Since President Paul Biya's accession to the
presidency in 1984 he has founded his regime – at least in part – on the
projection of an image of stability and continuity, belying the backroom deals
and intense competition for power within Cameroon's fragmented political elite.
In this sense the recent and on-going revelations of the former secretary
general to the presidency, Marafa Hamidou Yaya, represent one
of the most significant threats to have emerged to Biya's presidency in the past
28-years. This is because they threaten to expose the corruption and
maladministration on which Cameroon's much-vaunted stability rests while also
highlighting the fragility of the regional and ethnic alliances which Biya has
orchestrated.
Since his April arrest and detention on corruption charges,
Marafa has issued a series of four open letters to Biya which have exposed and
denounced the instances of gross corruption that he has witnessed during his 20
years as one of Biya's most valuable 'compagnons de route'. Marafa's
arrest is not the first time that Biya has brought down the weight of law
against his closest associates and the 1997 case of one of Marafa's
predecessors, Titus Edzoa, is instructive. Nor is it the first
time that Biya has moved against a potential rival; like Edzoa in his time,
Marafa was once widely tipped as a potential successor. This is, however, the
first time that one of Biya's victims has chosen not to take the medicine
without complaint and has chosen instead to break the vow of 'omertá' observed
until now by even disgraced ministers.
In his latest missive, published widely in independent media at
the beginning on 5 June, Marafa alleged that in 1995 some 32 billion CFA Francs
(US$48.8 million) allocated for the compensation of
families of 71 people killed in an air crash was
misappropriated by senior public officials and most notably the current
Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary. Marafa further
revealed that the five survivors of the Cameroon Airlines (Camair) crash at
Douala airport have still to be compensated.
This is, of course, a tremendously emotive issue, reference to
which is explicitly designed to illustrate the Biya regime's lack of care
towards the Cameroonian people. This is a common rallying cry for opposition to
the aloof and, often literally, distant Biya. It is also interesting, however,
that following Marafa's December 2011 dismissal as minister for territorial
administration, (i.e. interior minister), it was Tchiroma who was frequently
cited as the new 'strongman' in Cameroon's 'Grand Nord', effectively displacing
Marafa who is also a Muslim ethnic Fulani from Garoua.
Given the importance to Biya – who is a Christian southerner –
of a strong alliance with the largely Muslim north, Marafa's attack on Tchiroma
looks designed to undermine the regime's North-South alliance, which has been in
place since the near-victory of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) – a largely
Anglophone party from western Cameroon – in 1992.
For more news and expert analysis about Ghana, please see Cameroon Politics &
Security.
© 2012 Menas Associates
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