Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
This Dirty Political Game Has Been Going On In Cameroon For Many Years. Ni John Fru Ndi’s SDF, And A Number Of CPDM Elites, Were Victims Of The Political Malpractice In The Past. The Platform Used Then, Was The Newspaper. With The Coming Of The Social Media, The Platform Has Changed, And The Political Game Has Moved From A Small Scale, To A Large Scale Dimension.
In a country like the United States of America, big media organs fight to get scoops on any major appointment or decision that the President of the country is about to make, from their reliable sources at the Presidency (White House), in the administration (government), or even from the President’s close allies. Most at times the media organs go the extent of giving the date when the President will make the appointment or decision, where it will be done, and even how he intends or plans to do it.
Any news organ that gets into this hunt for scoops in the United States is very conscious of the fact that, it is putting its credibility, and thus its image at stake. So the media organs do not only try as much as possible to have trusted, credible or dependable sources, but they also try to check the veracity of the information they get with other related and credible sources on the subject or issue, before hitting the airwaves , newspaper kiosks, or websites, with the scoops or breaking news. And so when New York Time, Washington Post, Fox News, CNN, CBS , or any major media organ comes out with a breaking news, disclosing that the President of the United States is thinking, is about to, or will tomorrow appoint A or B to a top post in the administration, the military or whatever, the public takes it serious.
Meanwhile, one of the mains reason why the American public pay attention to such a scoop put out by any serious media organ in the country, is that the President of the United States, be he of the Democratic or Republican Party, has the tradition of not changing or holding back on any appointment or decision he is about to make, even when it leaks to the media. So no serious media organ in the United States, will risk to put out such a piece of information or breaking news, if it is not sure that the information is credible, because if it turns out to be a fake news, the credibility of the media organ will suffer a severe blow.
The Case Of Paul Biya And Cameroon
But the case of Cameroon where Paul Biya has scandalously been in power now for 43 years, is different from what happens in the United States. A couple of years after President Biya came to power, his collaborators in the Government and the ruling party, noticed that the President was somebody who very much liked taking the public by surprise, especially with major appointments or major decisions. It was observed that President Biya was so much attached to the element of surprise in making appointments or taking major decisions, that whenever his plans to make a major appointment leaked, he would either change or modify it, or even annul it.
How Some Members Of The Regime Took Advantage
After observing that President Biya liked the element of surprise in making major appointments or taking major decisions, some members of the regime started exploiting the situation for their selfish ends, especially from the 90s with the rebirth or multiparty politics and a dose of press freedom.
What started happening, was that when some unscrupulous members of the Biya regime, got a hint, or even just suspected, that President Biya was about, or was thinking, to appoint any of their political rival to a top or lucrative post, the information would be secretly given to a newspaper. When the story was published, the person or persons behind it, would use a network in the system, to push the article up, to the attention of President Biya, knowing that he would either change or modify the plan, if he actually had such a plan.
Initially, the newspaper publishers or journalists that were given such a piece of information to publish, took it for gospel truth, and thus considered the information as a scoop. When media organs came to know the truth, that they were being exploited by some vicious politicians for their selfish ends, some stopped accepting to publish such stories, while others transformed it into a business.
The Political Game Became A Business To Some Media Organs Or Journalists
The business expanded to include striking deals with any unscrupulous CPDM elite or any other person who could pay, and who wanted to indulge in the political malpractice, with the objective being to destroy the chances of a political rival, especially for a major appointment.
It should be noted that the politicians or personalities that often resort to this malpractice, are unscrupulous members of government, General Managers of a State Corporations or Companies, as well as some elites holding top or lucrative posts that they got through presidential appointments. When such a person gets a hint or allegation, or even he just suspects or imagine, that a potential rival in his political constituency, is being tipped for a high appointment that he thinks threatens his post, or that the person is doing certain things for the ruling CPDM Party, or in the society, that can lead to him been appointed to a high post , he secretly goes after the person.
The genera tendency in the past was that the personality that feels threatened, or a member of his camp , would contact a newspaper publisher or journalist with whom he could secretly strike a deal, to do an article that President Biya was about to appoint A or B into Government, as General Manager of a State Corporation, or to a top post. After the article was published, the personality would use a network in the regime, to move the article up, for the attention of President Biya.
Some Ministries Are Seen As Being Owned By Certain Regions
This feeling of threat to someone’s post also came to be reinforced, by the fact that people had also observed too, that President Biya has this tendency to appoint a ‘brother ‘to replace another ‘brother’, in name of regional balance. There are even certain ministries that are considered to be owned by certain regions, because President Biya has for several years replace minsters from those regions, with their brothers of the same region. The Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reforms, has for several years for example , been successively headed by ministers from the East Region, while the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has been in the hands of the West Region.
There are quite a number of such ministries. And the tendency thus ,is that when somebody from one of those regions show any ambition to become a minister, or that people just speculate or even just imagine that the person could be appointed into government, the first thing that comes to the mind of the minister from that region, is that his post is under threat.
Repeated Allegations That SDF Is About To Enter Gov’t
Over the years, or better still, since the 90s, there has persistently been speculations, rumours, and allegations, that the SDF Party is about to enter the CPDM Government. This allegation was stronger when for many years, precisely, from 1997 to February 2020, the SDF was the leading opposition party in parliament. After each presidential or legislative election, or whenever there were speculations that President Biya was about to appoint a new government, or carryout a cabinet reshuffle, some newspapers in the country would come up with reports alleging that SDF was about to enter government.
Keen political observers always suspected that CPDM members of government, or some aspiring CPDM elites, of the two Anglophone Regions (Northwest and Southwest Regions), as well as the West Regions, which were considered as the strongholds of the SDF, were behind this political game. This was because it was assumed that if SDF had to enter the government, almost all those to be appointed would come from regions considered as the party’s fief.
Repeated SDF Reactions Were Pleasing To The CPDM Elites Behind The Allegation
SDF under its Pioneer National Chairman, Ni John Fru Ndi (now of blessed memory), also repeatedly reacted to the allegations, just the way those CPDM elites that were suspected to be behind the political game, wanted. Whenever there was a media report alleging that the SDF was about to enter the CPDM Government, or that it might enter the Government, or even that there was a plan by the regime to invite the SDF to join the Government, the SDF leader or the party would hastily come out to blast not only the allegation, but also the CPDM regime. At times the reaction of the SDF would include tough conditions impossible for the regime to accept, as conditions under which the SDF could accept to be in Government with the CPDM. Whenever the SDF came out with a strong reaction, those behind the political game would use strong networks in the regime, to carry the SDF reaction to the attention of President Biya.
Meanwhile it should be noted that with SDF now under the leadership of Hon Joshua Osih, the CPDM elites behind the repeated allegations that SDF is about to enter Government, are definitely not happy with Osih’s style of doing things, as he rarely reacts to media reports, be they true or false.
The Coming Of The Social Media
Meanwhile, with the coming of the social media, the political game of sabotaging the possible or imaginary chances of rivals being appointed into Government, has taken a wider dimension, with the posting of purported new governments on Facebook, WhatsApp, and so on. The political game is no longer limited to targeting one person that he is about to be purportedly appointed by President Biya. It has expanded to also include the appointment s of fake governments, and purported cabinet reshuffles. Also, the political game or malpractice has become more of a fight between camps in the CPDM regime. It is no secret that the CPDM regime is today in camps, that are ferociously fighting each order to control power, in order to eventually replace the 93 year old President Biya who has been much weakened by age, and may soon finally quit power.
When for example, there is a post on the social media about a purportedly leaked information, that President Biya wants to appoint Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh , Philemon Yang, Frank Biya , Baboke Oswald as Vice President, or that Biya wants to appoint Felix Mbayu , Ibrahim Talba Malla, Manaoudou Malachie, or Alamine Osmane Mey as Prime Minister, it is very likely that the anti Ngoh Ngoh Camp, anti-Philemon Yang-Camp, anti –Ibrahim Talba Malla Camp, anti – Felix Mbayu Camp, anti – Alamine Ousmane Mey Camp, anti – Manaouda Malachie Camp, anti – Frank Biya Camp, or anti –Baboke Oswald Camp in the regime, as the case may be, is behind the social media post. Of course the objective of the camp is to sabotage any possible or imaginary chances that, the personality has, of being appointed by President Biya to that post.
Attempts To Split Friends Or Allies In The Regime
Also, the objective of the publication of some of the purported appointments in the ‘Facebook government’, is as well meant to raise suspicion between friends or allies in CPDM regime, tear the friends or allies apart, and weaken their camps. It is for example no secret in the CPDM regime that, the current Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, is quite close to the current Secretary General at the Presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh. When a new ‘Facebook government’, shows Ngoh Ngoh as having been appointed as Minister of Territorial Administration, to replace Atanga Nji, it is not for nothing.
