PROFESSOR GEORGE AYITTEY AND JONATHAN AWASOM : FREEDOM FIGHTERS DISCUSS THE FATE OF DICTATORS IN AFRICA

--- On Sat, 5/21/11, George Ayittey <ayittey@gmail.com> wrote:


From: George Ayittey <ayittey@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: PROF George Ayittey and CAMEROON DICTATOR PAUL BIYA [Mwananchi] Re: The Cutlass Is Back From Oslo!
To: Mwananchi@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, May 21, 2011, 8:50 P
Jonathan,

You misinterpreted idle banter about the CUTLASS to be “joking” but defeating dictators is not a laughing matter. It is serious business.
 
I dedicated my speech in Oslo to prodemocracy activists in Chad, Cameroon, Syria, Yemen, Zimbabwe and elsewhere. I warned in Oslo that Ben Ali fled, Mubarak was shoved aside and more coconuts will tumble, including Paul Biya. Here is the link to my list and I am preparing a new list in the aftermath of the upheavals in North Africa. Which coconut is next?

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/06/21/the_worst_of_the_worst  


You singled out France, Britain and America for propping up Biya and helping ruin Cameroon’s economy over the past 50 years and accuse them of hypocrisy for advocating freedom and yet not calling upon Biya to step down. It is a valid criticism but you won’t gain much traction in using that to bring about change in Cameroon.( George, whatever! Jonathan will never hold back the truth.France, Britain and America who have aided and abetted dictator Paul Biya MUST also help me to remove him now because I care more about the people oppressed and not about what anybody thinks about me now
France, Britain and America should know better because they profess themselves to be civilized and industrialized nations and hopefully that comes with respect for the rights of others to prevail)
 
First, you should know that France won’t remove Biya and, even if it does, will replace him another Biya who serves French interests. ALL foreign powers operating in Africa do the same thing. China, Russia, and even Iran all have clients in Africa, propping up brutal dictators. I don’t see or hear China, Russia or Iran asking any African dictator to step down( Well, so long as France, Britain and America like the natural and mineral resources of Cameroon, they must also give us freedom in exchange for whatever they want. I don't think the problem is about who replaces him. We are talking about a political system that is dangerously corrupt and cruel, and was once rejected by the same people who are walking up and down in Cameroon as if it very normal. We need to change the system and the people, then create a new political system that will lead to good governance and the rule of law. All these can happen without hurting the interest of whoever in Cameroon. Of course, we will always need trading and business partners  for our resources, right?) We want to be in charge of our destiny and promise. 
Second, disabuse your mind of the notion that if the U.S. or France barks an order, ordering Biya to step down, presto! Biya will be gone the next day. It is wishful thinking. Obama has called upon Khaddafy of Libya and Assad of Syria to step aside but they are still there( No, If these powers I have mentioned support our call for Paul to go, he must go. I know the world in ,which I live. It is what it is and I will never stop my protest until these three big powers do what is right. I cannot pretend that only we , Cameroonians will succeed to remove Paul Biya because they must know that what they are doing is against the sacred and inalienable rights of Cameroonians. We need their cooperation right now because they have been told the truth. I don't pretend and will never feign affection in order to win someone's love because it will be fake. I will keep telling US, Britain and France what I feel strongly about.) 
The BOTTOM LINE – and this is the message I carried to Oslo – is that we will defeat these dictators from within – without Western or foreign help. If we did it in Ghana, it can be done elsewhere. Foreign powers should be at liberty to prop up whoever they wish in Africa but should do so at their own risk and peril.
 
The “Odious Debt Principle” holds that a foreign loan to an illegitimate regime to repress its people is deemed “odious” and, therefore, non-repayable. The U.S. applied this doctrine in 1898 when it captured Cuba and refused to repay Cuba’s debt to Spain. In 1923, Costa Rica also refused to repay the debts incurred by its dictator, Frederico Tinoco. In 1990, the threat by Bangladeshi opposition parties to apply the doctrine caused foreign aid donors and creditors to deny funds to the military regime of President Hussain Mohammad Ershad. It subsequently collapsed.( Yes, I agree with you. No more loans or donations to any corrupt tyranny and dictatorship until they declare their assets and account for the gross violation of human rights. Any loans given to Cameroon since I filed an official complaint against Paul Biya and the CPDM regime to US Government  will be non-repayable. It is for the best interest of all of us with vested interest in Cameroon to comply with the universal princiuples of human dignity)  
I will post my remarks in Oslo shortly.
 
George


On Sat, May 21, 2011 at 2:31 PM, Jonathan Awasom <cameroonfreedomadvocate@yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear Prof George

Welcome back from  Oslo Freedom.

So, George what did you people discuss about dictator  Paul Biya of Cameroon who has been there 10 x10x10=30 years including the years he served as PM under the previous dictator? I am looking for that your list of world dictators again. I can't find it. Please, repost it again so that I will refresh my eyes ans mind  with what you said about dictator Paul Biya.

France, Britain and America have been in Cameroon for more 50 years and that has ruined our economy, too. How could free people be walking up and down in a society that is not free without bothering? There is a sort of travesty in the way that these big power conduct themselves in the world.

I wonder if you do realize that no dictator will ever be in power without being aided and abetted by the same people who accuse them now. So, I hope US, Britain and France will support our call for dictator Paul Biya to step down just as they did to oust President Mubarak lately.

Is there any concreate plan for us Cameroonians and did you take up our case in Oslo?
This is our appeal to Paul Biya to step down and let me know what you are doing to help us Cameroonians and if there is someone we need to contact let me know, Prof. Let us act fast although you seem to be joking about this Oslo matter. If you have some reliable information or persons I need to connect

Thank you

Jonathan



--- On Sun, 5/22/11, Jonathan Awasom <cameroonfreedomadvocate@yahoo.com> wrote:


From: Jonathan Awasom <cameroonfreedomadvocate@yahoo.com>
Subject: Fw: PROF George Ayittey and CAMEROON DICTATOR PAUL BIYA [Mwananchi] Re: The Cutlass Is Back From Oslo!
To: cameroons_sdf_party@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sunday, May 22, 2011, 7:52


Thank you so much Prof George Ayittey.

Your rebuttal is very encouraging and thoughtful . Now, I have hope for Oslo Freedom.

Those who came to Africa and gave us dictatorship and corrupt tyranny are learning today that some of us have realized that it not a guranteed system of government with a life time warranty. Therefore, those who brought it have to take it back because we must make a u-turn now or never. So long as these big nations are meddling into our societies with the help of other Africans in our midst , we must get them involved by getting right into their face in one way or the other to disrupt, dismantle and defeat these dictators

The undeniable truth is that we are now confronted with an enormous problem in the continent of Africa like the fate that befell black people in America. We are now condemned to live with these foreign bodies who want our blessing so bad to the extent that they will do anything to kill our people for them. Our demise lies in the senseless betrayal by some Africans who only live for themselves.

I think we need to educate our fellow Africans who are  hoodwinked to think that they could ever defeat a dictator at the ballot box. When we choose the wrong fight, we waste our time and energy  in a goose chase. I don't believe even for one second that even Obama would win an election in Cameroon organized by dictator Paul Biya.

All of us Africans must work together to dismantle these very bad systems of Government and my point is that Cameroon be next on the list. We , Africans must work together to salvage our continent from such men and women who do not care about the human condition of our people. Whether or not these countries are calling Dictator Paul Biya to step down, I know for sure that it is more than just pronouncement on the Presidential podium at the White House.

Yes, you are absolutely, right. The world bank and IMF must stop giving loans to Cameroon Government  until we have removed dictator Paul Biya and his cohorts from power and formed a transitional government toward good governance and the rule of law.

It is unsettling to give loans to countries,whose dictator Paul Biya  and his government have never declared their assets because the loans end up in their private bank accounts. What is the implication? They indebt the country, ruin its destiny and await  patiently for civil war or genocide in order to kill innocent people and  destroy our promise. This must not happen again while educated people stand by and watch.

Africa has two types of people namely, true Africans and estranged Africans. All true Africans must unite from one country to the other and cultivate the will, resources and means to inject instantaneous revolutions from one country to the other to chase away these wicked rulers. I mean wicked and heartless human beings who are ready to kill our people. No, there must be a way out of all these mess and Africans should not say that " well, let Cameroonians take care of their own problems...". No, it is all of us defined by one destiny and one humanity to protect and support one another

Thank you and we must act now .

Jonathan Awasom

--- On Sat, 5/21/11, Patricia <paanderson2003@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:


From: Patricia <paanderson2003@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: [Mwananchi] Re: The Cutlass Is Back From Oslo!
To: Mwananchi@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, May 21, 2011, 6:11 PM

Hi George,
As I said, it could be that a "Piece of work" means something different in another country. Sayings are cropping up all the time, many from the US. I hate the latest one, "man up" even the Australians say it.Ghaddafi has had a long run, forty two years since he toppled King Idris. It is certain he won't run, who would have him anyway? My experience, or rather Andy's experience, of the Libyan people was that they were nice people, my husband was diplomatic, he didn't talk politics or ask them awkward questions, also, he respected their beliefs. I wish he was still here, I could ask him what he thinks of the current situation. I think what you say will happen is correct, it will be one or the other. Britain has apparently no money yet it is spending £100 million on bombing Libya. I doubt they will stop till they achieve their objective, to get Ghaddafi. It's obviously about oil at the end of the day.
I'm going to check out the Oslo link.
Pat.