*Please, once again, before you start reading this article, do well to share it. It might help someone make his choice of candidate for Sunday.
I read through the 84 page PDF of Joshua’s Osih’s vision for Cameroon. Compared to the other candidates whose programme I have read through, his has the best presentation. The only issue I have is the difficulty in structure. Most of the propositions are given in point form and are quite detailed. For that reason, it is very difficult to make a summary here. I have left out quite a lot of things.
However, the document is very rich and answers many questions like “how will you do it?” and “where will the money come from?”. I would invite everyone to download the document and read for themselves. I will include a link at the end of this article. So let’s make a summary of what’s in there.
*ON THE STATE*
Joshua Osih starts strong. Unlike the other candidates we have seen so far, he does not dodge the question of the form of the state and says he will establish federalism as a form of state based on 10 regions. He will institute balance of powers in administration by strengthening the autonomy of the Judiciary and the role of Parliament in controlling the Executive. To that end, Parliament may exercise its power of impeachment on the President. He plans to turn ELECAM into an independent body. The members will be jointly appointed by the civil society, political parties and the administration.
He will abolish the Senate, the positions of Government Delegate, the office of the prime minister, the Economic and Social Council and will reduce presidential terms to 5 years, renewable once.
*ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP*
His youth entrepreneurship plan is rather an ambitious one. Inter alia, he plans to introduce a national 35:35 programme. According to this programme, 35% of all service head positions in public enterprises and administration shall be held by youths of at least 35 years at the time of their appointment. And 10 billion francs CFA will be allocated each year to each Region or Federated State for five years to encourage youth enterprise.
He will also oblige banking institutions to offer at least 10% investment credit to youths of less than 30 years of age and /or to businesses where 51% of the shareholders are youths. He also plans to put minimum wage at 160,000frs.
*ON HEALTH* His main plan on health will be to raise health appropriation in the state budget to 10% of the budget. This is not new, however, as Cameroon was supposed to do this since the signing of the Abuja accords in 2000. He aims to provide free consultations and pre- and post-natal care until the age of 2 and cover deliveries and cesarean sections.
He plans to implement basic health coverage of up to FCFA 500,000 per household per year for a premium of FCFA 1’000 per person per month. Create a national organ in charge of the management of this Universal Health Insurance that will become mandatory in 5 years. He plans to use Campost, Councils and micro-finance institutions to distribute and promote this insurance.
*ON EDUCATION*
He does not mince his words about shutting down ENAM. That is the ‘point-phare of his education programme. He also plans to make school free of charge and compulsory until the end of the first cycle of secondary school. His programme also focuses on technical education and the sciences. A good point he raises is his plan to make universities autonomous, public and democratic so that rectors and vice-chancellors are elected. He also plans to cancel the probatoire exam which he deems as useless.
And an interesting plan of his is to institute a youth service programme, something like the NYSC in Nigeria which will help to “promote the spirit of citizenship among young people.” This will be achieved through public service such as the reforestation of the Sahelian region, rural development, and elective military service.
*ON GENDER DISCRIMINATION*
He promises to will draft a family status ordinance that guarantees equal responsibility of men and women in the management of the family as well as the full citizenship of the woman. He intends to pass a law that establishes full parity between men and women in politics and fight against all forms of discrimination in appointments and remuneration. One of the ways he intends to do this is to introduce a 30:30 special programme which will require that 30% of management positions or of the total payroll of a business be allocated to women.
*ON THE ANGLOPHONE PROBLEM*
He promises to solve the problem in 100 days by working for reconciliation, disarmament and reintegration of the nation. He will organize a constitutional conference to establish new institutions that guarantee power to the people, the promotion of national unity in diversity and the protection of the two existing legal systems. He will free all Anglophone detainees and institute a day for national reconciliation.
*ON GOVERNANCE*
He promises to wage a “merciless” fight against corruption, embezzlement of public goods, nepotism and tribalism. He promises to put an end to personality cult by prohibiting motions of support and other as well as parades of children and political parties during the National Days. He also plans here to reduce the number of ministries to 20 and set the adult age at 18. It is currently 21. He promises an annual investment endowment of 1 billion FCFA for every council and promises to move the headquarters of the Center Region from Yaoundé.
*ON THE JUSTICE SYSTEM* He will amend the penal code to better protect individual freedoms. He plans to amend the law on associations so as to give greater autonomy to political parties and civil society. He plans to reform the code on media practice by decriminalizing press offenses. The higher Court of Magistracy will become independent and will put an end to the special criminal court. He will also abolish the death penalty.
*On INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE ECONOMY*
He plans to introduce a double, electrified railway system, build new roads and turn Douala into a real airway hub by building an ultra-modern complete with all the bells and whistles. He plans to build a beltway around Douala and Yaounde and to build a 3rd bridge over the Wouri. He plans to bring initiative into the energy sector so as to boost our production capacities to 6000MW by 2030. He will reform the SNH to make it more efficient and build a natural seaport in Limbe. He will also rehabilitate the Benue River port in Garoua.
He will create hubs for science, technology, design, and innovation in each region of the country. He will provide the technology needed for research and development such as 3D printers and state-of-the-art computer software. His government will support enterprises in the process of their digital transformation by training staff in advanced computer and robotics.
He intends to promote industry through the transformation of our local agricultural, forestry and mining products by: Developing a dynamic and proactive industrial policy, setting up financial, administrative and fiscal incentives, creating an investment bank, and upgrading existing industries to enable them to cope with the changes that are currently disrupting international trade. *As I said before, the programme is quite lengthy and I cannot, unfortunately, summarise it to perfection. I’ve left out huge chunks and complete topics. I would seriously advise you all to go download the programme and read for yourself. Below is a link.
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/sdf2018/pages/123/attachments/original/1538035224/program_Joshua_Osih.pdf?1538035224
- Wandji Wilfred