Philemon Yang Donates 20 Million Francs To Biya Campaign!

It is being reported that Prime Minister Philemon Yang of Cameroon donated 20 million francs (about $45,000) to the Biya re-election campaign. Cameroonians would like to know where this money is from. We would like to know how much the Prime Minister earns, his business investments, and how he made his money. We have a right to know. The obscene amounts of money that is said to have been raised in Cameroon for the Biya re-election campaign belies the permanent economic crisis that has bedeviled the country for over twenty years now.

"We Are All Gaza Now"

First relief mission from Africa to Gaza.

Senegal's Abdoulaye Wade Must Step Down

Senegal's octogenarian president, Abdoulaye Wade, is pulling all the stops to continue as president of that country, even though some argue that the constitution bars him from doing so. He tried to amend the constitution to do so but protesters forced him to change his mind. Now the people want him to go. I support the people. My Wade must go. He has done many good things for the country and it is time for him to go and make way for a new leader. He is not the only one who can rule Senegal. In fact, he is currently even to old to be an effective leader. He must leave. Thank God the people of Senegal have the guts to demonstrate against him. Unlike the people of a country like Cameroon who are being humiliated daily by Biya who has been in power far longer than Mr. Wade, the people of Senegal are standing up to end the dictatorial tendencies of African leaders. That is a sign of maturity. The people of Senegal must not allow Wade to stay.

African Science Fails To Address Droughts And Food Security

As many in East Africa are dying from the effects of severe drought, a recent report commissioned by the African Union shows that African science pays scant attention to issues relating to drought and food security.

"Issues related to food security, the effects of drought, poor crops, and the impact of internationalisation and open trade on certain markets have yet to generate appropriate R&D (Research and Development)."

According to the report, the general state of science in Africa is still lagging behind those of developing regions in the world.

"It should be noted that Africa’s share of world science continues to decrease. The few African countries where scientific output is substantial and even growing are not as productive as developing countries elsewhere in the world; these countries therefore do not have a significant effect on the overall findings in this regard. For Africa to become more competitive with respect to scientific output will require greater investment in human capital development, the strengthening of scientific institutions and equipment, as well as significantly higher funding for science."

Goldie Harvey: Nigeria's Lady Gaga

Read more here.

How Biya Gets His Support From Cameroonians In The Diaspora

A law was recently passed in Cameroon that allowed Cameroonians in the Diaspora to vote in the upcoming presidential elections. The ruling CPDM party passed this law not because it wanted to enfranchise Cameroonians in the Diaspora but because it has been campaigning by stealth in the Diaspora for the some years now. Anyone who has been watching the recent political activity of Cameroonians in the Diaspora, especially in the United States, would concede that there has been remarkable organization in support of the CPDM. For some years now, some Cameroonians in the United States have been forming cells in support of the CPDM in Cameroon for cash reward. This means that, if one can show that they have formed a CPDM cell in the United States, they get cash from the CPDM party in Cameroon. This has been the case in places like Boston, Houston, Minnesota, Washington, D.C., New York City, etc. These Cameroonians do this not because they are in agreement with Biya's vision for Cameroon but because of the cash. Thus, in recent years, the Biya regime has been bribing its way into the Cameroonian Diaspora, especially in the United States. The law that allowed Cameroonians in the Diaspora to vote in the upcoming presidential election was passed because Biya has been campaigning by stealth in the Diaspora and is now comfortable that he has the connections necessary to demonstrate a CPDM base in the Diaspora. This base does not contribute to the CPCM coffers; instead, the CPDM pays money to this base. Where the money used in paying these cells comes from remains to be investigated.

But who are these Cameroonians who take bribes from Biya in return for a feigned support for the regime? Some of them are those who worked for the government back home in Cameroon. Because they worked for the government before leaving the country for the Diaspora, they are still listed on the government payroll. Some of these people were teachers, policemen/women, etc. Because they are still on the government payroll back in Cameroon, they have an interest in supporting the Biya regime. Others are Cameroonians who, even though they are in the Diaspora, run businesses in Cameroon. These people import things into Cameroon and because of the massive corruption at the Cameroonian ports, they need a good connection in order to reduce the bribe money they need to give to facilitate safe passage. One way of securing such connection is to join the ruling CPDM party. Others yet are those very educated ones who, even though they are living in the Diaspora, nurse hopes of being called upon to participate in the rot that is the CPDM government. By feigning support for Biya while in the Diaspora, they improve their chances of being offered a high level government position in Cameroon, affording them the opportunity to steal more money from the state. Some of these people live in the Diaspora as asylees who claim to be running away from the autocracy of the Biya regime. This is especially the case in United States. Thus, it is necessary for the FBI to check the residential status of those who march in support of the Biya regime in the United States and those who are found to be in the country as political asylees should be deported for contradicting their claims. Perhaps the best place to start will be with this video.

Demonstrations Drive African Leaders Crazy

Some African leaders are going berserk because of demonstrations that are sweeping through their countries. Even in countries such as Malawi and Senegal where the leaders can be said to be far more democratic than leaders in countries such as Zimbabwe and Cameroon, these demonstrations have rekindled dictatorial tendencies. In Malawi, "authorities initially refused" to grant permission for the funeral of some slain demonstrators to go ahead. In Senegal, the president has banned demonstrations. Leaders of these countries seem to have no better way of controlling their people than resorting to bans. However, banning demonstrations is hardly a democratic practice. Perhaps African leaders in hitherto fairly democratic countries are beginning to return to their former selves - their dictatorial selves.  

Africa's Struggle For Better Leadership Goes To Malawi

Watch the video below and read more about the demonstrations that took place throughout the country here.

Biya Should Run On His Record

Now that Biya has insisted on running for the presidency of Cameroon for the umpteenth time, he should do so on his record. Many of those who are bribed to speak for Biya often do so in generalities rather than pointing to specific reasons why Biya should continue to remain the president of the country. Rather than speaking in generalities, these supporters should give us specific reasons why Biya should continue to be president of the country. Two of the reasons that Biya's supporters usually give for why he should remain the president of the country include the claim that Biya brought democracy to Cameroon and that he maintains peace in the country.

The first of these reasons, namely that Biya brought democracy in Cameroon, is a baldfaced lie. Anyone familiar with the history of Cameroon would remember that Biya was forced to participate in multiparty elections in the country. He killed many people in the process and ended up concocting a sham in the name of multiparty elections. What Biya has brought to Cameroon is a confused form of multiparty elections rather than democracy. There is no democracy in Cameroon; the country is still a dictatorship in which one person can be president for thirty years. I cannot remember any democracy where one person has been president for thirty years.

The second claim that Biya has maintained peace in Cameroon is also farcical. The man is a brutal dictator who has killed and maimed many. The kind of peace Biya has brought to Cameroon is merely the peace which is the absence of war. But peace is not merely the absence of war. It is the creation of prosperity and creativity. It is the promotion of a sense of general well-being. Now, if a poll can show that Cameroonians live lives of prosperity and general well-being, I may believe that Biya has brought peace to the country. However, the fact that most young people in Cameroon have plans to flee the country because of a general sense of despair and hopelessness shows that there is no peace in the country. There is no peace where people are hurting as they do in Cameroon.

If Biya wants to run for re-election, he should do so on his record. Let him answer the following questions:
1. How many jobs has he created in the country since the last election? This question requires specific figures that can be checked.
2. How many kilometers of tarred road has he build since the last election?
3. What improvement to the infrastructures of the country has he made since the last election?
These are specific questions that demand specific answers. I wait to hear from Mr. Biya.

Happy 93rd Birthday, Madiba

Happy 93rd Birthday, Nelson Mandela, World Icon

Paul Biya Fails To Announce His Own Candidacy

It is being reported that "a minister" has announced that Cameroon's Paul Biya will be the "candidate of the CPDM," the ruling party in Cameroon, for the forthcoming presidential election in the country. True to his dictatorial form, Biya himself does not see it fit to announce to the Cameroonian people that he would stand for the election. Because he sees himself as above all else in Cameroon, he leaves the announcement to a lowly minister. The repeated miracle in Cameroon is that a president who never announces his own bid for the presidency often ends up winning. Why would Biya waste his time to personally announce his own bid for the presidency or even campaign personally when he has already rigged the election in his favor?

Cameroonians Use Cassava To Make Bread

It is high time local resources are used to make critical diets in the country. This is a very important move.

Droughts In The United States And East Africa

Could someone tell me why the impact of current droughts appears to be far more severe in East Africa than in the United States. See videos below:

The reason given for the severity of the drought in the above video is not good enough.

Drought in the United States

Paul Biya Courts China

It is being reported in Cameroon that Biya will be making an official visit to China on July 20. Some have indicated that Biya is courting China because he is being pressured by his masters in the West not to run for reelection this year. It should be noted that Biya has not said that he is going to run for reelection, even though the election actually takes place in about four months. One can only guess the date because Biya has not divulged that either. He is presently campaigning by stealth through his surrogates like the ministers, divisional officers, governors, etc. Biya does not campaign himself; he only wins elections. Thus, even though it is true that he is now courting China in order to look for a new foreign master who would legitimate his power in Cameroon, it is also true that he prefers to be related to China because China, like Cameroon, is a country in which elections do not matter. The ruling elite of the Communist Party take turns electing themselves to power and sending those who do not agree with them to prison. China, like Cameroon, is a police state. Biya will be at home with how the Chinese government does business rather than with the West who, from time to time, pays lip-service to something called democracy and transparency

Apart from the fact that Biya is looking for a new master in China, one should also wonder what is meant when it is stated that he is making an official visit to China. What, for example, does he intend to discuss with officials in China? Cameroonians are always left in the dark whenever Biya chooses to go out of the country. Often we hear that he is either going for a private or official visit but the real purpose of the visit is often left a mystery. Does Biya not think that we have the right to know what he is up to? Who is he going to be meeting in China and what are they going to be discussing?

Further, it must be pointed out that even though Biya's visit is seen as a big deal in Cameroon, it is actually not a big deal in China. Cameroon is not among the African countries which China respects. In fact, the dilapidation of the Cameroon embassy in China shows the low status which Cameroon has in that country. So Biya's presence there is not going to make news. It is well known that Biya uses the names of foreign entities to bamboozle Cameroonians. China is just one such entity. It may seem to Cameroonians that Biya's trip to China is important; in China, however, it is no big deal.

Most Expensive City In The World Is In Africa

Find out more about the location of the city here.

How Can One Criminal Try Another?

Some are currently worked up because the President Wade of Senegal has reneged on his promise to send ex-Chadian dictator, Hissene Habre, back to Chad to face trrial for crimes he committed during his unholy reign. What these people seem to be oblivious of is that the current president of Chad, Idriss Deby, is not only the one who overthrew Hissen Habre in a military coup, but also worked for the former dictator as commander-in-chief of the army. Deby himself cannot be innocent of the crimes Habre committed. Even more, Deby has himself become a dictator who only cares about prolonging his reign in the impoverished country. Habre should be made to answer for his crimes but it will be ironic for him to be made to do so by his own accomplice.

The House Of Commons In Cameroon

When are we going to have a political climate where the Cameroonian president is made to stand face to face with the opposition and pressed to defend policies taken or about to be taken, like in the video below. It is only one means of bringing the president from the high horse on which he now sits, believing that he is answerable to no one. Biya and his clique should watch and ponder the video below:

How Biya's Rapacity Became A Call

From 2009 to 2005, five volumes of motions of support from the Biya clique in Cameroon has been published by a publishing house in the country. The work, without any hint of irony or malice, is titled, Paul Biya: The People's Call. The premise of the work is that these motions of support are a testament that the people of Cameroon are begging Biya to be their leader for ever. Apart from the sheer stupidity of the premise itself, anyone familiar with the nature of motions of support in Cameroon would know that they are a hoax orchastrated by those who are in the employ of the Biya regime. The fact of the matter is that Biya has imposed himself on the people for thirty years. The last time I checked, only dictators and kings or queens have been in power for the length of time Biya has expended. The very fact that Biya has been in power for that long is a clear demonstration that he has not been called by the people. In order to make his imposition of himself on the Cameroonian people seem justified, he has hired pseudo-intellectuals who have taken upon themselves the responsibility of concocting books which they cannot write on their own. The only benefit of this hollow work is that when our children read it in the future, it will remind them of a time when our own intellectuals were so complicit in our humiliation that they made up things to justify their complicity. In the future, these volumes will remind us of a time when we lived in Biya's rapacious autocracy. They should be preserved as evidence against those who connived with Biya in this rapacity. We shall remember them when the time comes.

Biya is Wasting Cameroon's Time

Paul Biya, Cameroon's president for nearly 30 years, cannot be reformed. Addicts may be reformed in rehabilitation centers but there is no place where dictators are reformed. They are only removed. I have watched with amazement how his hands have been forced to perform one trick after another on Cameroonians, giving a veneer of reform and, perhaps, fooling some Cameroonians in the process. Biya has learned the art of being a dictator, from the time of his apprenticeship as Prime Minister in the Amadou Ahidjo autocracy to date. There is nothing in his resume that remotely suggests that he can be a reformer. That is why the various changes he has been making to various elements of Cameroonian life has been aimed at entrenching his power. When he saw that his term as president was to end this year, he changed the constitution to remove that clause; the removal of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt forced him to lie that he was going to hire 25,000 Cameroonians; he has been toying with the so-called Election Commission of Cameroon and has stuffed it only with people who are hellbent on entrenching Biya's power; he has banned night transportation in Cameroon because he is scared that some may enter the country under cover of night to threaten his power. These gimmicks are intended to waste the time of Cameroonians, delaying the transformation that people desire.

Biya is like Hosni Mubarak who claimed ghostly legitimacy just before people poured onto the streets to remove him. Like Mubarak, Biya has manipulated the electoral process to people Cameroon's parliament with representatives of his party so that they may rubber stamp his autocracy. The latest gimmick is that Cameroonians abroad will be given the opportunity to vote during the presidential election; these votes would take place at Cameroon's consulates and embassies abroad. However, given the fact that the votes of Cameroonians in the country do not matter to Biya, one may wonder whether it is the votes of Cameroonians abroad that will matter to him. He has a track record of stealing votes, especially as was the case in 1992. When I watch the macabre dance of death which Biya is dancing with Cameroonians, I cannot help but conclude that he is simply wasting the time of the people so that he may get decrepit and die in power. But by wasting the time of the people, he is wasting his own time and his name will go down in infamy.

South Sudan: Euphoria of Independence

It is my understanding that many African countries were quite euphoric at independence, much of which happened in the 1960s. Flags were raised, gun salutes were conducted, new leaders emerged, and hopes were high. By the end of the 1970s, however, this euphoria turned to bitter disappointment. To this day, the hopes that were associated with independence have not been achieved in almost all African countries. South Sudan must learn from the bitter lessons of other African countries so that it does not repeat the failures that obtained in other African countries. The euphoria that I see on the streets of the new country must not be allowed to evaporate into the thin air of disappointment. The people of that country have suffered a lot and they deserve better. I trust that the uneviable place which this new country has as the poorest of the world will not be allowed to remain its legacy.

Welcome To South Sudan, World's News Nation

A new nation has been born in Africa today. May South Sudan know peace and prosperity in its future.

Fighting Child Marriages In Ethiopia

Child marriages is a common practice in some African societies. It is however not very clear whether this is simply a cultural practice or a practice that is spurred on by poverty. Perhaps it is both. Some people seem to think that in order to deal with the issue of poverty in Africa we need to stop child marriages first. The reasoning behind this goes like this: girls need to be empowered through education so that they may become more informed and productive members of society. In cases were these girls are also married to teen-aged boys, the reasoning is that these boys also need to be more mature and more educated or trained in order to make them into more responsible men. Without good education and training, women and men, hardly become more responsible and productive members of society. Getting married at very tender ages forecloses the possibility of getting education and training, thus perpetrating poverty. The reasoning is therefore that people can be sensitized to delay marriage for their own good.

The above reasoning, however, seem to put the cart before the horse. As someone who has experienced instances of child marriages in Cameroon, it seems to me that there are several reasons why parents want their daughter to get married at very tender ages. One of these is to forestall loose behavior. Parents dread the fact that their daughter may become a loose woman if she is not married soon enough. This may well be a sexist view of the matter but that is a view on the ground. Another reason is that most parents in rural areas do not have money to give their children higher education. Thus, education usually ends in the primary school, for those who attend school at all. After primary school, young people have to start independent life. For me, therefore, one of the primary causes of child marriages is poverty. Thus, in order to curb child marriages, the issue of poverty has to be tackled; not the other way round. Where economies are generally still very deplorable, as is the case in many African countries, the practice cannot be stopped. In fact, governments of many African countries do not worry about child marriages because they know that it fits with the kinds of economies which they have made for their peoples. This is to say that this practice cannot be fought by those who come from outside the community, like the Elders in the video above. It cannot be fought only at the level of a local community, either. Measures to stop child marriages must be taken at state level and must aim at poverty alleviation first. As rural areas begin to have more resources and more opportunities available, children will begin to stay in school longer.

Ayanda Kota Unmasks Julius Malema

Julius Malema holds the position which Nelson Mandela once held during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa - president of the Youth League of the African National Congress. While Mandela grew from that position to become one of the most respected leaders who has promoted racial reconciliation in South Africa, Mr. Malema is increasingly becoming a rabid racist in order to protect his own economic interest. It is a truth universally known that post-colonial African leaders have often feigned nationalism in order to rip their people of their substance. Mr. Malema fits that description, especially as analyzed in this piece by Ayanda Kota, chair of the Unemployed People's Movement in Grahamstown, South Africa. After Mandela, the country is increasingly being run by leaders who, like most post-colonial leaders of sub-Saharan Africa, care very much about what they reap from government rather than the well-being of their people. Malema is increasingly becoming such a leader and, given the fact that he is touted as a future president of South Africa, the South African people must make sure he does not go closer to the presidency than he already is. He is now using racism as a political tool for his own benefit; he must be unmasked for what he is as Ayanda has done in the piece above. We need more Ayandas in South Africa before the country goes the deplorable way of most countries in sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa does not need to repeat the mistakes of the post-colonial African state. With people like Malema, South Africa's future will be bleak.

Paul Biya's Real Reason For Banning Night Transportation In Cameroon

It was recently reported that the Biya regime in Cameroon has banned night transportation in the country. The reason that was publicly given is that many drivers drink and drive at night and this increases the level of deadly motor accidents that happen at night. In response, I pointed out that that was a very flimsy response to the problem of vehicular accidents in Cameroon, indicating that this problem could be better addressed by improving the deplorable, dilapidated, and virtually non-existent road network in the country. A further action that may be undertaken is to enact and enforce laws against drunk driving in the country. Banning night transportation, I pointed out, is economically disastrous.

Discussing the matter with one of my friends, it was brought to my attention that the real reason why Biya has banned night transportation in Cameroon is to forestall the transportation of any subversive elements into the country under cover of night. The general rejection of his autocratic rule by most Cameroonians has led the man to be very concerned that some may want to remove him by force. His concern is amplified because of the fact that there will be an election in Cameroon late this year. His own insecurity has caused him to shut the country down. Anyone who knows Biya would understand that he did not take this drastic action because he wants to improve the welfare of Cameroonians. If he wanted to improve the welfare of Cameroonians, he would have put measures in place that would improve the political and economic climate in the country. The fact that he has deliberately stifled the political and economic atmosphere in the country in order to prolong his stay in power should tell everyone that he does not care for the welfare of the people. His banning of night transportation falls in line with his desire to strangle the country politically and economically because of his personal insecurities. It is well known that no president hides from his own people more than Biya. That is why he hardly campaigns. It is his insecurity that has led him to ban night transportation in Cameroon rather than any desire to improve the lives of the people.

African Traditional Medicine Meets Modernity

A very inspirational story about a Tanzanian PhD chemistry student whose work is at the intersection between traditional and modern medicine. I trust activities like his would rapidly replicate around the continent.

Following Campaign Contributions In Cameroon

It is being reported in Cameroon that the Prime Minister of the country, Philemon Yang, has launched a fundraising campaign to support the re-election of Paul Biya, even though Biya has not yet declared his intention of running for re-election. One important thing Cameroonians demand of Mr. Yang's initiative is that he publishes a list of those who contribute to the Biya campaign and the amount each contributes. The goal is for Cameroonians to know the sources of the money which Biya is using for campaign purposes. Since the launch of the fundraising campaign has been made public, a list of those who contribute and the amount contributed should also be made public. Cameroonians have the right to know this. This is especially the case because state coffers have not been distinguished from the coffers of the ruling CPDM party in the past. Launching this campaign may be a veneer to make people believe that money for Biya's campaign come from donors when, in fact, it is all tax-payer money.

The African Woman, The French Man, And The Casey Anthony Case

I write on a day when many in the United States are stunned that Casey Anthony has not been convicted for murder. Casey Anthony is the twenty-five year old woman who was accused of having killed her own child and disposed of the body. The case against her seemed so watertight. In America, however, we are made to believe that people who are accused are presumed innocent until they are declared guilty by a jury of their peers in a court of law. Today, a jury of Casey's peers declared that she is not guilty of murder. She is however found guilty of having lied to police in the process of the investigation. What this case says to me is that one can be found guilty of lying without being found guilty of having committed the crime for which they are accused. It is this realization that leads me to revisit the case of the the French man who is accused of having raped an African maid in New York City.

Last week, America was buzzing with claims that the case against the French man has collapsed because the prosecutors of the case discovered that the woman had lied on her asylum application about being raped in her home country, that she lied about issues immediately following the incident for which the French man was arrested, and that she talked to her boyfriend in an immigration prison, saying that the French man is rich and that she new what she was doing. The media, which judged that Casey Anthony was already guilty, has also declared the African woman's credibility to be so damaged that the case cannot be brought to court. Now, it seems clear that the case is all but over. It is said that the prosecutor would dismiss the case soon. However, if this is done, it would be a travesty of justice and very unAmerican. The fact that Casey Anthony was not found guilty in spite of the fact that she was convicted of lying tells me that one can be convicted of lying without damaging the substance of her case. The substance of Casey's case was that she did not kill her baby even though she lied. The substance of the African woman's case is that she was raped by the French man. She might have lied about a previous rape but it does not mean that she was not raped by Dominique Strauss-Kahn. It may also well be that the French man is not guilty of rape. But that is not a decision that should be arrived at based on the past history of the African woman woman; it should be made in a court, like Casey's. It would be a travesty of American justice if this case is not given its day in court. Some have seen racism and class playing in the case of the French man and the African woman. They may not be entirely wrong. In order to diminish concerns that this French man is being favored in this case because he is rich and white and the woman is black, poor, and African, let the case be brought to court. The woman's lawyer thinks that she has a case. His theory should be tested in a court.

America's Declaration Of Independence In Africa

As the United States of America celebrates its birthday today, I thought that it would also be prudent for Africans, especially in countries such as Zimbabwe, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Uganda, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Niger, etc. to ponder the worlds of the American Declaration of Independence. The reasons why America declared its independence from Britain can be applied, mutatis mutandis, to the African countries named. This document ought to be taught and read in primary, secondary, and high schools in African countries that are  still groaning under the yoke of all manner of dictatorships. I first read this document on my own as an undergraduate student in Cameroon. I realized that the document has revolutionary potential. It fits well with events that are currently happening in some countries in North Africa and the Middle East. It also fits well with what is yet to happen in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. An audio of the declaration can be heard here and the document can be read here.

Nigeria's Economy To Overtake South Africa's

Also see this report from CNN.

"Who Will Replace Paul Biya?": A Very Bad Question

The title of this post is a question that is usually heard whenever the call for Biya to step down grows louder. "Who will replace Paul Biya?" it is often asked. One implication of the question is that there is no one suitable enough to replace Biya either in his own CPDM party or in the various opposition parties. As it is now claimed, Biya is the "natural candidate" for president in Cameroon. The question, however, betrays the toxic political environment which Biya has created in Cameroon. Biya usually claims that Cameroon is a democratic country; however, in a democracy, such a question is hardly asked given that a democratic environment is one which develops potential leaders rather than one which stifles the emergence of such leaders. If in fact there is no good candidate to replace Biya after he has been in power for about thirty years, that should be credited to Biya's inability to create such environment rather than to the false claim that he is some sort of a "natural candidate." In a democracy there is no natural candidate for anything. A democracy is meant to nurture diverse ideas that may come in handy when a country or institution needs it. Given the fact that Biya has stifled the development of ideas in Cameroon, people now feel that they are stuck with him. He has successfully devastated their capacity to think so much that they see no alternative to Biya. This is not how people think in a democracy; it is the way people think in a dictatorship like North Korea or Cuba.

Further, the question about who would replace Biya gives the false impression that Cameroonians have to figure out who would replace Biya before Biya can be removed. The experiences of Tunisia and Egypt show us that that assumption is not correct. We do not have to look for a replacement for Biya before he can be removed. Given that Biya has already stifled the political climate in Cameroon so much that it is difficult to think about who would replace him, we cannot look for a replacement before he is removed. He has to be removed first before we will look for his replacement. Thus, the question about who should replace Biya cannot be answered now and should not be answered. The question seeks to divert attention from the fact that Biya should be removed right away. He therefore needs to be removed first; we will make the decision about who would replace him after he is gone. The toxic political climate Biya has created in Cameroon does not give room for such decision right now.

Another implication of the question about who should replace Biya is that he seems to be better than any other candidate who could replace him. He is the devil we know, so it may seem. This implication is also not correct. No one can do worse to Cameroon than Biya has already done. The general incompetence, bald-face corruption, and the dilapidation of the economy which Biya has supervised cannot be made worse. Leaving Biya in power says that Cameroon has resigned to its fate. Removing him gives us the possibility of looking for a more patriotic leader. That possibility is generally foreclosed with Biya's continuous stay in power. There are many patriotic Cameroonians who can be president. There are many patriotic Cameroonians who can create an open political atmosphere in Cameroon where people will not be wondering whether there can ever be a replacement for their president. There are many patriotic Cameroonians who want to create an open society where different political ideas will be cherished rather than hated. There are many patriotic Cameroonians who want to create an open economy in Cameroon where economic activities will not be stifled by bad politics. I am one such Cameroonians and I can replace Biya. In fact, I can do a far better job than Biya. Cameroonians should never have the illusion that there is no one out there to replace Biya. Many of us stand ready to do so. Biya can, and must, be replaced. He should be removed first, then we will find his replacement.