Development
initiatives should not be politicized all the time
 |
| Honorable Emmanuel YoYo |
Who is Honorable Emmanuel
YoYo?
I am a native of Baba I
in Ndop in Ngoketunjia Division. I am a father of six and a business man at the
moment doing general business as well as animal breeding. I am equally a member
of the
National Executive Council of the Social Democratic
Front SDF and te National Financial Secretary of that
party.
What
are some of the
highlights
on this long road that you have had with
the SDF?
We cannot say anything
about the
SDF without thinking about how it was created. We all know that the
National Chairman of this great party Ni
John Fru Ndi with a certain number of
Cameroonians lead the Cameroonian people to
understand that we needed Democracy rather
than
the
autocracy that was ruling this country at the
time. Of course the party was created and
went to the extent of winning the
Presidential Elections of 1992. Ni John
Fru Ndi was known by the whole international
Community and even the Cameroonian people to have
won that election but at the time, the
victory was stolen by people who were in power and who
are still in power today. These people were not used to democracy. All of this notwithstanding,
the
SDF still marched on and at one moment I left the
police force with which
I was working and joined the band wagon because I
understood at the time that
the
SDF was fighting a just cause and till today it
is still fighting a just cause. We went ahead and won the
Municipal elections and we won in almost all the
big municipalities in this country. We won in the
urban municipalities because in these municipalities we were dealing with
people who
knew something about what was right
or wrong and their victory could not be easily stolen. But in the
rural areas the government was able to manipulate
the
local population trough cheating
and changing
of results. SDF won in the much
more enlightened communities. Then the
government in order to frustrate the
party created the post of government Delegates
in all those big municipalities. This made the
CPDM to hijack
our victory and made it impossible for us to show
the
population of those urban areas what the
SDF stood for. These are some of the
things
you should always remember and of course we still marched on. The government realizing
that the SDF was so powerful and its leader so popular went ahead to improve
upon its fraud mechanism and made sure that each time we had elections they
took all their time to fraud but we were not again taken by surprise as was the
case in 1992. That is why up till today, the SDF as not been able to take over
power in this country.
As
a huge voice in the party, how do you appreciate the activities of the party in
this build up to the 2018 Presidential elections?
Under the leadership of
Ni John Fru Ndi, we have been able to analyse the problems we are facing in this
country ahead of those elections. One of the things we thought we could do is
to reorganize our party to put it on a very strong footing and to make sure that
all those who are ready to work and bring about change in this country take
positions in this party to effect this change. We are carrying out a general reorganization
of the party over the whole nation in preparation for the upcoming elections. We
intend to make sure that the fraud mechanism put in place is tackled in a manner
as to reduce it to almost nothing.
As we carry out this reorganization
in the field like in the Littoral where I am working, we have been able to
appreciate the popularity of this party because when you look at the enthusiasm
wit which people are trying to gain positions in the party. You understand that
they know that it is the party of the future and they want to be part of it. So
you find out that as we move out in the Littoral the turnout is massive. You
find people determined to take positions in the new executive that we are trying
to build. This is something that is very promising and very encouraging for the
party.
Are
you expecting any spectacular changes with the upcoming convention?
Anybody who understands
the constitution of the SDF may not ask this question at the moment because there
is a way changes are brought about during a convention of the SDF. Militants of
the party are authorized to come up with constitutional amendment procedures
and there is still a lot of time for them to be able to do so. If any change has
to take place, it may be initiated by one of the members of the party and
following a certain procedure and introduces this into text that may be visited
during the convention. It comes from several sources because as I am here talking
about one thing another person may be somewhere suggesting something else. I think
it is rater premature to talk about changes in the party. You should however
understand that a party is a dynamic unit that has to always revisit its text. I
will therefore not be surprised if suggestions are put forth to bring changes
to the constitution of the party but this is not the right time for me to say whether
there will be changes or not.
Back
to your community how
do you interact with this community in terms of development and social
activities generally speaking?
I live in Noketunjia
Division and since I left Parliament, I have been closer to the population. In Parliament I was a
questor and resident member of the bureau of the assembly living in Yaounde but
back home now I am with them and we interact much more and I look into their
problems much more profoundly at the moment. It is interesting to note that
even though I am no more in parliament they come mostly to me to ask for
assistance for developmental projects in their areas. The person who took over
from me who is of the CPDM is somebody who has his own idea about development.
For him development is to share sugar, soap, among other things to some people
in the division. One thing that we forget is this; when you are elected a
member for an area you represent all the people of that area. Now when you come
because you are a Muslim and you give sugar and tea to the Muslims what about the
Christians? While not a parliamentarian I have been carrying out development
projects that serve the whole population of my area. I have given water to the
whole of Ndop town because water source there is one of the main problems we have.
And when it is done, no body checks to know whether it is a CPDM or an SDF
militant that is carrying the water. I just want to serve the people. I told the
parliamentarian to carry out projects that will serve everybody. When I realise
such projects with the sum of at least a hundred millions FCFA to bring water
to my people, I always tell my militants that this water is for everybody. When
I build bridges like some that I have done there are no toll gates and barriers
preventing some people not to use the bridges? That is what development means.
Development initiatives should not be politicized all the time. If the time
comes and I am still interested in politics I think they will remember that.
But I may not even show up to be a parliamentarian or take any elective post
but that doesn’t stop me from giving certain amenities to the people of my area.
A
bill was passed in parliament concerning the immunity of ministers. As an old member
of the house, what is your take on this?
Well I followed up very
closely the debate on that bill and what I understood was that since the CPDM may
be voted out in subsequent elections they are already trying to put in place
some few mechanisms that will help the people who have been stealing public
money to escape even without being apprehended. What it meant is that if the head
of State sees somebody who has stolen money and wants to help such a person, he
will easily do so by appointing such a person a minister and from that moment he
has some kind of immunity. This is what it meant, to protect people who are not
elected. We should talk of immunity for the head of State who is elected, for the
members of parliament and senators who are elected. I am very proud of the SDF
Parliamentary group that refused to collaborate and I think that what they did
is what any reasonable Cameroonian would love to do. I was told that they have
revised that bill though I was not told about the content of the new bill. I hope
that President Paul Biya who has been fighting corruption should not permit such
a bill to pass. I call on SDF militants and sympathizers to continue to have
confidence in the party.
As
an Anglophone elite, what can you say in the phase of strikes by Anglophone
Lawyers and teachers accompanied by civil unrests and arrests in the Northwest
and Southwest Regions?
I am of the same mind
frame with those who have seen all that English speaking Cameroonians have been
through in the form of marginalization, assimilation and a host of other issues
that can hardly leave any right thinking English speaking Cameroonian
indifferent.
As somebody who has
lived and experienced the injustices of the system it is indeed sad that the Government
doesn’t yet seem to be ready to carry out real dialogue with disgruntled
Cameroonians.
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