Paul Biya fails to respond to Kah Walla

Paul Biya, who has ruled oil rich Cameroon for as long as deposed
Egyptian Leader Hosni Mubarak ruled Egypt , has failed to rebutt
accusations by leading presidential candidate Kah Walla.

Ms Kah Walla, who runs a management consultancy with a global reach,
and is also the founder of a grassroots organization called Cameroon
O Bosso has said Paul Biya's regime has systematically used brutal and
repressive means to suppress youths seeking a better future.

While the world watches and waits for Biya to explain the images of
extreme brutality against the country's first female presidential
candidate, Western diplomatic representations accredited to Cameroon
like the United States' are issuing travel advisories to their
citizens. Such actions are routinely taken when the intelligence they
possess gives cause for alarm. Such was the case recently in Tunisia
and also in Egypt and currently in Libya.

Paul Biya's failure to respond to the concerns of millions of
Cameroonians is the reason why there is widespread discontent with
his regime. For 30 years, Cameroonians have complained of Biya and his
ruling family have been completely disconnected from the reality of
the man or woman on the street of Douala, Yaounde or Garoua.

The only link he has to Cameroon is in pocketing the oil revenue, and
his son, Frank Biya exploiting the rich equatorial forests in a non
sustainable, and environmentally damaging manner.

Furthermore, Paul Biya and Chantal Biya hardly go anywhere in the
impoverished country, abandoning the suffering masses to their
plight. All roads, rail, and other infrastructure were built by his
predecessor, El Hadj Ahmadou Ahidjo. For the past 30 years, not a
single inch of rail has been laid in the country and the existing
aging infrastructure is taxed to its limit.

Many companies have folded their doors, and Biya did the most
unbelievable and unpatriotic thing a sitting despot may do to his
country. He granted a tax - free concession to Chinese to establish
businesses in Cameroon, impinging on every economic sector. In
reality, each and every one of these Chinese shops sell lead tainted
products that damage the health of Cameroonians. Biya couldn't care
less, for him, and his wife and children live in Geneva, Switzerland,
in an expensive, multi-million dollar luxurious lakeside residence.
There are just no controls on what the Chinese can bring into
Cameroon, and Biya says they SHOULD NOT pay a dime in taxes, while
many Cameroonian youths are taxed out of business.

While trying to deflect attention to the unraveling of his despotic
regime, he has announced that the failed national airline, Camair Co,
which he uses to ferry his family to his home in Switzerland and for
shopping trips in Europe will resume flying next month. What the
people need is a better life. Few Cameroonians make use of this
particular airline. Its fate is a matter of concern for Paul and
Chantal Biya, for that is their personal transport, to their home in
Geneva.

What will it take for Paul Biya and Chantal Biya to realize
Cameroonians don't want them in Etoudi. When will they realize they
are holding back the dreams and aspirations of a whole generation of
youth? When will Paul Biya and Chantal Biya stop using the collective
wealth of Cameroonians derived from oil exports as their personal
fund, coming every two months or so to withdraw huge amounts of
money, then returning to Switzerland where they live a lavish
lifestyle with their ill-gotten wealth?

Kah Walla, Brice Nitcheu, Tobie Mbida, Mboua Massock, Lapiro de Mbanga
would have all been silenced forever had it not been for Facebook.com,
Twitter.com, and the Internet, which keeps Biya's hired thugs in
check.

Like they say, "it ain't over until the fat lady sings." The way I see
it, the Fat Lady is not even in the house yet. This is the year Paul
Biya and Chantal Biya will have to leave, so that Cameroonians can
carry on with the development of their beautiful country. Cameroon
needs to take steps like Ghana or South Africa to move ahead. The
whole process will begin the moment Biya leaves. He now has the option
to quietly resign and go to Switzerland where he already has elected
residence, or he may insist to remain in power as a stubborn great
grand father mired in the past, like Mobutu of Zaire, or Ben Ali of
Tunisia, or Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.

Either way, the people don't need an absentee despot occupying the
highest office in the land, they need a leader who understands their
problems, and lives amongst them and has a genuine interest in seeing
the country move forward.

The time is now, and if this opportunity is missed, the backlash from
Biya's thugs will start. We should not forget Bibi Ngota, Pius Njawe,
Atangana Mebara, Titus Edzoa, Lapiro de Mbanga, and other patriot who
have lost their lives, or are living in jail, away from their families
and loved ones, their crimes being simply that they dared to air a
different and more enlightened and prosperous view of the future for
Cameroonians.

Cameroonians must not relent, change is possible, and the winds of
change are blowing, straight from the Sahara desert in the North, to
the lush equatorial forests in the South, via the grasslands in
between.

If one unarmed lady, Kah Walla, can brave Biya's hired thugs in
public, in the light of day, in a major square of Cameroon's second
largest city, Douala, if Louis Tobie Mbida, all alone can sit firm and
majestically, with dignity in the face of armed thugs, if Biya can be
forced into hiding, afraid to face the people he has held at bay for
so long, then it reaffirms the collective belief that change is
possible in Cameroon, and that change is really near.

While Biya plots ways of hiding his ill-gotten wealth before it gets
frozen, the question on everyone's lips is "where is Paul Biya and
Chantal Biya?" Are they in Cameroon, or in Geneva, Switzerland? Why
the silence in the face of extreme brutality on Kah Walla, Louis Tobie
Mbida and other peaceful activists. Why is Lapiro de Mbanga still in
jail? Biya may refuse to address these questions, but one point
everyone seems to agree on is that;

"Biya Must Go!"

Brutal Suppression of Peaceful Protests in Cameroon by Biya THUGS

Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 saw a brutal suppression of peaceful protests against the repressive regime of Paul Biya. The oil rich nation of Cameroon has been ruled for close to 30 years by Paul Biya, regarded by many as a despot along the lines of Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Ben Ali of Tunisia.

KAH Walla: Leading Presidential Candidate, CAMEROON

Opposition figures like Louis Tobie Mbida, who hopes to run in this year's presidential election against Paul Biya was attacked by Biya - sponsored thugs during a meeting with some militants of his party in the nation's capital city of Yaounde.

Elsewhere in Douala, leading presidential candidate Kah Walla was brutalized and doused with a generous amount of a high powered jet of water adulterated with a yet to be determined chemical by thugs hired by the regime. Members of her grassroots movement Cameroon O Bosso were beaten mercilessly with truncheons. The event, captured in low-res with a camera phone has a spooky look and reminds one of Tunisia and Egypt in the early days of popular uprisings in those countries.

Mboa Massock: Civil Rights Activist

Still in Douala, veteran civil rights activist, Mboa Massock once more came to a face off with the same thugs who have terrorized his family for years. He famously took them on in 2008 during a nationwide unrest to unseat Paul Biya that was unsuccessful. This time around, he had reason to fear for his life and ran for safety into the residence of Christain Cardinal Tumi, a highly respected member of Cameroon's Civil Society.

Cardinal Christian Tumi: Civil Society, CAMEROON

As a recap, February 23 marks the third year of a popular uprising to remove Paul Biya and his wife Chantal Biya from power. It didn't get any support from the West. But many youths lost their lives and leading figures wanted to peacefully mark the day in honor of those who died. Paul Biya and Chantal Biya once more showed the world that they will cling to power, no matter what it takes. Their day of reckoning, just like Ben Ali of Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt is coming, much sooner, rather than later.

Saving Cameroon: How to get the word out.

With the brutal repression of a peaceful march led by presidential candidate Kah Walla in Cameroon's second largest city Douala yesterday, February 23rd 2011, many who witnessed these event firsthand have been clamoring for outlets where they can post pictures and videos they obtained as the population tries to free itself of 30 years of rule by Paul Biya and his clan.

So today, I compiled a short list of some websites that have friendly user interfaces and provide free storage for photos and videos. Also in the list are some microstock websites which pay the person who took the photograph when they will be used in the public domain. As an example, CNN may be running a story on events in Cameroon as the people struggle to push Biya out of power and they may need a photograph to illustrate the bad state of roads or just police brutality which is a fact of daily life in the country. Having photographs to illustrate the subject in question makes it easier to narrate the story.

The Biya regime used the reverse when it came to power by obfuscating any and everything pertaining to Ahmadou Ahidjo. Thanks to the Internet, Cameroonians are able to see the beautiful country Cameroon once was before Biya began transferring all the oil wealth of the nation to invest on the shores of Lake Geneva.

So here is my short list:

- Flickr.com

- Shutterstock

- iStockphoto

To submit photographs, just sign up with one of these websites, and then submit your photos. You would have done your own share, and with each passing day, we are getting closer to the moment when the streets of Yaounde, Douala and other towns and villages in the country will be full of men, women and children celebrating their liberation from 30 years of oppression by Paul Biya and Chantal Biya and their clan.

Where is Paul Biya??? Kah Walla taking over Douala.

Kah Walla, presidential candidate in the upcoming presidential race in
Cameroon successfully led thousands of youths in a peaceful march in
the city of Douala on Cameroon's Atlantic coast on 23rd February 2011.

The peaceful protesters were met with government sponsored thugs who
have a history of brutalizing civilians. Over the course of more than
30 years in power, Mr Biya and his family have slowly drained the
country of its resources, and robbed the people of their dynamism.

Popular artists like Lapiro de Mbanga have been jailed, successful
industrialist like Yves Michel Fotso, have been imprisoned just for
making it big - Biya hates competition.

So it came as a surprise, when Ms Kah Walla called for the protest
march. She was dragged by thugs to the middle of the street, and shot
with a high powered jet from a water canon. The stream of water
contained chemicals and it is still not known the long term effetcs on
Ms Kah Walla.

With the people struggling for their freedom in the streets, there is
still no sign of Mr Paul Biya.

Speculation is rife that he may be planning to suddenly resign, and
head into exile in Switzerland. That would have been conceivable a few
weeks ago, but now, a Cameroonian Pro democracy group called the CODE
has located the luxurious Chateau where the Biya family lives in
Geneva. For Biya to move from Etoudi straight to this Mansion is now
unlikely. Many Cameroonians will be calling.

He may seek asylum in a third country like ... Well no country in the
current global environment seems likely to want an aging Third World
Despot.

As the world reconfigures itself with a New World Order emerging, a
world where people are empowered with new media (and the new masters
being those who control these new media including Youtube.com and
Facebook.com, ...) and where national boundaries are blurred, there
will be little room for dictators and strongmen, who derived their
power from obfuscating information from their fellow citizens.

Wherever it is that Paul Biya may be hiding, Cameroonians will hunt
him down, and that image of Kah Walla, a lone woman standing defiant
in the face of Paul Biya and Chantal Biya's thugs will forever be
seared into the collective memory of Cameroonians. Biya has just days,
not weeks. He should leave now before any Cameroonians lose their life
because of his blind hunger for power.

Whatever the outcome, his next stop will be The Hague, where he will
answer for the loss of lives of teens in Douala, and just so he knows,
Cameroonians have not forgotten about the Bepanda 9.

Biya Must Go!!!

Kah Walla Will Remove Paul Biya - World is Watching

Cameroon Presidential Candidate Kah Walla has rallied youths in
Cameroon's economic capital, Douala, in a bid to remove strongman,
Paul Biya.

For 30 years, the oil-rich nation has been racked by under development
and repression from thugs unleashed on the population by Paul Biya.
This motivated many youths who do not see any improvement in their lot
to take to the streets.

Paul Biya's thugs have a history of using extreme violence on peaceful
demonstrators. In 1990, and most recently 1998, thugs backed and armed
by Mr Paul Biya have cracked down on civilians seeking democratic
change. Women and children suffer severely under this repressive
regime.

It was a refreshing change when Ms Kah Walla took up the challenge to
face Biya in presidential elections. In a country where Mr Biya
encourages the repression of women and girls, where female genital
mutilation is still carried on to this day, where gay men are
imprisoned just because of their sexual orientation, and the prisons
are full of political prisoners, leading civil society and other
figures have decided the time has come for Biya to go.

So, in this spirit, a peaceful protest was organized in Douala by the
youths. Of course, as would have been expected, the Biya thugs showed
up again, with batons and guns and had the activists thoroughly
beaten.

But in true repressive fashion, they turned out not to know what the
Internet means and are clueless about facebook, Twitter or
Youtube.com. There, after Tunisia, Egypt and now Libya, "Cameroon",
and specifically "Paul Biya" is trending very well. Which is good
news for the people of Cameroon, but bad news for Paul Biya.

The first few wires have been put out. CNN has picked up on the story,
and there is an animated debate going on there.

More telling is the US embassy issuing a warning to its nationals
traveling to Cameroon. This means that the West has determined that
the government of Cameroon is no longer capable of keeping its
territory secure. A good indicator that the current regime is on its
way out.

Like clock work, the same chain of event in Tunisia, and Egypt are
taking place in Cameroon. By Saturday, things will be really bad and
protests may reach the capital Yaounde. It takes just a report on a
major news channel which is what Cameroonians watch anyway. No one
will want to be left out, and the movement will only grow.

Biya had the option many years ago to organize free elections and step
down with dignity. With each passing hour, his options are getting
smaller. Whoever takes over the reign of power after Biya will release
the hordes of influential businessmen like Michel Fotso and the Titus
Edzoa, former secretary general of the presidency, both political
prisoners of the Biya regime.

They will go after Biya with a vengence. Assets owned by Biya will be
frozen. The presidential jet will return to Cameroon, and now, CODE
leader Brice Nitcheu has proven Biya has a Chateau in Switzerland and
that too will be the object of scrutiny to determine the owner and
the provenance of funds to acquire the property.

Whatever the case, it does not look bright for Paul Biya. Kah Walla
and Brice Nitcheu are showing that tools like the Internet, Google,
Twitter, Facebook can be as effective, if not more so than the
Billions of Dollars Paul Biya pays public relations firms to
perpetuate his dictatorship.

The time for dictatorships in Africa is over, the time for despots
like Paul Biya is over, the time for the people of Cameroon to Rise UP
as one Man has come.

BIYA must GO!!!

Brice Nitcheu: The Man Who Brought down Paul Biya

A Cameroonian Pro-Democracy group, The CODE, has ratcheted up pressure
on Cameroon's embattled leader, Paul Biya. Mr Biya, who has ruled the
oil rich nation for 30 years with an iron fist has his day of
reckoning fast approaching.

Members of CODE based in Europe recently made a coordinated march on
Mr Paul Biya's sumptuous lakeside home in Geneva.

Time was when Cameroonians would be issued statements that Mr Biya is
headed to Europe for a private visit. These trips stretched to many
months at times. Of late, it looks more like Biya's lair will be
starring in this year's presidential election in Cameroon. Brice
Nitcheu, harnessing the power of the internet, and social networking
has been putting a lot of pressure on Paul Biya.

From tracking the destination of the planes he takes using websites
like flightaware.com, and using Google and other online tools, pro
democracy activists in Cameroon have been empowered, and the Biya
enigma is falling apart like a house of cards. Now, Cameroonians are
actually seeing the man who has oppressed the country for three
decades for who he is: just a simple old man who has mismanaged his
country's resources, uses the public treasury for personal gain, and
refuses his fellow countrymen the opportunities for growth and self
development; things he is seeking for his very own kids in
Switzerland.

From now hence, Mr Nitcheu has shown the way. From a free and
democratic Switzerland where he can freely demonstrate that Biya is
unfit to rule Cameroon, Brice Nitcheu has dealt the greatest blow yet
to Mr Biya and his kleptocratic, gerontologic regime.

None of the current crop of presidential hopefuls in Cameroon has the
single key to dislodge Biya from power, but with each Cameroonian
playing their role at their level, Biya won't be in the presidency at
Etoudi when 2011 comes to an end.

Brice Nitcheu, thanks for the good work you are doing. Cameroonians
are taking note.

Disclaimer: I don't personally know any of the CODE members. All
articles here are strictly my personal views and reflect my personal
take of events.

CODE: Cameroonian Pro-Democracy Group calls for Paul Biya to leave power

A pro-democracy group is calling for Paul Biya, who has ruled Cameroon
for the past 30 years to leave power and make way for democratic
change and free political prisoners.

The group has used online media to make the call, and judging from the
feedback on online forums, Cameroonians seem more than ready to heed
the call.

A few voices were noted to have criticized the move by CODE, saying
the leaders of the pro-democracy group should come to Cameroon to make
their call for Biya to resign.

But there is no free speech in Cameroon. Lapiro de Mbanga, a very
popular musician has been jailed for more than 2 years without any
charges, and Bibi Ngota an Investigative journalist died in jail while
looking into corruption at the presidency of the republic of Cameroon.

As noted in an earlier post in this blog, Cameroonians are more than
ready to push out Biya. He spends all his time in Switzerland, and has
a permanent scorn whenever he has to meet Cameroonians. The people are
just tired of the lack of economic opportunities, and repressive laws
which Biya has used for the past 3 decades to keep Cameroonians in
check.

Cameroonians are now watching, it will be either Yaounde or Doaula
that will serve as the trigger to what will very quickly turn into a
raging blaze that will sweep away Biya.

Any Cameroonian who dies from this day hence, will spill his or her
blood directly into Mr Biya's hands. He will do Cameroon a great
service if he immediately returns to Switzerland where he spends most
of his time.

The CODE has done the right thing. 50 more years of Biya rule will not
advance Cameroon a single inch. Cameroonians have an interest to rally
behind the CODE's call.

We need not wait for the anticipated presidential elections. Fru Ndi,
erstwhile opposition leader has been discredited, by showing how close
he is to Biya in Public.

The destiny of Cameroon lies squarely in the hands of Cameroonians.
The time has come, and "Biya Must Go"!

Biya's exit strategy: Cameroon 2011

2011 seems to be a bad year for autocrats. A new wind of change is
blowing across the continent. Autocrats who came to power shortly
after independence and who felt they had consolidated their power and
appeared at the point of handing over power to their offspring are
seeing the carpet pulled from under them.

First, it was Tunisia, then Egypt, and now Yemen appears to be the
next. It is highly suspected the popular uprisings will soon reach sub
Saharan Africa.

Countries which seem ripe for democratic transition include Cameroon.
After 30 years of autocratic rule, the people of this impoverished
country want their longtime ruler, Paul Biya to step down. However,
like most despots who lack a clear vision for their country, he has
ran the economy into the ground, and has lost so much ground since the
advent of social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter which allow
people to bypass government censorship.

People openly speak their minds, and the Cameroonian blogosphere is
increasingly critical of Biya and his cronies for the
institutionalization of corruption.

The lack of economic progress, crumbling infrastructure and a feeling
that the president spend far too much time in his home in Switzerland
has the people ready for an uprising to push out Biya.

Another reason is the increasing repression of artists and scholars.
Lapiro de Mbanga, a poplar singer among the working class has been
jailed since 2008 without judgment, senior government figures are also
languishing in jail in what is well known as targeted political
imprisonments.

With every passing hour, Webmasters are noting increasing activity on
Cameroonian online forums and websites. Something is abrew. Biya
stands no chance. Cameroonians know he won't show any spine like
Egypt's Mubarak. Since he has treated his close collaborators with so
much scorn, he is pretty much a sitting duck. And he always has the
official jet, the "Swallow" never more than 30 minutes away wheerever
he goes in the country. This Gulfstream II, equiped for Long Range
operation can fly straight from Mvomeka to Switzerland with Biya and
his family, sparing Cameroonians much bloodshed.

Chances are very slim that at the end of this year, Biya will still be
in Etoudi. The earlier he leaves, so that Lapiro de Mbanga and other
political prisoners are freed to get back to their families, the
better for the country. If he had any vision or great plan or positive
ideas to bring to the table, he would have done so over the past 30
years.

However, we have seen Cameroon descend in human rights rankings, and
in the poverty index. It is time to turn over a new page in Cameroon's
history, one without Paul Biya.
In other words, "Biya Must Go"!

Guess how long Biya of La Republique du Cameroun will last after his 30 year rule.

After 30 years of autocratic rule characterized by corruption and
suppression of economic and social progress of almost 20 million
people, the time seems to have come for the regime in Cameroon to give
way to democratic rule.

Paul Biya, who heads this regime seems to have taken the country's
treasury as his personal cash cow. He spends his time in Switzerland
and only returns to give speeches during national events, and this is
about 5 or 6 times a year.

Cameroonians, thanks to Facebook and Twitter, are now conversant with
the movement of their president. They also follow his movement, in
trying to understand where his ill-gotten wealth is being concealed.

In today's world of WikiLeaks and a 24 hour news cycle, it has become
evident that Biya's expiry date has long passed. Cameroonians are
anxiously waiting for the last straw that will break the camel's back.

More likely than not, the error of the autocratic gerontology ruling
Cameroon will come for the well paid, but greedy Police force. They
are well known to harass University graduates who try to make a living
ferrying passengers on imported Chinese bikes.

When that day comes, Mr Biya who has been careful not to groom a clear
successor like Mubarak of Egypt, will find out just how quick his
ministers will turn their back on him. He does not hold cabinet
meetings, does not meet them on a regular basis. This will play
against him as there won't be any personal questions of loyalty to
him.

After all, most of those ministers are known to be corrupt, and
wouldn't want to be associated with a radioactive Biya, or lose their
privilege to travel to the West where they have invested their
ill-gotten wealth.

The failure of the Biya regime to develop the Bakassi peninsula, even
after it was handed back to Cameroon by Nigeria, tell a lot about the
lack of a vision on Biya's part.
Even more telling, the president headed to Switzerland where he lives,
and reluctantly returned to the country after a senior government
administrator and other senior military figures stationed in Bakassi
were abducted.

The military brass, like General Pierre Semengue and Tataw James will
under no circumstance put their quiet retirements on the line by
trying to shoot civilians in Cameroon. So in the case of an uprising,
Biya will suddenly find himself all alone, and if you add the freezing
of his assets, without any funds to live his lavish lifestyle.

In any event, he built a private airstrip in his village Mvomeka, one
sturdy enough to handle a Boeing 737. So taking off from there, he
will be just about 6 hours from his home in Geneva Switzerland.
Cameroonians wish he leaves sooner, rather than later.

After Egypt, Cameroon WILL be next! "Biya Must Go"!

After 30 years of rule like Mubarak of Egypt, how long can Paul Biya of Cameroon last?

There are many parallels between Paul Biya of Cameroon and Hosni
Mubarak of Egypt. Both were appointed Prime Minister in the mid -
seventies of their countries, then after the sudden opening of the top
slot in the land, became president.
President Anwar Sadat was assassinated, and Ahmadou Ahidjo resigned
reportedly after some bad advice.

The two men, both Prime Ministers, then ascended to the Presidency
without a popular mandate.

Another trait common between the two is the grooming of their sons to
take their seats once they left power, Gamal Mubarak in Egypt, and
Frank Biya in Cameroon.

Furthermore, the take their fellow citizens for immature and
uninformed fools. Mubarak spoke very patronizingly to his countrymen
less than 24 hours before theyouths pushed him out. In 2008, Paul Biya
characterized youths in Cameroon as wanna be sorcerers. The youths
didn't react but they didn't forget either.

As Mr Biya rushes to Geneva to add layers of protection and obfuscate
his ill-gotten wealth estimated independently in the Billions of
dollars and which is the object of at least one court battle in
France, the Cameroonian blogoshere is alight with calls for his
departure.

All elements are in place for a chase a la Mubarak, only, for Biya, he
will be more than happy to leave. He spends most of his time in
Switzerland and whenever he returns to the country, he has a permanent
sneer when talking to Cameroonians.

Him, his wife and entourage all carry foreign passports. His children
attend foreign schools as he deems Cameroonian schools inferior.

His healthcare needs are attended to in Europe, as no Cameroonian
hospital is up to the task. So we may ask, does Biya deserve to hold a
beautiful and glorious country hostage for 30 years?

Does Biya deserve to spend Cameroonian taxpayers money in chartering
planes to spend in Switzerland?

Check out Camerooninfo.net and judge for yourself.

As for me, the time has come for all Cameroonians to rise up as one
man and say "Biya Must Go"!