Re: [camnetwork] RE: HOW THE PREFERENCE OF KRIBI AS OPPOSED TO VICTORIA FOR THE DEEP SEAPORT WAS NOT A CAMEROON GOVERNMENT DECISION

Mr Agbor
Let me start by saying that I am not an economist hence don't expect flashy references to stuff like GDP, Emerging Economies, FDI Opportunities and all other fancy words used by World Bank, ADB and other IMF types. I will lay it out as simply as I think I can. Cameroon is endowed with an abundance of Natural "Gifts": Excess Land/Fertile Soil and Natural Forest, Water Falls, a vibrant and intelligent/averagely well educated young population.

If Paul Biya decides to make me his Prime Minister (a very strong possibility since he says he is not going anywhere any time soon) and actually gives me the authority to function as a REAL PM; these will be my priorities for the first 100 days. If I don't deliver what I promise within that time frame; I should be Fired.

First Month: Selecting and putting a Progressive Government in place. Members of my Cabinet will comprise Ladies and Gentlemen of impeccable and irreproachable character aged between 30 to 50 years (who must publicly declare their Assets before starting their job). There will be no more than 15 Ministerial Departments:  

Mishe Fon as PM will be in charge National Security and Intelligence;

1) Minister of Local Government  in charge of State and Social Services;            
2) Minister of Finance +Budget;                                                                                    3) Minister of Health in charge of Sports and Recreation;                                             4) Minister of Defense also in charge of Youths and  Compulsory Military Service;         5) Minister of Police in charge of Immigration, Safety and Corrections;                         6) Minister of Trade and Commerce;                                                                              7) Minister of Justice also in charge of Communication and Court system                  8)  Minister of Foreign Affairs & Diaspora;                                                                     9)  Minister of Environment also in charge of Housing and Town Planning;               10) Minister of Small and Medium Size Business, Statistics and Retiree Affairs;        11) Minister of Industries;  Energy and Transport                                                       12) Minister of Telecommunication;                                                                            13) Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock and Fisheries;                                    14) Minister of Local Government and Civil Defense;                                                  15) Minister of Education, Scientific Research and Universities

By the end of the month, each Minister will have to present a POA (Plan of Action) for the next 100 days in Power Point format with questions and answers (all televised) from the Public. A SWOT analysis will be undertaken at the end of the period.
 
1st YEAR: BROAD GOVERNMENTAL ORIENTATION (ROAD NETWORK)
Effective (not Political) Construction of a Dual Carriage road between Douala and Yaounde, Yaounde and Bafoussam, Limbe/Douala, Douala/Bafoussam, Bafoussam/Bamenda, Ngaoundere/Garoua/Maroua/Koussiri, Buea/Kumba, Bamenda/Mamfe/Eyumedjock, Bamenda/Kumbo? Nkambe
2nd YEAR: MASSIVE INDUSTRIALIZATION PLAN; Revitalization of structures like CELLUCAM, SACHERIE, AGRO-INDUSTRIES etc etc
3rd YEAR: TRANSFER OF CAPITAL OF CAMEROON FROM YAOUNDE TO EBEBDA (Sanaga Bridge near BAFIA). For those who don't realize it, Yaounde will be unsustainable and completely ungovernable because of lack of planning and adequate modern infrastructure in the next 5 - 10 years. Right now, nothing can be done except remove Government Institutions from there. Try to drive between Biyem-Assi and Mballa II and you come back and tell me that I am exaggerating.
Our goal is to get as many Cameroonians as possible to be gainfully employed. As you can imagine, our ambitious program as estimated by some economic and financial analysts will generate no less than four million well paying and seasonal jobs. I know some will ask me: Mishe le Premier Ministre; Where are you going to get the MONEY to embark on such a gargantuan project? My answer is very simple: Just make me that Prime Minister and give me the power and leverage. I need only six months to transform that country. No more no less.


From: "Agbor Enow Augustine Enow007@yahoo.com [camnetwork]" <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>
To: "camnetwork@yahoogroups.com" <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>; "suhade@yahoo.com" <suhade@yahoo.com>
Cc: Cameroon Politics <cameroon_politics@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2014 12:07 PM
Subject: Re: [camnetwork] RE: HOW THE PREFERENCE OF KRIBI AS OPPOSED TO VICTORIA FOR THE DEEP SEAPORT WAS NOT A CAMEROON GOVERNMENT DECISION

 
Dear Mr. Fon,

Growth and development are the kinds of important
topic that Diaspora Cameroon should spend time discussing and analyzing, but all that members of most Cameroonian fora regurgitate is the same old same old irrelevant talking points. Cameroon is nowhere near an N-11 country, let alone an emerging economy even by 2050. Emerging economies like Brazil, China, India Turkey, and Mexico did not just got up one morning and announce that we want to be an emerging economy by this time. They formulated and implemented the right policies to put them where they are today. A railway from East Africa to Cameroon will help China and the West transport their harvested looted natural resources, but African nations like Cameroon will not benefit if the current institutional voids are ongoing.

What separates emerging market economies from other developing economies include a sizable and sophisticated domestic demand, and rapid rates of economic growth and development. Also, they have political and economic institutions capable of supporting an expanding free-market economy, extended human capital base, and the ability to absorb and assimilate new technologies, especially innovative technologies that improve the productivity of capital and labor.

In Cameroon, local demand is small and weak, and political and economic institutions are there to serve the parochial and patrimonial interest of Paul Biya and a few elites. Furthermore, we have a very short human capital base, and the country lacks technological innovation; all because our education system is not robust enough to produce the skills required to compete in the 21st century. The best competitive strength of firms in Cameroon is government protection, and the control of local distribution channels by a few cartels, since foreign companies cannot fully access the market due to poor infrastructure.

If the government of Cameroon is ready to force itself out of underdevelopment, it has to hire and train young experts who can compete globally. The government should also, get rid of the coffins of dead men in the parliament, senate and ministries. In the 21st century, to compete, Cameroon must stop relying solely on supply-side economic development policies. That is, the use of subsidies and tax incentives to lure potential investors; compete with other neighboring countries for existing FDI opportunities available; and following the private sector by allowing it to decide where to invest in the country, and what to produce and sell.

While all the above may help to lower production costs, most countries are competing on lowering the costs of their factors of production, so it has become very difficult to compete on reducing your production factors. Cameroon should jump-start a demand-side developmental framework. That is, rather than relying on factors that lower the costs of production, the
government will have to find means to discover, develop, expand, or create new markets to sell her goods.

But hold on FEN, before we talk about finding new markets, we should have goods to market first. In 2012, Cameroon's export totaled 908.30billion francs CFA and CFA 1,504.40billion of imported goods, the -243.50 trade deficit means we are producing far less than we consume. It is time for our government to pay focus on small businesses and latent entrepreneurs while strategically support the creation of new enterprises. What locational advantage do firms have if they relocate or open a new factory in Cameroon? If Dunning's Eclectic theory is anything to go by, such locational advantages would include improving sales demand and potential demand, making sure that we harmonize our cultural, economic, political, and legal environment with that of potential investors.
Let end here FEN. While miracles happen and I believe in Miracles, the current economic state of Cameroon does not portray a country that will become an emerging economy by 2035. For Cameroon to join even the N-11 countries by 2035, something dramatic like the death of Biya must happen, and a replacement that is ready to work for Cameroon put in place.

Augustine Agbor Enow
 
The outcome of my life is not more than three lines:
I was a raw material
I became mature and cooked
And I was burned into nothingness.
Rumi


On Friday, November 28, 2014 6:55 AM, "Divine Rhyme hittback@yahoo.com [camnetwork]" <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com> wrote:


 
Hello Martin,
We don't have to be bickering over this thing. I am just an ordinary interested citizen in the project  because of its unprecedented size on the African continent and more so the strange involvement of Cameroon in it. The last time Cameroon got involved in anything  of global importance as an important participant was when it reached quarter finals at the world cup competitions in 1990. You are right not to habour or express any kind of excitement in any such thing involving Cameroon, but the truth is that the project is huge enough to transform the fortunes of any country which has a major role to play in it like Cameroon.
The good thing about this issue is that the CPDM government will not outlive Cameroon. Cameroon will outlive it and some good is therefore in our horizons be it Cameroon as a unitary state or with Southern Cameroons breaking off to an independent state. The days of the CPDM as a political force in Cameroon are numbered. They did that to themselves because it will take more then CPDM itself to rehabilitate that party in Cameroon. Whatever they are doing now in terms of re-organizing the party structures and trying to recreate it into a real political party that can honestly compete with any other in the country, would only last as long as Mr Biya himself remains in power. After he leaves the scene that will be the end of the CPDM as a political force even though some people will try to keep its embers burning as they have started now. This was a party borne out of no political convictions except for the main reason of spiting Ahidjo and his CNU. And in fact it has lived up to that reputation. For its 30+ years in power, compounded with a gaping void  in any area of development in the entire country, no one can actually put a finger on anything that resembles  a party policy  in their manner of governance. Their governance over the years has been consistent in nothing - rolling along the social and economic current of a nation drifting rudderless to nowhere. One cannot really say if it was the natural evolution of the Cameroonian people which a blind party claimed to be leading or if it was the party following this evolution. It had to be one or the other because the CPDM government only reacted when it could not refuse to do anything for the people. It never built schools, but when forced will allow classrooms to be built without any plan for the school. It never repaired or constructed new roads, hospitals, airports etc, but would grudgingly execute any if boxed in a corner. So without a clear cut policy on anything one wonders if it was the natural evolutionary trends of society which the government blindly cowered behind  or the society following the blind and rudderless government of the CPDM
So I see potential as soon as the CPDM quits the scene. They will and that will not even be through the determined effort of Cameroonians. The CPDM will just extinguish itself after their leadership quits. Is is a party that decided to create and deify one single individual as the Alpha and Omega of the party. I wonder how they can change that overnight.
I will agree with you  but just to a  very small degree that the Kribi Port is totally a government initiative. I don't know how governments start and end discussions on partnering on issues like these, but from what I have read, the Kribi port has a lot of foreign influence in its coming into existence. Just follow this link. It is a more authoritative source and I agree with them. It simply makes sense to me.
FEN




From: "Martin Tumasang tumasangm@hotmail.com [camnetwork]" <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>
To: "camnetwork@yahoogroups.com" <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>; "suhade@yahoo.com" <suhade@yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2014 11:55 AM
Subject: RE: [camnetwork] RE: HOW THE PREFERENCE OF KRIBI AS OPPOSED TO VICTORIA FOR THE DEEP SEAPORT WAS NOT A CAMEROON GOVERNMENT DECISION

 
Hi FEN,
thanks for your below mail. If this project had Zaire with all the copper and other minerals as a terminus, or Nigeria in terms of oil & gas, it could perhaps had made some economic sense to me.
 
Again perhaps the hope is this trans-shipment of goods from Europe and America to Kenya that would make the project viable. I never thought of that I must admit.
 
On Kribi, be not fooled, it is being shaped in the manner and shape of the lion at the head called Biya. Douala dredging for years has pushed Cameroon to breaking point, large ships with high TEUs cannot come to Douala and it is giving Cameroon sleepless nights as Cotonou flourishes, Lekkki Deep Seaport in Lagos is being built, and the high performing Governor of Akwa Ibom is building another deep seaport in Akwa Ibom, and Ghana is building yet another. These projects had the potential to kill Douala as an international seaport for Chad and Central Africa hence Biya had to do something.
 
Biya wants Central Africa, and Chadian goods to come to Cameroon ports not Nigerian or Benin Republic  ports for economic and political influence reasons and Douala was and is congested and almost a failure. They were in desperate need of a deep seaport and in the manner of their being, they would rather die than depend on Victoria so they conjured Kribi.
 
To attract goods to Kribi away from Nigeria, and Cotonou, a deep port of over 16 draught has to be in place, and also local infrastructure i.e. roads to link the port.
 
Biya got the plans of the port and town drawn, got a loan from China with Chinese companies to build and bingo you have Kribi with a port and infrastructure like roads to take goods to Chad, Central Africa etc., and internal roads to help develop a town that is sustainable and known in the subregion as a major port city.
 
The above is the beginning and end of the story. Land Bridge or not, the development of Kribi has been and is still a local Cameroonian initiative born out of the failure of the Douala port in terms of dredging and congestion, competition from Nigeira and Cotonou, and even Ghana and also high iron ore and other minerals found in the Eastern region of late.
 
Regards
 
Tumasang
 



To: camnetwork@yahoogroups.com; suhade@yahoo.com
From: camnetwork@yahoogroups.com
Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 10:34:54 +0000
Subject: Re: [camnetwork] RE: HOW THE PREFERENCE OF KRIBI AS OPPOSED TO VICTORIA FOR THE DEEP SEAPORT WAS NOT A CAMEROON GOVERNMENT DECISION

 
Hello Martin,
 I am glad your response is no longer a challenge to the sanity of   my interest in the project. You have made a valid point - about the East African part of the project. I am sure you must have come across documentation about how advanced they have gone with LAPSSET which is supposed to be part of the entire deal. But I am still surprised that you did not mention the huge oil potential of Nigeria which the Chinese cannot ignore. They cannot equally ignore the vast and diversified resources in the DRC. But from what I read, what you tried to object to is exactly what the state holders are also hinging the  success of the project on i.e  using the railway line to  save time and money as ships  currently have to leave West Africa sail down to the Cape of Good Hope and then to India and China - and then vice versa. I cannot say I have expert knowledge on such massive transportation challenges in the world, but it made simple common sense to me when experts describe it in articles complete with figures, projections  and most importantly the interest potential customers have in the project.  These customers are not just ignorant  and passive admirers of the projects but are willing to be partners so as to be able to get a piece of the pie both ways.  Yes,  as expected  the Central and West African side of the project has not gone as far as that of Eastern Africa but Martin I went to Kribi and it seems like the whole Town is being rebuilt. There is no way  Cameroon CPDM government would want to put such effort in  transforming one coastal  town because a seaport is being built there.The CPDM government does not think in such terms.Yes the Central  and West African part of the project is lagging behind but that is not what Kribi is telling me. And if you had made these points three months ago before I visited Kribi I wouldn't have bothered to contradict you because what you say still makes a lot of sense to anybody less informed than you on the matter. Unfortunately the  points you raised had been adequately dealt with and dismissed by stakeholders and experts - who are in no shortage so far as this project is concerned. From what I saw going on in Kribi, it might not be what you will see when a city in the west is undergoing a massive overhaul. But  if you put this side by side with the CPDM track record in Cameroon for the last 32 years, it raises eyebrows. But the East African part of the project is visibly advanced in planning and execution probably because of the LAPSSET plan. The West and Central African side of the project does not have this kind of regional attachment to it and I think  a well Kribi equipped port and the road and railway system into CAR and the beyond is all they are concerned with for the moment. 
  Initially this project seemed to be the brainchild of the Kenyan government and the Chinese were simply co-opted into it what they(the Kenyans)d were looking for money to execute such an ambitious project. But in diplomacy to co-op a partner nation into something can just be a polite camouflage  as to who actually initiated expressed interest in the whole thing.  In fact it could actually be a Kenyan initiative but I don't see how it could not have been the Chinese who diplomatically "suggested" that  the Kenyans should come up with such a dream and they  - the Chinese would throw their weight behind it.
FEN




From: "Martin Tumasang tumasangm@hotmail.com [camnetwork]" <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>
To: "camnetwork@yahoogroups.com" <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>; "suhade@yahoo.com" <suhade@yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2014 8:17 AM
Subject: [camnetwork] RE: HOW THE PREFERENCE OF KRIBI AS OPPOSED TO VICTORIA FOR THE DEEP SEAPORT WAS NOT A CAMEROON GOVERNMENT DECISION

 
Hi FEN,
good morning on this Friday morning.
 
"Tumasang for some reason best known to him is trying to downplay it but I can only guess that it is because he was not the one who brought it up". Dixit FEN
 
I still do not understand why you cannot at least theoretically see my apprehension about this Land Bridge Project as it relates to the Central African side of it.
 
I have looked at it in terms of inter central Africa trade and in terms of Central Africa-East Africa trade and still the sums do not add up. There is no business to make the Land Bridge viable.
 
The transportation of petroleum products perhaps could have made some sense if there was an abundance of it in the countries being connected in Central Africa and non of it in East Africa but that is not the case. Cameroon, Chad, etc. have very little oil and large oil and gas deposits are instead being discovered in East Africa. SONARA gets its oil from Nigeria and it would not be viable to buy crude in East Africa and rail transport to refine in SONARA. The maths does not add up.
 
I must concede that you brought a point I did not consider which took me by surprise and made me to try to reassess the Land Bridge Project. I am talking about your point about Trans-shipment i.e. where ships could bring goods from the Americas to Kribi, offload them unto trains, rail transport them to Kenya, load on another ship in Kenya and take to Asia.
 
If the above is done in large scale then, and only then might the Land Bridge be viable but I doubt if it is going to happen. We all know a place like Tangiers in Morocco is doing brisk business as a trans-shipment port, where containers from Europe and America and brought there, and offloaded unto local ships that ply the African coast, and these ships take the containers to their destinations like Douala where large ships needing a draught of about 16 m or more cannot come.
 
Despite this, I am not sure the system has been developed in the world where trans-shipment involves rail travel through many countries and then re-shipping in another port. I am not sure if any exist at present. I can understand the containers from ships in Kribi being transferred on rail wagons since these are generally locked in a secure manner, but I cannot understand how this will be done for roro roro to be honest.
 
Imagine a car that is brought roro roro on a ship to Kribi and transferred from the ship in Kribi to the train passing through bandit countries like Cameroon, Chad, Sudan etc. By the time the cars reach Kenya to be put roro roro on another ship to Asia, only the shell of the car will remain after all the parts have been stripped in Cameroon, Chad, Sudan etc. These bandit countries cannot permit the Land Bridge trans-shipment project to work.
 
Please, FEN, I have my genuine problems with the Land Bridge Project and these have nothing to do with the fact that it was not brought to the forum by me. The Central African side of the project does not add up.
 
Regards
 
Tumasang



To: camnetwork@yahoogroups.com; suhade@yahoo.com
From: camnetwork@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 19:34:30 +0000
Subject: Re: [camnetwork] HOW THE PREFERENCE OF KRIBI AS OPPOSED TO VICTORIA FOR THE DEEP SEAPORT WAS NOT A CAMEROON GOVERNMENT DECISION

 
Hello SAF,
 Indeed I am surprised that you seem never to have heard about this thing. Tumasang for some reason best known to him is trying to downplay it  but I can only guess that it is because he was not the one who brought it up. This project is comparable in importance to the Pannma and Suez canals and the great Trans Siberian Railway project. I am not the one who made these comparisons because I don't have the technical skills and information to evaluate anything like this. But if engineers, economists, politicians  describe a project as one of the greatest transportation revolution in the world economy, I think it must be true. It is not like a CPDM economist decides to boost Mr Biya's image by shouting about how many schools has been built during his reign. These are independent analysts who have nothing to gain from  the project. Too many major players are involved for any one ordinary  person to  consider  he /she can exploit it for personal gains. With all the ships that will be coming to the Kribi port and have to be using the Victoria shipyard for servicing, Victoria must be able have a face lift economically. I don't want to get into why Kribi was chosen in place of Victoria but all I can say is that the impact of this project and the stake holders involved greatly influenced the Cameroon government to reverse its decision and chose Kribi instead of Victoria. I think most Anglophones would feel bad about the decision and rightly so. But who knows if the pressure was beyond the Cameroon government.Unfortunately the level of bad faith  with which the the francophone government has been dealing with Anglophone Cameroon can never convince anybody that they did not make this reversal themselves and international pressure is not to blame. 
So SAF just read on and if interested google and read more publications on it. What I cannot understand is why many people are not aware of it. However we have been so used to stagnation in such a way that  any talk of a dramatic turn around in the fortunes of Cameroon can easily be dismissed by Cameroonians.
FEN

From: "'suhade@yahoo.com' suhade@yahoo.com [camnetwork]" <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>
To: "camnetwork@yahoogroups.com" <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 27, 2014 5:59 PM
Subject: Re: [camnetwork] HOW THE PREFERENCE OF KRIBI AS OPPOSED TO VICTORIA FOR THE DEEP SEAPORT WAS NOT A CAMEROON GOVERNMENT DECISION

 
FEN
Thanks. If you notice I am using my cell phone. It is not easy reading the info on the link with my cell phone. I now can see the benefits of the project. It just seems to me Douala should have been the logical western terminus.
SAF




From: Divine Rhyme hittback@yahoo.com [camnetwork] <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>;
To: camnetwork@yahoogroups.com <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>;
Subject: Re: [camnetwork] HOW THE PREFERENCE OF KRIBI AS OPPOSED TO VICTORIA FOR THE DEEP SEAPORT WAS NOT A CAMEROON GOVERNMENT DECISION
Sent: Thu, Nov 27, 2014 4:29:59 PM

 
SAF,
Have you opened and read what is in the link? If you have are you   you seriously ask what the Chinese stand to gain from this? Are you kidding or just trying to be funny? Find out how long it takes for a ship to navigate from west Africa to the Indian ocean through thr Cape of Good Hope and compare it with the time it will take when the goods are offloaded at Kribi and transported by rail to Lamu in Kenya - then you will start seeing the tip of what advantages this will  have in time and cost. Somebody just mentioned that while in East Africa there might be high volume of transportation to make this a viable economic investment, he is not so sure about West Africa. But he forgot to know that shipping companies from North and South America will have a choice to make between going through the Suez canal or using the rail from West Africa. The Chinese are not eying only curtailing on shipping time and costs. There is a lot they want from all of  Africa  into the Indian Ocean and then to China..There is too much at stake here SAF
FEN

From: "'suhade@yahoo.com' suhade@yahoo.com [camnetwork]" <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>
To: "camnetwork@yahoogroups.com" <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 27, 2014 4:53 PM
Subject: Re: [camnetwork] HOW THE PREFERENCE OF KRIBI AS OPPOSED TO VICTORIA FOR THE DEEP SEAPORT WAS NOT A CAMEROON GOVERNMENT DECISION

 
What they stand to gain with this project? Also this. Why did they choose Kribi.
SAF




From: Divine Rhyme hittback@yahoo.com [camnetwork] <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>;
To: camnetwork@yahoogroups.com <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>;
Subject: Re: [camnetwork] HOW THE PREFERENCE OF KRIBI AS OPPOSED TO VICTORIA FOR THE DEEP SEAPORT WAS NOT A CAMEROON GOVERNMENT DECISION
Sent: Thu, Nov 27, 2014 3:01:08 PM

 
SAF
Its the Chinese, period, and given the size of the project and its economic potential, even the French and Americans  are simply onlookers - with the understanding that they too will reap a lot of benefits from it.  Just read what is in the link below.  It is just one of many articles  on the matter. Many more expert analysis have been published in pdf on it but surprisingly many Cameroonians know absolutely nothing about. But that is not the same with Kenyans. Infact the Kenyan government is busy lobbying citizens to support the project which is nearing completion at the Kenyan end. The two key players are Cameroon and Kenya for the simple reason that the two ports will be located in these two countries. If you go to Kribi you will understand what I am talking about. I don't know if construction of the Railway itself is the least of the problem in the entire project but the Chinese are more interested now in completing the two seaports. In both cases, work is almost complete.
FEN
http://www.consultancyafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1716:infrastructure-investments-in-the-east-west-africa-corridor-chinas-master-plan-faces-challenges-&catid=58:asia-dimension-discussion-papers&Itemid=264



From: "'suhade@yahoo.com' suhade@yahoo.com [camnetwork]" <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>
To: "camnetwork@yahoogroups.com" <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 27, 2014 11:15 AM
Subject: Re: [camnetwork] HOW THE PREFERENCE OF KRIBI AS OPPOSED TO VICTORIA FOR THE DEEP SEAPORT WAS NOT A CAMEROON GOVERNMENT DECISION

 
FEN
Who's behind this project. Who is funding the project.
SAF




From: Divine Rhyme hittback@yahoo.com [camnetwork] <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>;
To: CAMNETWORK List <camnetwork@yahoogroups.com>;
Subject: [camnetwork] HOW THE PREFERENCE OF KRIBI AS OPPOSED TO VICTORIA FOR THE DEEP SEAPORT WAS NOT A CAMEROON GOVERNMENT DECISION
Sent: Thu, Nov 27, 2014 6:26:49 AM

 
Recently the Cameroon CPDM government led us to believe that in Mr.  Biya's Great Realisations by 2035, the choice of Kribi for the deep seaport in place of long standing preference for Victoria, government had made  an economically wise judgement given the current trends prevalent in the country. From almost all Anglophone  "independent news" sources this decision "by" government was once again another slap in the face to Anglophones who see themselves always slighted by government in development programs. I thought so too, but now I don't. The Construction of a Shipyard in Victoria and the Deep Seaport in Kribi is far from being Cameroon government decision -  and more so, a shipyard in Victoria would still result to huge economic benefits for the locality. But for some childlike fantasy of deifyng Mr Biya that had been government objective since he came to power,  the CPDM government decided to score cheap points for Mr Biya in keeping the real facts from the Cameroon public who to this day are still believing that Mr Biya and his CPDM government have a dream about an emerging Cameroon in 2035. They have nothing to do with it,  but given the way things are evolving on the continent of Africa  in general at the moment, the fact that Cameroon will have a very great economic boost by 2035 is a reality, but the CPDM government has absolutely nothing to do with it!! Let me explain how.
    Let me draw your attention to an issue which the Cameroon people have largely been ignorant of but which the government has not left any stone unturned to exploit it for political gains. Right under the noses of the Cameroon people the CPDM government has exploited a truth with with the most vicious agenda of perpetuating themselves in powerand giving My Biya a legacy and legitimacy which has been so elusive from him for over his 30+ years in power. All of us have been listening to advertisements on CNN by various governments inviting people from every part of the world to come and invest in their country. Serbia is the latest with a powerful advertisement using its future entry into the EU as a full member, as the reason why individuals, companies and other countries should consider making such investment. I don't have to dwell on that but I am sure such invitations by various nations is not new to us. Let me shift gears here by drawing your attention to "propaganda" unleashed by the CPDM government before the last presidential, and then the senatorial and municipal elections. Especially during the presidential elections the airwaves in Cameroon and any other possible news organ were all inundated with propaganda from the CPDM government of Cameroon  how will emerge from poverty by 2035 and be transformed from an agrarian economy into mid tech industrialized one. According to the propaganda Cameroonian towns - from North to South , and from East to West will be connected by Railway lines and modern road infrastructure. One must the dumbest person in the world to even imagine that such fantasies will ever be a reality in Cameroon - even in the next 100 years. Would these things be wished with a magic wand, or real physical effort would put for their realizations? At about the same time I read several articles by Kenyan writers how by 2035 Kenya will become the East African economic powerhouse if not the African. 2035 again and by Kenya? What is so special about this year 2035? Did the Cameroon government just borrow a page from Kenya's development program? Such a bold and optimistic program can make sense in Kenya with visible attempts by the government to improve its politics, economy and the welfare of its citizens. But how does Cameroon fit into such a bold positive and advanced method of thinking? Even when I read an article published from an authoritative source in Kenya about the a proposed African Land Bridge, I initially failed to make any connections. But this was because the article was written in a way which one would be driven to believe that it  was more of a wish than a project that had already been long in planning. Well, just recently I came across an article which in very great detail explained what the project is all about - those behind it and how far its planning has gone. So from what I gathered, although such a concept had been in the minds of even our western colonizers/partners, for almost a century, it is only China's recent economic emergence that has made it a reality. Then I started connecting the dots. The decision to construct a deep seaport in Kribi instead of Victoria now made sense to me. The government of Cameroon had very little in making that decision. This Deep Seaport will be linked to another deep seaport in Kenya - Lamu, by a double gauged Railway line - The Great African Land Bridge! .., The economic impact in such a gigantic undertaking is beyond any economic agenda our CPDM government can ever dream about. What helped me to easily connect the dots this time was my recent visit by accident to Kribi. In Kribi I saw a town in total overhaul. New streets are constructed seemingly going to nowhere all over the town. The streets are unusually wider than those of our typical Cameroonian towns. Hotels are just coming up like mushrooms all over the place. While in Kribi I just thought they had a very forward thinking mayor. But when I returned to Europe and happened to read that article on the Land Bridge, it is then in hind sight that  I realized that the streets being constructed in Kribi are wider and more solid than what I have experienced in any town in our dear Cameroon. Even France and other western economies have not been able to stop China from advancing with this project. It will be among one of the world's greatest economic projects - comparable only to to the Suez and Panama canals and the Trans Siberian Railway. It is impossible to actually gauge the economic importance of this gigantic project and which will even be getting greater as the years go by. IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE COMPLETED BY 2035!!! It's easy now to know how CPDM propaganda settled on that date which to most of us at the time was a magical decision given their track record. But how can anybody explain why such a very important economic issue can be viciously hijacked by this government with such a catastrophic legacy behind it for the last 30 plus years? Instead of inviting the world to come and invest in Cameroon because such a gigantic project would be the magic wand they have been waiting for for decades, their myopic vision cannot allow them see the benefits of such a project any further than how it can help keep the CPDM in power by winning the next elections - something they would win any way since they alone can decide who wins what in any elections in Cameroon. They are so desperate for legitimacy in such a way that they would end at nothing to sacrifice the welfare of the state to win just any little bit of it. 
In Kenya, the progress of the project is quite visible although some delays have been experienced by  popular objection from the population by government decision to destroy an ancient national  park and a heritage building very dear to the Kenyan people. The unstable political situation in South Sudan and in Central African Republic has forced the Chinese government to even abandon their policy of non interference in domestic politics of partner nations. That are very engaged now in hammering out a lasting peace in South Sudan. They too have been very instrumental striking a compromise in the warring factions in the CAR. In the case of Cameroon they are concerned with the threats of terrorism not only from Boko Haram but  from possible instability due to power transition  given the unpopularity and an uncertain succession plan of the 32 year government of the CPDM. But the project is at  a "no turning back" stage at the moment. Too much has already been invested in Cameroon and Kenya - which are the target points of interest in the entire project.
2035. Welcome to an emerging  Cameroon and Africa at large.
FEN
















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Posted by: Agbor Enow Augustine <enow007@yahoo.com>
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