By Joachim Arrey
Poverty alleviation has been at the center of most development discussions and initiatives in most African countries, including Cameroon. Cameroon, a small West African country of about fifteen million people, known mainly for soccer, poverty and corruption, is endowed with many natural resources such as oil, gold, cocoa, coffee, cotton, bauxite, and timber.
Portrait of Poverty Landscape in Cameroon
Despite Cameroon's natural riches, many Cameroonians still live well below the poverty line. The unemployment rate is, unfortunately, very high. University graduates, who formerly used to find jobs easily, now content themselves with odd jobs such as cab driving and newspaper vending. The entire road infrastructure of the country is begging for maintenance. The country’s currency, which is pegged to the Euro, the Western European single currency, has depreciated more that 100% since its devaluation in the early nineties. The purchase of foreign made goods such as cars, trucks and spare parts has been made near impossible due to the high value of the Euro. This has pushed up transportation cost well beyond the means of the average Cameroonian.
With the advent of multiparty politics in 1990, the stability of the country was put through a tough test. Multiparty politics was introduced in Cameroon without the necessary institutional capacity to help promote democracy. The ruling CPDM, the president’s party, has won all elections since 1992. The opposition parties have always contested the results of the elections because election rules, procedures and laws are designed to serve the interest of the president’s party, and this has, unfortunately, shattered the trust and hope of the people in a democratic Cameroon.
The economic hardship coupled with the political instability has caused crime to soar over the last ten years. Foreign investments have declined sharply over the last decade. The breakdown in law and order in the country is, in itself, a great threat to any potential investments. Armed banditry is very regular in major cities like Yaounde, Douala, Limbe, Kumba and Bafoussam, and sometimes these crimes are committed in broad daylight.
The police who are supposed to fight crime do openly cooperate with the rogues. They sometimes rent out their law enforcement gear to the armed bandits who are prepared to share their booty with them, and this has made it hard for the public to trust the police. As a result, popular justice now prevails in Cameroon. Once a thief is caught, he is beaten to death or burnt alive because the population believes that if the thief is taken to the police station, he will buy his way out of custody since the police has become incredibly corrupt.
Similarly, top government officials are, unfortunately, not reliable when it comes to fighting crime. The constant interference of top government officials in the legal system has reduced the reliability of the system. The judiciary, for its part, is at the mercy of the president. The president hires and fires members of the judiciary at will. Electoral disputes are always settled by the courts and they are always settled in favor of the ruling party. The partiality of the judiciary both in electoral disputes and other matters has caused the citizens to lose faith in the judiciary. In short, the rule of law is non-existent in Cameroon.
Gunning down Poverty in Cameroon?
Though Cameroon’s economic picture looks gloomy, the government still has the potential of turning things around for its citizens. With global and national poverty alleviation initiatives well underway in Cameroon, the government’s best bet appears to be prudent and democratic management of scarce resources.
The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other donor agencies are, today, very active in the country. These donor agencies are trying to help give the economy a shot in the arm through cash injections into the economy. These cash injections, however, come with certain conditionalities, which border on good governance and prudent management. The donor agencies hold that through good governance, the global objective of poverty alleviation is attainable. The Biya government, for its part, simply has to convince the international community in general and Cameroonians in particular that it is committed to democratic and prudent management of any resources that will help boost the economy. Over the last two decades, the management of the Cameroon economy has been questionable and the severe economic crisis the country is currently going through seems to clearly testify this. This opinion is also supported by the Los Angeles Times when it says “Biya's government provides virtually no accounting for oil revenue. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund finally forced the government to conduct an audit of the state oil company last year, but it was never made public.” Since the government is not committed to democratic and prudent management principles, it has not been able to set any reliable checks and balances in the system. The running of state finances has been entrusted to friends and family members who are loyal to the president, and these friends do hold that they are only accountable to him.
However, if the government can walk away from its old and unacceptable ways of running the economy, the fate of many Cameroonians will change for the better, as the fruits of economic prosperity obtained through careful planning and prudent management will trickle down to all the segments of the society.
The government has to restore the rule of law by ensuring that the judiciary is independent of the executive branch of government. It must also work hard to restore the confidence of the citizenry in the police and other law enforcement agencies. The police must be trained to understand that fighting crime is their job and that they have to work with the local population as reliable partners.
The government has to check its own wasteful ways and it must divert resources it spends on its futile political programs to economic activities that can create jobs for the people. The government must understand that the best route to poverty alleviate must pass through job creation, good governance and prudent management. © The Entrepreneur Newspaper 2009. All Rights Reserved
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