ELECAM and timeless leadership

ELECAM, like many other time-bound agendas like the seven-year-renewable-once presidential mandate must have taught Paul Biya by now, that in politics like in other occupations in life, time always moves in gallops. This is why it is never wise to leave what is supposed to be done today for tomorrow.

By Tazoacha Asonganyi, Yaounde

When ELECAM was still in the womb as it still is, and there were cries of «No ELECAM No Elections», I wrote the following in an article titled ELECAM and boycotts: «...‘No ELECAM No Elections’ gives the impression that there is something to take home from ELECAM. Our society is not yet vaccinated against the disease that caused the failure of first MINAT and then NEO. Therefore the laws may change, but mentalities will not always follow at the same pace. ELECAM is a dangerous trap. The director general of elections is nothing but the re-enactment of the SDO/DO in the field; the electoral board will play the role of the toothless joint commissions that were supposed to supervise and control the actions of the SDO/DO when NEO and MINAT were there…Other weaknesses and unknowns abound ...»

Since most weaknesses of ELECAM will only be fully revealed by its activities in the field, the recent postponement of its effective coming to life only strengthens this view. From the outset, Paul Biya knew that he wanted to establish a monarchy in Cameroon, so he steered clear of democracy, wanting only to play a hide and seek game within the one-party regime he inherited from Ahmadou Ahidjo. In a way, he knew that democracy is no respecter of persons; that democracy responds to politicians with a kind of benign indifference to their status. In spite of this, he has been so pushed down the path of democracy he least believes in that, everything he does is done with bad faith.

This explains why he has repeatedly failed to respect the terms of political deals struck with other stakeholders. He has trumped his opponents over and over again with his single card of reneging on political deals, whether they were about term limits, NEO, ELECAM or others. In doing this, he has cut for himself the image of a man of second thoughts. Maybe if this had been foreseen, there would have been greater apprehension in dealing with him. But now, this is about hindsight, and hindsight is clairvoyance after the fact! It is now easy to have a bird’s eye view of the political landscape since 1990 to appreciate the broken promises and hollow deals dotted here and there...

In politics, retreat as a tactic is sometimes necessary, but as settled policy, it eats at the soul. In the ideal world, politics begins with sincerity; but our world of the new deal is far from ideal! This is why symbolic victories are most often won with the striking of deals and the clinching of promises, but sooner or later, they turn into defeat because much attention is not usually paid to the practical politics of the new deal of exploiting the gullibility of opponents and friends alike to further the single, obstinate goal of timeless leadership.

We all know that in Africa, once the cuckoo forces itself into the nest, it stays there and is not to be moved! The unexpected fate of Ahidjo and the littering of our prisons with powerful cronies and acolytes of just yesterday should by now have reminded us that tomorrow is full of unexpected turns and retrogressions. The straw that prevents the wishful thinker from sinking today may refuse to offer support tomorrow, forcing the wishful thinker to sink with it...

ELECAM, like many other time-bound agendas like the seven-year-renewable-once presidential mandate must have taught Paul Biya by now, that in politics like in other occupations in life, time always moves in gallops. This is why it is never wise to leave what is supposed to be done today for tomorrow.

Past experiences with elections here, like elsewhere in Africa have taught us that a long period of preparation is needed to ensure success in electoral processes. The disastrous political consequences of recent electoral debacles in Kenya and Zimbabwe where elections were conducted by «election commissions» are very fresh in our minds. It seems that the prospect of such debacles occurring in Cameroon does not really matter to Paul Biya, so long as his agenda of a timeless presidency is on course. Like his peers elsewhere, when things finally fall apart, he might mumble «if only I knew»; no one will believe him: he knows what he is doing!