Editorial: Challenges Awaiting Cameroon’s Next President

The fate of 25 million Cameroonians now hangs on the lips of Clement Atangana, Constitutional Council President.

All the hot-air and hypes that animated the streets and cities, culminating to a nationwide casting of votes on October 7, 2018, will be concluded this Monday October 22, with the proclamation of the results of the winner.

Arguably, 2018 will go down memory-lane as the most active political year, probably because more Cameroonians became more aware of the socio-political dynamism and how events unfolded stage after stage.

That invariably means, the new President of Cameroon, will have a daunting task of first of all, accommodating these fresh breed of political awareness adorn with Social Media hypes, before tackling the myriads of challenges eating the socioeconomic and cultural fabric of the nation.

Whether it will be the new-old President, Paul Biya, or any of the 8 contenders who battled for the presidential stool, the challenges are enormous and unchanging.

The new president would have to implore new methods of tackling some of the worst problems affecting not only the integrity of Cameroon, but also plaguing the country’s economy.

The deepening Anglophone crisis is unarguably, Cameroon’s worst nightmare yet. The armed conflict in the two English Speaking regions of Cameroon, has greatly affected all the facets of the Cameroon’s being.

Many opinion holders say, the crisis if not handled with care and rigidity, will plunge the country into a civil war.

That therefore means, the new president must act fast to pre-empt any such situation, and give Cameroon the pride of place it once enjoyed.

Many have always clamoured for a pacific and inclusive dialogue process, to solve the crisis. The new President must listen to everyone across the board, and make meaningful decisions and proactive actions, to bring the situation to normalcy.

The respect of the country’s constitution by implementing the right form of state, will be another bone of contention to the next president. One thing that animated debates across the different presidential candidates, was the form the new Cameroon will take after this 2018 elections.

While the incumbent, Paul Biya, is bent on devolving powers from the Central Administration in Yaounde, to the 10 regions, his other presidential counterparts, sued for a referendum, to get the most suitable form of state.
Therefore, the new president, will have to determine which form of state is most suitable for all Cameroonians.

Cameroon equally face insurgency in the Country’s far North Region, with the Boko Haram militancy, and in the Country’s East Region, with the incursion of the Central African rebels.

The new president must take some sweeping measures, so as to prevent any exacerbation of the already difficult situation.

The once vibrant and stable economy of Cameroon seems to be suffering from hiccups, amidst the fall in the prices of the country’s top exporting products.

Statistics from the Finance Ministry, show that Cameroon’s economy needs fire-extinguishing measures for it to regain its feet.
The different armed conflict crisis rocking the country’s Southern, Eastern and Northern Regions, have had graving consequences on the Agriculture, and tourism sector.

Since, the Petroleum sector is yet to pick its steam from the freefall of 2017, the other shock-absorbing sectors of the economy, which are supposed to serve as alternatives, now linger in paralysis, due to the grieving conflicts.

The new President will have to fine tune measures, to solve the root causes of some of the nation’s biggest problems before going to tackle the other remote causes.

The youth unemployment syndrome seems to have eaten deeply into the fabrics of the nation’s living together. As many as more than half the number of people of working ages, continue to remain unemployed, while the government keeps fighting hard to solve the dreading canker.

Nonetheless, the new president will have to make new in roots and diversify the country’s economy, so as to give opportunities to the youths to either employ themselves, or get employed in one of the many government employment opportunities.

Again, whether it will be the incumbent President, Paul Biya, or any of the other Presidential aspirants, the political renaissance of Cameroonians has been tested and proven highly, in the just ended election. It is but right to say, things will never be the same again.

Cameroonians, will keep mounting so much pressure on any one who bags home the presidential winning stool. So, it is incumbent on any of the presidential candidates who would be declared winner this Monday, to tighten their seatbelts, for it may surely be a bumpy seven-year ride.