Bamenda, Biya is coming with his army!

By Franklin Sone Bayen

President Paul Biya will be on a delicate mission to Bamenda in the coming weeks. Announcing it at the EMIA cadets’ graduation a fortnight ago, Biya did not give a date, though it is obvious it could be on January 1, 2010. He said he would be chairing Cameroon Armed Forces Day 50th anniversary ceremonies there.

Armed Forces Day being January 1, your guess can only be as good as mine that the president will be upcountry on that date. Many observers however prefer to play safe on the specific date. The significance of January 1 (1960-2010) – forget about New Year’s Day – should be ringing a bell in some minds already. Nevertheless, even if that visit were not on January 1, it will be a show of strength of some sort.

He will certainly not say “me voici donc à Bamenda” (here I am in Bamenda after all). He has been to Bamenda at worse times than these. His last trip there was on his nationwide tour in the burning early-90s when he was both jeered and boycotted by the Fru Ndi madding crowd. He also found the ceremonial grounds fixed to receive him unfixed on the eve of his arrival with human waste better not named here.

Biya will certainly be speaking to a less hostile audience this time, perhaps even friendly and he will be delighted at the huge turnout, both genuine and made up. Simon Nkwenti, the Bamenda maestro of “real politick” is by now at work. North West elite have a prime minister – even if no ring road – to show the masses that Biya is turning back to them and cajole them to make the old man feel once again like Bamenda was his second home.

Noted stubborn goats notwithstanding, skepticism that may have been generated by questions over Fru Ndi’s politics, would have bred some lambs to be led to embellish Biya’s Bamenda show.

That show, if it succeeds, could become Biya’s “launch of campaigns” for early elections in 2010, which many suspect he might do to benefit from popular excitement over 2010 Nations Cup and World Cup participation and also to ambush his opponents and perhaps ELECAM.

Biya’s first veiled message to Bamenda on Armed Forces Day, and 50th anniversary at that, will be a show of unreserved military might. The parade will bring out the best of the military in terms of personnel, combat equipment and even tactics. BIR, the rapid intersquad, “Biya’s personal army”, will have a field day.

That display will not be to scare Nigeria out of Bakassi nor Chadian rebels from encroaching in the North. Biya will use as a deterrent against those planning to foment trouble in view of 2011 or late 2010 that if they are spoiling for a fight with the Lion they should mind he consequences.

And having the Banjul Verdict in mind, Biya, the Commander-in-Chief, will direct the parade to remind the Bamenda man and his friends elsewhere that Cameroon is and shall remain one and indivisible, by love of country or through military intimidation and repression.

Jan. 1, La Republique Independence

And if Biya’s visit were to be on January 1, it would be taken in Bamenda as outright provocation. January 1 is Independence Day for former French East Cameroon. British Southern Cameroon only obtained its own on October 1, 1961.

By his noted political shrewdness, former President Ahidjo succeeded to downplay the two independence days, to avoid duplicity and consequent reminder of historical differences. He highlighted 20th May that, in spite of its vexing flaws, could pass for day of harmony. But here goes Biya with January 1, adding insult to injury after removing “United” from Cameroon’s official name in 1984. By that, separatist activists say, “La Republique du Cameroun” seceded.

Cameroon Armed Forces Day as celebrated so far, is of course a celebration of the day when at its independence on January 1, 1960, the French Cameroon army hoisted their national flag. The flag they hoisted that day was not the green-red-yellow with two yellow stars on the green stripe (the Federal Republic flag), let alone the present one, that concern English-speaking Cameroonians somehow. So the flag that should have been 50 years old on January 1, 2010 is a flag that, if presented to the Bamenda population, will look as foreign as that of Sao Tome and Principe.

The ultra-sensitive Bamenda population, now reminded of that fact, will therefore take it as another provocation from Biya over belonging to the nation. That Biya provocation and the recent Banjul reassurance will give ammunition and swell the battle-cry of pro-independence activists.

Biya’s announced Bamenda outing will be ill-advised.

Even Anglophone journalists don't believe in Anglophone press

By Franklin Sone Bayen

Listening to news on one of the Yaounde private FM stations this Tuesday, December 8, I was
both glad
and sad.

Glad
because unlike our greater-than-anything else CRTV, this private station once again (they often do) was aluding to a story first reported by a private newspaper, kind of endorsing them as a credible source. Elsewhere in the world, radio, TV and newspapers source stories from each other conveniently. Not so much in Cameroon journalism.

Sad
because though I was listening to news in English, the story being alluded to was from a French language newspaper, Mutations of this Tuesday, December 8 . That in itself was not a problem, after all, credible news is news, irrespective of who reports it. But the story my beloved FM station was reporting about Hon. Ayah Paul complaining that Parliament allotted up to 61 billion FCFA of the 2010 budget to fuel and mission allowances for government officials, was first reported by The Post, an English language newspaper, the day before - Monday, December 7.

If not only as the first to pick that angle, The Post is an English language paper and should get priority in any kind of endorsement and promotion by other media.

Or is this happening because "familiarity breeds contempt"? When we listen to press reviews on CRTV’s Cameroon Calling, Hello and others, we see more attention focussed on French language papers. Meanwhile, our Francophone colleagues do not as much as notice English language papers when they do their own reviews.

We shouldn't hate ourselves so. Others won't respect us if we don't respect our own products.

Cameroon: World Cup, yes. But Nations Cup first

By Franklin Sone Bayen

Our qualification and greater ambitions for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa should not in anyway blunt our lethal power at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Angola. This country has often been hard put to manage both tournaments in the same year. It is as though World Cup euphoria downplays Nations Cup importance.

Excepting 2002 when we won the Nations Cup even as we were in for the World Cup, the story has been bleak from 1982, through 1990, 1998. In 1994 when we took part in the USA World Cup, we did not even qualify for the Nations Cup. Conversely, we were out of World Cup 2006 but failed to reach the top in the Nations Cup. We stumbled before the Ivory Coast at the quarter-finals after penalty shootout.

In 1982, we had a disastrous Nations Cup in Libya prior to an unprecedented wonderful World Cup for Africa when we went undefeated, conceded only one goal in three group stage games and played a draw with eventual World Cup winners, Italy.

Meanwhile, glory was all ours barely two years later when we won the Nations Cup for the first time in 1984. Of course, that was not a World Cup year. In 1986 when we did not qualify for the World Cup, we had another wonderful Nations Cup, stumbling only at the final in a hard fought game with hosts Egypt. Likewise, in 1988, a non-World Cup year, the show was again all ours. We won the cup.

Next, the memorable 1990 World Cup and again the Nations Cup that year was a fiasco. Meanwhile, after another unmemorable Nations Cup in 1992, our worst Nations Cup-World Cup story was in 1994 when we did not even qualify for the Nations Cup and later witnessed our worst World Cup in the US.

South Africa 1996, though not a World Cup year, was a Nations Cup many Cameroonians hate to remember. But France 1998, another Nations Cup-World Cup year for us, equally brought a vexing Nations Cup experience. We were licked by half-baked teams like the DR Congo, who knocked us out at the quarter finals.

As the Song-Mboma-Eto’o-Etame-Njitap generation ripened, they renewed Cameroon’s romance with Nations Cup glory in 2000, defeating our traditional Nations Cup final sparring partners Nigeria in their own backyard to take the cup home for keeps according to the former three wins rule. That same generation it was, that defied the Nations Cup-World Cup spell to play great in the 2002 Nations Cup in Mali. They won the cup a fourth time, though they were headed for the Japan-Korea, our last combined Nations Cup-World Cup year.

Here we are again with both tourneys to manage. SA 2010, Africa’s first World Cup, is ours to grab. But Nations Cup 2010 is equally a must-do for us. It comes nearly a decade since we last won the trophy.

The World Cup, we wish to win, and yes, we can. But the Nations Cup we already know how to win. Unquestionably, we must win it again. We cannot lie on our laurels when Egypt’s six wins have dwarfed our four. For that matter, going to the World Cup with a Nations Cup title in hand should be a big morale booster. Whatever distracts our team during the twin tourney years, they should be reminded that, in any case, a bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

This posting first featured as Editorial in my sport supplement "This is SPORT! This is FOOTBALL! on the back cover of Standard Tribune currently on the market

Fotso’s battle with Cameroon & E. Guinea gov’ts

By Franklin Sone Bayen
If no one is suspecting anything beyond regular procedure in the recent decision by the Central African Banking Commission (COBAC) to place the Commercial Bank of Cameroon (CBC) under watch for possible liquidation, Yves Michel Fotso, proprietor of the bank, is crying foul.

While admitting that CBC is not faultless, Fotso is alleging that COBAC is being manipulated by Equatorial Guinea to settle scores after his bank won a case against the neigbhouring state, obtaining 40 billion FCFA as damages because Malabo illegally prohibited establishment of a CBC branch there. CBC lawyers were in the process of identifying Equatorial Guinea accounts abroad to obtain payment of the penalty when the COBAC sanction fell. Fotso considers the sanction, that discharges him of his functions as board chair of the bank, too severe and hides ulterior motives.

Yet, even those accusations seem to be only part of the story. The paternalistic intervention by the Cameroon government to “bailout” the bank looks like a calculated first step towards embracing a rival to suffocate him – stepping into the Fotso Empire to eventually own it (seize it) or crumble it.

But why?

It has not been said how Yaounde and Malabo would have conspired to suffocate CBC. However, it can be conjectured that, just as it is possible Malabo is pulling its oil weight in COBAC – that little country holds more than 47% of reserves in the Bank of Central Africam States (BEAC) – our government was also in a position to defend CBC if it had the will to. Apparently, it did not. Instead of chasing the hawk before chiding the chicks, our government seems to have let the hawk grab the chick before engaging wings to go to its rescue. All of that to look magnanimous and, while the public applauds, reap from Fotso family sweat.

There are precedents to show that when some persons in authority are uncomfortable with the actions or mere existence of certain individuals, they use the huge state machinery to crush them. They settle personal scores or sometimes do so on behalf of the president.

Henri Sack who ran TV Max, the first private TV in Douala, had a taste of it when former CRTV GM, Gervais Mendo Ze, presented him as an anti-patriot simply because TV Max acquired exclusive rights for a Cameroon international match earlier this decade, and required CRTV to buy the images. Insisting national team matches are a matter of sovereignty, Mendo made CRTV broadcast the match in defiance of TV Max’s exclusive rights, of course, without payment. Somehow, CRTV went on to defeat TV Max in a case in France.

That was only the beginning of trouble for Sack. TV Max was thenceforth always put on the wrong side of the law. Its transmission pylons around Village, a neighbourhood on the Yaounde outlet from Douala were knocked down for “being too close to the Douala International Airport, posing a risk to planes in flight”. Other pylons around were spared. TV Max eventually died slow death. In the early 1990s, Victor Fotso and Kadji Defosso turned coat from early support for the newly-created opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF), when government tax agents showed them red.

Fotso since become a pillar of the Biya regime, bankrolling its operations. He is presently mayor of his Bandjoun hometown, near Bafoussam on the ticket of the president’s party. He is also known to have used his influence to position some of his several wives at elective positions. At least one of them is deputy mayor of the Yaounde I district. Another is Member of Parliament. Apparently through the same influence, his son Yves Michel, a private sector personality, became managing director of Cameroon Airlines (Camair), a position hitherto reserved for government cadres.

Yet does it look like some elements of the Biya regime believe Yves Michel was party to a plot to have the president killed in a faulty plane by purchasing the Albatross. He was involved in the deal because the government undertook the purchase, pretending the plane was for Camair use, to avoid scrutiny by the IMF which thought such a purchase just for the president’s comfort, was misplaced priority at a time Cameroon was making its case for HIPC debt cancellation in the middle of this decade.

Now that son of Victor Fotso is swearing he will defend his property even with is life. Such statements are not often heard from people of Fotso’s stature. He believes COBAC is just a subterfuge for people with diabolic motives. “I’m sorry, but if it becomes an institution used to eliminate people, I’m ready to die. I’ll accept to be sacrificed,” said Fotso in a telephone intervention on an talkshow a fortnight ago, on a Douala-based private TV channel, STV.

So why would a “prince” put his life on the line like that?

And that was not Fotso’s first media outing on a burning issue. Late last year he came out strong in an interview broadcast simultaneously by three private TV channels (STV, Equinox TV and Canal 2) telling his side of the story over the Albatross Affair. His approach, maximizing TV audience through the three channels, was so effective everyone was talking about it the next morning. Fotso’s smartness apparently vexed certain people in authority.

The Fotso heir, who has been on a travel ban, might have been saved from prison last year only by his father’s personal intervention when he was summoned to the Judicial Police in Yaounde. To protect him, his aging father accompanied him to Yaounde, spent the night in his hotel room for fear he could be abducted and the next morning, accompanied him for the police interrogation, as if to say “that’s my son, if you will take him, you’ll have to take me too.”

The younger Fotso walked free from there. Hardly anyone implicated in the Albatross Affair walked free after visiting the Judicial Police. But whether he can free the family empire from this suspected onslaught may take more than his father’s watchful eyes.

This posting first featured on my column "STATE OF THE NATION" in Standard Tribune (currently on the market), published in Yaounde Cameroon

Biya ignores Anglophone press (Or has Biya given up on Anglophones?)

By Franklin Sone Bayen


I have cause to wonder if President Paul Biya has given up on Anglophones, seeing his 27th anniversary letter to Cameroonians and CPDM militants published only in French language newspapers. It looks like Biya has given up trying to market himself to Anglophone masses, unsure of finding any sympathetic ear there. Else, why would a head of state, so desperate for every bit of sympathy – if not support – in the face of mounting challenge from within his own ranks, afford to limit, in such blatant manner, his SOS to only a part of his people?

The president’s letter, a well-paid commercial announcement, I’m informed, was published on Thursday, 5 November only in the four French language dailies and two nominal bilingual papers – Cameroon Tribune and L’Action – both of which are read mainly by Francophones, plus a few regime Anglophones who for the most part are already Biya stalwarts. Even the French language papers published both the English and French versions.

English language newspapers that tried to obtain the insertion were rudely turned away and later offered it at ridiculously cheap rate. Some turned down the offer. Most of those now printing it are doing so on “patriotic grounds”.

L’Action (the CPDM paper) No. 688 du 5 Novembre 2009, in a page 11 article titled “INEDIT” (UNPRECEDENTED or first of its kind) explains that Biya’s letter would later be published in other weeklies (obviously including those in English). But, seeing there are no dailies in English yet, won’t they have been the wiser to have placed the president’s letter in the English language weeklies (and bi-weeklies) at the same time as the French language dailies, even if only to show some equity?

Brutus

Now to the substance of the president’s letter.
It all looks like Biya’s manifesto for a third “septenat”. But he comes across more desperate than passionate. Like in the 1992 presidential election when he saw red, Biya is once more resorting to the Lion analogy (“the fighting Lions spirit”, just like Rigobert Song’s “Hemle Nje”), though this time around, the threat seems to be coming more from disgruntled regime men than from the opposition. As if to warn his young friends scheming against him that they won’t have their way without seeing the incisors and claws of a vexed lion.

If any iota of doubt remained whether Biya would seek another term, here is proof that at nearly 90 minutes of fulltime play, exhausted though he may appear, Biya is asking for extra time and demanding a vital pass to net in.

The president’s letter came as La Nouvelle (No. 043 du Lundi 9 Novembre 2009), the French language weekly often proven right in its inside regime stories, reported the emergence of a new group, “Brutus”, supposed to be scheming to knock out Biya (remember Brutus’ fatal trick on Cesar?). After G11 or Generation 2011 who came to light in 2006, this “new group” is supposed to be a click including Marafa, Laurent Esso, Fame Ndongo, Gregoire Owona, Fai Yengo, Suzanne Mbomback, Charles Metouck, etc, some of them former G11.

Football politics

If that were true, the poor man should now find himself in the crossfire of a succession fight within his own walls that shows even his most loyal lieutenants are already in battle gear. Having G11 in his prisons and Brutus in his ministries, plus the Banjul Verdict to grapple with, might have pushed Biya to resort to the masses. His choice of words, evoking peace and unity, is telling.

His own government and CPDM party no longer trustworthy, and knowing how much passion football victories generate in Cameroonian masses, especially with World Cup qualification in view, Biya is, by alluding to the fighting Lions spirit, showing the Indomitable Lions are now his most trusted “political party” and Lions fans, the only “militants” he now counts on; his last resort.

With Cameroon’s World Cup qualification, you can’t deny Biya staked on the Lions and won the bet, can you?

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Didn't Fifa favour Egypt for Algeria playoff?

By Franklin Sone Bayen*


Algeria finally had their way over Egypt to obtain Africa's last World Cup ticket after their playoff in Khartoum Sudan on November 18, but that match should not have been necessary had Fifa followed its own rules to the very last letter.

Because Algeria scored three goals against Egypt in the away leg and Egypt scored only two against Algeria in the return leg in the Africa Group C of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, Algeria had an advantage based on Point 5 of the new FIFA rule for teams even on points at the end of group matches like both countries in Africa Group C.

Nearly a month before the final group games of this 2010 World Cup qualifiers, we presented an exhaustive analysis of the expected outcome for Cameroon based on the possible results from matches on November 14 in Group A: Morocco-Cameroon and Togo-Gabon. It was a two part write-up, one titled “CMR-Morocco: THE LAST IFS”. The second, “Most complicated scenario”, was based on the new FIFA rule to rank teams even on points at the end of group games.

Our emphasis on the second write-up was on a scenario whereby Cameroon and their lone challengers Gabon were tied at 10 points each after the November 14 matches, ie, if Moroco defeated Cameroon and Gabon drew with Togo.

As it turned out, Cameroon’s victory over Morocco rolled them a red carpet to the World Cup. It rendered unnecessary and useless any further calculations (ifs) based on the outcome of the Togo-Gabon match in Lome the same day.

With Cameroon’s 13 points, even a victory for Gabon raising them to 12 points would have been of the no consequence. Worst case scenario for Gabon, they were beaten 1-0 by Togo, to mark time at nine points. Cameroon thus sailed through, with safe four points from Gabon.

The Indomitable Lions thus spared already anxious Cameroonians the trouble of that “Most complicated scenario”. Instead, where it applied, and nearly so perfectly, was between Egypt and Algeria. They ended the qualifiers at par on everything from points to goals scored, goals conceded, goal difference and even more. Plus, they faced each other on the last day of play on November 14, Egypt beating Algeria 2-0 to attain that nearly perfect equality, necessitating their playoff on November 18 in Khartoum, Sudan. Algeria won the playoff 1-0 to grab Africa's last World Cup ticket.

Weeks ahead of their Saturday game, FIFA notified that if Egypt defeated Algeria 2-0 on the last day of play, the two would go for a playoff. That was because ahead of that game, Algeria had 13 points after four matches, Egypt 10; Algeria had scored nine goals, Egypt seven; Algeria had conceded two goals, Egypt four; Algeria had +7 in goal difference, Egypt +3. Algeria had beaten Egypt in the first leg in Algeria 3-1. This meant that if Egypt defeated Algeria 2-0 in Egypt, both teams would be tied at 13 points, they would both have scored nine goals, both would have conceded four goals, both would thus have ended the qualifiers with +5 in goal difference and each would have beaten the other at home by a two-goal difference. (Nearly) perfect equality!

As we explained in our previous write-up, this is what the new FIFA rule says about ranking of teams with equal points sourced from the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia: “If teams are even on points at the end of group play, the tied teams will be ranked by: 1. goal difference in all group matches (Algeria +5, Egypt +5) 2. greater number of goals scored in all group matches (Algeria 9, Egypt 9) 3. greater number of points obtained in matches between the tied teams (Algeria 3, Egypt 3) 4. goal difference in matches between the tied teams (3-3: 1st leg Algeria 3-1 Egypt, 2nd leg Egypt 2-0 Algeria) 5. greater number of goals scored in matches between the tied teams (Algeria 3, Egypt 2, take note of this) 6. drawing of lots, or playoffs (if approved by FIFA).”

Take note that Algeria have an advantage over Egypt on point 5. It may seem complicated but understand it in other words thus: which team scored more goals in either of the matches played between Algeria and Egypt? In the away leg, Algeria won scoring three goals. In the return leg, Egypt won scoring just two. Point 5 disregards goals conceded in matches between tied teams.

Although they were even on particular goal difference, it must be pointed out that FIFA put that as one of the conditions for ranking teams tied on points, and ought to have respected it. Algeria had the advantage, but FIFA seemed to have foreseen and ignored it. Reason they skipped to point 6, ie, the Algeria-Egypt playoff on November 18.

Rules well applied, will always penalize someone and leave them offended. Nigeria, clearly a favorite in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, bowed to the old FIFA rule whereby the first consideration (Point 1) has now become Point 3 in the new rule. That gave Angola the ticket to the 2006 World Cup to the detriment of Nigeria who had better goal difference (+14) in all group matches (Point 1 in the new rule). Angola had only +6. Nigeria had scored far more goals (Point 2 in the new rule), a whopping 21. Angola had scored only 12. But Angola had grabbed four out of six available points in matches between the two teams (Point 1 in the old rule, Point 3 in the new rule), having beaten Nigeria 1-0 in the away leg in Angola and held them to a 1-1 draw in the return leg in Nigeria.

Nigerian fans thought they had been cheated, but that was the rule then. It was respected. Not quite so for Algeria-Egypt in the 2010 qualifiers.

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*The author is editor-in-chief of Cameroon sport magazine “This is SPORT! This is FOOTBALL!”

THIS SONG IS NOT OVER!

Rigobert Song is neither too old, unfit, nor technically incapable to continue playing his central role within the ranks of the Indomitable Lions, captain or none. Every recent national team coach I have spoken to on this subject has been categorical on the view that in player performance, age is just some figures. Action speaks. Most of them have said Song remains the piston at the defence.

And it is not like Song is even so old. Officially, he is 33. That seems to be his real age. Beyond the generalized doubts that often dispute players’ ages, I have met disinterested persons who said they knew Song as a college boy here in Yaounde . Without being too categorical, they can admit that he is actually within that age-range.

And if the boisterous defenceman with a lion heart and natural aura of leadership were really 33 as I am convinced he is, it is wholly unkind of us to be jeering him out of the team he has given so much for. We blame all the woes of the national team on him and his click and their “age”.

True, it took a rare lame run by Song for Egypt to score the lone goal that cheated us of the 2008 Cup of Nations title. Rare. And so, he is too old to continue? Interestingly, some of us say Eto’o is old too. Because we often speak in chorus even without mastering the song, since we often follow the bandwagon with knowing which direction it is heading to, we join protestations against their click (984) but mistake it with unrelated questions about age: Song, 33, old; Njitap, 30, old; even Eto’o, just 28, old too!

As if age has ever really been an issue in the fortunes of our national team. Down memory lane, we have seen men about that age or older defend our national colours without raising eyebrows. Tokoto Jean Pierre starred for us at the 1982 World Cup, aged 34. Kunde Emmanuel, also former national team captain and a defence monument like Song played his last World Cup in 1990 aged 34. Even leave out the legendary Roger Milla who did wonders for us in 1990 aged 38!

Now, if you wanted to raise the argument that most of them played at an epoch when the game was not as fast-paced and highly technical as now, take the sluggish Patrick Mboma. He was recalled for service in the 2004 Cup of Nations, aged 34, and didn’t he score great goals for us?

At the awards ceremony for European club top players, UEFA president Michel Platini presented a special award to Paulo Maldini, long-serving Italian defenceman who only retired from the game last year, past 40. OK, agreed that he only continued playing club football long after quitting the national team. But check again: when Maldini, also former captain of the Italian national team, played the World Cup for the last time in 2002, he was aged 34.

Yet another Italian defencemen, the legendary Franco Baresi, played his last World Cup in 1994 aged…34. Something about the age 34 with monumental defencemen? (Kunde, Maldini, Baresi…).

Why not Rigobert Song? He will be 34 next year (2010) when he expects to play his last World Cup for Cameroon in South Africa . The committed fellow has only said he wants to finish the job with his troops. But a certain mob action by some fans is trying to jeer him out prematurely. That is making him sound in several press interviews as even begging to be given a chance.

Captain or not, Song remains team leader. Even new captain, Eto’o knows that. It was Marcel Desailly who aptly drew the line between captain and leader. Ever before he took the captain band for France, when Laurent Blanc was still captain, Desailly saw himself as the leader. Song might have cumulated captain and leader for ten years, but the captain band now gone to Eto’o, he remains the leader.

Elsewhere, reasonable people sing their heroes. Here we frustrate ours and send them to their early graves. If only Song could be allowed to enjoy the pleasure of playing his last World Cup at that magical age - 34.

First published in my sport magazine, "This is SPORT! This is FOOTBALL!" ahead of Cameroon's September 5, first leg game with Gabon in Libreville just after Rigobert Song lost the captain band to Samuel Eto'o and at the time he was considered by many to be on his way out of the national team, having also lost his stopper position to the younger, Sebastien Bassong in Cameroon's friendly with Austria that preceded the Cameroon-Gabon World Cup/AFCON qualifier.

On the bench at the start of the match in Libreville, Song smarted on to the pitch after Bassong suffered an injury and his performance was without reproach. He has not been benched since then, proving to fans at the Yaounde stadium on two occasions - Cameroon-Gabon (September 9) and Cameroon-Togo (October 10) - just what I'd said in this commentary.

How and why Musonge sidelined Inoni at Limbe CPDM rally*

Peter Mafany Musonge believes he is the new political leader and patriarch of Fako Division and wanted the fact acknowleged and established, so he crafted a gathering of all five Fako CPDM sections on 26 September in Limbe.

Musonge, former prime minister, now grand chancellor of National Orders, invited other political heavyweights of his generation – among them former archrivals John Ebong Ngole and Peter Agbor Tabi – including his most potential rival for Fako leadership, fellow ex-prime minister, Ephraim Inoni. Musonge apparently wanted to show that even in the presence of Inoni, Musonge is king.

That “Extraordinary Joint Section Conference of CPDM, Fako” was thus a “corronation ceremony” for Musonge as political godfather of Fako Division.

Every act of the Limbe show had the strappings of a Musonge corronation. Speaker after speaker gave him credit for masterminding the event. Although he holds no local party position, Musonge was initiator and chairman of the organizing committee.

“This conference was planned at the impulse of our elder brother and statesman, the Right Honourable PM Musonge,” said Andrew Monjimba Motanga, Fako I CPDM section president, who spoke on behalf of all five section presidents.

Yet, had no one sung his praise, Musonge was set to blow his own trumpet. He opened his scripted speech by reminding all that he – and no one else – was at the origin of the grandiose event. “The idea of this extraordinary joint sections conference was hatched […] at a meeting called by your humble servant,” Musonge boasted.

In enumerating who else were involved in organizing the show, Musonge gave the public to tacitly understand that Ephraim Inoni was not one of them. He went on to avoid mentioning Inoni even in acknowledging personalities who honoured the event. Neither was there any provision on the programme for Inoni to speak, even if only as a local elite, and throughout the show, he looked like a stranger in his own homeland.

Another potential Musonge rival, the very eloquent Henry Njalla Quan, former Limbe government delegate and Musonge’s successor as CDC general manager, might have shown some non-chalance in the face of that “cold war”, by quitting his seat in the honours tribune to join his orchestra across the street at the Limbe marchpast venue, in performing a song that lavished praises on both Musonge and Inoni as worthy sons of Fako.

Political watchers believe Musonge was just making smart to hoist his flag of conquest over territory he knows Inoni equally lays claims to. And the timing could not have been better calculated.

Dorothy Limunga Njeuma, erstwhile Fako leader if only in her capacity as the lone CPDM Politbureau member from the division, is now out of the way. She officially lost her party political status with her resignation from the party, following her appointment last year into ELECAM.

If Fako must retain Njeuma’s sit in any future reorganisation of that high organ of the CPDM, the two former PMs would be seriously considered. And there is the Senate expected to be set up soon, which would largely be the assembly of former statesmen. If nothing else, a statement by Laurent Charles Etoundi Ngoa, representing the CPDM scribe, gave room for speculation over what big trophy would next come to Fako and to whom. Said he: “Fako has received and Fako will receive again.”

If Musonge’s longstanding intentions to occupy the territory were held at bay while Inoni was in power until 30 June, his restraint clearly lasted only until then. There were words from Musonge himself to prove that. He said the Limbe CPDM rally “was hatched only a month ago, precisely on 26 August 2009.”

Without having to check on a calendar, that was less than two months after Inoni was replaced as prime minister and only one month after he effectively returned home and announced he was still available for service. That implied Inoni’s continued involvement in active politics and – he might have hoped – as a local political godfather.

Although Musonge has not quite been seen in overt political gesticulations even as prime minister, it now looks like Fako is beginning to get too small for the two retired PMs. Both men have not been particular fond of each other as politicians though, so Musonge’s stage-managed show on 26 September appears to have been a way of denying Inoni soft landing in Fako after he was booted out of the Star Building on 30 June.

This analytic report was first published in Standard Tribune N° 054 of 05 October 2009 (page 1) as my Guest Contribution under the title: CPDM: Musonge, Inoni in ‘coldwar’ over Fako

Musonge’s political calculation

Timing is crucial in political calcualtions like in everything strategic. Musonge certainly knows that. He has taken about the most outgoing move in his political career with the rally in Limbe grouping all five CPDM sections in Fako.

Besides capitalising on Dorothy Njeuma’s departure from the party political arena, Musonge may have banked on certain incapacities of the people most likely to stand in his way at this present time.

Co-patriarch Ephraim Inoni, who by right and acquired status should also be postulating as a Fako political godfather is gravely handicapped to put up a political fight at this time when grapevine holds, he has the sword of Damocles dangling over his head in relation to looming corruption suspicions.

Besides, Musonge remains confident that he, not Inoni, can be regarded as a local godfather any time, political gesticulations or none. As Churchill Ewumbue Monono put it in a 1996 write-up sizing up Biya’s likely pick for PM from the South West ahead of Musonge’s appointment in September same year, Musonge seems to have done more to groom the young Fako elite than Inoni, though the latter spent longer years within government circles. Even when Inoni became PM, Fako boys felt his Kupe-Muanenguba wife led him away to care more for her native division. That may not be entirely true.

His local rival aside, Musonge brought along his former arch-rivals, Peter Agbor Tabi and John Ebong Ngole. These should have been the most unlikely two to be seen at a Musonge event. Ebong’s descent into everlasting (?) hell and Tabi’s 12 years in the political wilderness; both men owe them to Musonge. It is understood they were Musonge’s first political casualties. He axed them out of the government in 1997 at his very first opportunity to be consulted by Biya for a cabinet change. Grapevine had been awash with talk that both rivals plus Inoni, thought Musonge was only their caretaker PM when he was first appointed in 1996. He stayed on eight years, three months!

So in Musonge’s calculation, inviting Ebong and Tabi might have been a show of reconciliation or actual reconciliation at a time little remained to divide them. For whatever aspirations each of them nurses now, their paths can only be parallel; they may not clash. An ex-PM may now only aspire for the Senate. Coming from separate constituencies, one’s gain cannot be the other’s undoing. Securing a Senate seat is one thing, holding an influential position therein like speaker, is quite another. So, Musonge may thus be paving his way to the next big thing, assured his peers would stand by him.

If Musonge is not counting on their understanding and forgiving heart, he might be playing on the reality that, now back into government after 12 years in the school of verbal restraint and self-examination, Agbor Tabi, the more militant of the two Musonge victims, should be in no mood to engage in another fight lest he repeats his errors of the past and compromise his chances for his own next big thing. He would need the goodwill of his peers and possible detractors if he must realize his life dream.

There cannot be any denying that Musonge’s mailing list for the Limbe event on 26 September was targetted. It was an oldtimers club. As a formality, sitting ministers may have been invited, just like the sitting prime minister, Philemon Yang, who was only represented, yet Musonge was visibly contented that in the absence of them all, he had a chance to show the world he could stretch a hand at his former arch-rivals and show his local rival that while those who live in a glass house ought to avoid throwing stones, those sure they have no glasses to bother about can go about throwing their stones to mark out captured territory.

This article was first published in Standard Tribune N° 054 of 05 October 2009 (page 11) in my new column STATE OF THE NATION

We were not spoiled kids - late Dan Muna

Excerpts of what the late Daniel Muna told me in a 2001 interview


The late Daniel Muna said they (Muna kids) were not princes born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Their upbringing was devoid of the spoilings that children of well-to-do parents generally enjoy, he said. This, he said, involved trekking to school though there were vehicles at their disposal. He said that could have humbled them and given them the drive to serve humanity that leaves the impression they are over-ambitious. The first son of the late S.T. Muna who died on 12 July 2009 in Douala, had just been elected chairman of the Cameroon Medical Council in February 2001 when Franklin Sone Bayen conducted an interview with him in Yaounde, which was published in The Herald of 2 – 4 March 2001 (page 10). This excerpt was republished in Standard Tribune on Monday, 24 August 2009

What is it with the Munas? Why do they always seek to be leaders?
If I try to answer that question, I may want to refer to our background, and in referring to our background, I have to give credit to our parents. We have been brought up, consciously or unconsciously, with a sense of service to society, a sense of consciousness to the needs of society. But in doing this, it has not been to be leaders…

Is it not that the Munas are just ambitious…?
Well, I think everyone should be ambitious. I think you should be ambitious to achieve your objectives. OK, I was saying that we were brought up to work hard, to try to achieve, to be concerned about our society, you see, and it becomes a drive. You commit yourself to the things that give meaning to your life. In the process, you also find yourself having to fall in situations where, instead of being part of the problem, you become part of the solution. And so sometimes, some of these things galvanise you to certain positions without you really fighting for them. And when I look back, I become very appreciative for the time my father, S.T. Muna, for example, after a day’s hard work, would call me to his office to try and review my homework, to see what we did in school. He himself would teach by example. If he was going to the farm, he took you along. When he was working, you had to work with him. Sometimes, on going somewhere, which required driving there, he could prefer to go on foot and you had to follow him there on foot. As school children, he even made us trek to school like other children, although there were vehicles at our disposal. All these were lessons which were subtle. I tell you, when I look back they become very significant in my life now. It was when I did my studies in the United States that during difficult situations, I looked back and appreciated the hard way our parents brought us up. I’ll always give credit to our parents for giving us what I consider that foundation.


Let’s take a close-ended question. Is the Muna family a political family?
When you look at our history, our father has been in politics (S.T. Muna was still alive then) and has played a very significant role in the political evolution of Cameroon. I have a brother, Bernard, who is very politically inclined. I have Akere who is Batonnier (Akere Muna was Bar Council Chairman at the time). It’s a professional group. He has taken certain positions as a politician, though he has not been very interested in politics as such… I don’t know what he is thinking this year and what he may think next year. I think that situations change in life. In my case, I have never really been in active politics. I don’t see myself as a politician… [but] let us say that the situation among doctors becomes critical in a sense that some of the issues that we are fighting become political issues, in fighting for these issues, one can be perceived as a politician, but one would be going there because of an issue, not for politics as such. (Their kid sister, Ama Tutu, appointed into the Biya government in December 2004, was not yet in politics.)