My dear compatriots,
Cameroonians of good faith, regardless of political sides or any other sensitivities, serious foreign observers, bilateral and multilateral partners truly concerned about the future of the Cameroonian people and not the survival of an illegal and illegitimate regime can see that our country has not been governed for a long time now. The Cameroon ship is without a captain and sails with the waves.
As a result of this sad reality, our country has become the field of all horrors: renewed attacks by Boko Haram in the Far North, the cold-blooded murder of women with their babies in the same region, the Ngarbuh massacre, the murder of an infant in Muyuka, the murder of incredible cruelty of Florence AYAFOR, then of a young woman in Muyuka, etc., all without an adequate response from the State.
The Covid-19 pandemic has killed dozens of people and traumatised populations without receiving the slightest sympathy from Mr Paul BIYA. As with the crappy preparation for the 2019 African Cup of Nations, the management of this pandemic, which strangles many sectors of the national economy in the indifference of the government, has, once again, displayed the managerial neglect of his regime. The financial scandals that mar the management of this pandemic confirm that Cameroon has become a kleptocracy.
And to this unflattering picture has been added, in recent times, the burlesque spectacle of eclectic actors reminiscent of Mafia criminal organizations. This vaudeville cannot be laughed at, because it reveals the collapse of the country. There is no longer a State, there are only states of mind.
The general economic situation of the country shows that the State is in virtual bankruptcy, despite official incantations. State officials, civil servants, public service providers and bilateral and multilateral creditors of the State bear the brunt of this reality, which the regime vainly tries to cover up.
The social climate is vitiated by the expansion of extreme poverty, State tribalism, mass unemployment, the institutionalization of injustices, the abuse of State violence, the arrogance and contempt of public officials towards citizens.
Mr BIYA has been governing the people through contempt and terror for nearly forty years. He stole the 7th October 2018 presidential election and believed he could obtain his recognition by torturing and throwing in prison hundreds of citizens who peacefully demonstrated against this electoral hold-up.
My dear compatriots,
In my CALL FOR GENERAL MOBILIZATION AND VIGILANCE of the1st of June 2020, I invited you to be ready, so that together and peacefully we say NO to the illegal and illegitimate regime of Mr Paul BIYA if ever the process leading to the regional elections was launched without first meeting the following two requirements:
– Resolving the Anglophone crisis by the establishment of a ceasefire and the opening of a real inclusive national political dialogue;
– Consensual reform of the current electoral system, which everyone now acknowledges that it guarantees massive electoral fraud leading to the appointment of illegitimate leaders, and therefore constitutes the main cause of electoral tensions and post-electoral crises in our country.
From all sides, people are calling for this inclusive dialogue to settle in a lasting way the armed conflict which prevents the holding of free, participatory and transparent elections in the North-West and the South-West.
From all sides, in Cameroon and abroad, this consensual reform of the electoral system is being demanded, in order to avert the pitiful spectacle offered to the world during the 2018 presidential election.
In view of this situation, organising regional elections or any other political election under these conditions would be nothing less than additional contempt for the constant concerns of Cameroonians and the reiterated suggestions of our country’s international partners.
Therefore, I am announcing that any convening of the electorate by the illegal and illegitimate government of Yaoundé, before the taking into account and an effective implementation of the requirements recalled above, will AUTOMATICALLY lead to the launch of a gigantic national campaign to call FOR THE OUTRIGHT DEPARTURE FROM POWER OF Mr. PAUL BIYA, without there being any need to wait for a new communication in this regard.
The Cameroonian people no longer intend to be hostage to a man and his regime. Mr Paul BIYA sees power only as a bonanza allowing him to take care of himself and a cohort of lawless indebted.
Fellow Cameroonians,
Our fight against the dictatorship of the regime in power is heading towards its critical phase. Know that, despite the essentially peaceful nature of our struggle for the freedom and development of our country, the regime will once again resort to terror and judicial barbarism. This is an opportunity for me to ask the elements of the security and defence forces, the administrative and judicial authorities to understand that this struggle between the defenders of fundamental freedoms, the rule of law, shared progress and democracy, to an obscurantist, corrupt and incompetent regime which despises the sovereign people, is not engaged against them, nor against any Cameroonian citizen committed to justice and concerned about the future of our country and its despairing youth.
It is our common duty, yours and ours, to give these young people a chance, and to ensure that Cameroon has the international influence it deserves.
Fellow Cameroonians,
Patriotic duty calls us. No one should miss this call. We must show determination and courage, just as we must show discipline, responsibility and solidarity in this last phase of the fight for democracy, respect for human dignity and shared progress.
As I have said repeatedly, we want to get out of the dictatorship of the regime that is suffocating our country through peaceful struggle. In this decisive struggle, the violence could therefore only be the fault of Mr Paul BIYA and his regime, and they would bear full responsibility.
Cameroonians from within and from the Diaspora, get ready! We must no longer accept being the object of mockery from other Africans!
If the time has come, so be it!
I will not betray you!
May God bless Cameroon!
Yaoundé, this 24th of August 2020
The President-Elect
Maurice KAMTO
