Algeria: A lesson to Cameroonians ⁰

After weeks of huge demonstrations, calling for the departure of the wheelchair-strapped Algerian president, the ailing 82-year old Bouteflika has agreed to resign before his term in office comes to an end on 28 Aoril 2019.

After ruling the country from a wheelchair for most of his time in power, the sick Algerian president felt he could take another term. He did not know the Algerian population had a different plan.

Immediately he announced his candidacy in the upcoming presidential election, his opponents also went to work. The timing was perfect. The economy is suffering, the ailing president can no longer talk and the global political atmosphere is changing in favor of real democracy.

The population has also been angry. It immediately mobilized and took to the streets to once more prove that there is power in numbers. Once again, the world has witnessed another people power revolution that has taken down another seat tight leader.

The Algerian case should serve as a good example to Caneroonians, especially French-speaking Cameroonians who are too chicken-hearted.

Algerians like Burkinabe have proven that true power lies with the people and when they are determined to take down a dictator, nothing can stand in their way.

Cameroonians must learn from Algeria. They must take down Paul Biya and his corrupt criminal enterprise through a people power revolution.

Holding that elections can solve the matter is a waste of time and thinking that death might help them in the process is total stupidity as Biya is simply an element in a system that has been designed to hold the country and its people down for centuries.

There is power in numbers and Algerians have proven that. Cameroonians should take to the streets in Yaounde for weeks. If more than 200,000 Cameroonians come out, the military will throw in the towel and Biya and his people will either flee or will be held in the jails they have built for others.

Cameroonians must learn. They must understand that nobody will change their fate for them. They must figure out that the criminal enterprise that has ruled the country for decades will not be going away anytime soon unless taken down through a people power revolution.

This is possible. Yes, you can. Stop sleeping, start preparing. Take fear out of your mind. If the military does not kill you, preventable illnesses will, as there are no good health facilities in the country. Poverty has already killed many and know that pauperizing the population is a true Biya strategy to keep the people submissive.

Accidents and criminality will continue to kill you if you keep on fearing Biya and his incompetent bunch. For 36 years, they have not built a single road in Cameroon.

Their corruption is obvious and that is why most of Mr. Biya’s former ministers are in jail. He put them there. That’s a clear indictment of himself. Those people could not be stealing if he did not create a favorable environment for that.

Alibaba cannot be innocent while the 40 thieves are looting the system. Hold him accountable. Take to the streets. The system is collapsing from within. Internal fighting is tearing the criminal enterprise apart. Take advantage of this weakness. Change your fate and that of your children. Biya is old, sick and weak. He can be taken down.

The Francophone Diaspora should take a lead on this. Yes, you can. The time is now.

By Dr Joachim Arrey