Sunday, October 2, 2011

Cameroon: How not to become president...


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With barely a week to the end of presidential election campaigns, Cameroonians have been dealt with a slew of oddball characters who are running for high office. You have the mainstream candidates like Paul Biya and Adamu Ndam Njoya. People who have honed their teeth through years of experience working with people. 

Then you have the also-rans. These are the ones looking to beef up their CVs, hope for a presidential appointment to some dormant state-funded structure where they can gain employment, or those who had fallen from grace and now want to prove that they have a constituency and are entitled to a piece of the national cake. Jean Jacques Ekindi falls into this category.



Finally, the fun part. These are the weirdos, the hack jobs, the nuts, the gate crashers. They are in for the thrill of it. They have over-bloated personalities and cannot understand why everyone does not see them in the same light they perceive themselves. They are a danger to society and must be shunned - at least until cured of their malady. Alas, it is presidential election campaign season, so let us have fun while it lasts. Candidates in this category include 'rev" Bertin Kisob, and of course, a shiny new entrant, Mr Jean Njeunga.



Jean Njeunga is a likable enough individual. He looks like one of those businessmen in suits you could see in Akwa, Douala, stepping out of a luxury vehicle. All is well until he starts to speak. He shows no mastery of the French language - a basic requirement of any leader- uses an abundance of street level slang and comes across generally as someone who is uncultured and brusque in his ways.   


He has little knowledge of the geography of Cameroon. When asked the surface area of the country, he has no idea and there is an uneasy silence in the studio. ( Cameroon is 475,442 km  large and is the 54th biggest country on earth by surface area). He has little knowledge of the electoral process, says water is free in Europe, but heated water is what is billed!


He has not heard of Wikileaks and the major revelations about Cameroon, which is a major factor in the current presidential election. Many times, he utters ideas that even trained journalists like Susan Kalla Lobe find hard to subdue their bewilderment.


Sadly, people like Mr Jean Njeunga steal the spotlight from more serious candidates like Edith Kah Walla who have serious socio-economic and developmental programs for the future of the country.


He states that he is an elder in his church. I can only imagine the ruckus he creates during meetings of elders. His media outing is a total failure and if he has succeeded in anything, it is to make a fool of himself, his congregation and his family. May someone close to him tell him the truth, - he should return to his stall and continue hawking his wares. He is no politician, period.









1 comment:

  1. Who are you to disqualify Him as a politician?
    I am not impressed by Edith in any way. What does she bring to the table? Being bilingual is not sufficient- I 've followed her: her speech might be appealing to some, but I doubt she will have more than 1% of the vote. She lacks a strong base in Cameroon and her staff is inexperimented. Moreover, let not fool ourselves... cameroon is still a traditional society in many ways and the majority of voters are neither in Douala nor in Yaounde but in the rural world. She does neither have the financial backbone to reach out to these voters. I wonder which portfolio will be her after 10/9... something like " Ministere de la promotion du Cameroon a l exterieur" where she will be able to extend her communication skills to promote our country. Unfortunately for us, little has been say on Ka regarding her wikileaks.
    We need somebody for Cameroon. Not a US puppet to promote an agenda that is not ours. Une compatriote fracophone

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