Shock therapy-style solutions for the linguistic dilemma in Cameroon

By Belmondo Ndengue

Cameroon in particular, and Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, has suffered from poor governance for decades... The so-called parody of a western-style democracy has been counterproductive.

We have all been unable to live in an intellectual and political environment which argued that we had to choose between democracy and economic growth.

So are most African and a bunch of Caribbean and Latin America nations today.

Tribalism, nepotism, corruption and poor governance are the real challenges facing today’s Africa. Cameroon is no exception.

It is not because I speak English or French, two colonial burdens over my true identity that I will justify my frustrations and feel one of my fake identities has been taking advantage of me.

Cameroon issues have hurt both English speaking and French speaking persons for years. Cosmetic therapies like federalism, independence, prefabricated political dialogue or would-be mouth wash solutions are just short-term concepts.

They constitute an amalgam of political, intellectual and social apparatchiks in the country. What is being proposed is to some extent an empty gesture.

These “quick fix” solutions will never really solve problems, because we have been fighting against our own progress for too long and ended up accusing invisible external hands man of being behind our intellectual misery.

Today is Bamenda. A few years back it was Douala... This could happen elsewhere in the world.

Africa needs real free and fair elections at last, and a peaceful changing of the guard. The rational handover to the next generation should be seen as a paradigm of a successful changing of the guard. Any other solution would lead to chaos.

Shock therapy-type solutions for the linguistic dilemma in Cameroon

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