Strategising to fail

The elimination of Cameroon from Africa Cup of Nations on Monday was more than a lesson in football – the lack of strategy and foresight always leads to dismal performance. Cameroon went into the game without any real idea about how they hoped to perform well. Coach Paul Le Guen opted for a four-day training session. For a team full of so many new and young players, hoping to put on a good show with that kind of preparation was being overly ambitious. The results have been catastrophic. Cameroon scraped through the group stages in which they suffered at the hands of small Gabon and expectedly lost 3-1 to Egypt. The play style was hollow and the Lions were at the origin of nearly all goals against them. The old and new alike failed.

Next year, Cameroon will hold a presidential election. We fear that we are also going into that election, with no real idea about how to make it credible and acceptable to all parties. It is only now that ELECAM is really taking over the electoral process from ENAM. A full year has been spent getting the organ off the ground. By the close of this year, electoral registration is expected to begin. It is going to be a tough process. The roll is in such bad shape that it would make sense for ELECAM to simply keep aside and start off on a clean slate. But at the moment, there appears to be no real urgency to get Cameroonians out and interested in national politics. The current lack of trust in ELECAM, correctly or falsely, makes confidence-building, the most important task ahead of ELECAM – even before registration. 

Fighting corruption with half measures

The anti-corruption drive started in 2006 was a major turning point in Yaounde’s attitude towards the problem. It came after decades of blatant denial of its existence by the regime in Yaounde. Understandably, President Paul Biya was applauded at home and abroad. The United States pledged its full support to the campaign, as did many other Western powers and multilateral institutions. And then, suddenly, the operation dubbed sparrow-hawk began looking ugly.

How the web might change campaigns in 2011 poll

From the election of Barack Obama to post-election violence in Iran, we have seen the enormous power of new technology, particularly social networking websites, to dramatically influence political processes. Ahead of a crucial presidential election in Cameroon in 2011, some Cameroonians are trying to take advantage of those same tools.

On Bakassi, aftershocks linger on

LIMBE – Last week exposed how precarious the peace process between Cameroon and Nigeria has remained, following the settlement of the Bakassi dispute.

Bozize visit boosts Biya leadership role

YAOUNDE - President Paul Biya has a chance to assert himself further as the new leader of the Central Africa sub-region when the president of the Central Africa Republic François Bozize visits Cameroon in the coming days.

France’s Cameroon imprints keep fading

The new French ambassador who has taken up office in Yaounde does so under a very different outlook in ties between his country and Cameroon. For nearly three decades following independence, France was the unchallenged patron of Cameroon, using the status to gain near monopoly access to Cameroon's resources and market place. By 2007, France already accounted for about 30 percent of direct foreign investment in Cameroon: with French companies well in charge in the crude oil, port and agriculture sectors.