Are Paul Biya and Chantal Biya afraid of the Fotso Empire?

The story about the Fotso Group and its run-ins with the law, that for months has had the news media in Cameroon on a frenzy is slowly unraveling in public. It will have an ugly end.

For a recap, the Fotso Group is Cameroon's premier agro-industrial giant that spans many industries (from growing green beans to operating an Airline), and countries. It is also a major employer in West Africa.

The head of the Group, Yves Michel Fotso, who doubles as chairman of the board of directors of the Fotso Group's flagship Commercial Bank of Cameroon (CBC) has been having serious legal trouble, with authorities in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, the gravity of which could not be guessed from the outside.

Now with a dangerous game of one upmanship initiated by the media savvy Yves Michel Fotso going on in Cameroon, we are guaranteed a nasty outcome. The government of Cameroon through the minister of Economy and Finance Essimi Menye naively fell for the bait laid out by Mr Fotso, by responding to an open letter written to the Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals, Ahmadou Ali.

At the onset, the Fotso bank, CBC, opened up a branch in Equatorial Guinea, then shortly later had their business license revoked. Then, the bank was seized by authorities in Cameroon in coordination with the central African regional banking regulator COBAC, and an administrator was appointed to take over operations.

The reason for all of these problems was that upon reviewing the accounts of the bank, it was discovered that many loans had been made, mostly to entities with close ties to the Fotsos totaling CFA 60 Billion. A major sticking point was the allegation that Mr Yves Michel Fotso had borrowed from the bank about CFA 10 Billion. So, Paul Biya and his government are afraid of what that kind of money may do in the hands of someone with a very good distribution network bent on de stabilizing the country. They must fear, that what happened in the Central African Republic, where General Bozize seized power, might happen to Cameroon or Equatorial Guinea.

You do not start an uprising out of thin air in West Africa. The people need to eat. So the reasoning is that with the CBC bank's branches serving as points to pay out cash to insurgents, the whole country could be taken over in a short space of time.

The prospect of being deposed has now brought Biya close to Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea. They need each other now more than ever. They have sons, Frank Biya and Theodorin Obiang, to whom they plan to hand over power in keeping with the current trend with dictatorships, and whoever does this first will need the other to organize a state visit to grant legitimacy to the heir of their regime.

What Yves Michel Fotso should realize is that he is now playing on a different turf. He seems to be doing it right as he invited the media into the duel and with the world watching, he is immune.

What he should do is openly join the opposition in defiance of Mr Biya. Such a move will add to the momentum that the opposition in Cameroon is amassing against Mr. Biya in 2011.

As the drama unfolds, and astronomical amounts of money and power come to play, many may forget the bigger storm that is brewing - millions of Cameroonians who are slowing waiting for 2011 and the chance to send Paul Biya and Chantal Biya and Frank Biya packing to their new home in Switzerland.

Leading presidential candidate, Kah Walla will be ready to rally all Cameroonians to start the patriotic task of Nation- building, from the ashes of what would be left after of 28 tedious years under Biya's regime.

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Why Christopher Fomunyoh should not stand as one of hundreds of Candidates for President of Cameroon.

First off the bat, for anyone who gets here through a google search, they should understand that Dr Christopher Fomunyoh cannot win any presidential election in Cameroon. The aim of this article is simply to shed light on the fact that for once in a generation, we have a transformational presidential candidate in Kah Walla (no affiliate of mine) and other Cameroonians who have some degree of credibility in the eyes of the public need to rally behind her, so that Cameroon can rid itself of its strongman ruler of the past twenty-eight years, 78 year old Paul Biya and wife Chantal Biya, who seem to have taken up residence in Switzerland.

Dr Christopher Fomunyoh is a Cameroonian legal scholar, who is well respected in the West. He has a sharp legal mind, and makes regular appearances on major news networks, especially when it concerns Africa.
He has a very organic understanding of the needs and aspirations of African all across the continent.

As the go-to person for major news organizations for stories emerging from Africa, he wields a very big stick, and African opinion leaders know that.

In this capacity, a negative score on Dr Fomunyoh's score card carries a lot of weight. Leaving that influential spot to run as a presidential candidate in this badly run country will not help the very people he seeks to aid. As an election observer in many countries, he should remember even though some of the candidates winning major victories may seem unsophisticated and clueless about policy, they have popular appeal, and use that to win.

Underestimating the power of the people and incumbents in politics is a dangerous game. Remember Prof Titus Edzoa anyone. He got so close to Paul Biya, and saw his many shortcomings and though he was better, only to find himself thrown into jail.

The Fomunyoh Foundation does excellent work all across Cameroon. In other words, Dr Fomunyoh in his present capacity is more effective to Cameroon's development than as a presidential candidate. It may look good on his CV, but it will hurt the poorest throughout the country and help Biya strengthen his stranglehold on the people.

It may sound preposterous on my part, and some egos involved in running for the top job on the land are super sized, but we should all remember, Biya does not care whether you die of Malaria or during childbirth, him, his wife and family just go to Switzerland for their healthcare. We MUST beware of anyone who does not care for the common good at this stage of Cameroon's development. If everyone wants to be an also ran, then we should all have ourselves to blame when Biya steals the people's vote because Cameroonians could not rally and come together as one to push Biya, wife and co. back to Switzerland where he has taken up residence.

The time is ripe for change to occur in Cameroon and for Paul Biya and Chantal Biya to retire to Switzerland. Dr Christopher Fomunyoh will make this clear to any major news outlet, what Cameroon needs is for him to tell the world that Ms. Kah Walla is the one bringing that change.
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Why Petit Pays should get an apology from minister Ama Tutu Muna!

Cameroon is at a major crossroads in its history. As the country speeds towards its rendezvous with destiny in which a transformational candidate -Kah Walla, is poised to sweep an overwhelming victory in the presidential election, some problems just pop up to portray the state of under development in which the country finds itself.

Adolf Moundi, who goes by the name Petit Pays is arguably the country's most popular and prolific musician. Over the course of more than two decades, he has explored, and blended rhythms from every nook and cranny of Cameroon, and even broadened his horizons beyond Cameroon's borders.

He also pushed, then blurred the boundaries of what is considered mainstream music, playing songs to which a Pastor can dance, and then later in his career, songs that can only be played in...private.

To sum it all, Petit Pays is the quintessential symbol of success in Cameroonian music.

Recent media reports from Douala indicate that he is the subject of an arrest warrant. He stands accused of failing to pay two of his employees the equivalent of approximately $4000.

That the leading musician in Cameroon has to evade police custody because of this amount of money is telling about the financial stability of artists.

Sometime about half a decade into his career, Petit Pays began including the names of prominent members of society, the famous like Fotso Victor, as well as the infamous like Paul Biya. No one raised an eyebrow. It was understood that to get this cheap but effective sort of name recognition and the attendant political leverage it procured, someone had to pay. And pay they did in droves.

But those days are long gone. The barons who robbed the state treasury dry now have 78 year old Biya's henchmen on their heels. No one is spared. Both the public and private sector (see separate story on Fotso Victor) are targeted. Suddenly, the cash is all gone and artists who made a killing chanting the names of politicians have suddenly gone broke.

But this is specifically where the Ministry of Culture has to step in. That ministry was created to consolidate and promote our rich national culture. To abandon a respected and prolific artist of Petit Pay's calibre is simply unacceptable.

Ama Tutu Muna has a direct responsibility to protect Petit Pays. He is now a national treasure, to be cherished and protected by the state, just the same as Roger Mila and Eto Fils.

The Nobel Prize comes with a cash gift for a reason, so that those giants who win the prize further their contributions to mankind in their respective fields and not bother about failing to pay guards $4000.

Furthermore, I believe whoever was on guard when Petit Pays went missing deserves a promotion. They are true patriots - they did the right thing. That is common sense, the type that works, the type that Kah Walla will bring to Cameroon.

Petit Pays is a national symbol, as the most decorated Cameroonian artist of all time, he deserves some degree of protection from the state.

Paul Biya just lost one more vote, along with millions of fans of Petit Pays. 2011 will be the year of the masses in Cameroon. Kah Walla is showing the way ahead, and she has a new advocate on her side- Petit Pays!

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