Why Was I Mum on the Elections in Cameroon?

…Or as my good friend Morack asked me, “Why aren’t you writing about these Cameroon elections?”

The answer is simple: I didn’t do it because it’s difficult. I’ve been trying to address it for a while. But it’s hard to write about it; it’s hard to find the right words. It is difficult to express my disappointment when I see a Samuel Eto’o urging Cameroonian citizens to vote for President Paul Biya.

It is exasperating to hear all these people proclaim that Paul Biya is the candidate for peace, while he’s waged war against the English-speaking areas for the past two years. It is distressing to see the Cameroonian people content itself with the barest of minimums. And it is harrowing to see the current regime’s apologists trying to rationalize the absurd.

I know that most of my readers aren’t Cameroonians, so it is extremely difficult to talk about the bleak situation in my country. It is extremely unpleasant for me to lay bare my country’s flaws in front of the whole world.

It is very sad to see a despairing youth being bought by bread and sardines. It is baffling to see my country that had seemingly hit rock bottom, still falling further.

It hurts me to accept that the October 7 election was simply a sham. It pains me to accept that the Constitutional Council and ELECAM (Cameroon’s election body) are not autonomous. It’s agonizing to accept that our institutions serve at the pleasure of the government in power.

These last few months have been particularly unpleasant, but they have also been particularly eye-opening. For a long time, I believed that the whole population wanted Paul Biya to leave. I was stunned to see that many Cameroonians believe in an octogenarian as the best candidate to lead a country that is mainly composed of young people.

Taking the above into cognizance, I decided to roll up my sleeves and get to work. Since I love music, I decided to express all my emotions in song. In the song “LEF 2019“, I penned a a few bars to properly depict my current state of mind. I hope you will enjoy it, but above all I hope that 2019 will finally be a year of actual progress and prosperity.

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones.

Editor’s Note:
The original opinion piece can be found on ‘Un lion parmi les hommes‘

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Hopiho

As a kid, I wanted to become a superhero. That didn't work out. I settled to become a doctor. That didn't work out. I settled to become a football star. That didn't work out. So now you have to settle for a dope blogger and rapper.