another hot file gazing at Biya at 90 in the face is the armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions that has been on since 2017.  According to reports, the conflict has claimed at least 7,000 lives. 

Just on Friday February 10, suspected Amba fighters attacked a personnel carrier of the Cameroon Development Corporation, CDC, killing five workers and wounding 44 others.

As he celebrates 90, many say Biya should consider silencing the coughing guns a hot file.

 

Boko Haram

Another burning file Biya has on his table, conflict experts say, is the Boko Haram incursions in the Northern Regions.

Biya, they say, might have directed the military successfully to some extent to curtail the attacks from the Nigerian terrorist group, but there is more to do, to completely restore order.

 

Getting more Amba fighters out of the bushes

Another blistering folder Biya should handle, we are told, is the crusade to silence the guns that have been coughing in the North West and South West Regions since 2017. 

Observers say the onus is on the Head of State to ensure the country returns to its once peaceful and lovely nature before the concerns of 2016 that have brought untold sufferings on the population and caused many youths to take up guns.

 

Reinsertion of ex-fighters

Biya’s National Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration, NDDR project, analysts say, has a problem of reinsertion.

To stamp out issues like the recurrent outburst among ex-separatist fighters in Buea and Bamenda, that sometimes go nerves high, Biya, many say, must use his wisdom to act urgently and order a new reinsertion plan for youngsters who have decided to abandon the path of violence.

 

Dialoguing with separatists

Paul Biya, many are assaying, should take his destiny and that of the nation into his hands by coming out clear on the path to peace in the North West and South West Regions.

They say he must act quick and urgently too, on a dialogue plan that will put an end to the raging conflict that has tainted the country’s image.

Many have been citing the recent Canadian dialogue which Communication Minister, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, distanced government from, weeks ago. 

Amid the suspicion of some bad eggs within the government working to frustrate any window of talks with separatists, the answer to such a hot dossier, many say, lies with Biya acting and doing so personally and not his collaborators.

 

Succession

Even more scorching among the 90 pressing files lying face-to-face with Biya is who succeeds him at the helm of State.

Many say like in 1982 when the constitution stipulated that the Prime Minister was the successor of the Head of State, Biya must respond favourably to setting out a known path for who could take over the helm of State; especially in the event where they exist a vacancy.

Such, pundits say, is good for the nation even if the President decides not to quit politics in the time being.

A clear-cut succession plan, many say, will be part of the many factors that contribute to guarantee stability and continuity.

 

Ambitious collaborators, networks

Another burning dossier Biya should man up to, as he enters a new age, observers maintain, is clipping the wings of his collaborators who overtly or covertly have vaulting ambitions to succeed him.

Biya, they say, should even go further to dismantle the many of such networks that have rather been helping to frustrate government action and bring disunity in the pace of implementing his policies and projects for the nation.

 

Corruption

Biya at 90, a look of the nation shows, must take urgent action on the spiraling corruption within the nation.

Meritocracy on key issues like admission into elite professional schools and provision of public services, it is said, have been sacrificed on the altar of corruption.

Political analysts say, President Biya, who decades back, had rubbished the existence of corruption in Cameroon, by questioning: “Ou sont les preuves?” roughly translated as: “Where are the proofs?”, must tackle the cankerworm as a matter of urgency.

 

Action on embezzlers

The Head of State, many are now saying, must act on collaborators who have swindled billions from the public till.

If certain important projects which the President had for the nation are either abandoned or uncompleted, the answer, it is also being said, lies with his collaborators who have pilfered with impunity such money.

In this new season of his life, many say it is more than urgent for him to zero in on embezzlers irrespective of sectors.

 

Audit COVID-19 funds

Sources have it that a huge chunk of the billions received from the International Monetary Fund, IMF, and individuals of goodwill, to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, reportedly ended in the private pockets of some of the President’s collaborators. This was even at the expense of the lives of compatriots.

Biya, many say, should act on the report of the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court so that those who pilfered such resources without mercy can be brought to book.

 

 

AFCON projects, billions borrowed

Cameroon’s business with the 33^rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nation, AFCON, many citizens believe, is not yet finish. This, they say, is because, the country has not audited accounts of what was borrowed, budgeted and what was used throughout the tournament.

From 2015 to 2019, billions budgeted and borrowed are believed to have ended in private pockets. Paul Biya, many say, like some opposition party leaders have been stating, owes Cameroonians the duty of ordering a complete audit of the money borrowed in relation to the tourney.

 

Olembe Sports Complex construction scandal

One of the most aching public projects that have brought shame to the nation is the multi-billion Olembe Sports Complex construction project.

Over half a decade since the project started, development experts say Biya needs to act on all cylinders to track those involved in the scandal at the complex.

Issues of overbilling, multiple contracts and even the recent announcement of re-commencement of works that has, to this day, not seen the light of day, others are saying, only point to the need for extra  Presidential pressure to put the records straight .

 

Aging state officials

Cameroon, many say, is not a country for a club of friends. President Biya, they say, needs to clean the system of dead woods who have become unproductive, uninspiring and a liability to a nation that counts more than 90% of the youth on the unemployment roll. 

Critics cite several important State structures wherein, those appointed to lead are either aged or sick or in bad shape as a reminder for the President to make a clean sweep. 

Those pushing for such say it is time Biya simply tells those who have become old, sick and tired ‘Thank You’ and send them home on well desired retirement.

 

Vacant positions

Also among the files gaping at Biya are the several vacant positions across the State architecture. Biya, analysts say, must go all the way to make fresh appointments to replace persons who have either died or are out of service for some unexplained reasons.

For instance, in the current cabinet, there are at least four vacant posts.  These include; the Ministry of Mines, Industries and Technological   Development; the Minister Delegate to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in charge of Rural Development; the Minister Delegate to the Minister of External Relations In-charge of Relations with the Islamic World and that of the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Public Health In-charge of Epidemics and Pandemics.

 

Cabinet reshuffle

Never has the country ever waited for a new government under Biya’s 41-year rule and still counting, as is being observed with the PM Dion Ngute-led government.

It should be recalled that the last time Cameroon tested a new government was in January 2019. It was that government that saw the appointment of Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute as Prime Minister, Head of Government.  

Even as he is yet to act, many say, it is in the interest of the nation for the President to reshuffle his cabinet and pump in fresh blood to enhance development.

 

Downsizing bloated government

Another key thing looking at Biya in the face is the bloated cabinet he has had over the years.

Experts say given contemporary global shifts and financial constraints, Biya needs to cut down his government by at least half, to save billions that are wasted annually on unproductive ventures and for the comfort of members of government whose role have little or no direct bearing on the lives of impoverished Cameroonians.

 

Overlapping State institutions

At 90 years and still counting, the President, observers are saying, has a decision to make on suppressing several State structures, Ministries and other institutions that have overlapping functions. Such an action, they say, is urgent in ensuring uniformity in the management of the State.

For example, the Ministries of Basic, Secondary and Higher Education, plus that of Vocal Training and Scientific Research, analysts say, should be a single Ministry with Directors appointed to head what is today considered as five different Ministries.

On the other hand, the Ministries of Finance, Economy and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, should simply form one Ministry while the Ministries of Communication, Tourism and Culture should come under one Ministry.

Many have been wondering the reason behind the creation of the Ministries Public Contracts and Public Works, whereas they play almost the same roles in the execution of public contracts. The same holds for the Ministries of Urban Development and Town Planning and State Property and Land Survey.

There are equally the cases of the Ministries of Environment, Nature Protection and Forestry and Wildlife; and the Ministries of Women’s Empowerment and Social Affairs.   

 

 

Replacing long-serving, aging GMs

Among other issues, many say they are expecting Paul Biya as Head of State, to, without any waste of time, terminate the situation of individuals who have served as General Managers, GMs and Directors General, DGs of State corporations for two decades plus. The law says they are supposed to serve for a maximum period of seven years renewable once.  

The same observation, they say, applies to some Ministers who have been in charge of the same sector for over two decades.

 

Youth unemployment, bad roads, energy

Other pressing issues in need of Biya’s attention are; the galloping youth unemployment, the deplorable state of roads and the vexing epileptic electricity supply alongside the acute shortage and even complete absence of potable water in some urban towns.

Despite government figures, many say and rightly so, that the rate of youth unemployment and under-employment in Cameroon is within the threshold of two digits.

Biya, keen observers have been mooting, must take that seriously so as to arrest any eventual social strife.

For power supply, Biya, some citizens say, must go on a sober reflection on why the billions he has invested for years in constructing damps have not done anything to boost growth and light up the nation.

 

Unfulfilled national road projects

When it comes to the specifics of roads, Biya’s debts in relation to the population are many. Prime among them is the Bamenda Ring Road which the Head of State had, in 1983, promised to personally supervise its construction. Several decades on, that road has not been tarred.

There is also the Bamenda-Babadjou Road that has been in bad shape; making the North West Region the only regional capital without a tarred road linking it to the rest of the nation.

In the South West Region, the population wants urgent action on the tarring of the stretch; Ekondo-Titi-Mundemba-Isangele road even as work continues on that stretch from Kumba to Ekondo-Titi.

There is the Tombel-Kumba, Dschang-Fongo Tongo-Menji-Bakebe road and Tombel-Loum-Melong stretches that have been part of political rhetoric for long.

For the people of the Far North Region, President Biya must act on the Mora-Dabanga-Kouserri road that has been mired in controversy. In Biya’s South Region of origin, the people want to see the tarring of the Kribi-Akom II stretch too.

 

Investigation into death of Mines Minister

Biya, many among them, Hon Cabral Libii of the Cameroon National Reconciliation Party, PCRN, have been clamouring, should order for investigations into the recent death of the Minister of Mines, Industries and Technological Development, Gabriel Dodo Ndoke.

The circumstances under which he died last January 22, many say, calls for high level investigations.

 

Implementation of Article 66 of the constitution

President Biya, who is widely referred to as a legalist, many say, needs to act on the implementation of Article 66 of the constitution on the declaration of assets.

They say, he might not have done so in the past but, point to what they say is increasing looting of the State treasury and rising corruption as indicating factors that there is need for fresh action.

 

 

Fulfilling promises to Lake Nyos disaster victims

Government, it is said, has unfulfilled promises made to victims of the August 21, 1986, Lake Nyos disaster that claimed over 1,700 lives.  

Some key promises government made like compensating victims to start up their lives have not been fulfilled several years on.

Biya, it is being said, must work on leaving a legacy for victims of the disaster which will be worthy of celebration.

 

Return of Anglophone crisis IDPs, refugees

The return of hundreds of thousands of refugees of the Anglophone crisis and Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, is another file that has been looking at Biya for years. 
With his new age, analysts say, the President has to work towards ensuring that his compatriots in a foreign land return to the place of their ancestors, while IDPs living under squalid conditions nationwide regain their homes and communities.

 

Reviving NW, SW & Far North Regions

Crippling insecurity and reviving life in the two English-speaking Regions and the Far North Region is a boiling file Biya must not relegate to the dustbin, observers say.

Given the potentials of these three Regions, they say, it is politically and economically imperative for him to search through his reservoir of experience in finding a way of making these three Regions livable and economic vibrant again.

Having reconstruction plans for the Regions alone, development experts submit and authoritatively so, won’t solve the equation. 

They say, some extra Presidential touch; why not visits, are needed to get things back on the right path.

 

Winning donor confidence in NW, SW reconstruction

Analysts say, donor fright is among the first hurdles that have been visible in the implementation of Biya’s Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of the North West and South West Regions, PPRD-NW/SW.

The Head of State, some diplomats have been saying, must work out on personal basis, some confidence-building measures to boost the interest of the international community to freely pumping in money to rebuild the former West Cameroon.

The silence of most countries towards the plan, they say, sends a subtle message of some ingredients missing in the government’s problem-solving itinerary.

Biya, they submit, must take a bold action to address such; arguing that borrowing alone will not make up for the at least 100 billion FCFA needed for the first phase of the project.

 

Land-grabbing

One of the most deadly calamities boiling nationwide while Yaounde is seemingly looking away is that of land management. Several communities are buried in land crises.

The situation is even worst in cosmopolitan and other urban settings wherein the rich are repeatedly being accused of conniving with DOs, SDOs and Governors to put thousands of people out of land they have occupied for decades.

As Biya turned 90 yesterday, many say he must not turn a blind eye to such a file. They say the fact that land problems are permeating just every village and administrative unit warrants extra presidential vigilance to put things under control.

 

Encroachment into government land

Another hot dossier still related to land management is the encroachment into government land nationwide. It is no secret that several Government Residential Areas, GRAs in places like Buea, Bamenda, Kumba, Douala and Yaounde have been encroached into.

If overbearing administrators are not auctioning such lands, pseudo-indigenes and influence peddlers are doing their worst at the expense of the common good. The hope of many now is for President Paul Biya to put a special eye on such land.

 

Reviving CDC, PAMOL

Biya also has the burden of reviving the Cameron Development Corporation, CDC, which is the second highest employer after the State. The same action is required for PAMOL plantations in Ndian Division of the South West Region.

Biya, local development experts say, must get these corporations to stand and become fully profitable again to address the endemic poverty and frustration that have taken hold of several citizens who earn a living directly or indirectly, thanks to these agro-industries.

Many say if there is anything the President considers imperative as he turned 90 yesterday, he must program the CDC and PAMOL among such.

 

 

The delicate SONARA equation

The May 21, 2019 fire outbreak that hit the lone National Oil Refining Corporation, SONARA, has since put the nation in a delicate situation.  This, they posit, is given the billions borrowed from several commercial banks and other international investors in expanding SONARA that unfornately suffered a setback.

Biya also has on his broad shoulders the task of handling such a situation. Ensuring that such debts are serviced and making sure SONARA continues to play its role in petroleum products availability, Biya, many say, must remain alert to avoid a default that may plunge Cameroon into more financial dire straits.

 

Findings into Y’de nightclub fire incident

Findings into the January 23, 2022, fire at LIV’s Nightclub in the Bastos vicinity of Yaounde that claimed 16 lives among them top medical and military personnel, are yet to be made public. Biya, this season, it is hoped, would get the nation informed of findings to put the matter to rest.

 

 

 

Appointment of Senators

Even as the nation prepares for its third senatorial election since 2013, the Head of State has to his face, the file of picking 30 persons out of several options to be part of the third legislature of Senate. 

The constitutional provision that gives him the power to appoint 30 of the 100 Senators of the nation, many say, this time, would be fulfilled under conditions of several other issues seeking the President’s attention.

On this file, Biya is facing pressure from the opposition, his political friends and diehard members of his Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM, party who are dying to be appointed Senators.

 

Political prisoners

Cameroon, many say, has political prisoners whose fate can best be handled by the Head of State. As the man of November 6, 1982, probably went thanking God for the gift of life, his critics say, such a season also means the President should consider touching files related to political prisoners.

Others say, the fact that the supreme law of the land empowers the Head of State to pardon some detainees and grant clemency to others, means he can use the Presidential ink to cause some persons to walk to freedom within such provisions.

 

National Identity Card headache

Recently, a report surfaced citing Cameroon as a country that asks its citizens to show prove of owning a National Identity Card that it doesn’t even provide. 

That report was based on the tear-provoking experiences of citizens who go through hell for years but still end up not getting themselves identified.

Given the millions of citizens who go through such suffering, Biya, observers say, must act on such a file to free citizens from the torture of battling under scorching sun and heavy downpour, but without success to obtain the precious National Identity Card.

 

Press freedom, security of journalists

The ambiance of the 1990s coupled with the liberty laws that saw the light of day has fast given way to a season of uncertainty.

Paul Biya, whom some say is the father of democracy, it is said, risked losing such recognition; given that deadly clouds continue to surround the profession of journalism and press freedom in the country.

Analysts are saying that under President Biya, the lives of journalists are not safe and that the press is not free. There are those who believe that there is freedom before speech in the country and no freedom after speech.

It is a development that has continued to put the country in bad light to the rest of the world. Biya, it is being said, must restore the hope he came in with in the 90s and guarantee a free and vibrant press that is one of the vital ingredients of a thriving democracy.

                             

                  Subvention to private media

President Biya, analysts say, must make sure that the shabby treatment often reserved for the private media in Cameroon, which regime apologists have the attitude of referring to as “the number one enemy of the State,” should be history.

It should be recalled that the so-called media subvention to the private press in Cameroon, this year, dropped from 120,000,000 FCFA, last year to 56,000,000 FCFA this year.

The decision drew tears from newspaper owners; especially given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the worrying situation of more than 100% increase in the cost of printing materials.

Before 2019, the amount often shared to more than 600 private organs, journalism associations and printing houses was 250,000,000 FCFA.

Ironically, in countries like Chad, Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, the amount often shared out to even fewer media organs run into billions.

 

Overcrowded prisons

The overcrowded and filthy nature of the country’s prisons and archaic nature of the penitentiary set up, many say, needs an overhaul. The Head of State, it is said, needs to modernise the sector and construct new prisons to ease the congestion that has become a norm in the nation’s detention facilities.

 

Overhaul country’s education

Like some 26 Civil Society Organisations, CSOs and trade unions observed last week, Cameroon’s educational set up is simply garbage in, garbage out. 

The say the system is replete with colonial curricular that was geared towards teaching people how to read and write instead of molding professionals.  

Even before now, several educationists have maintained and rightly so, that Cameroon’s educational set up is mundane and needs reinvigoration to meet contemporary needs of the job market.

 

Yaounde Douala Motorway

Over 10 years ago, government launched the Yaounde-Douala Motorway. The first phase of the 196 km road covering 100 km was supposed to have been delivered. 

That phase had to gulp 560 billion FCFA.  But several years down the line, citizens have been fed with haphazard statistics and flimsy assurances from Ministers on the progress of work. 

Give the number of lives lost repeatedly on the Yaounde-Douala road which many say is a nothing but a deathtrap, Biya, they say, must pick up the file as the one whom Cameroonians voted into office to clarify them on what is actually going on.