1 Title A Human Rights Based Approach: An Option for Attaining Sustainable Development in Cameroon. by Peaceful B. Mbeng Dissertation, 30 higher education credits Erasmus Mundus Master’s Programme in Human Rights Policy and Practice Institute of Human Rights, University of Deusto School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg Department of Social Sciences, University of Roehampton Spring Semester 2017 2 DECLARATION FORM The work I have submitted is my own effort. I certify that all the material in the Dissertation, which is not my own work, has been identified and acknowledged. No materials are included for which a degree has been previously conferred upon me. Mbeng Peaceful Bih: Date: 28 May 2017 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Although this programme started off as a challenge for me not having academic background in law, I nursed so much dreams of finishing it. It has been a very tough journey for me these past two years, academic-wise, health-wise and the civil war that broke out in November 2016 in my home town in English Cameroon. I give God all the glory for bringing me this far despite all odds. I want to thank the European Commission for creating programmes like this Erasmus Mundus to help people like me who desire to climb higher on the academic ladder but lack the opportunities and resources to do so. Many thanks also go to the Erasmus Mundus Consortium for their tireless efforts to take us through the programme despite our weaknesses and limitations. I want to thank especially our professors and administrators of the three universities for being encouraging and helpful too. I remember Prof Eyasau’s words when I told him I was not sure I would cope in this programme. He told “Peaceful, people who often think they can’t cope end up among the best”. I am also grateful to Maite who sacrificed a lot to keep me company for over a week in the hospital. (God bless you Maite). I want to thank especially Dr. Jennifer Melvin who encouraged me continuously insisting that I must keep moving, no matter what is happening back home. I am very grateful for the relentless effort my family has given me through these two years. To my Mum, Saphira Mbeng who made sure to call me every-day, to my Uncle Professor Nelson Daniel Ngoh and his entire family who encouraged me, telling me they believe in me, to my kid sister Dorothy Mbeng and my entire family at home and abroad. I equally want to say a big thank you to my cohort team that held my hand and practically dragged me to the finishing line. I love you so, so much guys. You have been family for me away from home. Couldn’t have wished for better buddies than you. Hugs and Kisses. 4 ABSTRACT This dissertation discusses the importance of human rights to the attainment of development. All human rights are indivisible, whether they are civil and political rights, such as the right to life, equality before the law and freedom of expression; economic, social and cultural rights. “The central goal of Development has and will be the promotion of human well-being. Given that human rights define and defend human well-being, a rights-based approach to development provides both the conceptual and practical framework for the realization of human rights through the development process”. Cornwall and Musembi P. 1425. A Human- Rights-Based-Approach (HRBA) became a trending paradigm in the field of development since the 1980s and 1990s. Now, key organisations like the United Nations Organisation (UNO), African Union (AU) and the World Bank attest that HRBA is indispensable to sustainable development. This dissertation identifies some gaps between policy and practice in Cameroon and proposes a HRBA to development as a toll that spur up sustainable development if dutifully applied. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. I also discuss factor such as corruption, bad government and embezzlement which if dealt with, enhance development. Key Concepts: Human rights, Human Rights Based Approach, Sustaninable Development, Collective Participation to decision-making, Non-Discrimination. 5 ABBREVIATIONS AAC All Anglophone Conference ADB African Development Bank CAO Complaint Advisor Ombudsman CPDM Cameroon’s People Democratic Party CRTV Cameroon Radio Television CRM Cameroon Renaissance Movement CEMAC (French) Central African Economic Authority ELECAM Elections Cameroon GCE General Certificate of Education HRBA Human Rights Based Approach IMF International Monetary Fund MoRISC Movement for the Restoration of Southern Cameroons OHCHR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Right PAP People’s Action Party SCNC Southern Cameroon National Congress SD Sustainable Development RTD Right to Development SDF Social Democratic Front ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights NGO Non-governmental organization UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights ILO International Labour Organization UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Chapter One 1.Introduction………………………………………………………………….…. 8 1.1 Summary of Economic Background ...………………………………………... 9 1.2 Research Problem……………………………………… ……………………...10 1.3 Research Questions…………………… ………………………………………11 1.4 Justification……………...………………………………………………………11 1.5 Chapters outline………………………………………………………...……….12 CHAPTER TWO 2. 1 ITERATURE REVIEW….……………………………………………………13 2.1 Introduction………………………………...………………...………………….13 2.2 Freedom….……………………………………………………...……………......13 2.3 Governance………………….…………………………………………………...14 2.4 Inequality……………………………………….………………………………...16 2.5 Development and Human Rights……………………………………………...…17 2.6 Right to Development…………………………………………………………….18 2.7 Human Rights Based Approach…………………………………………………...18 2.8 Relationship between HRBA and RTD…………………………………………...18 2.9 Effects of Corruption on Development……………………………………………21 2.10 Bad Governance and its Effects on Development………………………………23 2.11 Poverty and Inequality in Relation to Development……………………………24 2.12 Theoretical Framework………………………………………………………….25 CHAPTER THREE 3. RESEARCH METHODS….…………………………………………………....28 3.1 Qualitative Research Method……………………………………………………28 3.2 Empirical Research Method…………………………………………………….29 3.3 Methodology……………………………………………………………………...29 3.3.1 Primary Data……………………………………………………………………29 3.3.2 Secondary Data…………………………………………………………………29 7 3.4 Ethical Considerations…………………………………………………………....30 3.5 Challenges/Limitations………………………………………………………......31 3.6 Validity and Reliability……………………………………………………….….32. CHAPTER FOUR 4. FINDINGS…………………………………………………………………….….32 4.1 Introduction to Thematic Analysis……………………………………………..…34 4.2.1 Emergence through Governance ………………………………………………..34 4.2.2 Emergence through Democracy………………………………………………...34 4.2.3 Emergence through transparent Electoral processes.……………………………40 4.2.4 Emergence through Exposing and Combating Corruption………...………….…42 4.3 Emergence Through National Unity…………………………………………….....47 4.3.1 Emergence Through National Security………………………………………….53. CHAPTER FIVE 5. CONCLUSION.………………………………………………………………..…59 5.1 Recommendations………………………………………………………………....60 5.2 National Unity…………………………………………………………………….60 5.3 Dialogue…………………………………………………………………………..60 5.4 Inclusive Policies…………………………………………………………………..61 5.5 Intensive Monitoring and Evaluation………………………………………………61 - Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………….62 - Appendix………………………………………………………………………………67 8 1. INTRODUCTION “All human rights are indivisible, whether they are civil and political rights, such as the right to life, equality before the law and freedom of expression; economic, social and cultural rights, such as the rights to work, social security and education, or collective rights, such as the rights to development and self-determination, are indivisible, interrelated and interdependent. The improvement of one right facilitates advancement of the others. Likewise, the deprivation of one right adversely affects the others” (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner Human Rights ‘OHCHR’). This study seeks to highlight the interdependency of human rights and sustainable development and how the absence of one or the ineffective application of one has affected the other in the Cameroonian politics and sustainable development endeavours. That is, how the absence or presence of rights in Cameroon has affected the proper enjoyment of rights. The study is geared towards proposing a tool that enables greater commitment to the application of a practical Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) to Sustainable Development (SD) in Cameroon. Findings show that the 1980s that Cameroon has been struggling to achieve some milestones in its development agenda, the government has been inconsistently protecting just few selected parts of the Covenant on the International Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural rights (ICESCR) that fit in well with the authoritarian regime that rules the country. Articles that can jeopardise the grip of power from the powers that be are not tempered with. For example, it is very common to hear the president and his ministers declaring that Cameroon is a state of law or a free state where everyone has the right to freedom of expression, but in reality, that right only goes as far as the government is not criticised. For example, it is reported that the office of Amnesty International in Yaounde, Cameroon was forcefully closed down on Thursday 24th of May 2017 by government forces with orders from the President, in order to stop a press conference which was “to present more than 310,000 letters and petitions signed from people all across the world, asking President Paul Biya to release three students imprisoned for 10 years simply for sharing a joke by SMS about Boko Haram,” (Alioune Tine, Amnesty International’s West and Central Africa Director, Cameroon Concord, Thursday 24th May 2017). The application of human rights in Cameroon must not infringe on the comfort of the powerful. According to the Concord Newspaper, some Cameroonians believe the government 9 is allergic to certain rights such as, the right to self-determination, the right to expression and the right to equal development. More about this will be discussed in chapter four What is new about human rights and development? Human rights and development is actually not a very new paradigm now in 2017 but, its practical integration into the constitution, human rights policies and development policies in Cameroon are still crawling. Taking for instant that a HRBA is supposed to be holistic and inclusive whereby citizens contribute to creating opportunities, sharing the benefits of development and participating in decision-making which aligns with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) human rights approach to participation, non-discrimination and accountability, then findings prove that Cameroon is not yet close to it. I want to investigate what lies between the gap between policy and practice in Cameroon. I am working towards introducing HRBA to development in a more practical way in Cameroon. 1.1 Summary of Economic Background of Cameroon Since the 1980s, Cameroon has been receiving aid and loans for development and poverty reduction from the World Bank, IMF, the African development bank, France, America, etc. For example, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries fund (HIPC) that rounded up in 2006, the Rural and Urban Youth Support Program known by its French acronym as PAJER-U, the Integrated Project for Manufacturing of Sporting Materials (PIFMAS), the National Employment Fund (NEF) and the Integrated Support Project for Actors of the Informal Sector (PIAASI), just to name a few .All these are geared towards supporting the development programmes launched by the government to salvage the incessant decline in the economy of Cameroon. In 1993, in an attempt to rescue the deteriorating economy, the government slashed civil servants’ salaries by 60%. This did not yield any significant improvement. Thus, in 1994, the government devalued the Francs CFA (Communute Francais Afrique) by 50% but Cameroon’s economic situation did not change either. In 2009, the Government of Cameroon in another effort to improve the economy, established its development strategies in its “Vision 2035” policy document which strives to make Cameroon an emerging economy by 2035. This was a reinforcement of the Cameroon’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). Recently, the European Union, the World Bank the African Development Bank, American embassy and China have put in Non- Sovereign Guaranteed Loans worth billions to spur up realisation of this ambitious “Vision 2035” of Cameroon becoming an emerging democratic and united country by 2035. Thus, considering 10 all the efforts made so far, as illustrated above, and bearing in mind the fact that Cameroon is considered the seventh largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa, one would expect its economy to be thriving but this is not the case as the economy of Cameroon has not yielded any substantial improvement over the years and poverty and acute unemployment remain foremost among the grass root citizens. 1.2 Research Problem The general development situation in Cameroon indicates that although development policies are designed to target poverty reduction, investment priorities are focused on urban development and giant economic projects like the Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Pipeline, the Loom Panga Power Plant, the Kribi Deep Seaport, etc with negligible investments in the local population. This is problematic because, majority of the poor citizens do not feel the impact of such industrial projects do not significantly contribute to basic utilities that protect human dignity and livelihood since these projects relate more to global economy than the common citizen. Despite the construction of these giant projects, grass roots citizens continue to languish in abject poverty. Some of these giant projects are instead upsetting to the indigenous populations. For example, the Cameroon-Chad Pipeline brought more problems to the livelihood of the local citizens than economic prosperity as was initially portrayed. Most of the indigenous populations were displaced from their lands, some without settlement or given proper settlement, causing more poverty than economic prosperity. Basic livelihood projects that can reduce grass root poverty are not given the proper attention they deserve by the central government, (Compliant Advisor Ombudsman July 2016). Government officials together with their counterparts embark on projects without seeking to understand the human rights impact on those involved in the projects. For example, often, government officials do not pause to ask themselves; what exactly does this community want, if the project we are proposing is important but not the priority of this community, how do we reason with them to cooperate and participate in the execution without the feeling of being forced, how will this project affect the emotional, cultural, environmental, economic, religious and the dignity and worthiness of the community and their daily livelihood. They hardly create time understand how they can make the community feel more integrated in designing, planning and implementing projects that benefit them, what advantages are there when the free-prior-consent of the people is part of project design and execution, what would be the consequences if the voice of the community is ignored in decision-making concerning projects, what will happen to the project and the funding if the 11 community protests or fights back and so on. The failure of the Cameroonian government to address these human rights concerns in all grass roots projects constitute a problem that I will attempt to address in this research. The above situation in Cameroon is aggravated by bad governance, bribery and corruption, authoritarian leadership, uneven development ventures, mismanagement of national resources, disunity and insecurity in the national territory. This study has identified some gaps that if addressed properly might bring a swift upsurge in the development of Cameroon and enhance the attainment of the ‘Vision 205’. These are; - The gap between what the government says its doing and what is actually happening. - The gap between development in French Cameroon and development in English Cameroon. - The gap between development in urban cities and rural cities, and - The gap between the rich and the poor (poverty and inequality). 1.3 Research Questions In this dissertation, my main objective is to answer the following questions; 1. If the development and human rights policies are good enough then, why are there are gaps between policy and practice in development in Cameroon? 2. What are the factors responsible for these gaps? 3. What can be used to fill the gaps to ensure sustainable development and the achievement of the vision 2035? 1.4 Justification of the study findings on the Vision 2035 and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) development policy documents prove that Cameroon’s development policies are well formulated to attain sustainable development. The Constitution equally upholds human rights articles that indicate that Cameroonians have the right to freedom of all the rights in the international human rights instruments including right to development. But all the past development investments including the ambitious ‘Vision 2035’, which is already eight years down the road, have not yet yielded significant economic growth. There is this apprehension among Cameroonians that Cameroon might not attain this ‘Vision 2035’ goal. Secondly, there is this general anxiety about the critical human rights situation in Cameroon and the civil disobedience that broke out in the English-Speaking Regions of Cameroon in November 12 2016 and has persisted until now (June 2017). The government has refused to manage the human rights crisis by using a HRBA. But rather prefers to use force and brutality to repress protesters. Development programmes are compromised by socio-political insecurity. It is this uncertain situation and the desire to contribute to the many Cameroonians’ voices that are already working towards policies and practical solutions that can enable the realisation of Cameroon’s ‘Vision 2035’ that have motivated my choice for this study. More attention is given to urban development and the government invests more on giant projects that do not directly benefit the common grass roots citizens. Rural development is often engaged on without the free-prior-consent and participatory decision making of the grass roots population in conception, designing/planning, executing, monitoring/evaluating and reporting on projects that concern them. As such, conflicts often arise between the executors and local populations in the course of project execution. This has led to a situation where projects are planned and never started, projects started but suspended, projects prolonged and not meeting deadlines, projects abandoned/uncompleted, some projects are banned, some fail completely or are completed but disqualified for not meeting modalities. In this scenario, the big loans and aid from abroad and internal resources are wasted and everything falls back to the starting point This is the type of vicious cycle that has prevailed in project management in Cameroon for over three decades. According to the World Bank Country Assessment Strategy Report of 2010 and 2014 of Cameroon’s Vision 2035, “Governance is a major challenge to Cameroon’s development transactions and hampers quality delivery of services” (World Bank, 2010, 2014). 1.5 Chapter outline Chapter one introduces the study and explains the structure of the dissertation. Chapter two discusses other authors’ research about what can empower or hinder development. Here, themes in the field of human rights and development such as governance, freedom, poverty and inequality are discussed. The right to development as well as a HRBA to sustainable development are introduced and a brief narration of how these two theories complement each other in development are equally discussed. Chapter two ends with an outline of the theoretical framework of this dissertation. The framework to analyse this study is the social constructivism theory. It is accompanied by the sustainable development concept. The qualitative research method was used in this dissertation. The social constructivism framework was especially suitable for the study because I was interested in 13 the meaning behind what the government says and what it actually does. Chapter three discusses the methods and the methodology of the research. The qualitative and empirical research methods were used to carry out this study. As for the methodology, primary and secondary data was collected. Primary data was collected from Cameroon government institutions, websites. Secondary data was collected from other sources such as the World Bank, United Nations, African Development Bank, scholarly research books and articles. Chapter four discusses the analysis from the data collected. The themes that are discussed in this chapter are emergence through governance, national unity, national security, freedom, exposing and combating of corruption, poverty and inequality. This dissertation ends with chapter five which discusses a summary of the findings and recommendations of the study. 2. CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter is organised according to a broadly thematic structure which highlights the key concepts and theories that emerge from academic literature about factors that can empower or hinder the attainment of sustainable development. The authors outline the interdependency of human rights and development stating that development is an inalienable HR like right to life. The authors have discussed many themes such as freedom, governance, poverty and inequality. In the course of discussing these broad themes, they equally touch concepts such as democracy, corruption, hunger, transparency, accountability, and so on. They equally discussed how a human-rights -based-approach (HRBA) can spur up significant results in the development process. But I observed that there is a gap between policy and practice. For example, Gauri and Gloppen: (2012 P. 7) argue that despite the immense use of conventional models by the United Nations and other human rights bodies, no significant success has been recorded in the field of development with regards to the attainment of the standard required by the human rights covenants in the past decades. By the end of this study, I should be able to give practical recommendations that can fill this gap, especially in the case of Cameroon. 2.2 Freedom Thomas Pogge (2003 & 2008) and Amartya Sen (1999) are among the many authors that have discussed extensively on freedom. They have argued that true freedom means the enjoyment of human rights, the eradication of poverty and the attainment of sustainable 14 development. According to both authors freedom is simply a situation of being free, either from another person’s control, compulsion or authority. That is, being independent and able to express one’s self, having access to information, participating in decision-making in the community and exercising one’s capabilities. Sen (1999 P.17) opens his discussion in his book “Development as Freedom” by defining freedom as "both the processes that allow freedom of actions and decisions, and the actual opportunities that people have". He contends that freedom means that an individual must feel socially, economically and politically unrestricted. He equally emphasises that “economic freedom is especially important because economic unfreedom makes an individual a helpless prey to social and political unfreedom”. Pogge and Sen also argue that freedom is about having and using rights as mandated by Article 1 of the Convention on the Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which emphasise that everyone has the right to self-determination, to freely determine one’s political status and to freely pursue s/he economic, social development. Sen and Pogge further argue that freedom must be supported and protected by social development that ensures a sustainable livelihood for all regardless of their social status in the society. For example, Sen (1999 P.4 para) stresses the fact that, through development programmes, the state has the responsibility to bring freedom to the individuals as well as the community by ensuring the eradication of hunger, provision of medications, enjoyment of clean water and sanitary facilities, access to public facilities and social care, access to clean clothes, access to proper health care, access to civil liberties and freedom to participate in the social, political and economic life of the community. The lack of these substantive freedoms is capable of leading directly to economic poverty, Sen (1999 P. 10-11). While (Sen, 1985, 1987, 1992 and 1999) argues freedom based on socio-economic, political and human capabilities, Thomas Pogge (2008 P. 152) states freedom is based on a fair economic and democratic participation; people making their own choices without influence or duress, in the economic and development agenda. Sen emphasises that freedom is the duty of the states and powerful individuals and organisations to the citizens while Pogge talks of freedom as the duty of the developed industrialised nations and WTO to the developing countries. The general understanding from these authors’ works is that no matter from which lens freedom is perceived, freedom depends on national and global governing mechanisms and strategies. 2.3 Governance 15 Governance is one of the key themes discussed in this dissertation. Governance includes all “processes and institutions, both formal and informal” associated with accomplishing collective action, (Nadia Rubaii, 2016 P. 469). The purpose of governance is to provide confident, strategic leadership and to create robust accountability, oversight and assurance, (UK Department of Education, Governance Handbook; 2017 P.9). Governance determines who has power, who makes decisions, how other players make their voices heard and how account is rendered, (Institute on Governance 2017): The general notion of governance is that, it ensures the general organisation, supervision, effectiveness and accountability of an institution or system. Good governance is recommended for the proper functioning of institutions, governments or systems. There are different understandings of good governance but (The Broker 2007) discusses good governance as the process that ensures that everyone, including the most vulnerable of the society’s voice is included in decision-making and ensures perfect economic management grounded on participation, responsiveness, efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and predictability. The UN’s Commission on Human Rights (UNHCR) explained that these general characteristics of technocratic good governance cited above, are limited to economic characteristics leaving out some vital aspects of the society. Thus, the commission added a civic component to it by including, democracy, human rights, rule of law, probity, integrity and accountability, (UNHCR). Bad governance on the other hand, is considered as the inability of a government or an institution to manage resources and affairs in a sustainable way so as to meet the needs of the public. According to Wael Omran Aly, (2013, P. 41-43) the feature of Bad governance are civil unrest, ethnic violence and bureaucratic inefficiency. Features of bad governance are, embezzlement, corruption, nepotism, mismanagement, absence of the rule of law, weak democratic institutions, ignorance, and an ineffective parliament. Bad governance often breeds poverty and social inequality in societies. 2.4 Inequality Sociologists such as Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber and Ralf Dahrendorf, have argued that social inequality is necessitated by the stratification of the society into socio- cultural, economic and political classes and the structuring of social institutions that reproduce such a system Robert Robinson and Jonathan Kelley (1979 P. 39). Peter Saunders (1992 P. 45) supports the class stratification argument stating that “there cannot ever be true equality between individuals in the society organised around the systematic inequality of 16 classes”. Saunders (1992 P. 41) further argues that inequality is more obvious in situations of income distribution. For example, he maintains that inequality has a stronger grip in situations where income distribution is very uneven. He paints a picture of a situation whereby, different segments of the population enjoy different life chances, that is, people with more money enjoying better goods and services. Mike Savage (2000 P. 44) joins the argument stating that in addition to class stratification, inequality is also manifested through societal structures such as, ethnicity, age, gender, colour, wealth, education, access to healthcare, access to labour market, political participation and geographical location. Most scholars have argued overwhelmingly that inequality is the fundamental cause of world poverty. For example, Thomas Pogge (2008 P. 204) argues that “world poverty can be equated to radical inequality where the ‘worse offs’ are really badly off in real terms”. He argues that inequality and poverty persist because the rich have not yet recognised the fact that poverty is a human rights violation and the eradication of poverty is a moral human right responsibility. Pogge’s conclusion is that affluent individuals and governments hold negative obligations towards the global poor. Inequality is depicted in poverty, hunger, exploitation, lack of hygiene/sanitation, institutional and infrastructural setups. Sen, (1999 P.74) argues that equal development ensures human rights in the sense that all citizens are entitled to substantive freedoms to choose a life one has reason to value and the government has obligations to ensure the fulfilment of these rights. Thus, human rights are indispensable in development. 2.5 Development and Human rights Development and human rights are two concepts that have been integrated by OHCHR June 2008 publication because of their indispensability to each other for the eradication of world poverty and the realisation of a sustainable livelihood. While development is devoted to the promotion of economic growth and the satisfaction of basics needs, human rights aims at exposing and ensuring the correction of the violation of rights by the government and powerful economic institutions such as transnational, Pogge (2008, P. 28-30). These two concepts had not been associated with each other until the 1980/1990s as discussed by Uvin (2004 P. 1). He highlights the fact that the development enterprise had lived in splendid isolation from the human rights world where Human Rights were seen as somebody else’ job. Likewise, human rights practitioners were mainly unconvinced about matters of development and social equity. He further explains that development was limited 17 to project implementation, markets and trade and human rights practitioners saw a lot of manoeuvres and corruption taking place in the field which conflicted with their own norms and values. Uvin argues that because of this previous misunderstanding between practitioners of these two fields, some development practitioners still do not consider human rights issues as part of their professional domain. According to him, this argument stems from the fact that the right to development falls under the third-generation rights which were recently added to the rights agenda and that are not easily classified as either civil and political rights or economic and social rights. Third generation rights include rights such as the right to self- determination, the right to natural resources, the right to economic and social development and the right to intergenerational equity and sustainability, Uvin (2004 P 1). According to the provisions of the Declaration of the Right to Development (RTD), development can hardly be achieved without the right to self-determination. 2.6 Right to Development and the Human Rights Based Approach to Development The 1986 Right to Development was resented by development institutions because of the language of global inequality. But from the mid-1990s, the language of rights has been largely limited to one’s own state, as such, it is tolerated in the field of development because it avoids the language of global inequality, Cornwall and Musebi (2004 P. 1416 and 1424). Article 1 of the 1986 Declaration on the Right to Development (RTD) states that, “The right to development is an inalienable human right by virtue of which every human person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realised”. Paragraph 2 of the annex/preamble explains that development is a comprehensive economic, social, cultural and political process, which aims at the constant improvement of the well-being of the entire population and of all individuals on the basis of their active, free and meaningful participation in development and in the fair distribution of benefits resulting therefrom, (RTD annex 2). Emphasis is laid on the fact that the right to development is an absolute human right entitled to everyone regardless of his or her race, colour, religion, education, sexual orientation, gender, continent, and so on, for the enjoyment of their economic, social, cultural and political development as a member of a given society. It shows how valuable development is to the wellbeing and equality of the human being. The Declaration projects the human person as the subject of the development process and that development policy should therefore make the human being the main participant and 18 beneficiary of development. That is, development should follow the human rights based approach. 2.7 Human Rights Based Approach Gauri and Gloppen: (2012 P. 3) define HRBAs as “principles that justify demands against privileged actors, made by the poor or those speaking on their behalf, for using national and international resources and rules to protect the crucial human interests of the globally or locally disadvantaged”. The 2006 report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights’ office states that HRBA is a conceptual framework which is applied to the process of human development which is normatively based on international human rights standards. Its function is, promoting human rights by analysing inequalities that lie at the heart of development problems in order to redress discriminatory practices and unjust distributions of power that impede the development progress, UNHCHR, (2006. P. 15 para). Alisa Clarke explains a HRBA as being a process that is being adopted to address structural and deeply rooted inequalities in the community which orientates the community towards long term investments that will yield sustainable results. She argues that, principally, a HRBA lays the foundation for durable peace and a balanced community and environment, (Clarke 2011 P. 232 para) 2.8 Relationship between RTD and HRBA The RTD and the HRBA complement each other in the domain of development. Amartya Sen (1999 P.3) states that development can never be enjoyed if people do not have “the liberty to participate in public discussion and scrutiny”. Likewise, Margot Salomon (2007 P. 113 para) reiterates that the RTD, the HRBA to development and the right to self- determination are all integrated. She also highlights that these rights have their roots in struggles for liberation from external powers and control which are all seeking a place that allows for functional equality in development that favours the human rights of every person. She maintains that, “It is development that serves people, and not people who serve economic development” (Salomon 2007 P. 114). Thus, if it is development that serves the people, then the place of human rights in development cannot be undermined. Salomon’s argument here is that the right to development has the ability to reorient society’s thinking to making people the higher purpose in the economic growth and development, rather than focusing just on 19 markets and trade. That is, making people’s rights the priority of the development agenda. Salomon’s argument connects us to Sen’s argument on the fact that development should be able to grant to citizens not just the access to civil liberties but also the enjoyment of a substantive livelihood. This depicts a justifiable picture of development as freedom as projected by Amartya Sen (1999). Salomon further argues that when the ICESCR) states that “everyone has the right to an adequate standard of living and so on, including adequate food, clothing, housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions, it is not a reference to everyone globally or domestically, but rather to each and every person, beginning with the poor on the street, (Salomon 2007 P. 113 para). In the same trend, Gauri and Gloppen argue that although the declaration of the RTD emphasises mainly the responsibility of the states (rights bearers), global enterprises, regional partnerships must ensure the promotion and protection of rights. They request right-holders too, to act equally in ways to instil moral pressure, dignity and self-respect, necessary for political, social, and legal mobilisation in order to reduce poverty and inequality at the global and national levels, Gauri and Gloppen: (2012 P. 2 para). They, further highlight that since the signing of the declaration on the RTD in 1986, and other development campaigns, “development has increasingly been framed in the language of human rights and related concepts, such as fundamental human capabilities and multi- dimensional poverty”. Bill Hopwood, Mary Mellor and Geoff O’Brien (2005 P. 39) associate the advent of a HRBA to sustainable development to the fact that “past growth models have failed to eradicate poverty globally or within countries, ‘no trends, no programmes or policies offered any real hope of narrowing the growing gap between rich and poor nations”. They argue that, instead the world has continued to experience acute poverty and environmental degradation. To them, a HRBA adds value to human development by supporting participation in decision- making, equity in access to benefits of state resources as well as addressing fundamental challenges for humanity at the same time avoiding damages on the environment that humanity depends on. To them, the attainment of sustainable development is hinged upon the combination of socio-economic and environmental success. A sustainable environment will preserve not just human equity but also inter-species equity and biodiversity, (Hopwood et al 2005 P. 39-32 para) Participation in decision-making is one of the focal concepts in the HRBA in the process of attaining sustainable development. The universal declaration on human rights (UDHR) preamble, paragraph 1, as well as the declaration to the (RTD) article 20 1 emphasise strongly that everyone is entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic social, cultural and political development which are fundamental rights for their wellbeing. This also requires the removal of major sources of oppression such as repression, exclusion, negligence of public facilities, tyranny, deprivation from economic and social opportunities and lack of freedom of expression. Cornwall and Musembi (2004 P. 1424) contribute to this by stating that “participation is now seen as an important means through which rights can be claimed and gained” they further explain that the focus of the right based approach is to shift the frame from assessing the needs of the beneficiaries to fostering citizens to recognise and claim their rights and obligation as right holders. Amartya Sen (1999 P.4 para)’s contribution to this argument is strongly rooted on the standpoint that for development to be able to free the people from poverty, hunger and death from poverty-related-illnesses in the community, governments must take the responsibility of ensuring the total participation of right-holders in decision-making and execution of projects. He insists that the state has the obligation of ensuring the eradication of hunger by supplying food and medicines and ensuring that citizens are enjoying clean water, sanitary facilities, having access to public facilities and social care as well as good health care. Citizens should also enjoy civil liberties and freedom to participate in the social, political and economic life of the community. These rights are the priority in the Convention on the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). To Sen, the lack of these substantive freedoms relates directly to economic poverty which robs people of the freedom of a sustainable lifestyle in the community. He perceives “development as a “fierce” process, with much “blood, sweat and tears”-a world in which wisdom demands toughness. That is, it demands calculated neglect of various concerns that are seen as “soft-headed” (development should not be addressed emotionally or with a soft heart) Sen (1999 P. 35-36 Para). Sen’s argument supports Hopwood et al Hopwood et al (2005)’s arguments that sustainable development can never be achieved using the conventional models that did not yield results in the past. He emphasises that if the process of development has to be judged by the enhancement of human freedom, then it must endeavour to obligatorily ensure the removal of all human deprivations from the society, (Sen 1999 P. 37 Para). In line with this argument, (Gauri and Gloppen: 2012 P. 7 para) argue that, to ensure the protection and promotion of human rights, all states must endeavour to ratify the UN Human rights convention. Through a HRBA citizen are empowered to hold states for increase in higher quality development assistance Gauri and Gloppen: (2012 P. 5-6). For example, (Cornwall and 21 Mesumbi 2004 P.1426) state that the World Bank is just reluctantly orienting itself into the language of the right based approach after being widely shamed and criticised by civil society organisations and the UN for liaising with the Netherlands in commercialising water, instead making it available for the rich and scarce for the poor. Although recent reports like the one on a HRBA to Gender Development by the world Bank in 2013 shows that the World Bank has integrated a HRBA to their policy and practice, human rights activists argue that the World Bank does not practice what they say. For example, Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, argues that the World Bank “won’t touch human rights’. He further argues that, “the bank has for a long time played a double game where a lot of the publicity suggests that they are engaging intensively with human rights…but the reality is the exact opposite, (Philip Alston, 2015, UN special rapporteur). Thomas Pooge 2008 P. 18) remarks that World Trade Organisation practices unfair trade policies that favour the developed countries and disfavour the developing countries. He argues that WTO’s rules facilitate global monopoly which enhances severe poverty and inequality in developing countries. As the naming and shaming increase, WTO is beginning to adjust to the corporate social responsibilities of transnational corporations such as accepting to work in collaboration with UN agencies such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Biological Diversity and so on. As earlier mentioned above, to a greater extent, the challenge of development has been that states and institutions have either not been functioning as expected or have been misusing the powers given to them by their people. But what has been commonly observed is the misuse of power and control. When states, institutions and leaders dysfunction, nations begin to experience negative effects such as corruption, bad governance, embezzlement, mismanagement, lack of transparency misappropriation of funds and so on. A keen observation on the arguments of the authors project the fact that sustainable development is one that gives the people the right to participate, to choose and equally instils in them the sense of freedom and fulfilment. Effects of these dysfunctional factors are discussed below. 2.9 Effects of Corruption on development Corruption is one of the main themes that are discussed in this chapter. As already indicated above, corruption is necessitated by vices such as bribery, embezzlement, mismanagement, misappropriation of funds, fraud, lack of transparency/accountability, 22 bureaucracy, centralisation and so on. Crawford and Andreas (2015. P. 5) point out the fact that corruption flourishes greatly in authoritarian leadership where the President has power over the Senate, the National Assembly, the national budget and is Commander-in-Chief of the press and the arm forces. (Claros 2015 P. 1550002-6 and Kaufman 2005) describe a situation where corruption involves collusion between two or more parties, often, one of which operates in the private sector. For example, a transnational company paying bribes to the president of an African country to obtain an oil concession. Claros (2015 P. 1550002-8) remarks that corruption is more intense in situations where there is strong bureaucracy and red tape. He further states that corruption undermines government revenue and therefore limits the ability of the government to invest in productivity that can enhance areas such as education, infrastructure and healthcare. Claros (2015 P. 1550002-13). Pranab Bardhan (2015. P. 473) adds that “corruption is usually presumed to originate from regulations and bureaucratic discretions” where officials from government offices use public offices and resources at their discretion without accountability. Forson et al (2016 P. 567) argue that bribery and corruption disrupt a fair development process as money intended for projects end up in the hands of corrupt individuals. They further contend that corruption is an institutional problem that depends on government policies. Corruption can be embedded in cultural, tribal or historical meaning of societies because it reflects in most aspects of daily activities of societies. Corruption thrives when there is no press/media freedom. They equally argue that corruption flourishes in bureaucratic institutions where resources are handled by few individuals who do not render accounts of their transactions to anybody. Also, they state that most corrupt countries lack transparency and accountability principles which is why they lack the ability to build effective institutions and anti-corruption policies to combat corruption. Forson et al (2016 P. 571). Forson et al (2016) justify their argument by referencing the works of other researchers such as Brinkerhoff (2004) who had also blamed corruption on the absence of accountability. He states that “the absence of accountability, especially when it is lacking on the part of politicians and bureaucrats, creates opportunities for corruption to thrive. Accountability is the obligation of government to demonstrate effectiveness in achieving goals and meeting the demands of the public”. Forson et al 2016 P. (567). They further explain that corruption thrives when government agents and some private agents such as transnational corporations have a monopoly of power over customers. Also, Thomas Pogge 23 (2008 P. 27) argues that the corrupt, irresponsible and unaccountable manner in which leaders of poor countries handle finances and natural resources only enhances severe poverty and hunger, and that the aid given to salvage this situation is wasted through corruption and embezzlement by government officials. Kenneth Good (2016)’s writing about Botswana is relevant here as he describes how state corruption prompted popular uprisings. These protests were not sufficient to quell the entrenched corruption in the country, Good (2016 P.3). Good (2016 P.12) argues that the record of corruption in Botswana has no match in the developing world. He justifies that corruption in Botswana seems to have no remedy because the presidency is hereditary and because the President is Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces and represses every attempt of protest, citizens have become helpless and seem to be trapped in the situation. Good exclaims; “It is unthinkable that a president who is not popularly elected should enjoy the sole right to choose a future president. Unthinkable true, but also the reality” He highlights the suppression of the free media as the direct result of the corruption associated to the nepotistic presidency in Botswana. The repression of free media is discussed by other researchers including, Katharine Sarikakis (2015 P. 24). She states that most European countries also frequently suffer from political interference of public media because of the interconnections and dependencies between the press and the business and political worlds. She remarks that the complex connections between markets and political elites in Europe can resort to one-sided reporting on economic and political matters. Forson et a (2016 P. 567) add that the lack of press freedom for naming and shaming enhances bureaucratic practices in the economy. 2.10 Bad Governance and its effects on development Oluwole Owoye and Nicole Bissessar (2012 P. 1) see bad governance as a consequence of dictatorial leaders who suppress the media and rule through undemocratic processes. They further explain that bad governance results to huge losses in economic growth, affects human resources, deter investment and waste national resources. Bad governance is one of the major impediments to sustainable development. According to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), bad governance includes governments that are ineffective and inefficient, not transparent, not responsive to the people, not held accountable for their actions, inequitable and exclusive to the elites, non-participatory; do not follow the rule of law and lacking policies that are 24 consensus driven. Good describes the type of democracy practiced in Botswana is “Elitist Authoritarian Democracy” which avoids addressing the issue of corruption and development. Good explains that each time that topic comes up, “the court will rule in favour of presidential power and against democratic principles and aspirations” Good (2012 P. 2-3 para). Thus, top party and government leaders have been exploiting these opportunities to their advantage to carry out corrupt practices. Good (2012 P.3 & 8). In the same light, Amartya Sen (1999 P. 15) narrows down to one concept of governance, democracy. He describes bad democracy as a situation where “many people in different countries of the world are systematically denied political liberty and basic civil rights”. He explains that often, economic insecurity can be related to the lack of democratic rights and liberties because, democracy and political rights can help to prevent famines and other economic disasters. When authoritarian leaders who are expected to take timely and preventive measures against famine fail, citizens suffer. This situates us properly in Sen’s concept on development as freedom; the fact that development means that states take up the responsibility of bringing freedom to the individuals. When there is no sense of freedom, there can hardly be the enjoyment of sustainable development. 2.11 Poverty and Inequality in relation to development Thomas Pogge (2008. P. 3) sees the eradication of poverty and inequality as a moral responsibility on rich citizens and countries. He argues that, Severe poverty and inequality in the world still persists at a high level because the rich do not consider it as a moral responsibility to help the poor, neither does the world as a whole find the eradication morally compelling. Thus, its eradication cannot be morally compelling until we begin to realise its persistence and the relentless rise in global inequality troubling enough to warrant serious moral reflection. He further argues that to an extent; it should be a right for the rich to support the poor recover from poverty. Thomas Pogge (2008 P. 209) maintains that global poverty is the manifestation of grievous injustice by governments and trade bodies like WTO through the imposition of the brutal path of economic globalisation. He argues that WTO’s Open Market Policy favours trade in developed countries and disfavours trade in developing countries, thus causing poverty and global inequality. Michael Freeman (2011 P. 177) taking the same position as Pogge also argues that global poverty violates the human rights to life and an adequate standard of living worthy of dignity as human. He analyses global poverty and inequality in the world from the World Bank report as follows. He records that 1/6 of the 25 world’s population lives in extreme poverty, that is, less than $1.25 a day, 40% live in severe poverty and every day, about 34,000 children die from poverty related diseases. Freeman (2011 P. 182) views poverty and inequality as human rights violation by rich nations and rich individuals. Freeman 2008 P. (21-22) blames the inability of the poor developing countries to catch up on the economic globalisation train on the rich and developed countries. He argues that the economic weakness and persistent poverty in the developing countries is as a result of excessive deceit and exploitation of the developing countries by the rich and already developed countries. Developed countries make rules that favour their own trading policies and use them to buy natural resources from developing countries at a better rate. They equally connive with the corrupt leaders in developing countries to syphon national currencies and bank in foreign bank accounts leaving very little for the poor citizens, Freeman (2008 P. 22) In the same light, Amartya Sen (1999 P. 20) sees poverty as a deprivation of human capabilities whereby, the poor live at the mercy of the rich. He argues that, sometimes the lack of substantive freedoms relates directly to economic poverty which deprives people from the freedom to satisfy hunger, access medicines, enjoy clean water, access good health care and so on. Like Thomas Pogge, Amartya Sen argues that the eradication of poverty and inequality will yield better results if the rich countries and individuals consider it a moral right to join in the fight for the inclusion of human rights policies and practice to the process of development. The authors have discussed elaborately on the RTD and HRBA to development justifying why and how a HRBA is indispensable in the attainment of development. But they miss out on the fact that challenges to development in most countries are based on the fact that governments are not committed to acting upon what they say. They also fail to highlight the fact that even if a HRBA is applied to development and there is no follow-up such as frequent monitoring and evaluation, development will still end as a failure. In Cameroon for example, there is a huge gap between what the government says and what it does. I intend to find answers that can fill this gap in my research in the Cameroonian context. 2.12 Theoretical Framework, the case of Cameroon In this dissertation, I apply a social constructivism theoretical framework. Social constructionism regards individuals as integral with cultural, political social, and historical evolution, in specific times and places, Ian Rory Owen (1995 P.1). Social constructionism focuses on dynamic social practices engaged in by people and their interactions with each other, as well as how human subjects become constructed through structures of language and 26 ideology, enabling opportunities for social actions and powers relations, Vivien Burr (2007, P. 9, 17-18). Burr projects Michel Foucault’s argument about the fact that, the way we think about, talk about and act upon the way things are widely represented in the society, brings with it the implications for the way we treat people because institutions of the society are constituted by and operating through language and other symbolic systems, Burr (2007 P.18). Darren O’Byrne discusses social constructionism with focus on human rights and human rights language grounded in day-to-day interactions and practices in the society. O’Byrne (2010 P. 836) argues that language, especially human rights language stands at a position where it can be manipulated to favour both abusers and activists of rights. He argues that “the language-structure of human rights and how it is constructed and manipulated in social institutions such as the state, the law, and the media, sometimes constitute a process that serves to marginalise and ultimately to dehumanise entire sections of the population Darren( O’Byrne 2010 P. 840). Another argument presented by (Lydia Morris 2013 P. 3) states that social constructionism recognises the universal contribution of humanity to its construction, reconstruction and endorsement of societal ideologies and operations. The arguments above designate that societal beliefs and the actions of people who live in those societies are constructed by ideologies and displayed through language. Social constructionism is closely associated with some contemporary theories, such as the child psychological developmental theories of Lev Vygotsky and Jerome Bruner and the postmodern movement theory that explain societal construction of ideas, languages and actions. For example, the general understanding from Lev Vygotsky’s book, ‘Thinking and Speaking’, discusses much on the mental conception of ideas as being responsible for the construction of language and action in the society and how these traits are reaffirmed with the changing societies. I was particularly motivated to use this theoretical framework because it enhances the diagnosis of the roots and consequences of human perceptions and actions. I am equally drawn to this approach because my dissertation’s main objective is to examine, understand, uncover and interpret the meaning behind what the Cameroonian government says it is doing in its development policies such as the Vision 2035 and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and the human rights instruments such as the conventions and the constitution of Cameroon, and what it is doing with regards to development. The Cameroonian government constructs itself as a leader in development and human rights but there is a noticeable gap between what the government says and what it does. 27 I equally apply the sustainable development concept. Sustainable development is, “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (United Nations General Assembly, 1987, p. 43). It has taken the global community a long walk to reach a common global understanding on the sustainable development concept which has now become a frequent topic on the agenda of important international development initiatives such as the United Nations summits, conventions and programmes. According to the development policies of Cameroon, the government believes it is on the right path to achieving sustainable development. In this present day, sustainable development involves the integration of economic growth, environmental management and socio-political development which mutually support each other in the building a sustainable society. Cameroon has also located itself in the sustainable development goals in its Vision 2035. Meaning in these two theoretical frameworks above is constructed through human rights language and development language. As mentioned above, Gauri and Gloppen: (2012 P. 2) argue that since the signing of the declaration on the RTD in 1986, and launching of other development campaigns, “development has increasingly been framed in the language of human rights and related concepts, such as fundamental human capabilities and multi- dimensional poverty”. To critically examine and analyse the human rights and development situation in Cameroon, it is important to pay close attention to the way (O’Byrne 2012 P. 832).explains the use of language to frame policies, to build institutional mechanisms for operations and the power struggles embedded in the negotiation of this meaning. The social constructionism and the sustainable development frameworks fit appropriately in this study because, they enable in-depth critiquing and uncovering of meaning behind the linguistic construction in the governmental documents with regards to development and human rights. For example, locating the analysis of Cameroon’s human rights and development perspective in the language of rights, seeking to know what is written and what is practiced and relating it with Thomas Pogge’s theory on ‘poverty being a human violation’, Sen’s theory of ‘Development as Freedom’ and the requirements of the UN conventions. The focus here is, decoding meaning from the language used by policy makers in policy documents and their intentions, then comparing it to the degree of implementation of such policies. An examination of Cameroon governmental human rights and development documents as well as political speeches and communiques project concerns in the areas of freedom, governance, 28 poverty/hunger, high youth unemployment, national unity/security, economic stagnation and inequality which will be discussed in detail in the analysis. It is also worth noting that much attention is paid to the construction and interpretation of language because development in Cameroon is largely conceived through a political frame. It is largely influenced by political ambitions. Politicians give lip-services to human rights and development especially during political campaigns before elections. CHAPTER THREE 3. RESEARCH METHODS In this chapter, I discuss the methods and the methodology used to carry out this research. I collected and analysed primary and secondary data. Primary data includes Cameroon constitution/laws, government economic and development policies such as the Cameroon Poverty Reduction Strategy paper (PRSP), as well as, presidential speeches, government-owned and other media, websites/blogs and Newspapers. One of the most important primary documents used in this research and which I have included a summary at the appendix is the ‘Cameroon’s Vision 2035’ development policy documents. This is the main document that outlines the development ambitions of Cameroon by the year 2035. My focus on government documents is because the formulation and implementation of policies in Cameroon is the responsibility of the government. Secondary data include UN documents on development, the Sustainable Development Goals, Development Agencies, Embassies in Cameroon, World Bank, African Union, Transparency International, Human Rights Watch, and websites. I used the data triangulation approach in collecting data from multiple sources in order to carry out an intensive cross- checking of the information in the documents. Secondary data was very important for this study because there was little or no reliable data documents from the government that gave concrete and clearly laid out statistics and figures on the progress of the Vision 2035 since 2009, but secondary data had evaluation reports on human rights and development in Cameroon up till 2016. I used two research methods, the qualitative and empirical research methods. 29 3.1 Qualitative Research A qualitative research method was appropriate in the process of this research because; it helped to broaden or deepened my understanding of how things came to be the way they are in Cameroon as part of the social world (Hancock et al 2009 P. 4). It allowed me to approach data collection with a broader scope enabling me to gather in-depth and rich data that empowers me to investigate the motives, the process and the meaning behind the socio-economic and political construction and operation of human rights and development policies in Cameroon. I was equally interested in reaching a broader understanding behind political development policies and political campaign speeches and how these impact development’s out-put and the lives of common citizens in Cameroon. (that is, what the government says its doing and what it actually does). It was good in examining how the government talks about human rights; the human rights institutions and how human rights laws are perceived and treated by the government, (the rights talk and the rights actions). Qualitative research method permitted me to examine data within the socio-economic and political context in which they exist and operate without distorting it. Since my discussion is hinged on the social constructionism framework which focuses on ‘language and ideologies’ that give meaning to intentions on the day-to-day interactions and practices in the society, qualitative research method seemed appropriate. 3.2 Empirical Research Method. Empirical research method is a means of obtaining knowledge through direct or indirect observation, experimentation or even experience, (Rönnebeck et al, 2016 P.161-162 Para). Qualitative empirical research method was practical in this study because I could collect and address primary data. Although I was not present on the field, I was able to collect first hand primary data from the development and human rights situation in Cameroon, particularly on the on-going socio-economic and political crisis. 3.3 Methodology 3.3.1 Primary Data collection Since I could not go home due to the war, I collected most of my primary data through the internet, emails, television stations and social media. Although I was not present on the field, I got most of the data by direct personal observation through media discourses 30 and debates on social media. I contributed in some of the debates on social media by asking questions that were oriented towards my study without explaining my intentions. This was a little challenging because most of the discussions were argumentative but since I was using the qualitative research method, I kept my observations opened which is why my research designed was updated because through the heated debates, most of the assumptions were clarified. I equally collected reliable information by telephone and by email through local agents or correspondents and some of my former colleagues of the Anglophone civil society movements involved the protests. 3.3.2 Secondary Data Collection Unlike primary data, it was quite easy for me to access secondary because most of the documents were readily available. I collected secondary data from various milieus such as the library, internet and other electronic devices. I collected data from paper-based sources such as books, journals, periodicals, directories, scholarly reports, conference papers, annual reports, magazines and newspapers. My electronic search gave me access online databases and internet searches where I got data from institutions such as the United Nations Development and Human Rights Agencies, World Bank reports, African Union reports, Human Rights Watch Reports, Transparency International reports and so on. Through the help of social media, live videos were sent instantly and international media such as Aljazeera, BBC, CNN Fox News, SBC and so on broadcasted them at the same time carrying out debates with political analysts, human rights activists and Southern Cameroon Consortium leaders. It was quite a good coincident that the crisis over the right self- determination, equal opportunity in education, legislation and development to all Cameroonians happened just at the time when I had to carry out this research. I spent days and nights following up the live news, debates social media opinions. It is through this that I was able to draw my conclusions 3.4 Ethical Considerations The research methods I selected for this study were carefully chosen taking into consideration the protection of the privacy of those home-based individuals who furnished me with information on the ongoing socio-economic and political crisis in Cameroon. For safety purposes, most of my informants used email addresses and social media names not associated 31 to their real identity keeping them anonymous. This is according to (Judith Bell, 1999, P. 38- 40 para)’s Ethical Guideline and Protocol requirements. I explained in detail terms to my informants about the fact that I was carrying out a research on human rights and development in Cameroon and the nature of data I needed from them. I ensured a high degree of transparency with them as well as confidentiality in their identities and information received from them as recommended by (Alan Bryman 2012 P. 137). Due to the current crisis in Cameroon, an anonymity agreement was reached with all the informants. Initially, this research was to be done through semi-structured interviews. But due to the current socio-political up-risings in Cameroon, I decided not to travel to the field. After lengthy discussions with my supervisor, adjustments were made on my research outline with as well as the research methods. My decision not to travel was for personal safety and because I thought it would be too provocative and dangerous to arrange interviews with government officials on human rights issues when they are being accused publicly for being the perpetrators of the current violence in the country. Also, since the crisis in Cameroon is between the English-Speaking Cameroon and the French-Speaking Cameroon government, I was warned that being an English-Speaking human rights activists, I might be considered a spy and consequently detained. I have equally discussed the ethical considerations and the challenges involved in collecting. Because I could get everything through the internet, social media and television, I had no need to carryout any inertview. 3.5 Challenges/Limitations. The data collection process was not void of challenges, especially the collection of government data on human rights and development at this crucial period because there was an on-going civil war between the Cameroon government and English Cameroon. These challenges were; 32  Because of the civil crisis, I was not able to go to the field where I could have had one-on-one interviews with individuals and focus groups which should have given me more first-hand data.  Due to the severe brutality in the crisis going in Cameroon, it was quite difficult for me to gain the confidence of the informants. They feared I might be a spy working for the government. They only consented after following my observations on the social media.  Some of the government official documents on the monitoring and evaluation on the progress of the Vision 2035 were inaccessible  Money was requested for some documents to be released to me which I had not made a prebudget for.  Some documents were in the French language, as such, more time was taken to analyse them.  The staff at the Cameroonian Embassy in London who are largely French-Speaking Cameroonians, were reluctant to release documents to me because I am an English- Speaking Cameroonian  The last weeks of data collection were very stressful and costly due to the disconnection of the internet from English Cameroon by the government. My informants in English Cameroon had to travel frequently to French Cameroon to communicate with me. Most of the stress I experienced was following other new channels to make sure I am not misinformed or that information is not exaggerated or undermined. 3.6 Validity and Reliability In her argument about validity and reliability, (Judith Bell, 1999 P. 104) says that “if an item is unreliable, then it must also lack validity”. In order to ensure the reliability and validity of the data collected for this research I collected data on the same topics from different sources. Then I proceeded to examining them critically, paying special attention to the language used. In order to increase the credibility and validity of the data, I triangulated data from primary sources with data from secondary sources. For example, comparing government documents on human rights with those of the UN human rights organs and other human rights agencies like Transparency International or Human Rights Watch, or comparing government development policies like the ‘Cameroon’s Vision 2035’ with the World Bank or African 33 Development Bank development policies and programmes. Triangulation did not only help in checking the validity and reliability, it also helped in deepening my understanding of the research issue. 4. CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS 4.1 INTRODUCING THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS Before proceeding to presenting the findings of this research, it is worth remembering that development and human rights in Cameroon are constructed through the political orientation of the government. Findings in this research are presented using the constructive narrative approach. Discussions focus basically on what the government says is happening in the area of development and human rights in Cameroon and what popular opinion and observations from national and international organisations say is actually happening. I decided to analyse the presidential speeches from the year 2010 because the ‘Vision 2035’ development policy was launched in 2009 and I was interested in following the trend of human rights and development from the years after that period. Secondly, because over the years, President Biya has only used televised speeches to address Cameroonians. Traditionally, an end of year speech on the last day of each year and a special address to youths on the eve of Youth Day festivities have been the sole circumstances during which Mr Biya attempts a tour d’horizon of issues affecting national life, (Wikileaks Cable 13, 2012). 4.2 THE GAP My first research question was why there is a wide gap between policy and practice in Cameroon. That is, between what the government says its doing and what it actually does. My findings show that the first reason for the gap is lack of commitment on the part of the government to ensure accomplishment and delivery. The president remarked about this in his 2013 End of Year Address to the Nation. He stated; “At one stage of our implementation or another, most of our major projects involve in skills of various services. I am not sure there has been effective coordination between them…..some sectors of our economy, state action often seems to lack consistency and clarity…..in many 34 cases, decision-making delays still constitute a bottleneck in project implement” (President Paul Biya, 2013 End of Year Address to the Nation). Secondly, as stated below, the president sets up commissions to follow up projects implementation but the conspicuous lack of reports shows that there is no proper follow-up of projects. I set out expecting to find monthly and yearly monitoring and evaluation reports of all development projects, especially of all the projects under the Vision 2035 but I did not get much from the government. Project archives are not well organised for the consumption of the public. Even the president sounds pessimistic about the rate at which projects are progressing. He stated “it seems that our efforts alone no matter how laudable will not suffice to make Cameroon an emerging country 2035. International financial institutions have sounded this friendly warning to us; and it is our interest to heed it and strictly follow up our efforts” (President Paul Biya, 2013 End of Year Address to the Nation). Strict follow can help expose the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats surrounding the projects which can help in better planning and implementation of the strategies used. The last gap l found was that of lack of inclusion and participation in projects. As will be discussed below, to a greater extent the government still uses the top-down approach to development and the president still remains at the centre of all decision-making. When all stakeholders are not inclusively participatory, then there can hardly be commitment in the development process. The second question was on finding out factors that are responsible for this gap. 4.3 Factors that created the Gap: But if well managed can bring Emergence to Cameroon by 2035 GOVERNANCE. Governance is discussed alongside concepts such as democracy, corruption, freedom and electoral procedures. The interrelation of these concepts gives a vivid picture of governance in the Cameroonian governmental system and how they impact the developmental process and outcomes. 4.3.1 Democracy as an instrument of an emerging Cameroon by 2035”. 35 “Democracy hardly makes the world perfect, but it tends to engender open economies and more respect for human rights. Ultimately, democracy promises to make the world more peaceful, for democracies are less likely to go to war against each other than are totalitarian regimes. 'Democracy Tells the Real Story of Our Century” (Gerald F. Seib, Wall Street Journal, December 29, 1999) In all his speeches, president Paul Biya flaunts about his political and democratic achievements for the nation of Cameroon. In his 2013 End of Year his speech indicated that he was offended with the citizens for not acknowledging his achievements. He asked over ten times, ‘what do Cameroonians want?’ He argued that he has managed to maintain peace and stability in Cameroon thanks to the introduction of practicable and participatory democratic principles such as the creation of an electoral body popularly known in Cameroon as Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), the establishment of a Biometric electoral system, the creation of the senate, the introduction of the decentralisation system of governance, the amendment of the constitution, creation of multiparty democracy, the promotion of the right to participation, freedom of expression and so on. Below is an extract from the 2013 End of Year Speech. The senatorial elections of 14 April and the legislative and municipal elections of 30 September took place in a calm and transparent atmosphere. All observers confirmed this fact and I believe that it reflects the maturity of the Cameroonian people who have understood that achieving social progress requires stable institutions and sound policies. The few failings reported were not enough to challenge the validity of the said elections…. I therefore believe that there is every reason for us to be satisfied with this new milestone in our democratic process, (President Paul Biya, 2013 End of Year Speech, P. 1) Now that our democratic institutions are fully functional, growth is the focus of our policy, (President Paul Biya 2014 End of Year Speech, P. What do Cameroonians want? “Cameroonians asked for freedom of the press and it was granted. Everyday Journalists around the country rain insults on Biya, instead of helping to build the nation. Private radio, TV and Newspapers spring up here and there, (President Paul Biya, 2013 End of Year Speech, P. 3) President Paul Biya prides himself of being one of the most democratic presidents in the world. He boasts that it is thanks to his democratic strategies that Cameroon enjoys peace, progress and stability, (President Paul Biya, 2013 End of Year Speech, P. 1). But the question that most Cameroonians and other international bodies and the media have asked him boldly is this, “Mr. president, if you are truly as democratic as you say, then why would you already be celebrating the 35th anniversary as the president of Cameroon come November 6th 2017?” Despite his democratic propagandas, many have questioned the authenticity of Paul Biya’s supposed democratisation process in Cameroon (WikiLeaks Cable 13, 23 Jan 2012). Most 36 Cameroonians and scholars like Susan Dicklitch (2002) and Bonaventure Ndifor (2015) argue that what the president says are all lies because nothing has changed over the years. This argument ties very much with a statement from an article by J. Neil Schulman, USA Daily Journal Editor on the FBI Shut Down of the Silk Road Online Market for selling Contraband. It states; “Just Because the Government Says So, Doesn't Make It So,”. (J. Neil Schulman, USA Daily Journal 2013). Howard Galganov (Galganov.com June 2016) also wrote; “Just Because the Government Says So . . . Doesn’t Make It True” Susan Dicklitch (2002, P. 153) argues that nobody disputes President Biya’s supposed democracy nor the the fact that Cameroon has been seemingly peaceful and stable but points out that “Cameroon's political stability has been artificially based on the suppression of political participation”. She insists that Cameroon lacks both a rights-respective society and a rights-protective regime, yet, it is formally considered a multiparty democracy. Her stance is that, the lack of a ‘rights respective- society and a rights-protective regime’ not only undermines the prospects for democratic consolidation, but also heightens the potential for future violence and chaos. Dicklitch’s argument here highlights the fact that, since formal mechanisms of democracy in Cameroon have been grafted into the political and social system that lacks a rights-respective culture, rivalry will breed violence and chaos, not democratic progress as the President claims, (Susan Dicklitch 2002, P. 153). Dicklitch’s argument in 2002 was actually a prediction of violence in the future but the government did not reaction to it. The chaos and violence she predicted finally started in Cameroon in November 2016 with the Anglophone revolution involving violence and brutality, complete shut-down of schools, the courts, slow-down in businesses, ghost towns, and arbitrarily arrests, rapes, maiming and killings, (The Guardian 12/14/16) Even at this point, the government has not yet considered using a human rights approach to settle the disputes between the two Cameroonians, English and French. The government responded by repressing the disgruntled population by force, cracking down on protesters using tear gas, spraying the crowd with itchy water, shooting life bullets at protesters, arresting indiscriminately and disconnecting English Cameroon from the rest of the world by shutting down the internet. This violence has persisted till now June 2017. Judging from the fact that since 1960, Cameroon has been ruled by just two presidents, then it can be concluded that (Dicklitch2002 P. 164)’s argument that multiparty 37 democracy in Cameroon like many other African countries is just in name effected by paper works, is true. It is in a way unrealistic that a multiparty democratic nation can be ruled for 57 years by just two presidents. President Paul Biya’s idea of democracy does not fit into the participatory mainstream concept of democracy because it is lacking in democratic principles and human-rights-based approach to governance and the development of Cameroon, as discussed by Ndifor (2015 P. 35&37). Ndifor’s analysis shows that right from the reign of Amadou Adhijou (the first President of Cameroon), the constitution has been mechanically constructed for authoritarianism. Although President Paul accepted the advent of democracy in 1990, he did not completely let go of the dictatorial policies of the former regime (he was Prime Minister in the former regime). Thus, his regime continued with the non-transparent and unaccountable mechanisms of the former president which have so far hindered the proper development of Cameroon. 4.3.2 Cameroon becoming an Emerging Country through Freedom Despite the birth of multiparty politics since 1990, Biya has continued to retain a strong hold on Cameroon. His Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) controls the Senate, the National Assembly, the legislative and municipal councils by a huge majority (CPDM 143 out 180 parliamentarians and 70 senators out of 100 ’30 of which were personally appointed by the president to join the CPDM). According to (Dicklitch 2002, P. 1533)’s argument, Cameroonian citizens do not participate in decision-making whether to replace or maintain a government official neither do they participate in the selection of almost all of the governing body. All appointments and decision-making are done by the president which indicates that his political control still remains central. Whosoever he appoints, must sing his praises or be framed-up and sanctioned. For example, the Minister of Communication, Issa Chiroma was once a political criminal and an opposition leader. In order to silence him, the president appointed him minister. That is why he pays back that favour by defending any unrealistic thing the president does or says. Citizens are largely not free to decide on whom they prefer to be their leader since all the important government positions are appointed by the president. Although the Constitution of Cameroon, (Preamble, paragraph 16) allows freedom of communication, of expression, of the press, of assembly, of association, and of trade unionism, as well as the right to strike, the concept of freedom in Cameroon looks so complex and might be interpreted as a myth, not a reality. The complexity lies on the fact that 38 grass root citizens see freedom as salvation from socio-economic and political deprivations and as a means of empowering human capabilities that involves all citizens in fair democratic and economic participation in decision making for an emerging society. This perception is projected in Amartya Sen, (1999)’s development as freedom theory which states; economic unfreedom can make a person a helpless prey in the violation of other kinds of freedom... and can breed social unfreedom, just as social or political unfreedom can also foster economic unfreedom (Amartya Sen 1999 P. 8 para) But from the perspective of those in high positions in government freedom appears to mean coaxing grass roots citizens to act within government’s desired regulations through intimidation and brainwash. The government maintains that, since the constitution states that there is freedom, in Cameroon, then Cameroon is a free state. According to the speech of the head of state on 31st December 2010, Cameroon had already achieved political freedom which involves freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and association, freedom of expression and freedom from arbitrary arrest. and is only lacking in economic and social freedom. Biya states; “unfortunately, as we know political freedom is not sufficient to ensure freedom in general……that is why we have always believed that it cannot be dissociated from economic and social progress”. Speaking on the eve of the 2014 World Press Day, Cameroon’s Minister of Communication, Issa Chiroma supported the head of states stating, “it should be underscored that press freedom is a living reality in Cameroon as indicated by one of its essential components, which is that of political pluralism” (Cameroun Tribune, 03/05/2017,). But according to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), freedom of expression and freedom of the press in Cameroon has never been a reality because government’s resistance to criticism has not changed. The editor argues that despite the creation of the Liberty Laws in 1990 and the amendment of the 1996 Constitution of Cameroon which guarantee freedom of expression and the press, government threats to media house and journalists have become routine for courageous journalists who brave the odds to report facts without being dictated by the government, (Compliant Advisor Ombudsman July 2016) According to Reporters Without Borders Media, although the Cameroonian press laws look so dynamic, operating environment is difficult and journalists are exposed to threats. Censorship was abolished some 15 years ago but the government has retained articles in the press code that provide for severe penalties for press offences. A newspaper reporter or 39 editor can be sentenced to several years in prison for an article that is deemed to be damaging to the image of the government, (Reporters Without Borders 20/02/2016). The Cameroon government severely represses the civil and political liberties of its citizens as well as restricting the press, harassing, torturing and detaining journalists. For example, Farouk Chothia, a producer with the BBC's African Service, and Ange Ngu Thomas, a local BBC reporter in Cameroon, were arrested and detained by authorities and accused of spying, (BBC Africa, July 2015). Because of the severe censorship of the press, journalists have resorted to self-censorship to avoid harassments from the government. Newspaper houses are frequently banned and journalists are arrested and jailed without charge, (Dicklitch 2002 P. 158). The state-owned Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV) and its daily newspaper, ‘Cameroon Tribune’, are being criticized for being biased by the opposition, devoting extensive time to praising the President and seldom covering opposition political party events, (CPJ, 04/05/2015). Despite having almost 300 political parties, Cameroon remains essentially a one-party state. Political suppression and division among opposition party instigated by the ruling CPDM makes it impossible for any opposition party to become a major challenge to the President. State patronage and Biya's control of high-level appointments help the CPDM retain power. The state also controls the release of mandated public funding for political parties, as well as the salaries of village chiefs, who in turn control their local votes, (RefWorld 12/08/2016) There is an on-going civil crisis since Nov 2016 between the English-Speaking Regions of Cameroon and the Cameroon government over excessive suppression, discrimination, uneven development and marginalisation of Anglophones by the dominant French-Speaking government,(CPJ December 16, 2016) Anglophones claim that their socio- economic and political rights have been relegated to the backyard. Anglophones do not participate in decision-making and are represented in government by a very insignificant minority. Their opinions are never sort for in every decision. For example the two Cameroons have lived together for 56 years but no Anglophone has ever held a strategic position like President or ministerial portfolio such as Defense, Finance, Territorial Administration, Secretary General or Director of Civil Cabinet at the Presidency, (Valerian Ekinneh Agbaw- Ebai, Cameroon Concord News, 8 Dec 2016). When the crisis broke out, the government reacted through its minister of Communication by ordering Communication networks, (Orange, MTN and Nextel) to shut down the internet from English Cameroon in order to suppress exchange of information on social media, (Fred Ndango, Daily Journal, 40 19/11/2016). The shutdown of the internet came less than two hours after government banned the activities of two Anglophone pressure groups; Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) and the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium (CACSC) arresting two of the consortium leaders by name, Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor and Dr. Fontem A. Neba” (Netizen Report Jan. 26 2017). The speaker of the House of Assembly supported the decision to shut down the internet in English Cameroon, arguing that, social media is “a new form of terrorism", (CPJ December 16, 2016). Even after the shutdown, the minister of communication sent threatening messages to all media users of English Cameroon stating. “Dear subscriber, you incur 6 months to 2 years’ imprisonment, and 5 to 10 million fine if you publish or spread on the social media information that you cannot prove”, (Quartz Africa, 23 Jan 2017). The reason the government is able to manipulate, suppress and shutdown communication is because the country’s optic fibre backbone is operated by a state-owned corporation, Cameroon Telecommunications (CAMTEL). Other communication networks like MTN, ORANGE and NEXTEL depend on CAMTEL optic fibre to service their customers. Monopolising communication in Cameroon is a strategy for the government to be able to control and suppress information. Monopoly over a prominent sector such as communication limits the rights of citizens to accessing information that builds their capacities to participate in the economic and social development of the country. 4.3.3 CAMEROON’S EMERGENCE THROUGH TRANSPARENT AND ACCOUNTABLE ELECTORAL PROCEDURES The electoral paradigm in Cameroon can be analysed through the lens of this insightful statement that is popularly known to have been made by Joseph Stalin, leader of the U.S.S.R. from 1922 through 1953, about those who vote verses those who win in elections. He stated; "It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." “You know, comrades, (says Stalin), that I think in regards to this, I consider it completely 41 unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this, who will count the votes, and how.": (Joseph Stalin). Also, in the Tom Stoppard's philosophical play, ‘Jumpers’, first produced in 1972: there is this statement that states; "It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting." Before proceeding, it is worth bearing in mind that the two presidents who have ruled Cameroon since independence in 1960, have made a lot of alterations in the constitution. The first major alteration was done in 1972 by the first President of Cameroon, Ahmadou Ahidjou and the rest over the years by President Paul Biya. These alterations influence everything that has to do with elections and appointments in the Cameroon’s Governmental system. Despite the fact that the 1996 constitutional amendment was greatly contested by the opposition parties and political analysts in Cameroon for lacking in constitutional procedures, President Paul Biya and his supporters in government decided to amend six more articles of the constitution in March 2008. Political analysts and popular opinion accorded this unconsented amendment to the upcoming 2011 presidential elections, Dicklitch (2002 P. 165)he President was expected to step down before the 2011 presidential elections as stipulated by article 6(2) of the 1996 constitution but instead of stepping down, he amended that article, removing the two-term limit for current and future presidents. Since he had already gathered parliamentary majority through the fraudulent July 22nd 2007 parliamentary elections he equally amended article 2(1) vesting national sovereignty in the people through either the President or the parliament. As such, he was able to remove the term of president by parliamentary super majority and not by referendum as was initially stated. (Bonaventure F. Ndifor 2015 P. 34). It is worth noting that President Biya’s decision to amend the constitution had been systematically and tactfully worked-out for years to enable him stay on in power without any major hostility, (The Entrepreneur January 17, 2008). Although in his 2013 end of year speech to the nation, President Paul Biya boasted of how transparent elections have been in Cameroon since the creation of the ELECAM and the biometric electoral system, it is evident that ELECAM is just another governmental blindfold because its governing body is still appointed by the president. For example, Ayah Paul Abine, President of the People’s Action Party (PAP) condemns ELECAM calling it Preisdent Paul Biya’s brain child. He says ELECAM is nothing but a huge fraud through which Paul Biya uses to steal votes and stay on in power. He argues asking parliament, “How dare we talk about the independence of ELECAM when “Divisional supervisory commissions, regional 42 supervisory commissions and the National Commission for the Final Counting of Votes shall be chaired by a Judicial Officer (appointed by the President of the Republic as the head of the Higher Judicial Council)”? (The Recorder Newsletter, Wednesday, March 31, 2010). The Social Democratic Front, (SDF) had earlier rejected ELECAM considering it a scandal and a provocative move by Government to tickle the bile of Cameroonians…. ELECAM will just be a pliant tool in the hands of the government, (By Kini Nsom, Up Station. Mountain Club, Monday, 18 December 2006). Although almost all the political parties sent in petitions against ELECAM after the 2011 presidential electoral fraud, Paul Biya dismissed them calling them” few Failings”. He stated; “The few failings reported were not enough to challenge the validity of the said elections. In this regards, ELECAM deserves to be commended” (reference) ELECAM is the only body that decides the outcome of elections in Cameroon. This supports the Stalin’s arguments that “The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." Through alleged corruption and election manipulation, the President of Cameroon has managed to stay in office since 1982, (Ndifor 2015 P. 37). Ndifor. argues that the constitution of Cameroon is very tricky and complex. He remarks that, “After stating unequivocally on one hand how independent the various arms of government should be, the Constitution on the other hand takes away the same by stating that the President of the Republic shall guarantee the independence of judicial power” (Bonaventure F. Ndifor 2015 P. 35). A clear demonstration of government’s influence on the legislature was on the overwhelming support by the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) parliament for the amendment of article 6(2) that removes the two-term presidential limit. Although ELECAM gives the impression of free and fair elections, people who are elected are people who have first of all been dully proposed by the government through decrees and ministerial ordinances. Ndifor equally argues that, “the extensive and uncontrolled use of executive decrees is evidence that the legislature is being marginalized and democratic institutions are ineffectual” (Ndifor 2015 P. 38). A critical look on the entire governing system shows a complete lack of a fair, transparent and accountable form of governance. This type of system abuses the rights of citizen to participation and fair choice. What makes Cameroonian common citizen very helpless is that the potency of the president to appoint government official by his discretion without being challenged since each time he is accused; he argues that the constitution gives him the power to do so, (Ndifor 2015 P. 35). 43 For example, appointing up to 30 senators for the CPDM party and forcing them on Cameroonians. (Note that he amended the constitution in 1998 and 2008 without consent from the Cameroonian public too). The constitution is supposed to be an protector of human rights but the constitution of Cameroon has been manipulated to be a weapon of human rights violation. From the argument of (Dicklitch 2002, P.153) and (Ndifor 2015 P. 49) it is practically impossible for Cameroon to attain economic and development emergence by 2035 because the Cameroonian administration undermines the application of a rights-protective and a rights-respective approach at all level of governance. Although ‘Vision 2035 clearly outlines the emergence programme, the impact is only felt when it is close to elections when government officials flag the messages as their campaign slogans. The government does not seem to show much commitment and duty-consciousness to its development endeavours. It is very tempting to conclude that this vision was just some kind of copy work from Tanzania, Namibia, Botswana and so on, just to give an impression to the world that Cameroon is also on the global development train 4.3.4 Cameroon Becoming an Emergence Country by Exposing and Combating Corruption In his speeches, especially the 31st December 2013, President Paul Biya promises that he will ensure that corruption becomes history in Cameroon. He even created what is called in Cameroon “Opération épervier'' (The Anti-Graft or Operation Sparrow Hawk and launched the National Anti-Corruption Campaign). But the US Wikleaks cable alleged that through this programme, many former aides of President Biya were arrested and charged with corruption-related charges are widely believed by Cameroonians to have been members of an ill-defined group known as the G11, which was plotting to unseat Biya. A new released by Wikileaks disclosed information that shows that the ‘anti-graft’ was not actually an anti- embezzlement programme but an elimination strategy. It stated that, the former Prime Minster Mr Ephraim Inoni, and the Territorial Administration Minister, Mr Marafa Hamidou Yaya, could be the clean, competent and well positioned successors to the long-term Paul Biya. Cameroonians argue that the anti-graft campaign was the only option he could cook up to get rid of the threat. (Africa Review, Tuesday, August 11 2015). Despite Paul Biya’s efforts, over the years, Cameroonians as well as international observers have arrived at the conclusion that corruption in Cameroon has reached a very 44 critical stage. For example, Barrister Akere Muna, (a Cameroonian) chairman of the International Anti-Corruption Conference and former Vice Chairman of Transparency International, said that corruption in Cameroon has reached a point of ‘State Capture’ whereby political, social and economic structures have been systematically corrupted with operations functioning without checks and balances. He said, political leaders have set aside public interest and are working for private interests. They influence decision-making processes to their own advantage through illegal channels such that public institutions in Cameroon have gradually been taken hostage by private interest. He equally explains that state capture in Cameroon has made it so hard for the system to be accountable because measures of crackdown appear as part of state design and institutions that are put in place to fight corruption such as NGOs are influenced and corrupted by such state actors and they end up completely captured too, (Akere Muna, Cameroon Breaking News Channel ‘BLOG’ 10th April 2017). The findings support (Susan Dilitch 2002 P. 168) ‘s research in 2002 about corruption eventually arriving the stage of state capture if the system is not overhauled. She states; “once you get the opportunity to take advantage of ‘eating’ you do so, whether you are a gendarme, a teacher, or a lowly civil servant”. She explains that it is reflective of an overall collective weariness and discouragement among the general population and the lack of elite investment in democracy and human rights. Most Cameroonians have reached a point whereby they are no longer anxious about the president’s addresses of the nation as can be seen in the ‘The Median Newspaper’ interview below. President Paul Biya in his 2012 end of year address of the nation admitted reluctantly that there is corruption in various forms in Cameroon including public procurement and fraud. He stated; In addition, there is corruption in various forms and public procurement and fraud. In this regard, the latest NACC report is extremely revealing. Obviously, the embezzlement of public funds will not go unpunished. I count very much on the minister of public contracts to put an end to such abuses in his sphere of competence Some Cameroonians lashed back at the president, stating that it is not enough to admit the existence of corruption and promise that measures are being put in place to combat it. They see all his promises as fake and empty. Below are reactions from some Cameroonians. (1) “President Biya’s speech meant virtually nothing to me. It didn’t move me one iota. I followed a long speech that was lacking in meaning. ……. I equally expected him to mention stringent measures as to deal with embezzlers, but again, nothing was said. Well it’s obvious those who wrote President 45 Biya’s speech had other things in mind. There was nothing special there” (Ittia Bruno-Buea: The Median Newspaper 15 Feb 2016). (2)” Often, very little hope comes with the messages as they are dismissed by many citizens as sheer rhetoric. Apart from the shift in style from a speech to a letter on the anniversary of his ascension to power, there was nothing new about the President’s message”, (23th Jan 2012: Wikileaks Cameroon, Cable 13) (3) The same fake promises. Any youth of this country who has critically followed President Biya’s speeches for the past years will join me to conclude that the president’s speech was not actually a speech per say, but an edited template of his past speeches, all geared towards making fake political promises that are never materialized. …. What else can he tell the youths apart from promises, fake analyses of his government and more to that, giving youths some cheap and dying conscience talk on moral behavior and patriotism. (Doh Bertrand- Buea The Median Newspaper, 15 Feb 2015) Findings reveal that there is a very wide gap between what the government promises doing to improve on development and living conditions and the practical reality of the poverty and inequality that Cameroonians have had to endure for the past years. There is an overwhelming drive to conclude that it is either a lack of strong will on the president to change the corruption trend in Cameroon or that he is trapped in the ring himself. Cameroonians have accused him of surrounding himself with a clique of old ministers who are mostly between 70 and 90 years old and have been in his government for decades. Some of those old senators are old cabinet members such as Francis Nkwain from the Northwest, Niat Njifenji from the Western, Rene Ze Nguele from the East, Etame Massoma from Littoral, and Mafany, Musonge, former Prime Minister, from the Southwest regions, (Cribbles from the Eden Newspaper, May 8th 2013). According to Akere Muna’s argument above, what is scary about corruption in Cameroon is that, simple solutions like the ones the president promises in his speeches (like assigning the ministers to follow-up) can no longer solve the problems because even grants set up to fight corruption end up in the vicious circle of the same obstinate old corrupt ministers whom the president has refused to evict from the government. The question to ponder on is, how can the president be struggling to combat corruption and at the same time maintaining the same old folks who have not yielded good results for decades? In all his speeches, he says that youths are the leaders of tomorrow but youths are not given the opportunity to practice leadership in the public sectors because old civil servants refuse to retire and youths are not employed after graduation. There is this general fear that the government is not preparing for the leadership of the ‘tomorrow Cameroon’. 46 Corruption undermines the fabric of trust and working together within Cameroonians for the common good in the society. The depth of corruption in Cameroon has resulted somewhat in a 'free-for-al’, ( Dicklitch 2002 P. 168 and Ndfor 2015 P. 50). This extract below describes how flexible and normalised corruption has become in Cameroon. A twenty-two-year-old university student Celine Ateba struggles at the Yaounde train station to secure a ticket to travel to the northern part of Cameroon. She says after she was informed all available seats had been taken, a worker at the railway company approached her and asked for a bribe to sell her a ticket. According to her, corruption is a cancer that is eating Cameroon. She says, in hospitals, train and police stations, public offices and schools, corruption is practiced openly and some people are no longer ashamed of it. She says it is unfortunate that her country is one of the most corrupt nations in the world’, (Moki Edwin Kindzeka; 28 Dec 2015, VOA Africa ‘BLOG’) Cameroon has been rated twice (1998 and 1999) respectively by Transparency International as the most corrupt country in the world. According to the (World Bank Country overview 2016), Cameroon ranked 130th out of 168 countries in the 2015 Transparency International corruption perceptions index and 172nd out of 189 economies in the (2016 Doing Business report). Kelly Mua Kingsley (year) argues that corruption in Cameroon has been necessitated by vices such as bribery, embezzlement, mismanagement/misappropriation of funds, fraud, lack of transparency, accountability, excessive bureaucracy, administrative bottlenecks and red tape, centralisation of decisions, lack of commitment in duty, lack of follow-up of decisions and projects, and so on. He further argues that despite Cameroonian Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives, the level of corruption is still very high in the judicial system, police, obtaining licences, infrastructure/public utilities; land administration; taxation; customs administration; electoral processes, Public Procurement/Contracting, project management, environmental management and the natural resources and extractive industry, (Kelly Mua Kingsley 2015 P. 203 para). According to Martin Sango Ndeh’s 2015 Report on the emerging Cameroon by 2035, “The poor management of state resources and corruption has been the major cause of poverty and hindrance to development in Cameroon”. US embassy’s findings revealed that corruption is one of the factors responsible for Cameroon’s inability to captivate foreign assistance or execute its budget. Cameroon’s weak implementation of projects and lack of success is significantly changing the foreign 47 investment climate. Foreign investors are scared to invest in Cameroon, (US Embassy Yaounde, 2006). This is because corruption has weakened the confidence of the international community and investors such as the American, European and Chinese investors, who would want to come and increase the potential wealth of the country but are skeptical because of the corrupt nature of the system and the heavy taxes levied on foreign investors. The destruction of trust has also limited the ability of Cameroonians to travel for business, study or leisure, and is starkly demonstrated by the US Embassy’s ten percent jump in visa refusal rate over the last years, (US Embassy Yaounde, 2006 para). Because of corruption, governance and development in Cameroon has reached the point which (Nwel: GERDDES-Cameroon, 1999, P. 33) describes as dysfunctional whereby, “corruption flourishes in the structures and is regarded as the normal (legal) way of doing things. Some of the expressions used by Cameroonians to describe the act of bribery and corruption are, ‘Backdoor’, ‘pushing of files’, oiling of palms’ ‘soya’, ‘beer’ and so on. Below is an extract from a study on bribery and corruption in Cameroon coordinated by Pierre Titi Nwel: GERDDES-Cameroon, 1999 “Before an employee renders any service in the public or private administration he must be given or will most probably expect to receive from the person requesting this service payment whose amount would depend on the issue at stake”. It is common to hear statements such as, “money can open all doors, money is the key to life, with money you can buy a woman’s love, if you have money, you will have the whole world at your feet, in government administrative services if you do not give money, your file will not be processed: documents will even be removed from them in order to render a file incomplete. If you do not ‘talk weIl’ your file will be sat upon, your child will not go to school, the magistrate will send you to prison”, and so on” (Pierre Titi Nwel: GERDDES-Cameroon, 1999, P. 32) Susan Dicklitch (2002) saw this and accorded it to the lack of a right-protective and a rights- respective approach in public administration by Paul Biya’s regime. Corruption has sapped away the spirit of patriotism, commitment, duty-consciousness and has deviated the collective economic development endeavours of Cameroonians to private interest. An interviewee once commented on a National Radio programme called ‘Cameroon Calling’ that; “those who are responsible for punishing persons guilty of corruption generally fail in their responsibilities, that is, if they themselves are not actively involved in it… public and para- public institutions have practically been bought over by government institutions to a point where they can only write positive reports in order not to fall out of favour with the heads of the enterprises that they control”, (Nwel: GERDDES-Cameroon, 1999, P. 19). Corruption keeps widening the gap between the rich class and the poor class as the rich squeeze even the little from the poor. I can mirror Cameroon in Thomas’s Pogge’s theory of 48 poverty and inequality being lack of a moral responsibility on the part of the rich and powerful to close the gap. According to the CIA World Bank Factbook of 2016, 48% of the Cameroonian population live below the poverty line. This is an indication that when a human right based approach is neglected in development strategies, failure is bound to be recorded. As stated above, Cameroon government has not been able to separate developmental goals from political propaganda. President Paul Biya has been at the peak of all operations in Cameroon. As such, every decree, be it political, developmental or on human rights issues revolve around his aura of power, Ndifor (2015 P. 37). Bribery and corruption have disrupted fair development processes in Cameroon as money intended for projects end up in the hands of corrupt individuals resulting in a lot of inefficiencies in project management. 4.3.5 Emergence through National Unity and National Security National Unity One of the main objectives of the ‘Vision 2035’ is making Cameroon a United Country in Diversity. The president has reiterated this in most of his speeches after 2009. For example, in his national day speech of 20th May 2010, he said, “It is undeniable that the Cameroonian Nation is now a reality and it’s unity our most precious assert” (President Pual Biya, 20/05/2010). “I know you treasure our unity. I know you cherish peace, progress and justice…. your pragmatism” (President Paul Biya 11/02/2015) “Do I need to repeat this? CAMEROON IS ONE AND INDIVISABLE! It shall so remain” “Yes, ordeals help forge national unity” (President Paul Biya 31/12/2016) Through his messages on national unity, the president encourages the practice of virtues such as patriotism, peace and stability, national solidarity and integrity, commitment and courage to plough new grounds. But despite the great attention that the government has given to national unity, Cameroon has eventually ended up in a civil war with the English-Speaking minority demanding for the right to self-determination and independence, (Dr. Zuhmboshi Eric, The Median Newspaper, Monday, 9 January 2017). For better understanding of the analysis, below is a summary of what happened to Cameroon and the consequences that have necessitated the repeated call for national unity in the present-day Cameroon. What orchestrated the national unity campaign in Cameroon, can be traced far back to the 1960s. During the colonial era, the former ‘German Kamerun’ colony had become a divided colony administered by the French and the British. French Cameroon got its 49 independence from France in 1st January 1960 while English Cameroon got its independence from Britain in 1st October 1961. But the condition for English Cameroon’s independence was either to get independence by joining French Cameroon or Nigeria. English Cameroon opted to join French Cameroon on condition that Cameroon will be administered as a Federal Republic with two separate languages (English and French), separate identities and with two different forms of governments. Everything in English Cameroon such as governance, education, legislation, judiciary, economy and so on was to continue as the British left it. But contrary to the agreement of 1961, French Cameroon neither kept to the terms of the agreement nor respected the clause that requires the preservation of the Anglophone cultural heritage and dignity. Rather, the unity turned out to be just another transitory phase to a total assimilation of the minority Anglophone region into a majority, strong and centralised French Cameroon. Because of this change of attitude from French Cameroon, an Anglophone consciousness began to grow among English Cameroonians triggered by a strong feeling of being deceived, marginalised and exploited by the French-dominated state and the Francophone population, (Koning and Nyamjoh, 1997, P.207 & Akum 2009 P. 1-2). Throughout the years, tension kept mounting in Anglophone Cameroon and in the 1990s, Anglophone movements such as the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) and the All Anglophone Conference (AAC) were created to fight for the restoration of the formal British Southern Cameroon State. These new movements claim that the reunification of the two Cameroons was an undesirable and unfortunate occurrence. Anglophones saw it as a villainy, a plague, an albatross around people’s neck and a non-too-heroic act. This feeling brought about agitations among English Cameroonians who started fighting for self- determination requesting to return to federalism or independence. The justification was that Francophones have betrayed the basis of the initial reunification agreement. They argued that they cannot accept to be treated like second-class citizens because they were not captured, nor conquered nor annexed by La Republic Du Camerooun, (Awasom Nicodemus Fru 1999 P. 92). The Anglophone crisis aggravated throughout the 1990s/2000s and finally in October 2016, the Anglophone Common Law Lawyers in English Cameroon went on strike, on 22nd November 2016, the Anglophone Teachers joined the lawyers on the strike and in December 2016 Anglophone University Students also joined the strike. They all demanded a federation or independence claiming that they are being discriminated on, excluded from state jobs, French teachers and judges imposed in their classrooms and courts and all public entrances 50 are set and documents published only in French. They are demanding for the justice and equality that was the basis of the 1961 constitution. Since the civil protest started in October 2016, up to this point, June 2017, neither courts nor schools have opened their doors. It is concluded that Francophone Cameroon insists on national unity because of numerous natural resources in Anglophone Cameroon like the petroleum site in the Bakasi Peninsula and the Limbe (Victoria) petrol refinery, (Conflict Observer Project: October 16, 2012). At first, the attitude of the government towards the problem was that of denial, denying that there is no Anglophone problem in Cameroon. The minster of communication Issa Chiroma Bakary, Atanga Nji Paul (Minister in Charge of Special Duties at the Presidency) and five other ministers joined the president to declare over the national television repeatedly that there is no Anglophone problem in Cameroon, (Ekinneh Agbaw- Ebai, Cameroon-Info.Net Yaounde - 09-Dec-2016), Erick-Achille Nko'o, CameroonVoice.Com, 23/11/2016 and Ngala Killian Chimtom, (Inter Press Service News Agency, Friday, May 26, 2017) The second reaction was that the government used the military to brutally repressed the protesters as they tried several times to protests, (International Development Journal, Ayenka, F. (21 Dec 2016, November). Some reports say several peoples have been killed, many arrested, tortured and jailed, many have died in jail and many female university girls rapped. (African Independent News 24 November 2016, and CNN: African Market Place: March 23, 2017) The third reaction was that, the government through the minister of Post/telecommunication ordered the disconnection of English Cameroon from the internet. Of great interest, is the fact that despite the declaration of a blank academic year in Cameroon because students have not attended classes for six months and there was no internet for online studies, the government continues to bribe and coax teachers and parents to call off the strike and allow students to write the General Certificate of Education (GCE O & A Levels) Examinations just to prove to the world that there is no Anglophone problem in Cameroon. The minister of secondary education announced that even if a student did not attend classes, did not register for the examination, he or she can just come around the GCE centres on the examination day and write, (Cameroon Daily Journal. 11 April 2017and Cameroon Concord: Saturday, May 13 2017). Many scholars, political analysts, national and international organisations are of the opinion that there is an Anglophone Problem, (Cameroon Friday, Dec 23 2016). They argue that base on the Federal Consritution of the two Cameroons of 1961, La Republique Du 51 Cameroun has breached the agreement that brought the two Cameroons together. They equally argue that the dominated French government has never shown any genuine commitment to solving the problem and that all the strategies the government is taking to suppress the problem are instead drifting the two Cameroons away from each other, (CNN Africa Market Place :March 23, 2017). Here are several reactions to the controversy of national unity in Cameroon. The first argument that there is an Anglophone problem is Cameroon is put forth by historians and scholars. Their argument is that Cameroon is not a unified nation. An article published on the 17th of May 2013 by the Recorder Newsline, states that over 800 participants and renowned panellists such as professor Julius Victor Ngoh, Professor of History at the University of Buea; Magloire Ondoa, Professor of Public Law and Constitutional Specialist; Micahel Ndobengang, Professor of History; Abel Eyinga, eyewitness at the UN during reunification debate and Doctor of Military History, and Emmanuel Pondi, Specialist in International Relations concluded after a historical debate that there is no legal document at the UN secretariat that proves the unification of English Cameroon with French as one and indivisible nation. Professor Ondoua Magloire is reported to have stated that because La Republique du Cameroun was a sovereign state, it could not enter into a Treaty with Southern Cameroons which was not an independent state” (17th of May 2013 by the Recorder Newsline). They maintained that, according to the UN trusteeship agreement article 76B, a trust territory cannot be asked to attain independence by joining an already independent nation such as La Republique du Cameroun which gained independence on Januaury 1, 1960 and Nigeria on October 1, 1960. They equally argue that the move to unite the two Cameroons in 1972 by the Cameroonian Federal Republic President, Amadou Adhijou was an illegal and undemocratic move. Their stance is that, because the law was not respected, then the reunification claims are fake, (The Recorder Newsline, Friday 17 May 2013). In the same light, Dr. Zuhmboshi Eric argues that, in an interview with ‘Agence Press Camerounaise’, in June 1960, President Ahidjo had reiterated that French Cameroon had no intention to annex British Southern Cameroons. He had said “I have said and repeated, in the name of the Government of Republique du Cameroun, that we do not have any annexationist design”. In July 1960, he repeated more firmly again saying, “For us, there can be no question of annexation of the Southern Cameroons. We have envisaged a flexible form of union, a federal form”. The argument is that, it was based on this assurance that he will not 52 annex Southern Cameroons that they accepted to form a federal union with French Cameroun on the 1st of October, 1961. Thus, based on this, La Republique du Cameroun has no justifiable reasons to force Southern Cameroons to stay in this union since what brought them together (the federal agreement) is no longer in force, (Dr. Zuhmboshi Eric, Cameroon Concord, 06/01/2017). Secondly, Trade Unions argue that Cameroon has failed in its duty to uphold the demands of Article 76(c-d) of the United Nations Charter which encourages respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion, and to encourage recognition of the interdependence of the peoples of the world; and to ensure equal treatment and justice in social, economic, and commercial matters for all. Instead, the French dominated government of Cameroon has resorted to the subjugation, domination, discrimination, marginalisation, exploitation and denial of fundamental human rights to English Cameroonians, at the same time deceiving the international community about Cameroon being one and indivisible nation. English Cameroonians argue that the one indivisible Cameroon paradigm is just an illusion created by the French Cameroon dictators for domination and exploitation because 65% of the Cameroonian revenue comes from English Cameroon. Even the church in Cameroon has put forward justifications as to the fact that the government is not taking right steps to work out a good strategy for the national unity it preaches. The Bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda sent an appeal to President Paul Biya on the 6th of December 2016 reminding the president that, “It is important to respect the conventions that bind us together as a people. The 1998 Law on the Orientation of Education in Cameroon, Law No. 098/4 of 14 April 1998, Art. 15, par. 1, reaffirms our bicultural option as a nation by stating that there are two Subsystems of Education in Cameroon. The second paragraph of the same article emphasizes the fact that the two subsystems would each preserve their specificity in their respective methods of evaluation and certification. It is, therefore, expedient that in the evolution of our country as a nation, such tenets of its constitution are respected so as to preserve the peace and harmony of our society. They concluded by reminding the president that Cameroon can only achieve sustainability as one indivisible nation on grounds that the law is respected and citizens are given their rights, (Bishops Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province 06/12/2016) The retired Archbishop Christian Tumi of the Douala Ecclesiastical Province spoke out on the issue of national unity arguing that national unity is impossible if one group of 53 people are denied the right to participation, decision-making and self-determination in the country that is supposed to be theirs. He stated, “Everyone has something to say, it’s good to listen to them. Silencing dissenting voices is not the solution, the crackdown on Anglophone agitators, torture on civilians and internet shutdown in the North West and South West Regions are illegal measures taken by the government to restore order in the face of violence, at the same time claiming that “Cameroon is a state of law.” (Archbishop Christian Tumi of the Douala Ecclesiastical Province. His conclusion was that if the government does not give the Anglophones the voice they deserve in the government, the national unity issue which is already very critical, will crash. (The Median Newspaper 29th Jan 2017). The opposition party also reacted to the unification dispute through Joseph Wirba, the SDF parliamentarian from English Cameroon. Honourable Joseph Wirba held the National Assembly ‘hostage’ on December 2, 2016 to deliver a speech on the Anglophone problem despite several calls to order by the House Speaker. He stated, “I am angry and incensed, almost at the point of losing my mind, that police tortured, raped and maimed children in Buea. Our ancestors trusted you but you have betrayed them in this union. We (West Cameroonians) will resist,”. He quoted Thomas Jefferson saying, “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty” “I am declaring from this rostrum, officially; your law is injustice to my people (Anglophones), we will resist to the last man”, (Honourable Joseph Wirba, The Median Newspaper, 2nd Dec 2016). Parliamentarians are the voices of the people, when those of one part of the nation start taking hard and conclusive positions like this, it would be inconsiderate to insist that the country is one and indivisible without investigating and settling the cause of such audacious move. Advocate general of the Supreme Court of Cameroon, President of the Peoples’ Action Party and Anglophone Activist, Ayah Paul Abine, was also arrested in Yaounde for speaking out against government’s declaring that there is no Anglophone problem and that Cameroon is one and indivisible nation. He was accused of extremism, terrorism and incitement of the Anglophone population against the government. On his way to jail, he wrote on his Facebook page; “The struggle will continue till the end!!!” (Ayah Paul Abine, The Median Newspaper, 22nd Jan 2017). Judging from the magnitude of resistance among the Anglophone population, it is very easy to conclude that most Anglophone Cameroonians are resolute on the fact that they can no longer coexist with French Cameroon as one country. Anglophone Cameroonians insist that the law states that all peoples have the right to self- determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely 54 pursue their economic, social and cultural development. As such, they have the right to choose not to stay with French Cameroon. They say they can achieve better socio-economic and political results in development as a people without French Cameroon because they have enough natural resources and the right spirit to build their new nation. 4.3.6 National Security. National Security. The insensitivity of the government to the challenges affecting the socio-economic and political development of the various regions of Cameroon has not only bred the spirit of disunity, but has also resulted in national insecurity. The president has been noted by Cameroonians for mentioning the issue of national security in some of his speeches and communiques, especially from 2014. He has made a series of strong statements against Boko Haram; vowing to go after the group "until it's totally wiped out". Since 2014 the Boko Haram terrorists have been attacking Northern Cameroon cities and villages, kidnapping both indigenes and foreigners. In the Doing Business Conference in Cameroon in 2015 he made the following declaration; “Boko Haram, you’re going to die”, “Boko Haram, you’re dead” “Boko Haram’s Islamists are supporters of an ignorant, tyrannical society. Let us “eradicate Boko Haram” (President Paul Biya, Business in Cameroon 2015 P. 2&8) In his 2014 end of year speech, the president stated; “As I said at the onset, we were obliged to prioritise the defence of our national territory, for there can be no peace without security and no development without peace” (President Paul Biya, 31st Dec 2014) “Concerning the security challenge, Throughout the year, our Nation put up a fierce resistance to Boko Haram terrorists…. The courage and professionalism of our forces and the commitment and courage of our people have helped to preserve our territorial integrity…. Through intense diplomatic activity, we have also been able to rally a wide array of partners to this fight against Boko Haram. Nothing will undermine the resolve of our defence and security forces. Nothing will affect our people’s morale or resilience. To deal with the atrocities of Boko Haram, the Nation’s vital forces are remobilized to firmly say NO to terrorism”, (President Paul Biya, 31st Dec 2015) As the president has rightly stated above, insecurity does not only lead to loss of lives, it hinders economic development. The Anglophone protest which the president called extreme 55 terrorism and a threat to national security also slowed-down economic operations. According to ‘Internet without Borders, just three weeks into the internet disconnection, small businesses in the Anglophone region had already lost 44,000,000 CFA Francs, which translates to $723,000 or 675,000 Euros. Exactly one month after on the 18th of February 2017, the estimated loss was $1.39 million (1.31 million Euros) and 94 days later a coalition of right groups assessed the economic loss in Anglophone Cameroon and estimated it at a minimum loss of $4.5 million, (Africa Review, 24th April 2017) President Paul greatly projects national unity and security but some scholars like Ndifor (2015) and Dicklitch (2002) and some Cameroonians argue that the president is not committed to programme for national unity. A researcher at the African Research Institute highlights that so many Cameroonians including soldiers have lost their lives, many disappeared, many villages burnt down and their property confiscated and used by Boko Haram and suicide bombers destroying churches, mosques and markets, despite international aid from Chad, Nigeria, France, China, USA and the CEMAC countries, (Doing Business in Cameroon 2015). Simon Ateba stated that , after declaring war on Boko Haram, Paul Biya took off for holiday to Switzerland. Human rights activists after waiting for too long followed him to his hotel and gave him seven days to go back and face Boko Haram because he was the one that openly declared war on them. Boko Haram was outraged after that declaration and declared a destruction mission in Northern Cameroon which resulted in the killing of many innocent Cameroonians, (Simon Ateba, The Simon Ateba News Washington Dc April 9, 2017 ‘Blog’) According to the Southern Cameroon Nation Council (SCNC), the government is actually the cause of national insecurity. They argue that any individual or group that dares to challenge government’s human rights violation is threatened with “Squadron de la Mort” (Death Squadrons). La Republique du Cameroon is noted for hunting down and assassinating activists who refuse to go on exile, (SCNC & MoRISC, Washington DC, 18th Dec 2016). Susan Dicklitch argues that the insecurity in Cameroon and the failure of the governmental system to protect its citizen is because of the absence of a rights-respective and rights- protective approach to governance as well as the absence of the rule of law, (Dicklitch 2002 P. 153). The economy of Northern Cameroon and English Cameroon is greatly affected by national insecurity. The government of Cameroon wants to solve the problem of national insecurity but is neglecting the participation of citizens in decision-making; and choosing the use of force to crackdown on activists. 56 4.4.7 Socio-Economic Security as a means of attaining emergence in Cameroon by 2035 President Paul Biya is very famous for is development propagandas especially the ‘Vision 2035’ which has been nicknamed by the president ‘Le Cameroon de Grandes Ambitions’ (Cameroon of Great Ambitions). When the Vision 2035 was launched in 2009, he promised to increase economic growth to 10% by 2017, eradicate poverty by reducing it to less than 10%, become a newly industrialized country, become an emerging country by 2035, make the people the main actors of their development through a bold policy on decent job creation. He equally promised to raise average life expectancy by improving on the living conditions of the population, narrow the gap between the rich and poor by improving the distribution of the fallouts of economic growth and enhance national solidarity and the social protection of the underprivileged. This ambitious declaration did not end with the launch of the vision, throughout the years since 2009, he has continued to make the same promises to Cameroonians in his various addresses to the nation. For example, he has been noted for promising various job creation ventures and massive youth employment, rise in social security/good living conditions, construction of roads. He promised construction of education and healthcare infrastructure, especially in rural areas, consolidation of public finance, avoiding foreign labour by training the youths to do all the national jobs, setting up technological centres for the youths, eradicating poverty, promoting rural development making it youth friendly, switching to digital economy, giving equal opportunities for all, professionalising education and opening up government structures for youth inclusion and participation in human rights, social and development endeavours. He is noted for statements such as; “As you can see, things are happening in Cameroon. The momentum is building and it is irreversible. You will be its main actors…live decently on his work, raise his children properly, have decent housing and protection from diseases”, (President Biya, 10th Feb 2014). Well, despite these positive projections, there are some noticeable controversies in the president’s speeches too. Such as, in some of the speeches, after or before declaring all the promises, he at the same time creates doubts and fear in Cameroonians, especially the youths who have been anxiously waiting after graduating from higher institutions. For example, the 57 anxious youths were outraged on the 10th of February 2014 (the eve of the National Youth Day Celebration) when the president opened his speech with this statement; “last year, under the same circumstance, I told you that I was aware of your doubts and worries about an uncertain future. But I added that we had reasons to hope and that, to me, the country’s prospects seemed brighter”, (President Biya, 10th Feb 2014). “However, we must also recognise that we are far from a glorious sustainable recovery that can alone transform our country into an Eldorado….I am aware that many of you whether educated or not are unemployed. I am, well aware that to survive, many of you resort to precarious options that are unrelated to your training or qualification, (President Biya, 10th Feb 2015) One outstanding idea that projects in most of his speeches is the fact that he keeps coaxing the youths to go back to the farms and do agriculture despite the fact that he acknowledges that we are in the ‘Android Generation’. He stated; “in addition, there is another domain which I know of the so-called ‘Android Generation hold most dear, namely the development of the digital economy” ( President Biya, 10th Feb 2016 address to the youths) “The development of our agricultural sector will be accorded a prime place. In this regard, I urge you to truly revolutionise your mindset. The soil has never betrayed anyone….it is proper to urge the youths to work the land….” (President Biya, 31st Dec 2017) The president projects good intentions but the reactions of Cameroonians, especially the youths are very negative. Some of them do not believe he plans to do all what he promises because if that was true, he won’t still be talking about the same project in 2017. Cameroonians like Maurice Kamto, the National President of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) party also criticised the president for adding new promises to old ones to the youths every year and they wait in vain to see them realised. He stated; “To take just one example, on the promise of recruiting 25,000 youths into the public service announced in 2010 to fight youth unemployment was never realized. Apart from the fact that it was a bad measure in terms of the management of public finances, 200,000 more jobs were announced in 2013. No figures have been provided so far on this promise that obviously was not upheld as the government itself acknowledges to have used only about 30 per cent of the public investment budget that was supposed to generate most of the jobs during the year,” (Maurice Kamto, Cameroon-Info.Net, Yaounde 11th Feb 2014) 58 Tension has been mounting among the Cameroonian population as they patiently wait year after year for the change the president has been promising. According to the responses of some interviewees by the Median Newspaper, many Cameroonians, especially the youths, are beginning to doubt President Biya’s genuine intention to the nation with many complaining that they are not yet seeing or feeling the impact of the employment accomplishments the president is boastful of, (Maurice Kamto, Cameroon-Info.Net, Yaounde 11th Feb 2014). A summary of all the interviewees’ opinions was; how could the president called us “Jueunesses Android2 (Android Generation” and at the same time coax us to go back to rural areas engage in subsistence farming? Some considered the president’s speech, a slap to the face, arguing that the president does not bother to know what the youths want, that they do not have equipment and there are no farm-to-market roads to sell the produce, (The Median Newspaper, 15 Feb 2016). Many youths said the president said nothing that of any good to them. Responses to the interview will be attached at the appendix. Many Cameroonians ask jokingly “how do we expect Biya to achieve his great ambitions vision when he is never present in the country. He is described by Cameroonians as ‘the absentee president’ or one who regularly ‘gets lost’ in Europe and then finds his way back home”. (The Daily Monitor Newspaper of Sunday 20th April 2014) states, “It is commonplace to hear Cameroonians say with contemptuous chortles that President Biya lives in Switzerland, where his children attend school and where he spends weeks at a time, and then visits Cameroon once in a while”. What rages some Cameroonians so much is the fact that his overseas exaggerated holidays cost the Cameroonian economy a great fortune as indicated by the report published by the French Press (RFI Worldwide, Tuesday 01 September 2009) stating that the Biya entourage was spending $40,000 a day on 43 hotel rooms. Despite not achieving any significant results, as French journalist Fanny Pigeaud has described in her 2011 book, ‘Au Cameroun de Paul Biya’ ('In Paul Biya’s Cameroon'), Cameroonians have continued to paddle in a “worrying state of disrepair” as Biya continues to tighten his grip around power using manipulative tactics. It can be deduced from the findings that the reason why sometimes it is very difficult in Cameroon to fish out corrupters is because they are often not beyond the backyard. President Paul Biya’s extravagant attitude was swiftly defended by the government minister of communication (nicknamed, the Government Song Bird) Issa Chiroma Bakary on the (BBC New Channel Thursday, 3 September 2009), who asked Cameroonians and the entire world why the president needs to justify his holidays’ expenditure to anyone. He argued, “Isn't he free to make a good use of 59 his money allotted to him in any way he wanted…Does he have to give the account of the way that he's using this money to journalists in Paris or here?". The observation here is that the Cameroon government undermines the transparency and accountability requirement of budgeting in governance which is a right to citizens and a prerequisite to economic emergence and sustainable development. Since the money he spends so lavishly is from tax- payer revenue, then Cameroonians have the right to the accountable records of his expenditure especially if it jeopardises the nation’s development ventures. According to Dicklitch (2002, P. 153) rights-respective and proactive society allows all budgeting of the state to be participatory, non-discriminatory, transparent and accountable. Therefore, if Paul Biya’s money is allotted to him by the state as his minister said, then citizens have the right to question the expenditures. One of the greatest socio-economic challenges of especially the Cameroonian youths is unemployment which in turn has caused acute poverty and socio-economic inequalities in the communities. The World Bank unemployment data for Cameroon from 1991 to 2016 shows that the average unemployment rate for Cameroon during this period was 7.96 percent with a minimum of 4.42 percent in 2007 and a maximum of 12.64 percent in 1996. But unemployment among university graduates only is about 37. % because . As indicated above, the president has rightfully admitted that there is acute unemployment which has pushed youths to precarious activities. Most of those working are, underemployed or are working outside their field of expertise just to survive. Underemployment in Cameroon as per 2014 statistics stood at 75%. It is worth noting that the working population in Cameroon is close to 13 million but only just a little over 2 million are employed by the public service. It is also worth noting that the government has made many moves towards salvaging youth unemployment in Cameroon. Some of those initiatives are; the Rural and Urban Youth Support Program known by its French acronym as PAJER-U, the Integrated Project for Manufacturing of Sporting Materials (PIFMAS), the National Employment Fund (NEF) and the Integrated Support Project for Actors of the Informal Sector (PIAASI). But, despite all the efforts there has not been any significant improvement on youth unemployment, (Ekuh Edmund Linked in: July 18, 2014). Unemployment and poverty keeps widening the gap between the rich and poor in Cameroon. Wealth circulates in the hands of elitist authoritarian government officials in Cameroon just as described by (Good 2012 P. 2-3 para) in his study of the Botswana economy. 60 Faced with limited opportunities in the public sector after graduation, most of the youth people have resorted to looking for greener pastures abroad. This mass emigration of youth is dragging the country’s economy down. Cameroon is experiencing acute migration and brain drain in its labour force as talented young graduates move after realising that there are no prospects for them in Cameroon. Many Cameroonians fear that if more young people migrate out of Cameroon, then Cameroon might never attain the much talked about ‘Vision 2035’. But youths have no choice because projections show that the unemployment rate in Cameroon by 2020 will be higher than in 2016-2017 (TradingEconomics.com, Friday, May 26, 2017 ‘Blog’). Youths can make a great difference in the Cameroonian economy if given a voice on the dialogue table. Like the president rightly acknowledged in his speeches, the world has moved into digital industrialisation and the youths stand a better chance of injecting latest technologies into the economy if given a chance in project design and execution. The involvement of Cameroonian youths in development will save the economy by reducing huge salaries paid to foreign labour, (President Biya’s 11th Feb 2016 Message to the Youths). If the Cameroon government can apply a human right based approach to programme and project development, the development endeavours will sustain better results which in turn will bring in greater returns to the economy. 5. CHAPTER FIVE 5.1 CONCLUSION Most Cameroonians know that Cameroon aspires to become An Emerging Democratic, United Nation in Diversity by 2035, that Cameroon wants to accomplish the ambitious development policies of and that human rights models indicate that Cameroon promote human rights policies in the constitution which ensures principles such as participation in all aspects of decision-making, non-discrimination, freedom, and that Cameroon is a state of law. Findings show that French and English Cameroons agreed to form a federal republic of equal status, identity and dignity and that the president has built up a very strong army giving an impression to the international community that it is to fight the terrorist Boko Haram group and to maintain national security. It is true that President Paul Biya’s Regime has brought in new initiatives in Cameroon such as the creation of ELECAM, the creation of the Biometric system of voting and has tolerated the advent of multiparty 61 democracy. It is equally true that the president and his regime give the world the impression that Cameroon is a democratic peaceful, stable and united country, and so on. What is not true is that for close to 35 years, the Biya’s regime has kept Cameroonians drowning in an illusion of empty promises. It is either the government is not committed to, or has deliberately neglected the application of a HRBA to all the government’s endeavours to back up the ‘talking’ with the ‘doing’. The absence of a rights- respective and rights-protective approach to governance in Cameroon has resulted to state of lawlessness, acute bribery and corruption, mismanagement of state and project funds, suppression, brutalisation, arrests, rapes and killing of protesters, fraudulent electoral registration and elections, disunity because of the gross marginalisation of Anglophones, calling them name such as, ‘second class citizens’, ‘les enemies dans la maison’ (enemies in the house),Anglo-fools, Lucifer in heaven, and so on. As Susan Dicklitch predicted, the absence of a HRBA to governance has eventually resulted to the civil war that rages between the Anglophones and the dominant French government today. Cameroonians still believe all hope is not lost if the government can stop refusing its weaknesses and listen to the voice of the people. Thus, the following are some recommendations as to what can be done to rescue the development of Cameroon. 5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS 5.2.1 National Unity and National Security through Dialogue. The government should make an effort of giving extra attention to commitment in policies and project implementation. It should make it an obligatory duty to monitor and evaluate each step of projects. It is not enough to ask a minister to declare that ministers have been asked to crackdown on corruption. A monitoring team should be trained to follow up policies and project implementation. Commitment and good follow up can close up the gap that exist between policies and practice. 5,2.2 Dialogue Andrew Acland (Sciencewise Dialogue and Engagement Specialist) once stated, "If you think dialogue is expensive, try conflict". I suggest that the government should take some mature and courageous steps towards engaging in sincere dialogue with Anglophone Cameroonians so that grievances can be exposed and discussed. This should be moderated by the UN and the AU and other human rights organisations. The parties involved should 62 sincerely examine the pro’s and con’s not necessarily to accuse or convince one another but to explore ideas and participatorily conclude on what is best for Cameroon because two cannot walk together except they agree to. To ensure national security, the government should employ investigative strategies on fighting Boko Haram that do not involve loss of lives rather than open declaration of war on them without knowing exactly where to catch them. You cannot fight an enemy you do not know his where-about. 5.2.3 Inclusive Policy Reformation/Reformulation The Cameroonian government should make a move towards policy adjustment or total policy reformulation. This should involve all stakeholders such as the government, Anglophone activists, youths, civil society organisations and international community such as the UN organs. Digital technology has empowered the Cameroonian youths such that if given an opportunity in decision-making and implementation, Cameroon might actually become an emerging industrialised nation by 2035. New policies should be socially informed, publicly acceptable by all and practically sustainable for human rights and development ventures. The new policies should not only be inclusive but also strategically focused on significant issues that directly impact the realisation of human rights and sustainable development. 5.2.4 Engage on Strong commitment and serious Monitoring and Evaluation of policies/projects Government should make it a duty to monitor and evaluate both policies and practical actions on human rights and development programmes. Frequent monitoring and evaluation will help expose the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to both policies and practices. This should go beyond creating committees. The committees should engage in strict follow-up of implementation of policies and projects. This can be observed through detail monitoring of reports making sure to cross-check with practical results on ground. 5.2.5 Complete Replacement of the Entire Biya;s strategies of governing All the recommendations listed above and any other can only effectively take effect if the entire Biya’s government is completely removed. Cameroonians can do this by unanimously refusing Paul Biya the opportunity of standing again as a presidential candidate for the 2018 presidential elections. True democracy can only function if Biya is no longer 63 president and his entire old clique removed from the government and pro-people government formed. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Kenneth Good (2016) Democracy and development in Botswana. Journal of Contemporary African. Studies. pp.Published by Routledge. 2. Akere Muna Cameroon Breaking News Channel ‘BLOG’ State Capture Available at: http://player.mashpedia.com/player.php?ref=mashpedia&q=zA9v75kjIOI 3. 10th April 2017). 4. Alan Bryman (ed.) (2012) Social Research Methods (4th) Orford: New York: Oxford University Press. 5. Alisa Clarke (2011) The potential of the human rights-based approach for the evolution of the united nations as a system. Human Rights Review. 13 6. Amartya Sen (ed.) (1999) Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press. 7. Andrea Cornwall and Celestine N. Musembi (2004) Putting the rights-based-approach to development into perspective. Carfax Publisher. 25(8) pp.1415-1477. 8. Augusto Lopez Claros (2015) Removing impediments to sustainable development: The case of corruption. Journal of International Commence, Economics and Policy. 6(1) pp.1-35. 9. Awasom Nicodemus Fru (2000) The reunification question in cameroon history: Was the bride an enthusiastic or a reluctant one? Africa Today. 47(2) pp.90-11p. 10. Bill Hopwood, Mary Mellor and Geoff O’Brien (2005) Sustainable development: Mapping different approaches. Sustainable Cities Research Institute. 13(10.1002/sd.244) pp.38-52. 64 11. Bill Hopwood, Mary Mellor and Geoff O’Brien (2005) Sustainable development: mapping different approaches. Wiley InterScience. 13pp.38-52. 12. Bonaventure F. Ndifor (2015) The politicization of the cameroon judicial system. Glob. just. & Pub. Pol'y. 13. By Dr. Zuhmboshi Eric: The Median Newspaper: what do Southern Cameroonians Want, “Secession” Or “Separation”? Available at: http://themedianpaper-yde.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/what-do-southern- cameroonians-want.html (Accessed: Monday, 9 January 2017). 14. Cameroon Concord News Anglophone Uprising: Francophone Government Threatens to Gag Media. Available at: http://www.cameroonconcordnews.com/anglophone-uprising-francophone- government-threatens-to-gag-media/ (Accessed: 21st Jan 2017). 15. Cemroon Concord News (2017) Cemroon Concord:. Available at: http://www.cameroon-concord.com/headlines/8462-statement-by-amnesty-international- after-cameroon-authorities-shut-down-press-conference-in-yaounde-banned-panel- discussion-stormed-hotel-with-guns (Accessed: Thursday, May 25 2017). 16. Compliant Advisor Ombudsman (2 July 2016) Cameroon Case Progress Report – Chad-Cameroon Pipeline. Compliant Advisor Ombudsman. 17. Darren O’Byrne (2011) Introducing sociological theory. In: Anonymous . 18. David Akana, C.c. an Evaluation Gap Cameroon Cannot Ignore . Available at: http://www.cameroonpostline.com/an-evaluation-gap-cameroon-cannot- ignore/ (Accessed: September 22, 2013). 19. Forson et al (2016) Causes of corruption: Evidence from sub-saharan africa. Satems. 19(4) pp.562-578. 20. Gordon Crawford & Bård A. Andreassen (2015) Human rights and development: Putting power and politics at the center. Human Rights Quarterly. 37(3) pp.662-690. 21. Governance criteria and political choices: the Good, the Bad and the Governance: . Available at: http://www.thebrokeronline.eu/Articles/The-good-the-bad-and-the-governance . 65 22. Ian Rory Owen 1 social constructionism and the theory, practice and research of psychotherapy: A phenomenological psychology manifesto. Boletin De Psicologia. 46pp.161-186. 23. Institute on Governance What is Governance?: Available at: http://iog.ca/defining-governance . 24. John Nash Parliamentary: Under Secretary of State for Schools (2017) Governance handbook. UK Department of Education. 25. Jonathan Kelley (1985) The decline of class revisited: Class and party in england, 1964-1979. The American Political Science Review. 79(3) pp.719-738. 26. Judith Bell (ed.) (1999) Doing Your Research Project: A Guide for First-Time Researchers in Education and Social Science. (3rd) Buckkingham: Open University Press. 27. Kathrine Sarikakis (2015) Freedom of speech in crisis eorope. 624pp.23-27. 28. Kelly Mua Kingsly (2015) Corruption practices in public sector: The cameroon experience. Research Journal of Finance and Accounting. 6(4) pp.2222-2847. 29. Margot E. Salomom (ed.) (2007) Global Responsibility for Human Rights: World Poverty and the Development of International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 30. Michael Freeman (2011) Human Rights. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. 31. Mike Savage (ed.) (2000) Class Analysis and Social Transformation. Philadelphia: Open University Press. 32. Nadia M Rubaii (2016) Bringing the 21st-century governance paradigm to public affairs education:Reimagining how we teach what we teach. Journal of Public Affairs Education. 22(4) pp.Bepress. 33. Oluwole Owoye and Nicole Bissessar (2015) Bad governance and corruption in africa: Symptoms of leadership and institutional failure. 34. Omran Aly. (2013) Bad governance and failure of development progress in egypt Journal of Public Administration and Governance. 3(4) . 35. Peter Saunders (1992 (From 1999-2017 by John Wiley and Sons Inc.) Poverty inequality and recession. Journal of Applied Economics and Policy. 11(3) pp.1-22. 36. Pierre TITI NWEL (1999) Cameroon in cameroon. Friedrich-Ebert -Stiftung. 66 37. Piet Konings and Francis B. Nyamnjoh (1997) The anglophone problem in cameroon. The Journal of Modern African Studies. 35(2) pp.207-229. 38. Pranab Bardhan (2015) Corruption and development policy(drawing upon the recent indian debate Journal of Public Economic Theory. 17(4) pp.472-479. 39. Susan Dicklitch (2002) Failed democratic transition in cameroon: Human rights explanation. Human Rights Quarterly. 24. 40. The Broker UK the Good, the Bad and the Governance: Governance Criteria and Political Choices: . Available at: http://www.thebrokeronline.eu/Articles/The-good-the-bad-and-the- governance . 41. The Guardian Newspaper BBC AFRICA BBC Journalists,Farouk Chothia and Ange Ngu Thomas Arrested in Cameroon . Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/jul/15/broadcasting.radio (Accessed: July 2o15). 42. The Guardian Newspaper: Cameroon Urged to Investigate Deaths Amid Anglophone Protests . Available at: http://en.africatime.com/articles/cameroon-urged-investigate-deaths- amid-anglophone-protests-1 (Accessed: 12/14/16). 43. The Median Newspaper Youths React to President Biya’s Youth Day Speech . Available at: http://themedianpaper-yde.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/youths-react-to-president-biyas- youth.html (Accessed: Monday, 15 February 2016). 44. Thomas Pogge (ed.) (2008) World Poverty and Human Rights. Polity Press. 45. Thomas Pogge (2003) Assiting the global poor. 46. Thomas Pogge (2003) Severe poverty as a human rights violation: Ethical and human rights dimension to poverty: Towards a new paradigm in the fight against poverty. Philosophy Seminar. 47. Valerian Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai, CAMEROON CONCORD NEWS the Anglophone Problem – when Facts don’t Lie (Accessed: 8, December 2016). 67 48. Varun Gauri and Siri Gloppen (2012) 1. human rights based approaches to development: concepts, evidence, and policy . Policy Research Working Paper, 5938. 49. Vivien Burr (ed.) (2007) Social Constructivism. 50. www.wikileaks (http://www.wikileaks-forum.com/cablegate/7/cameroonwikileaks- cable-13-biyas-unconvincing-letter-to-cameroonians/8104) Biya’s Unconvincing Letter to Cameroonians. (Accessed: 23th Jan 2012). 51. Yerima Kini Nsom Cameroon Post: Biya’s Corruption, Ahidjo’s Dictatorship: Available at: http://www.cameroonpostline.com/biyas-corruption-ahidjos-dictatorship/ (Accessed: November 5, 2010). Appendix EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of ‘VISION 2035’ The normative approach was used for the “formulation of Cameroon’s bold vision for long-term development". The process aims to position the PRSP under review in the long term. The idea is to match the new PRSP’s strategies with the real aspirations of Cameroonians over a long period of time with a view to foresee structural changes in society. These changes are evidenced in four factors which at the same time account for the formulation of the long-term vision and pose as challenges to the process. After reviewing these factors, the document addresses the formulation of the vision, its implementation strategies, as well as related threats, risks and obstacles. 1. Stakes The first challenge is to consolidate democracy and enhance national unity. Cameroon is an ethnic and linguistic mosaic with other divergent factors such as religion, politics, corporation, etc. Building a Nation –State out of such diversity is often hampered by some centrifugal forces and tendencies towards identity confinement. Despite the progress made so far, the consolidation of achievements in the areas of national integration, peace, justice, social cohesion and democratization continue to be a challenge. At the political level in particular, consolidating the democratization process implies the existence of a constitutional State, promotion and respect for individual and collective freedoms, power separation, the emergence of a strong and accountable civil society and participation of all Cameroonians in public affairs management. Economic growth and employment constitute another challenge. Despite the gradual recovery from the devaluation of the CFA franc in 1994, Cameroon’s growth is still to find its strength in terms of its inner dynamics and the expected impact on the living conditions of the population. An analysis of the country’s growth factors reveals that its economy depends more than 50 per cent on Household and Sole Proprietor Businesses which constitute a sector comprising mostly informal units (notably agriculture and trade) with no guarantee of sustainable growth due to their generally fluctuating performances. Cameroon has been unable to develop a competitive industrial sector especially because of its poor performance in the global economy and lack of an operational potential at the domestic level. This problem is also compounded by distribution of the wealth generated. As a matter of fact, dividends on share capital continue to have an edge over salaries and other social contributions. There is hence a general outcry for strong growth with an equitable distribution of its fallouts. The third challenge is socio-demographic. Population explosion in Cameroon has led to an increase in the number of dependent people (young and old), and changed the density of settlements. There is need for more infrastructure and social services to match the increasing numbers of young people, especially in the education and health sectors. The youth provide an important manpower not 68 absorbable into the formal economic sector and thus turn to the informal sector for poorly paid jobs not matching their professional skills. The vision has as challenge to make the population of Cameroon a driving force of its development through controlled population growth, human capital formation and a longer life expectancy. Urban and regional development is the fourth challenge. If current trends persist, over 75 per cent of Cameroon’s population will in the next 25-30 years live in urban areas. If pre-emptive action is not taken, the problems resulting from rapid and uncontrolled urban expansion already plaguing Douala and Yaounde might spread like wildfire. For the vision, the issue at stake is how to plan the all-so- important development of towns and cities which are major consumption centres and a gold mine for industrial development factors. The last challenge is governance. Governance means efficient and effective use of the country’s potential as well as human, material and financial resources for its development. Cameroon needs to overcome this challenge to be well integrated into the global economy. vii 2. The vision and its objectives Cameroon’s Vision for the next 25-30 years is as follows: " CAMEROON: AN EMERGING, DEMOCRATIC AND UNITED COUNTRY IN DIVERSITY ". The vision hinges on the results of past studies, identification of the population’s needs, aspirations and the ambitions of politicians. In particular, the vision synchronises the aspirations and hopes of various actors as follows: •a united and indivisible nation enjoying peace and security; •a true, strong and fair democracy; •a decentralized administration at the service of development; •a prosperous economy with good infrastructure; •an economy based on sub-regional, regional and global integration; •controlled population growth; •a nation that promotes gender parity in electoral processes and equality in elective positions; •a socially and economically empowered woman; •a stable and harmonious family; •access to basic and quality social services by all; •independence and accessibility of the judiciary; •minimal poverty, illiteracy and social exclusion rates; •an attractive Cameroonian culture united in diversity, and assertive at the international level; •low unemployment and underemployment rates; •well-trained youth exalting merit and country’s expertise; •a fair distribution of resources between urban and rural areas, and between the various regions of the country. The overall objective of the vision is to make Cameroon an emerging country over the next 25-30 years which is the period required to move from one generation to another. The vision also has medium-term objectives, notably: (i) poverty alleviation; (ii) becoming a middle income country, (iii) becoming a newly industrialised country and (iv) consolidating democracy and national unity while respecting the country’s diversity. Poverty alleviation implies bringing poverty to minimal levels that can be tolerated at the social level notably by ensuring strong, sustained and job-generating growth on the one hand and by increasing, extending and improving social services, including health, education, housing, training, water, electricity, roads, etc. on the other hand. The status of middle income country will concretize the objective of doubling at least the average income to ensure that Cameroon progresses from a low income to a middle income country by enhancing growth to a two-digit level by 2017 and maintaining this level for a number of years. At the industrial level, Cameroon’s ambition is to transform from a primary phase to a secondary import substitution phase with the manufacturing industry accounting for more than 23 per cent of the GDP, as against the current 11 per cent and a secondary sector as a whole (including extractive industries) accounting for 40 per cent of the GDP. When Cameroon becomes an emerging country, which is the final phase, its economy will be mainstreamed into the global economy in terms of trade (substantial exports) and finance (opening of local financial markets to foreign investments). Unity and democracy to be enhanced and consolidated in Cameroon result from awareness and a sound analysis of the country’s history and that of other peoples worldwide. The vision of a united and indivisible nation is founded on the preservation of peace and national solidarity. National unity should be a permanent and ambitious goal and a process bringing together the various components of society (regions, provinces, ethnic groups, cultures, generations, sex, social, intellectual, civil and military classes, corporations, opinions and religions, etc.). The foundations of peace and democracy 69 are freedom, equality and the sovereignty of the people of Cameroon. These medium-term goals are translated into sector objectives underpinned by a set of specific and targeted indicators. Targets were set based on the experience of countries having succeeded in their quest for emergence. At the macro-economic level, the vision highlights the need to accelerate growth by stepping up forest, agro-pastoral and fishing activities and ensuring an industrial technological advancement with viii emphasis on the processing of local commodities. The vision also envisages changing the structure of the economy; from a primary sector economy (agriculture and extraction) and informal tertiary activities to a more powerful secondary sector, and an intensive primary sector, a professional, specialized tertiary sector which creates decent jobs. For this goal to be achieved, the vision advocates the stepping up of investments as growth engine. The development of industries and an ambitious trade policy should gradually lead to a change of the foreign trade pattern towards a more vigorous integration in world and regional transactions. At the social and demographic level, the objectives are to make the people the main actors of their development through a bold policy on decent job creation, to raise average life expectancy by improving on the living conditions of the population through the broadening of supply and development of quality of social services, to control population growth taking into account economic growth requirements, to narrow the gap between the rich and poor with a greater distribution of the fallouts of economic growth, and to enhance national solidarity and social protection of the underprivileged. In the rural sector, agricultural revolution is envisaged. It should allow for an increase in productivity with the intensification of activities and the change of agricultural holdings scales. In the industrial sector, the Vision intends to retain industrial development as the country’s development engine. The objectives of the vision at this level are to create a competitive manufacturing sector that can generate resources, sustain growth, employment, exports, and ensure integration into the global economy. Industrial development will depend on the development of infrastructure, reduction of factor costs and promotion of new funding methods. 3. Implementation strategies To achieve the expected results, overall implementation strategies are considered. In terms of programming in phases, emphasis will first be laid on the setting of milestones for strong growth thanks to increased investments in infrastructure and rapid modernisation of production. The process should go along with an improvement of the business climate and governance, as well as a renewed determination to factor in employment in the growth process. Secondly, the government will look for ways and means to maintain growth at high levels, to achieve Millennium Development Goals no matter how late and to ensure that the population is entirely mobilized in the fight against climate change effects. The third step will coincide with the time when Cameroon becomes an emerging country, open to the outward world and relying on its production and export pattern that is essentially based on industries. The country will hence enjoy quality growth, based on the gains of the first phases, driven by intense regional and international exchange thanks to a favourable financial system that can mobilize domestic and foreign funding indispensable for sustaining consumption and investment demands. These phases will be underpinned by an ambitious industrialization strategy, a strategy of national integration and the advancement of democracy, a private-sector promotion strategy, a good governance and management strategy with blueprint for a resource allocation strategy, a strategy for sub-regional, regional and international integration, a strategy for partnership and development assistance, and a development funding strategy. 4. Threats, risks and obstacles Achieving such ambitions and objectives requires mastery of some institutional, political, sociological and international factors that constitute threats, risks and obstacles to the Vision. At the political and institutional level, such factors include political transitions, participation, social justice, management of the dual Anglophone-francophone heritage, and balance of power. At the sociological level, behaviours that stem from sociological fragmentation should be redressed. At the international level, there is globalization with its series of constraints which should be foreseen as well as the growing influence of Nigeria’s economy. GOVERNMENT’S DECLARATION ix In cooperation with civil society, the private sector and development partners, the government undertook the formulation of the country’s long-term vision for the next 25-30 years. The process signals a new direction in the annals of the national economy over the past twenty years. Cameroon witnessed two decades of constant growth with real growth rates that stood at 7 per cent. This was until 1985. The main missions were performed by the government even in productive sectors and the economy was underpinned by five-year plans which guided short and medium-term development based on long-term prospects. 70 When the economic crisis broke out in 1985, the government embarked on an economic revival process with donor assistance. As a matter of fact, the government carried out some stabilization and structural adjustment programmes which led to the discontinuation of medium and long-term initiatives. Cameroon therefore went through a long period of readjustment with successive reforms. The satisfactory implementation of these reforms led to the attainment of the completion point of the Heavily Indebted Poor Country Initiative (HIPC) in 2006 which enabled a significant cancellation of the country’s debt. However, growth recovery on the heels of devaluation was not strong enough to reduce poverty in the short term. It was proven that the presence of numerous reference frameworks guiding economic action in the country function without a common and coherent vision. This is one of the major loopholes of the national economic policy. The result is a series of dysfunctions, followed by the lack of rational arbitration in programme selection, imbalanced regional development, significant reduction in public investment and poor capacity to own tools for evaluation, coordination and refocus of external financial package. In order to consolidate the economic revival process launched ten years ago and sustain it, Cameroon is compelled to reconsider its development process notably by mainstreaming it into a broader and overarching policy framework. Hence the need to formulate a forward-looking vision which is a prerequisite for the country’s long-term development strategy. A common vision for Cameroon’s development was ushered in following an all-inclusive process that brought together all the forces of the Nation and that hinges on the Head of State’s Great Ambition policy, structural studies on the system, the people’s expectations and government commitments vis-à-vis its international partners. The vision is a response to real aspirations of Cameroonians over a given period long enough to foresee structural adjustments. The vision is faced with four major challenges: economic growth which is stagnating, increased population growth, rapid urbanization and poor governance. The challenges helped to spell out sector objectives and specific indicators based on the experience of four countries that had an economic pattern similar to Cameroon in a certain period, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco and Tunisia. The vision that ensued has as main objective to make Cameroon an emerging country by 2035, specific objectives being to: 1. eradicate poverty by reducing it to less than 10 per cent thanks to accelerated and job- generating growth, as well as a bold policy on income redistribution by increasing, extending and improving social services, including health, education, training, water, electricity, roads, etc. 2. become a middle income country in order to increase the average income by consolidating, over a long period, growth rate which should reach 10 per cent by 2017, thanks to increased diversification of economic activities 3. become a newly industrialized country, which is a phase when Cameroon will transform from a primary phase to a secondary import substitution phase with the manufacturing industry accounting for more than 23 per cent of the GDP 4. become an emerging country, which is the phase when its economy will be mainstreamed into the global economy in terms of trade (substantial exports) and finance (opening of local financial markets to foreign investments). x The vision is built on a reference framework anchored on the three pillars below: • At the macroeconomic level: there is need to accelerate growth by stepping up investment in infrastructure and modernising production while maintaining macroeconomic stability. This will go a long way to address energy crisis that currently inhibits growth. Besides, efforts to be made alongside such initiative in order to ensure considerable improvement of the business climate and governance will facilitate the mobilization of domestic and external financing which is indispensable for development. • At the sector level: in order to address food crisis and make Cameroon the breadbasket of the Central African region, there is need to intensify forest, agro-pastoral and fishing activities and restructure the rural world for more professionalism, with dominance of large and medium- scale undertakings. Development of mining operations should firstly concern foreign direct investors and allow for the acquisition of new technologies here and there. The development of industries and a bold trade policy will result in the dominance of the secondary sector, with 71 an intensive primary sector and a professional, specialized and job-generating tertiary sector. This should go along side a change in the foreign trade pattern with a more active integration in global exchange. • At the social and demographic level, the objectives are to make the people the main actors of their development through a bold policy on decent job creation thanks to a bold policy on decent job generation, to raise average life expectancy by improving on the living conditions of the population through broadening of supply and development of quality of social services, control population growth taking into account economic growth requirements, narrow the gaps between the rich and poor by improving the distribution of the fallouts of economic growth, and enhance national solidarity and the social protection of the underprivileged. • As concerns regional development, the issue at stake is how to control space, protect the environment and control the impact of climate change which is already visible. There is also the need to promote full operation of regional and local development, but this should be as a supplement to government actions, to foresee and plan the all-so-important development of towns which are major consumption and production centres, and a gold mine for industrial development factors. These pillars will be underpinned by an ambitious industrialization strategy, a private-sector promotion strategy, a good governance strategy with blueprint for a resource allocation strategy, a strategy for sub-regional, regional and international integration, a strategy for partnership and development assistance. Achieving such a Vision requires mastery of some threats, risks and obstacles such as political transitions, social stability and regional heterogeneity concerning development, negative effects of globalization and the growing influence of Nigeria’s economy. To render the vision operational, the Paris Declaration has been used as guideline. It requires that every country spells out its own development policy freely, donors interventions only coming to back their initiatives in a coordinated and efficient manner. In this regard, the chain of all operations, including diagnosis, strategic guidelines, planning, programming, execution and monitoring/evaluation should be jointly conducted in a concerted manner. The vision is therefore a reference framework that should guide sector and regional policies, national strategies, development and cooperation plans.