A fifth case of Coronavirus has just been announced in Cameroon by the Minister of Health. It’s a real avalanche, and an exponential explosion in the cases of illness on the way. And the annoying reactions of Cameroonians towards their state are starting to intensify.
We wonders what the Government is waiting for to close the borders, ensure passenger control or reduce population mobility. The problem here is that the Government of Cameroon can do practically nothing, apart from the announcement effects and a soothing speech to try to reassure the population!
From an economic point of view, Cameroon is so dependent that it has to import almost everything. From toothpicks to planes, the country produces almost nothing of what she consumes, apart from food and some craft products.
Even in terms of food, where it has the greatest autonomy, the country depends too closely on imports of fish and rice, not to mention other foods such as wheat for bread. As for more advanced products such as drugs, household appliances or industrial goods, it practically does not.
It is not with such an economic model that we can afford to close the borders: Cameroon would not be able to function even for a single day!
On the financial side, the State of Cameroon is unable to free up resources to face a major crisis. Already under adjustment since 2017 and under negotiation with the IMF for a second phase, its margin is very narrow.
The English-speaking secession bleeds the public treasury dry, and after the wages and expenses of the war, there is practically nothing left in the coffers. Those who, frantically, call on the State to take measures forget all too easily that these measures have a counterpart: they must be financed! And we do not finance measures with stones, but with currencies that we miss!
On the social level, finally, the majority of Cameroonians, especially those in cities live from day to day small trades: taximen, bike riders, call-boxers, buy and sellams, builders, etc. They cannot afford to stop their activity for 3 successive days. It’s not like in advanced countries where such activities are less strategic and have powerful support capabilities. We have to let them do it, at the risk of a widespread social explosion.
YOU DON’T FEED YOUR HEN ON THE MARKET DAY
Formerly, I had urged the establishment of a Local Exchange System in Cameroon by establishing a second currency, evolving parallel with the CFA and valid only for local goods. The goal was to create an autonomous local economic network allowing us to reduce the country’s excessive dependence.
The consequence was to limit imports to genuinely useful goods and to reduce an abysmal trade deficit that saps our growth. At the same time, this model allowed us to close the borders if necessary without too much constraint.
But nobody believed in this solution and everyone remembers the huge burst of laughter that greeted my proposal! What can we do now? Nothing at all ! This is before we had to think!
Similarly, in its stubbornness to resolve the English-speaking crisis by force, the Government has introduced a terrible constraint in its room for maneuver. If this epidemic became large, what would she do? Will she have to continue with her ruinous war leaving the country to die, or will she have to abandon the NOSO to the Ambazonians to limit the coronavirus?
As we say, the good management of a country is a matter of anticipation and risk management. We cannot function as if we are always in control of destiny.
These dogmatic certainties in which our Government has locked herself have deprived us of all the room for maneuver that would have allowed us to cope with such a serious epidemic.
Whatever the situation, Cameroon can no longer avoid a serious economic crisis. The effects of the coronavirus will be terrifying worldwide and will create a crisis with immeasurable consequences.
As a country inert in international trade, we will only pass this crisis on to our home; but this will be amplified by poor internal political and economic choices that we had denounced in time, often before sarcasm and disapproving looks.
And it is precisely these occasions that favor movements like the Anglophone Secession…
THE ONLY SOLUTION
Faced with this, what remains to be done? Try to limit the crisis with the means of the poor and for that, only one solution: impose the wearing of a bright red coat, with a skull, on all those who enter Cameroon for 14 days, incubation period of the virus.
And this, whoever we are! People dressed in this way will avoid public places open to all, but will benefit from specialized services when necessary.
Thus, each bank must have a dedicated counter, with a cashier with a protective mask. They will only be able to borrow a few secure taxis, which have appropriate mechanisms for disinfecting.
Obviously, this measure will be accompanied by the systematic application of the hygiene rules provided by ministry of public of health (MINSANTE). At the level where we are, I don’t really see what else we can do.
Dieudonné ESSOMBA