Honourable Joshua Osih, flag bearer of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) party at the October 7 Presidential elections has told The SUN that Cameroonians will plebiscite him into Unity Palace as the country’s third president. Candidate Osih, in this exclusive interview with The SUN’s Acting Editor Atia Tilarious Azohnwi, states reasons why he will be president after October 7 and why he must implement the many reforms in his manifesto.
Two weeks to go to Election Day, what is the mood in the Osih campaign team?
You have to ask those who are in the campaign team. I am not in the campaign team so I cannot answer that question.
Before the start of campaigns, you were on a pre-campaign tour to some parts of the country. What is the spirit like?
Cameroonians are looking for change. They are looking forward to the change that is going to come on the 7th of October. I think they are in a very high spirit for that change. I have toured the entire country several times. There is a new generation of Cameroonians who want to take their responsibilities into their hands and bring about this long awaited change.
We were at your campaign headquarters recently and everyone there seems to be very confident, just like you. Where is this courage and optimism coming from when the incumbent seems to have multiplied plans to foster his life presidency project?
If the incumbent is multiplying efforts, it is because he knows that he is going to lose. So, it is exactly from there that our optimism is coming from. They can use the whole world against us, but we are going into this election to win. The amount of mobilization, the fact that they are using state resources and so on will not deter us from our resolve to win this election.
This year’s presidential election is coming at a time when the traditional stronghold of your party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF) has been completely weakened by the conflict in the North West and South West Regions. Is this a minus? Does it give you sleepless nights?
No! I think that the only way to solve the issue in the North West and South West Regions is to kick out Mr. Biya out of Etoudi because he is the source of that problem. I think that Cameroonians have understood very well that the only way forward to save Cameroon from imminent collapse is by kicking out Mr. Biya. There is absolutely no way I will consider the fact that there is this on-going crisis in those two regions as a handicap or something negative for our campaigns. Rather, it is important to understand that to solve the problem in the North West and South West regions, you need somebody in Yaoundé who understands the problem and who has the political will to solve the problem. That is why we think that this election is rather an opportunity for Cameroonians to solve this problem and to stop that war.
There are fears that it could be an election of ballots and bullets in the North West and South West Regions on October 7. How can elections hold in such an atmosphere? How will Biya be ousted without the much needed votes in your favour?
I do not think that only the North-Westerners and South-Westerners or the populations living in those two regions are the only ones who want peace. I think Cameroonians in general have understood that what is going on in the North West and South West is wrong and needs to be stopped. And so, I am confident that in as much as we will do everything in our power to make sure that the people of the North West and South West are given a chance to vote. Whether they go out to vote or not is another question. The government has the duty and the responsibility to give them these opportunity to go and vote and through their vote to stop the conflict that is going on. That is our responsibility. But I think that the rest of Cameroon, as well, is looking forward to this political change in order to shift the paradigm going on in the North West and South West. And to bring about a president who can take care of that problem and who can stop the war. So, it is not a question of only those who are victims of this violence, it is also a question of the rest of Cameroonians who have a duty because if Cameroonians go and vote for Mr. Biya on the 7th of October, it means that they make themselves accomplices to the violence that is going on in the North West and South West.
Aside opting for a return to federalism, what concrete steps will you take to guarantee a return to normalcy in the two troubled regions?
There are more than a hundred and twenty measures. We don’t have enough time to go into all of them. I invite you to visit my website. There is a print version of all these measures that will be made available during this campaign period. Many measures are not specifically geared towards the North West and South West. But all the measures are geared towards all Cameroonians. In as much as you might consider that youth employment is not geared towards one particular region, the fact that people do not have work is the main trigger of the entire political violence going on. Because if people were occupied, if they had decent jobs, if they could take care of their families and send their kids to school conveniently and have proper welfare and health care, I do not think that we would as much be looking into the geography of our boundaries like we are doing today. One of the main reasons why we consider putting on the table our historical differences is because some of us do not feel to be benefitting from the fact that we are Cameroonians simply because the train of modernism is going and leaving us behind. So, people need to be brought abode that train. People need to feel some sort of a belonging to a nation. And that feel of a belonging to a nation can either be by means of politics and geography or it can be by means of socio-economic development. If people feel that because they are from one part of Cameroon, they will never be able to get a job, then the fundamental problem is that they don’t have jobs. The point I am raising is that if we can work it out for most Cameroonians to have a decent job and a decent living, we can now better discuss all the historical contentions that we have, rather than discussing it around the table with people who by virtue of the fact that they are in a mismanaged country do not recognise the benefits of being part of that country.
Are there any chances that as campaigns are on, Ho. Joshua Osih will be seen campaigning in the North West and South west regions?
Will Osih be intimidated by the threats coming from separatists or be assured by the security measures put in place by the state?
The North West and the South West regions do not belong to anybody more than the other. I am in the North West and South west regions and I have been in the North West and South West and I will continue being in the North West and South West. I am not out to listen to injunctions from any person whosoever. I am a son of the South West region. I have the right to my opinion. I am the next president of Cameroon. If people do not want me to be in the South West Region, I cannot be a president of nine regions. I will be a president of ten regions and as such, I feel at home in every region of the country. I understand that people need a certain agenda to bring up certain points to make sure that points that are closed to their minds are being put ahead of a discourse. But I do not think that because you do not agree with the agenda or path taken, that we should disagree with the destination. The destination is to make sure that each and every child in this country has a better life tomorrow. That is basically what each and every Cameroonian wants. So, you might disagree on how to get there, but we must agree that where we want to go to is to make Cameroon a better place tomorrow. I sincerely believe that the way forward is by imposing this agenda on a nationwide political platform. Other people believe that this agenda must be placed through other means on the table, which is their opinion. But the fact that we believe that it must be political should not necessarily be a reason for others to believe that they have a monopoly of the way it should be put on the table.
Are you assured by the security measures put in place by the state to accompany the candidates during the campaigns?
I am not interested in any security measure put in place by the state because I consider the state at this present time, and especially in the North West and South West Regions, to be part of the problem. I consider the state to be part of the problem and not part of the solution. So, I will not be the one who will be going after the state for my protection. I will be protected by the people of Cameroon.
Many are those who consider some of your policies as radical and unrealistic. Your plans to shut down ENAM, increase civil servant pay and raise minimum wage seem to be generating a lot of noise. Are they feasible or mere political gimmicks?
If they were not feasible, then you would not be asking me the question. Nations have been built by people who have the audacity to come out of the mainstream. The whole concept of Cameroon was put in place in 1948 by a couple of young friends sitting in a bar and believing that the white man can no longer rule this country. When they came out of that bar, everybody took them for daydreamers and today we stand here fighting a fight they started in 1948. So, it is important to understand that when you want a country to become a modern and prosperous nation, you need leadership with audacity, leadership with courage. You don’t need a leadership that conforms to the prescriptions of what the white man has for an African nation, but rather one which comes out of it. If you have any candidate who doesn’t show a certain amount of audacity, and courage in his political problem, I think it is just a waste of time to be talking about them. I want first of all for you to note that I am the first candidate who brought out a political, social and economic programme for this election. When I brought it out, all the other candidates believes that it was a non-event, but I made sure that people understand that a candidate needs to be elected on the basis of the programme he promises and nothing short of that. Today, we see other candidates rushing to either re-edit 30 year-old books or try to come out with a programme. You do not come out with a programme two weeks before an election. I am very sorry to mention that because it just shows that you are not serious about it. And secondly, you cannot come out with a programme which is a copy-paste of my programme that came out first. We need to be given the credit that we came out with a programme that I presented to the Cameroonian people. I presented to the Cameroonian people the minimum what I am going to do as president of the republic. We need to get credit for putting on the table audacious and especially courageous positions that can take Cameroon to where it is supposed to be,
When I say that I am closing ENAM [the National Advanced School of Administration and Magistracy], it is because ENAM is a symbol of colonialism and corruption. I am not closing the fact that we need to train judicial authorities. What I am closing is the symbol. You know ENAM was created to produce administrative, financial and judicial authorities at the service of the president of the republic and my candidacy wants to turn that around. I want the civil service to really become a civil service at the service of the people. I cannot use the same school that was formatted to work only for the president of the republic to start working for the people of Cameroon. So, we need to attack the symbol. What I am saying is that faculties of law will have institutes of judicial studies where these people will be trained. You will have at the level of the customs and taxation authorities, which in my programme will be independent from the ministry of finance, will have training institutes. It will be like we have it today in the police force. You don’t go to ENAM to be a police commissioner. The police has its own training facilities to train the people to become good commissioners. So, that is the same way we will be doing it. What we are saying is that we need to attack the symbol; we need to attack the colonial legacy that is being imposed on the Cameroonian people. We are not saying that we are closing down the courts of law. We are not saying that we are closing down the customs and so on. People need to understand that these positions are positions of courage and audacity. It is necessary in order to bring about a new Cameroon.
Public opinion considers your political, economic and social programme as visionary. But are you going to preside over Cameroon as an isolated actor in the international system? What is you foreign policy objective?
We need to be part of the concert of nations. Right now, we are not because we are under the command of a certain number of interests. And what we need to do is to work in the interest of the Cameroonian people and not in the interest of some people who have put some people in power at some point and place. So, we are reversing and shifting that paradigm to reverse the situation in which we find ourselves. So, we will finally be entering into the concert of nations where Cameroon will be treating with the rest of the world putting its interest first, and not as a question of protectionism or private interest. It will be in the interest of the Cameroonian people to vote for us. Cameroon will be open to the world. There is no point in this programme where we are trying to isolate. When I talk about local content and economic patriotism, it is because no country in the world can be doing what Cameroon is doing. Whereby you take tax money from the local carpenter to go and purchase furniture from China or Italy to furnish administrative offices. That will not happen with Joshua Osih. With Joshua Osih, if there is furniture being produced locally, the government will be obliged to buy furniture locally. If there is rice being produced locally, we will make sure that the local rice has a privileged position on the market towards imported rice. If we start manufacturing cars, we will make sure that the government buys the cars that are made in Cameroon and not cars that are being imported. That is the way it is done in the whole world. You will never go to Germany and meet a policeman sitting in a Toyota, just like if you go to Japan, you will not see a policeman sitting in a Mercedes. So, that is the way business is being done and countries are being managed. And that is just what I want to being here. You know, people are very far from leadership principles because those who are in command in this country today still function with the colonial mentality. They don’t understand that you cannot afford to be talking about public finance and the position of the country when you are one of the biggest wood producers but you import toothpicks.
Are you not scared that you will be presiding over a country that may just be drifting towards bankruptcy given the huge debts incurred every other day?
I love challenges. As a matter of fact, if the country is bankrupt, it is one more reason why Mr. Biya needs to go so that we can first of all ascertain the state of public finances and make sure that we clean them up. I have a minimum experience as Vice President of the Finance and Budget Committee that allows me to be very optimistic about what we are capable of doing. I can ascertain one thing here: Cameroon is not over indebted; it is full of bad debts. Cameroon is not a poor country; Cameroon is a very rich country that is poorly managed. And it is the poor management that is the problem. If the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is coming in to put Cameroon under custody, it is not because we don’t have money. IMF is not interest in any country that has no money. The IMF is a moneymaking business. So, when it comes into a country to restructure the finances, it is because the money is there but it is poorly or badly managed or managed with bad faith. So, what needs to be done is to realign our resources in the interest of the Cameroonian people rather than keep them aligned in the interest of one man and that is what is going on today. That is what has to be changed. That is what the IMF is trying to do with a lot of difficulties. And that is what the Cameroonian people can impose. It is our money. This money belongs to each and every Cameroonian and we have to make sure that this money is used to the maximum benefit of each and every Cameroonian.
In recent days, presidential candidates like Kamto and Akere have been able to pull other groups to their team. Why is the Osih campaign yet to attract fence-sitters?
What has become of the contacts you made with other political parties and interest groups?
Efficiency is not about making noise. Efficiency is about getting there on the 7th of October. You’ll be seeing those who will be campaigning next to me.
Any guarantees that SDF victory will not be sold out to the highest bidder by hungry polling agents?
I think the victory belongs to the Cameroonians people and not to one man or one political party. So, the entire nation has a responsibility and a duty to make sure that their will is being respected. What is being stolen away is not the position for which I am standing or the position that the party will have when I win. What is being stolen away is the future of Cameroonians. In as much as Cameroonians can defend themselves when a neighbour hangs out his cloths and somebody passes by and steals them, it is exactly the same. We have to defend ourselves as Cameroonians when our political will is being stolen. It is important to understand that it is not a one man affair, it is not a one party affair, and it is the affair of each and every Cameroonian. You go to church and you give your offerings. If somebody runs away with those offerings, you’ll not be expecting the lead pastor to be running after him. The whole congregation will be the one to run after that thief. When you go into an election, it is exactly the same thing. When you go and vote for change and somebody comes and steals that change away to give you seven more years of suffering, we will be suffering collectively. It will not be something where Joshua Osih will be the only one suffering for seven years and the others in paradise. All of us will be suffering. So, we have to understand that it is our collective responsibility to defend the votes that we have cast and the results that should be reflecting the opinion and will of the Cameroonian people.
What if the elections are rigged to deny you victory?
I am not going into an election with the thought of failure. It is just like when you drove here this morning from Buea, you did not board the car asking what if you have an accident. You were into that car saying: “Where will I meet Joshua Osih when I get to my destination.” So, don’t be bringing me into negativity. I am an optimist and I want an optimist country. I want 24 million optimist Cameroonians. If the elections are rigged, we will work with it at that time in the appropriate way. But right now, we are going to win an election. If you ask me what I will do when I win the elections and I will put out my political programme to you, showing you the minimum I will do and much more.
What will be your immediate challenge after taking office as the third president of Cameroon?
I think the first task that I will have will be the leader of an appeased country. And for that, the violence has to stop immediately in the North West and South West regions. For that violence to stop, we have to understand that there are two parties to the violence. For that violence to stop, we have to understand that the problem is political. And as president of the republic, there will be no political prisoners in Cameroonian prisons. For that violence to stop, we need a president who can come out of the presidency and go to the people. So, being in the North West and South West even probably before taking the oath of office is not something that I am against. It is something that I am actually for believe in. I want to be president for 10 regions and not eight regions. I want to be a president of a country where people and freely go about their activities. I want to be the president of a country where the future of the country is not put at stake because the parents have political differences. I want to be the president of a country where each and every opinion will count and people will be allowed freely to air their positions and to have a political argument on them. And in as much as all of that is very important for me, I think I come from a political party that has gone through all of these in another way. And so, we understand where each and every part of this equation lies and we will do and I will do everything necessary even before taking up office, to make sure that by the day I take up office, I will be doing so knowing that I am president of all 10 regions and not just for eight.
What would you tell those who say you are very close to the presidential family, to the extent of servicing presidential planes?
There are people in prison because there are no presidential planes. Cameroonians should understand what they want. You cannot on the one side be having problems with the president because he doesn’t have planes and he hires planes expensively from companies that have a very poor reputation worldwide. Secondly, you accuse people of getting rich when you are not even sure that the person is rich. Those who want to contradict me have gone very far to be checking everything I am doing and trying to see where they can get to lock me down on one issue or another. And it is because they haven’t found anything that could be contrary to this noble ambition that I am trying to pursue that people are inventing things from nowhere. The president, as far as I am concerned, doesn’t own an aircraft; neither does the presidency own one – at least not a serviceable aircraft. I have never been in public procurement. I have never built a latrine for the state of Cameroon nor classroom nor done any other public procurement. There has never been a payment made to me from the state of Cameroon. At the height of my 49 years, I have never ever in my life received a payment from the state of Cameroon – never. I have been receiving parliamentary allowances which are my due as a parliamentarian. I have also been a councillor at the municipal level. I have never used my position even that of First Vice Chairman of the SDF to try to lure any party official in any positions whatsoever to give me a public contract. The records are there. Anybody who claims anything should go and check any payment made to me by the state of Cameroon. It will be wishful thinking for people to believe that to survive in Cameroon; you absolutely need to be close to the government of the day. Those who favour government officials or the president of the republic simply because they want to have economic benefits from them are exactly those who are killing this country and they are those we have been fighting against for the past 28 years.
May we have an idea some of the issues that will be in your acceptance speech?
Let us first go for the elections. You will be privileged as each and every other Cameroonian to receive the acceptance speech. I can already tell you one thing; the acceptance speech will be in English.
What message to the electorate?
I know that the times are extremely challenging and difficult. My heart is bleeding when I see what is going on in the North West and South West Regions. Cameroon deserves better. We have to understand that all of these is happening because of failed leadership, lack of leadership. For us to make sure that this country takes the shape we want it to have, we are obliged to put our differences aside, where they exist, and understand that what is necessary on October 7 is a change of leadership. That is the only way this country can be saved from the imminent collapse which we face at this time. The change of leadership needs to happen so that we have a new leadership that understands the problems we have in the North West and South West regions. We need a leadership that understands the problems of the youth and the fact that we need decent jobs, welfare, social services, hospitals, schools, infrastructure and that Cameroon needs to join the concert of nations again. Cameroon is a great country with great people and needs great leadership. It doesn’t need to be led by an absentee landlord. For change to come, we need to be courageous enough to come out on October 7 to vote and defend our votes. And we will see that we have already solved a big part of our problems because the first challenge we have as Cameroonians is to be talking to each other. Most of the problems we had as Cameroonians is because there was no discussion among us because we do not have the leadership we deserve.
When you say October 7 will be a referendum day for Cameroon, what do you mean?
It is a referendum between two visions – between peace and war. Do you want seven more years of war as we have been having for the last two and a half years or do you want us to go immediately towards peace? When I say war, it is not only in the North West and South West Regions. It is in the Far North with Boko Haram, it is what is starting in the East and many more. It is a referendum between putting in place necessary policy for the youth to take their rightful place in this country or to continue with a gerontocracy that cares less about the youth. I am coming in and saying that Cameroon is a rich country. What we have should be shared among the youth. You have a gerontocracy and oligarchy in place that is simply trying to squeeze out every drop of what we’ve got for their gain. You have a choice between making Cameroon prosperous for all or continuing in the line of poverty and disenfranchising more and more Cameroonians every day. It is a referendum between the outgoing president [Paul Biya] who is proposing darkness and making people sacred. We have an incoming president talking to you right now who is proposing opportunities. And when you have a choice between risk and opportunity, always take and opportunity because that is the only way we can, move forward.
