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Julian Assange: Founder, WIKILEAKS.
Whistle blower website WIKILEAKS on the 26th of August 2011 released a major number of confidential and secret memos from the State Department pertaining to Cameroon. Most of these have to do with daily diplomatic business and documenting major societal and economic dynamics in the country.
But given the rare access to the CPDM leadership that US embassy staff had and which is not available to most Cameroonians, these memos offer a glimpse of what makes M Paul Biya and his cronies tick, and potentially, what keeps them awake at night, which may serve as the foundation for a robust opposition strategy to eject the worn-out Mr Biya.
For example, we learn from the cables that the government of Cameroon headed by Paul Biya is not willing to put up the money for Anti Retrovirals for HIV patients, but is spending many millions of dollars to buy fuel for government officials.
Major projects like the Lom Pangar Hydroelectricity dam don't have any socio-ecological impact studies and when pressed by lenders such as the IMF to conduct such studies, government functionaries would rather look for another lending source than carry out the said studies.
These cables show that the US State Department takes a rather dim view of the secessionist SCNC, and its activities in the USA which it considers mostly fraudulent. Cameroonians' blind passion for soccer even when the whole world was shocked and riveted to the unfolding tragedy during the earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010 appalled the US consular staff.
During a visit with Biya, the sense one makes of the US ambassador's assessment was one of a person eager to say the right things to remain in the good graces of his interlocutor. But the rest of the cables are damning. They detail the state of anarchy where government officials would rather run to the US diplomatic staff to seek help, and explain at length why there is no progress in their respective departments. The US is vindicated here as a trusted and impartial party, and the last bastion that can guarantee freedom and justice for all, be it in the sands of Tripoli, or as hopefully will soon be the case, the streets of Yaounde or Douala. We hope that this commitment remains true on the 9th of October 2011.
