Based in Washington, Mr: Boh Herbert is a Senior Communications
officer at the World Bank for Africa Region. His write-up below is apt to serve in/as rejoinder:
I think you are spot-on! Progress - in science, in economics, in politics, in life, in development, etc. - comes in bits and pieces. It always has. Always will.
A political war like the one in Cameroon shall be fought in several battles, in between ceasefires, negotiations, and a fresh hardening of positions leading to renewed hostilities. It is in battle as in farming: there is a time to sow, a time to tender to the crop, a time to leave nature to do its job, and a time to harvest. No matter the cause, battles will never benefit from the support of its foot soldiers unless they are fought one at a time.
True leaders in such battles learn to hold up a finger and feel the thrust of the political wind... they learn to cease the moment in the endlessly changing political weather map. Yesterday's moment is not today's and the agenda for each season must be aligned to the political weather seeking each time to make whatever steps - even baby steps - towards the final goal.
The politicians we should fear are not those who bother, like Akoson seems to be doing right now, to recalibrate or to adjust course and become a true "man for all political seasons"... We should not fear politicians, like Akoson who seems to be showing he actually bothers to look back over his shoulder once in a while to ensure that those he claims to be leading are, indeed, still following.
Ask yourself the question: who gains when/if Akoson sticks with the outdated agenda of yesterday? Surely not the Southern Cameroonians who are itching for action on the restoration of self-rule. Here is same question: who stands to gain if Akoson stayed with the past and continued to ignore Southern Cameroons as a political demand of our time? Did I hear you say Paul Biya, CPDM, the status quo, La Republique, France?
Akoson should turn down the invitation to become a more or less a one-item-agenda politician. We have them everywhere and everywhere they have proven detrimental to the pursuit of democratic progress. Look at the one-item-agenda Republicans and their extremist backers of "Tea Bag" fame in the USA. For them all and everything boils down to "No to Obama". You have got the sloganeering opposition in Cameroon. Its leaders have reduced what should have been a multifaceted battle for civil rights, liberties, freedom and democracy into the one agenda item "Biya must go". Their opposite number - not to be outdone - have sworn into the "Biya Forever" cult. We are witnesses to what both sides have really achieved on this one goal: both sides have used it to cleverly mask their disgusting "come no go" sit-tight grab on power.
A promising youngster politician like Akoson would be wrong to try to fit that mould. Who wants new wine in old wine skins? Akoson's decision to attend to the next big thing (Southern Cameroons) instead of vegetating on "Biya must go" is a sign he understands and is exploring other ways of skinning the cat. To paraphrase President Barack Obama: Akoson can walk and chew gum. Why are some suggesting that he would be better served combating dictatorship in Cameroon by sticking with a one-agenda-item? Can't they see that it is sooooo yesterday?????
Boh Herbert
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"…Time has come, I believe, for our leaders to start training the youths to take over the baton. Effective, efficient and rigorous training does not constitute issuing subservient roles; rather, it involves sitting side by side on the round table for law, policy and decision making and thorough brainstorming on the normative values that undergird progressive issues. Ayah Paul of PAP takes great pleasure in working with the youths. I am proud to work with him..." Akoson A. Raymond.
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On Wednesday, December 4, 2013 7:00 PM, "christmasebini@aol.com" <christmasebini@aol.com> wrote:
Mr Raymond Akoson
I see you are writing and responding to your stakeholders, to which group I must assume I do not belong. Whatever you want to do with your time is your business but I will tell you that I took a chance on you and came out disappointed. Before going in for parliamentary elections you should have known what you were going up against. To come here and state the obvious does not make you exceptional. What would have made you exceptional would have been the mark you made or the trail or path you leave behind in spite of the odds that were against you. Who are you to even take the posturing position that winning a parliamentary seat in the existing Cameroonian political culture should be a guarantee on your first try. You come on the internet to gain cheap popularity. If you were out gunned financially in a local parliamentary in the area of your birth, do you now have the required resources to attain independence for Southern Cameroons? Is southern cameroon independence an easier task? Any Tom Dickinson and Harry can write on the internet that they are patriots fighting for Southern cameroon independence. Tell us what you are currently doing concretely (apart from the internet show off) to free southern cameroon?
When Hon Paul Ayah came here, we arranged for a meeting with him and the North West Fons Council. We listened to him talk and I told him he was either very naive or dishonest over his ability to win an election for the presidency Cameroon without working very hard to bring the opposition together. To the same group, North West Fond Council, we have received and listened to other political opinion personalities such as Mola Njoh Litumbe, Dr Chris Fomuyoh, Hon Jean Jacque Ekindi, Professor Asonganyi etc. We do this to try to impress on our politicians of the opposition to gather strength by working together. I must state here that although the North West Fons Council is apolitical and nonpartisan, it has a culture of openness and progressiveness to its members in understanding and engaging in serious aspects of our nation and community life. As long as Cameroonian so-called opposition do not work at gaining critical mass by pulling the numbers and the population, we will always have people furiously engage in the electoral process with no vision or conviction other than taking the gamble to place themselves somewhere and when they fail they become righteous preachers of the sermon on the mount. What is it that you are discovering after the election that you did not know going into the elections?
I have never met you. All I know about you was your information through the internet Many of us have been very saddened over Mr Biya's alienation of the Cameroonian youths from the table of political decision making. Our outrage was further intensified with the creation of another unnecessary sector of government called the Senate and the appointment of old men of 90+ years to that organ in total disregard of available and qualified young citizens who could effectively serve and develop our country. I had no interest in supporting PAP but noticing that you are a young man whom we can encourage, embolden and validate and thus embolden and encourage other youths to rally and oppose the evil political machinery, I rallied support for you. This to me was significant, not necessarily for you to become a parliamentarian, but for the fact that we had began to plant a new political seed that we were going to work hard and watch grow. The significance of this is the fact that the people I rallied were Manyu people of different political persuasions, some even apolitical and some who have not agreed on anything but they made contributions because they bought the plan and vision I presented to them and were also angry over the marginalization of our youths in the political process of our country. I talked to you many times on the phone that our interest was not over you winning the elections but start with you on a new.path of energizing and engaging young people who can be good political leaders.
After the elections you put out threats to president Paul Biya that he will have to face severe consequences if you did not become a parliamentarian. I advised you not to make public threats you cannot carry out. Next you wrote how you were going home to southern cameroon when the supreme court declared the final results of the election. I am sure you must already be a big official in your new republic of southern cameroon since you already seem to be already serving as the mouthpiece of southern cameroons. Next you wrote another open letter to president PaulBiya asking him to account to you on the election campaign money. I am sure he has sent you the full financial statements per your request. Now you are on an international diplomatic mission with an open letter to the united nations I am sure the Secretary General will be contacting you soon.
Now let me ask you a few questions:
1. Do you still live in Yaounde? If you do when are you going back home?
2. Are you an active member of scnc, cam, or Ambazonia? If you are, did you write your open letter as the leader of any of those groups or their spokesperson? Can any member of those groups individually engage a diplomatic offensive? If you are not a member of any of these groups, have you formed your very own group to attain independence for Southern cameroons?
3. What are you doing now or have done in the past to free southern cameroon? Do you any strategies and plans for Southern cameroon independence?
4. To assure that your writing on the internet is not worthless empty grandstanding for cheap and naked popularity, please share with us the activities you have in place in Manyu and other areas of the group in cameroon for the independence of southern cameroon?
5. Are you going to free southern cameroons through open letters on the internet?
6. How much money did you raise for the campaign and how did you spend it?
7. How do you get to your village Bakebe? Are you going to tell the Manyu people to join you in the fight for Southern cameroons independence? If they could not vote for you for parliament, will they follow you HOME?
Getting independence for Southern cameroon is not about writing on the internet. It is about understanding what the problem really is, effectively engaging in a well thought out process and getting the commitment of a significant majority of people from both the northwest and southwest. If you cannot engage in any process that effectively brings the people of the south west and northwest to agree to politically accept that they want independence and will together work towards that goal, then please spare us the empty internet activism that we have been subjected to for so long. You may just as well be an addition to the political toxins of www.activismformob.com.
You were calling and texting me everyday with urgent request for money but as soon as the elections were over, you will not even answer my calls. When you wanted money from me I was Sessekou Ebini but now that you are the president of the republic of southern cameroon, I am Mr Ebini. Good for you and good luck with the independence of southern cameroon. When can we get our passports?
I want to continue to thank all the Manyu brothers and sisters who came together to give you as a youth a push. We have started a process. It is going to be a long difficult road to reverse what has happened to our division, our country, our people and now the uncertainty of our youths, who should be brought up for leadership. We are going to face failures and roadblocks but we must continue the process of taking any available chance to encourage and embolden our youths to take the risk of authentic service, first by coming forward to challenge the existing evil
political system. Thank you again. Some of you who contributed are people we do not even agree politically but we found common grounds with what the system is doing to undermine our youths in political leadership.
Christmas Ebini
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