In line with THE INDEPENDENTIST
Editorial Series on Truth and Accountability
AN OPEN LETTER OF “APOLOGY” TO PRESIDENT PAUL BIYA AND HIS GREAT ARCHITECTS OF DEMOCRACY
Editorial Foreword
This text follows the finest Cameroonian tradition of speaking truth to power through heightened politeness. Any resemblance to real accountability is purely intentional.
To His Excellency President Paul Biya
To Minister Paul Atanga Nji
To Secretary-General Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh
Your Excellencies,
I offer my sincerest apologies for ever believing that Cameroonians have the right to demand transparency in the management of their own country. How mistaken I was to assume that a republic belongs to its citizens, and not exclusively to those who occupy the highest offices.
Commentary:
In Cameroon, citizenship is tolerated only when silent.
I apologize for thinking the Anglophone Crisis arose from deliberate negligence, political exploitation, and the refusal to engage in honest dialogue. I regret believing that people suffering from marginalization and state violence deserved justice instead of lectures about national unity.
Commentary
A few symbolic appointments are always cheaper than equal rights.
I apologize for ever asking why the murder of a journalist, Martinez Zogo, required clarity or accountability. Clearly, transparency only encourages more people to think and thinking is dangerous.
Commentary
Where truth is forbidden, silence becomes a survival instinct.
I apologize for suggesting that political critique is not terrorism. I now understand that in our great nation, the President is considered the Law, the Secretary-General is considered the Constitution, and the Minister of Territorial Administration is considered the Penal Code. Anyone who speaks risks prosecution by all three.
Commentary
One does not need justice when loyalty is mandatory.
I must also apologize for daring to ask why the results from all polling stations of the recent presidential election are hidden like state secrets. I should have known that when victory is overwhelming, it becomes extremely fragile.
Commentary
True triumph does not hide in darkness.
If Cameroonians voted joyfully, why is joy now a criminal offense. If unity triumphed, why does division rule our streets. If the will of the people was respected, why are those same people silenced, exiled, or imprisoned. If a leader is genuinely loved, why does he fear the presence of his own citizens. If everything is lawful and constitutional, why does the nation remain in permanent crisis
Commentary
A ruler who fears his people already knows what they think.
Your Excellencies, if you were ordinary citizens living under a system where elections are distrusted, justice is selective, youth face prison more often than opportunity, and rulers remain eternal while generations are discarded, what path would you choose. What options would remain What hope would survive
Commentary
When peaceful roads are closed, resistance builds new ones.
History teaches a lesson that repeats itself without mercy. Empires fall. Strongmen fade. Power forgets it has an expiration date until someone reminds it.
Commentary
Every throne eventually learns it has legs of clay.
Cameroon does not need fear. Cameroon needs dignity. Cameroon does not need sacred rulers. It needs accountable servants. Cameroon does not need silence. It needs truth that walks freely in daylight. And one day, on the way down, you will meet the very people you stepped over on the way up.
Respectfully, yet unapologetically,
Dr Success Nkongho
Cameroonian Advocate for Justice, Democracy and Human Dignity
Published by
The Independentist Editorial Board
A Free Press Serving a Free People
