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"!