P.M YANG IN THE MIRROR

Co-Written and Edited by Innocent Chia

Depicting the future of La Republique du Cameroun as bleak is the best way of whitewashing the devastating social consequences of the 2010 fiscal policies that P.M and his team are outlining. It is to this effect that the Chiareport, in this two part-series, is providing an exclusive insight analysis into P. M Philemon Yang's six months on-the-job training at the star building, background of his 34 year political career, infiltration of the SCNC, participation in the plundering of Cameroon's mineral resources by Canadian companies, scraping of the Limbe Deep Sea project and potential role as Paul Biya's next anglophone campaign manager! Of even greater importance is the perception of conflict of interest as CAMAIRCO's board chairman and his inability to fairly arbitrate conflict within the cabinet.

In every democratic society, the ushering of a new Prime Minister signifies the consolidation, expansion or severance of major policies to improve the delivery of government services. In this context, the first 100 days constitute an opportunity for the new leadership to publicly assess its projects, accomplishments, if any, and propose remedies for its shortcomings. This is what is considered a practical approach to accountability and transparency of government.

On November 18, 2009, Cameroon's Prime Minister, Philemon Yunji Yang, made his first policy speech by presenting the government's draft economic, financial, social and cultural program for 2010 fiscal year to the National Assembly. The new Prime Minister upheld the traditional contempt of the executive branch in disregarding the legislative provision of submitting draft bills 15 days prior to the opening session.

Is Oil Money Cursed or Still Biya's Private Cash Cow?

Also, the government of Cameroon is expected to incur another straight line deficit since 1985 (except the surplus revenue created by the $140/barrel of oil in 2009) by increasing public expenditure to 60% the CFA 2570 billion budgetary projection. Of even greater significance is the recycling of debt, whereby 14.29% will be committed for debt/loan settlements while sourcing CFA 421 billion in additional revenue from loans and grants. A footnote in next year's budget is a contingency authorization permitting supplemental government expenditure of up to CFA 200 billion!

As a natural consequence of the poorly crafted fiscal policy, characterized by the lack of a convenient business environment in stimulating domestic production of industries and promoting foreign trade and investments, real economic growth is projected to slide below 2%! With a declining forecast in oil production, and the backing-off by multi-national companies in the launching of major mineral projects, most financial observers now question whether the government's 2010 fiscal policies would be sustainable. 

Philemon Yang's 2010 budgetary policies will also cause an expansion of the tax base into unregulated subsistent activities and hobbies such as hand-crafted stamp carvers and pedestrian water vendors! Revenue from selective tax enforcement policies on existing small businesses are expected to increase, but will be still largely insufficient, thereby causing an overall decline. This is exacerbated by the fact that  leakages created by tax evading CPDM party sponsors and barons will be dumped into the heavy financial risk bailing out of the Fotso-owned Commercial Bank of Cameroon. Such a stunning reversal of financial policy is inexplicable given the fact that the Yang government is yet to reimburse deposit accounts of more than 900,000 customers of the defunct Cameroon Postal Savings Bank or launch any investigation as to the mismanagement of those public funds.

The Yang government deliberately chose to side-step a fertile revenue source for the 2010 fiscal year through lack of enforcement of property taxes on the sprouting million dollar mansions of corrupt government officials. The Philemon Yang government 2010 fiscal policies also fails to project revenue sources from domestic asset recovery and repatriation of embezzled funds currently lodged in foreign bank accounts of convicted former top government officials.

Perfunctory PM or another Powerless Anglophone PM?

Of disturbing significance is the Prime Minister’s – also chairman of the National Road Board - failure to open the Pandora’s corruption box of toll road collection leakage. It is open secret that the under reporting of the actual revenue value is estimated at nearly CFA 25 billion annually. Rather than reward the heavily corrupt board with permanent office space, Prime Minister Philemon Yunji Yang should trigger an audit investigation into the stagnant toll revenue at CFA 5 billion from 1995-2008. It is irreconcilable that vehicle traffic on toll ways has increased 7 fold together with the creation of new toll outposts while revenue has stalled.

With a growing unemployment rate surpassing 40%, the Philemon Yang 2010 budget fails to report tangible or future job creation commensurate to the demands of new graduates. Instead, unnecessary public expenditure and budgetary waste have attained new record heights with the government expected to spend CFA 40 Billion in gasoline consumption as well as an estimated CFA 61 Billion for mission warrants and government organized seminars and workshops.

The Prime Minister also failed to address the rising crime rate in urban dwellings, especially with the targeted breaking and entry of strategic ministerial buildings. Of greater concern is the extent of lawlessness and sophistication of cross-border banditry that is terrorizing local inhabitants and scaring tourists from the country of the Indomitable Lions!

With less than 30% committed for infrastructure development, the Yang government has engaged in the prepayment financial intervention recidivism that originally created the fiscal and budgetary disaster leading Cameroon into the debt-wrapped League of Nations. Otherwise, what is the rationale for committing CFA 89.2 billion in start-up costs for projects that were previously claimed to be Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT) joint venture agreements in which foreign partners are expected to seed 100% of the capital? Increased corruption by government officials is expected to drive-up the cost of delivering otherwise basic social services, therefore, accelerating the poverty curve!

From all indications, the Yang government’s 2010 fiscal policies are short on balancing regional development needs and fails in the complete transfer of communal revenue (centimes additionnels) to local authorities. Exceptionally, however, more than 80% of the CFA 89.2 billion project finance will be concentrated on projects located in the least populated region; the South, coincidentally(?), the birth place of the Minister of Economy, Plan and Regional Development Louis Paul Motaze, as well as other bulu-fang barons including the President of the Republic. This political legacy-budgetary approach is at odds with national development goals and economically driven profitable ventures that have completed feasibility studies as well as successful first round of preliminary seed capital mobilization such as the abandoned Limbe Deep Sea project.

Exchanging the Limbe Deep Sea Port Project for a cheap Chinese Stadium!

The Limbe Deep Sea Port is the 8000 pound Anglophone gorilla double promise haunting Paul Biya in exchange of his unilateral name-change liquidation of the “United Republic of Cameroon” and bribery in securing hold-out votes from English speaking delegates during the cremation of the CNU party at Bamenda in 1985.

Over the last 25 years and prior to electoral politics, the ruling party candidates have repeatedly recycled, repackaged and resold the same three-for-one blue sky deep sea port project surrounded by a cement factory and industrial complex to be completed in 2050! See Limbe Deep Sea port begins to take form.

Paradoxically, since the completion of an Investment Development Study funded by a grant from USTDA and an Anglophone PM granting audience to delegation of financiers of the Limbe deep sea port, two significant policy assessments are worth examining. Firstly, over the last 20 years, the government of Cameroon has spent an estimated CFA 100 billion in dredging silt from the shallow Douala Sea port. Secondly, it reversed its priorities in favor of developing another Port in Kribi without any feasibility study or project finance mobilization.

According to a top bulu-fang dignitary speaking exclusively to the chiareport on condition of anonymity - since he was not authorized to divulge the substance of an Essingan reunion - “the African Commission, in recognizing the economic marginalization of Southern Cameroons organizations, should match their verdict with funding for the construction of the Limbe Deep Sea Port. Any foreign investments or grants will be redirected towards the construction of Kribi Sea and Air Ports.”
He further intimates that “the ruling party will continue promising construction of the Limbe Deep Sea Port without delivering. At best, a 20,000 capacity stadium may be a befitting consolation price.” - reason why a Limbe (and Bafoussam) stadium is one of the major projects that the Chinese are planning on undertaking in exchange for using Cameroon as a dumping ground for their 300,000 rejects and getting first sights on its mineral resources. 

Stay with us in our next issue as we visit with scenes from the cacophony in the PM's cabinet, as well as why he endorses the plan of labeling the SCNC a Terrorist Organization.

Comments

[Mbango]

Yang wants to label the SCNC a terrorist organization? This is the same thing that they did to the UPC as a prelude to almost wiping out the people of the Western Province of Cameroon. In this matter of torture and murdering people, Mr Yang's hands are blood soaked, because he was the deputy of Ayissi Mvodo whose interior ministry ran Ahidjo's concentration camps. He practices give a dog a bad name and kill it. These days it is much harder to do. They cannot commit crimes and count on silence.

[Karim]

Either by accident or design, this blog posting is short on facts. In a democratic society, how is a new Prime Minister ushered in? Do all democratic societies have Prime Ministers? Is Cameroon necessarily democratic because it's got a Prime Minister? If there are 300,000 Chinese rejects in Cameroon, then how would the author describe the teeming population of Cameroonians also living in China? Is this story about the Chinese influx into Cameroon or an assessment of the Prime Minister's accomplishment within a time frame? Is this author aware of the submission by the Koreans of completed feasibility studies on the Limbe Deep Sea Port project to the Cameroon Ministry of Transport?

[The Entrepreneur Newsonline Inc.]

...Limbe Deep Sea Port:
Limbe: Le port en eau profonde prendra corps
( http://www.entrepreneurnewsonline.com/2009/12/limbe-le-port-en-eau-profonde-prendra-corps.html )

[dango tumma]

after reading whats been happeneing in the cameroons for half a century, and the author is a southern cameroonian ,not anglophone, since anglophone is not a nationality.its open secret that cameroun is not an independnet country, thats because it belongs to the francafrique, the property of the french, the french wiield all the powers, military economic, political even the cyrrency is francs, the president is considered an oversea governor of french property, and he is appointed by paris. soo its been with 14 francafrique countries namely gabon, congo tchad, car togo cameroun etc. soo where does southern cameroons stands in this french made country? isnt it wise for all to see thta since all things in a soceity are connected, southern cameroons must be completely independent before any one talk about a sea port in victoria? ships used to came to victoria, infact they can still come today, biya the french gouvernor is the stone wall block, he falsely consider southern cameroons his conquered territory.
upto painting the map of his country to depict southern cameroons as a region of cameroun, there by making a mokerey of facts of history. even as the ACHPR just pass a land marl victory. on the people of southern cameroons, means nothing to him. he is contentedon plundering this beautiful land and its people to the end, especially since its people are short sighted, they never thing of whats good for all its good for one. then they would have atleast station some form of military regiment in the ground from abroad.

soo, talking of cameroun is madness and empty talk, since , cameroun means (french cameroun) without southern cameroons. we must hold our grounds on truth and stop deceiveing ourselves. cause its a dangerous endeavour.

[Kumbaboy]

Forget about the stadia. This is a CPDM trick in the run up to the World Cup this summer and ahead of presidential elections next year. There will be no stadia built.

Cameroonians, don't be deceived, yet again!

[Don Papy]

SCNC is no question in the political areana of our fatherland Cameroon.Together we stand and divided we fall. It's time Africa is coming together to build a united front.The "AFRICAN UNION" for the well being of Africans. It is just so rediculous when i hear a son or daughter of this our fought for, sacrificed for,gained and to be consolidated fatherland of 50years old today stands and talk of southern cameroon or what so ever.
i agree that things are not the best we expected. sure but there is always a way forward not backward. All developed and well planned economies today had gone through all that so we are no exceptions. i will just ask some of those jobless white collar critics come down here and join us till the soil to build our nation.
i do not think Paul Biya or Yang Philomon is or will be the cause of our misfortune. Think about what you have been working for since the day you were given the freedom to think for yourself. Changes in your life seems to happen so soon at one piont in your life. yes but the truth is you have been working for these changes long time ago. piont a finger on me and four fingers on yourself.

[Bob Bristol]

dON pAPY,

yOU aRE A dICKHEAD. wE cAN oNLY cO-EXIST tOGETHER aS fEDERATED sTAES.

[Ras Tuge]

We of this generation must start by fighting to restore that ill-fated federation, before anything else. I truly don't concern myself with what Yang does. I am convinced that he is a good man who believes in legacy, and therefore he will somehow manage to dissociate himself from cursed names like Foncha, Muna, Egbe, Fonlon,Fru Ndi, and even this lousy Asonganyi. This is a chance for Yang to prove that the North west is NOT that cradle of jesters that we've so far seen.

[njimaforboy]

u must be smoking some serious dope. Wake up and smell the coffee. There is no Cameroon until we are treated as equals.
Also, this Yang man is no different from all the other traitors before him. Watch him grow into a pig like Archidi Achu. These loosers have no courage to stand for what is right.