BOKO "HAREM"

Don't apply any logic tested elsewhere on Cameroon. Cameroon is a dysfunctional state. Study these facts closely. If a family is hijacked "using motorbikes", the 1st doubt you want to clear is how 7 ppl get transported on bikes. One bike is fast, many bikes riding in a convoy with children is a bit of a hassle. Next, the source of that info should be arrested. The amount of detail in the info betrays proximity. Normally kidnap victims "disappear" till further notice. They were kidnapped and taken to Nigeria in a zone where borders are neither marked nor secured means the person giving the information either masters map reading, is using a GPS or has a GSM device with Geo-location capabilities. My take? The french family was kidnapped by Cameroonian thugs and sold to bigger thugs who think the name BOKO HARAM makes the fickle-hearted shudder

Known Knowns

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Hunger and Stupidity

I am against any form of aid for Africa because any continent that receives aid for 50+ years and does not change can do without aid. Even humanitarian aid is of no use.  Yet troubling images from East Africa and Somalia are bound to haunt us. These images weigh on the mind of those who are emotionally inclined to think that Africa may survive only through financial aid. These images serve as justifications for mass emotion. No good ever came from mass emotion. A crowd does not think – individuals do.

The African relief fad serves to distract attention from real issues which are accountable government and democracy. There is famine in parts Chad, Darfur and Kordofan (Sudan), Somalia, parts of Uganda and D.R. Congo, Central African Republic etc. These countries are not victims of fate. These countries are victims of centralized autocratic regimes, idiotic agricultural policies and politically engineered civil strife. The dying child in Darfur or the fly-infested mouth in Somalia is man-made by Africans. Starvation is not a problem; it’s a symptom of bad governance.

Since western donors are inclined to give aid to an extremely poor population by procedure (say 0.2% of GDP); when a potentate in Cameroon, Burkina-Faso, Congo, Mauritania, Uganda DRC, Burundi etc. designs an economy based on foreign financial input, the extremely poor population becomes an asset. If he alleviates poverty, he disqualifies himself from western financial dregs. Overnight, the extremely poor become a tool for survival. Crusading against misery is not a priority in dictatorships. Glaring example; while citizens die of cholera in Bafut (NW Region - Cameroon), CPDM party militants of the same region donate 400 million FCFA for the re-election campaign of a president who is in power since 1983 and may not even be a candidate for the upcoming elections. Read my lips.

Image bias is accompanied by ignorant logic of pop stars (Bono, USA for Africa, Live AID) who’ll say “if we take one day off nuclear spending and put it on food, it will make a huge difference”. I’ll prefer the nuclear spending to go on while we forget not to put a juvenile nuke under Sassou, Bongo, Biya, Compaore, Deby, or Bozize. One bang will be more efficient than a whole US Defense budget worth of canned fish.

There is of course a shortage of food among Africans as there is among Indians, Chinese and Bangladeshi. But that does not mean there is a shortage of food in Africa. Even if you make food available for Somalia, there remains the insurmountable problem of distribution logistics. Such logistics are borne of delivered electoral promises, accountability and representative government. There is no African state which respects the above and faces famine, starvation or both. Vices go together: Cholera in Cameroon, Meningitis in Chad, Famine in Somalia and the endless list goes on while Ghana, South Africa, and Botswana have a groove on.

Drought may be a calamity but consequent death from starvation is the result of bad governance. 

Incompetence of State

Of the potential candidates for Cameroon’s 2011 Presidential elections, one is illegal. Amending Article 6(2) of 1996 Constitution in April 2008 could have put Paul Biya’s presidential hopes in constitutional limbo. The issue was first hinted at by Alain Didier Olinga(1) in April. We have pondered on the issue and talked to constitutional experts with the condition of anonymity and these are their arguments.

1 – Paul Biya was sworn in as president of Cameroon in 1997 under the 18 January 1996 constitution that limited presidential mandates to two. Article 6(2) of 1996 Constitutional amendment expressly states that limitation of presidential mandates is not retroactive. As such, when Paul Biya promulgated the reform into law in January 1996, the provision did not apply to him as he was active president. It could only apply to a president who is sworn into office with this limitation in force. Therefore, as of 1997 when Biya was sworn in again his presidential mandates were limited to two.

Eleven years later in 2008, a move initiated by CPDM dominated parliament culminated in a constitutional amendment that removed limitation of consecutive presidential mandates. Unlike in 1996, the new wording omitted retroactivity. If the new provision is not retroactive, then it cannot be applicable to Paul Biya who is active president since 1997.

2 – CPDM militants claim April 14^th 2008 constitutional amendments did not aim at giving Paul Biya limitless presidential mandates. Constitutionally, they got it right. The wording of the new provision on consecutive presidential mandates does not say the law is retroactive.

3 – According to Article 2 of Cameroon Civil code, the law is not retroactive except in situations where the law itself invokes retroactivity.

Biya’s Options.

With the parliamentary obesity that CPDM enjoys in National Assembly, the majority party may yet do another modification aimed at completing April 2008 reform by making the provision of limitless presidential mandates retroactive. The National Assemble may yet present an interpretative law, to clarify its intention when the law was revised in April 2008.

Now “the People’s Call” becomes very interesting. Is it a call for a popular revolt? We throw the question to your appreciation; can president Biya alter the nature of his second presidential mandate while it is still running?

(1)  Alain Didier Olinga was dismissed from the post of Deputy Director of IRIC in 2008 for non-conformist opinions on constitutional reform. 

WHAT IF?

What if Biya were not president of Cameroon  in 2012? Not by losing elections but because he chooses not to run for office in 2011. For the first time since 1992 President Biya, although the statutory presidential candidate for CPDM (since he is party leader) is yet to announce his candidacy for October 2011 elections. At first this may look normal till you realize that the usual suspects on the opposition bench are also delaying presidential campaign kick-off. Could they be privy to “hidden” information? Or maybe they want to identify whom they are running against in the CPDM.

What if by modifying constitutional limitation of presidential mandates in 2008, Biya actually pulled the limelight on himself so that he could foist a power transition with a candidate of his choice under the radar?

What if recent political options adopted by Biya are geared at protecting his candidate. Take the case for “Operation Epervier”. The move to fight against corruption by intimidation and public disgrace, overflows with political strategy. The question has never been whether the accused and arrested are guilty or not, but whether they have political ambition. When corruption is erected as a form of control, all those who flirt with the system leave open a flank through which they can be brought down. The kind of corruption that grips Cameroon is not moral but systemic. There exists no means of working in a corrupt regime yet claim not to be corrupt. If we agree, that Mebara, Abah Abah, Siyam Siewe, Etondo Ekotto, Fornjindam, Nguini Effa, Michel Fotso etc may be corrupt to an extent, yet do have vested political ambitions, then we need to examine whether their ambitions threaten Biya. Obviously, Biya is not threatened by them in any way. Even popularity ceased to be a threat for Biya in 1992. The ease with which president Biya rounds these men off to jail is proof. If they don’t threaten Biya, then they threaten someone else. In which case, the political victims of “Operation Epervier” threaten whomever Biya wants to choose as replacement?  Biya may be clearing hurdles for his candidate.

What if Biya’s renewd acquaintance with Fru Ndi is not coincidental? Although they have met six times in as many months, Biya has politically neutralized Fru Ndi. Worse still he makes the SDF Chairman look like a village chief who rules, but has no power. What is the political opportunity of meeting Fru Ndi regularly? Fru Ndi may yet be a thorn to the side of Biya’s candidate. In which case, befriending Fru Ndi also follows the same logic of facilitating the path for someone else.

What if Biya voiced this intention not to be president beyond 2011 to at least one person. If this information leaks (it’s often so in Cameroon) then there is a clear justification for the circus-like “The People’s Call”. For the first time, choosing a CPDM presidential candidate seems to need popular adherence rather internal party regulation. Biya’s problem is “being president”, at all cost. Even with 39% of 4 million registered voters in 1992. Biya has not changed. He will settle for 15% percent of the vote on condition that rival parties have 14% and less. Where does the idea that citizens within and out of the CPDM want Biya to be candidate? “The People’s Call” is evocative of orphaned children looking for a lost parent in a war zone.

What if Biya’s choice is Rene Sadi, Marafa, Laurent Esso, Ahmadou Ali, Cavaye, Ayang Luc, Mebe Ngo etc.? They all meet the criterion that makes me think Mebara, Abah Abah, Siyam Siewe, Etondo Ekotto, Fornjindam, Nguini Effa, Michel Fotso, Ondo Ndong and the rest are potential rivals. Biya could even choose a non-CPDM stalwart, reinforcing the idea why he needs to silence all opposition from within his party.

What if this election were postponed in 2011? With the present state of affairs, it is plausible. 

March 15th

Title: Biya Shed's Liability

A soldier without political education is a potential criminal - Thomas Sankara 1985

 In a presidential decree reorganizing Cameroon’s Armed Forces, Commander-in-Chief, Paul Biya retired four generals and promoted ten others to varying posts of responsibility. This is the culmination of military reforms announced by President Biya in 2001. The four slated for retirement are Generals Pierre Semengue 76yrs, Oumaroudjam Yaya 73yrs, Nganso Sunji 75yrs  and Tataw James 78yrs.

 Keen observers of Cameroon’s military may not be surprised that Biya retires James Tataw (legally blind) and Pierre Semengue (suffering from a partial stroke). Actually, these presidential decrees attempt to mask a huge malaise within Cameroon’s Armed Forces.

 Cameroon’s army is beset by one main shortcoming, tribalism. Outright tribalism dates to aborted coup attempt in 1984 when President Biya reverted to surround himself and appoint to strategic security posts only military staff from his region of origin or others whose destinies were accidentally or fatally linked to his own in 1984 like Brigadier General Desancio Yenwo Ivo. In recent police appointments, the present police boss Martin Mbarga Nguele was Police boss in April 1984.

In the same vein, advancements are either guaranteed by tribal origin or familiarity to those with the “right” origins. This system seemed to attain its objectives till 1990. Beyond that year, President Biya, realizing his political survival depends on repression rather than electoral promise, decided to swell the ranks of Cameroon’s army and police as a rampart to potential street protests. Crash courses turned former gang leaders and a few honest Cameroonians into scantily trained and inadequately equipped military and policemen. Meanwhile within army ranks, many respected and well trained officers (Captain Galabe, Colonel Fomundam etc.) were either put to retirement or never got advancement because their origins predisposed them to be sympathetic to certain political opinions.

 

The direct consequence of poor training and barbaric nepotism is the high casualty rate in Bakassi, (and all other theatres of armed conflict involving Cameroon’s army) indiscipline and a generalized drop in the quality of services and professions offered by Cameroon’s Armed Forces and Police. Gone are the days when “Genie Militaire” performed road construction (Melen to Mvog-Betsi, Carrefour Vogt to Ecole des Postes, MINEDUC roundabout, or the road from Council to Mile 8 Mankon in Bamenda). Instead, welcome to street thuggery in Limbe, Bamenda, Douala and Yaoundé courtesy of BIR (Battallion d’Intervention Rapide).

The underlying confusion in genre and casting is revealed in president Biya’s March 11 decrees. The new naval Chief of Staff is General Jean Mendoua a sharp-shooter from the Presidential Guard. The Army Chief of Staff is General Ngoua Ngally a marine officer from the Navy. General Mahamat Ahmed, a paratrooper from Koutaba was made General and appointed head of Fire Brigade. The reasons are evident; in the absence of quality training, no particular specialty is required for the different corps of Cameroon’s Defence Forces.

Missed Opportunities

“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason…” Cicero 58BC

32 years ago the Iranian revolution scored a massive success. The Shah was exiled, the military was decimated and Islamist fundamentalism occupied the ensuing void. Few may agree, but in many ways, the Iranian revolution was the first successful people revolution of the 20^th Century. Contemporary analysis of the Iranian Revolution is clouded by what or who replaced the Shah, but true to form and substance, there is a straight line running from Iran, through Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. What made these revolutions work?

Ingredients

On the political level, is an unpopular oligarchy run by an elite who believe or make-believe that power change will cause a civil war. The only form of power change they envisage is by death of the potentate or monarchic handover. Such regimes are propped up by western democracies as a means to stabilize the price of energy resources or to curb the never-proven rise of Islamic extremism. Contrary to common opinion these regimes have very weak and divided armies. The reason being the massive dependence on elite forces at the expense of the national army. In Libya the army defects to the streets because they play second fiddle to Kaddafi’s elite unit. That same situation plays out between BIR and Army in Cameroon. Demographically, these states have massive youthful disenfranchised populations (up to 70% between the ages of 18 and 40). Add generalized unemployment to this mix and it represents up 49million in Egypt, 7million in Tunisia, 4million in Libya and 14million in Cameroon. The ingredients are right, the cooks are ready but the fire must go under the pot for the meal to be served.

Cart before the Horse

The most difficult thing to find is a pretext. The difficulty does not rise from lack of opportunity but from the ability to recognize a spontaneous pretext and reaction time between that recognition and the mass motion needed to kick start a revolt. In Iran it was the death by fire of 400 people at a theatre in Abadan as it was with the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia.

Last week, some strike attempts were witnessed in Cameroon. While they proved mettle of Kah Wallah and a handful against a mechanized repressive police, it did little to tickle the appreciation of the most optimistic closet revolutionary. Laudable efforts don’t always guarantee satisfactory results. The political agenda overshadowed revulsion for Biya et al.

This week, a ready-made pretext shows up. True to form, it is spontaneous. Nobody, except the Minister of Finance, could predict or warn against the looming bankruptcy of the fastest growing micro-finance institution in Cameroon; Cofinest (Compagnie Financiere de l’Estuaire). The social extent of this development can be gauged from the 850,000 savings accounts run by Cofinest. On the street level, this translates to 85, ooo people per region in Cameroon. Beyond the numbers, Cofinest touches the soul of Cameroon - football. Originally, Cofinest was a common initiative group created by supporters of Union Douala. From 1996 it became a micro-finance institution with 508 shareholders and up to 850,000 accounts by December 2010.

There is a huge difference between political analysis, agendas and street survival. When a political agenda precedes a revolt, it is called a coup d’etat. For a revolution to take root, political agendas may only recuperate rather than lead a people’s power revolution.

A Tale Of Two Cities

How may we not be impressed by news from Cairo? Why should we not share the joy of millions of Egyptians of all social classes and of all faiths who with bare hands and just eighteen days deposed a dictator who seemed immovable, invincible and so sure of himself he was preparing a dynastic succession? This second revolution-in-a-month, evicts authoritarian and corrupt regimes in power for three decades, under the pampered protection of Western powers for their role as a bulwark against the radical Islam?

Tunisia took everyone by surprise, but experts warned against Domino Theory, stressing that Tunisia is a geopolitical lightweight, and that Egypt is another level. Same causes have produced the same effects, and the largest Arab country, one that has always set the tone has fallen even faster than Tunisia.

These revolutions are unlike any other. There is no charismatic leader, no secret organization, no secret army or political organization; but groups on Facebook, Tweeter, videos on YouTube, and the idealism of youth who aspire to live differently. Social networks did not "make" the revolution, they simply permitted a generation to invent a virtual space of freedom that has never stopped wanting to get into the real world. The spirit existed, the heroes were available, until Mohamed Bouazizi, a young vegetable seller gave the pretext that triggered an involuntary movement of historic proportions.

Two questions arise after such sudden regime collapse. What happens once the tyrant leaves? What will happen in other similar countries? No autocratic regime in Africa is immune to the shock events of Tunis and Cairo.

Transition
In Tunisia and Egypt, a difficult transition is launched. In one case as in the other, the protesters do not want the survival of the dictator’s cronies or the dictator's regime without the dictator. They do not want to see "their" revolution confiscated by the army or the Islamists. But the first real burning question is: who's next? This question is in the mind of all autocrats. Facebook chatter says: Algeria on Saturday, Bahrain on the 14th, Morocco on the 20th February ... And beyond the Arab world, Iran, Pakistan, Cameroon, Libya?

Each event will not cause a revolution: Bahrain is not Egypt, Morocco is not Syria and Cameroon is not Libya. But these countries are not immune to the cocktail that caused the revolutions of Tunisia and Egypt: long-serving autocrats, failed economies, impoverishment, a thirst for freedom, a rejection of nepotism, corruption, censorship and generalized stupidity.

A universal message
There remains the huge geopolitical impact of these events. It takes the West by surprise, and paralyses Israel who has everything to gain by maintaining the status quo. These events shook all dictatorships, all authoritarian regimes, regardless of their latitude and culture, beyond the Arab world and Islam. The West may just realize that, rather than propping these regimes as a bulwark to radical Islam, such regimes are actually breed for radicalization.

Perception soothes … Reality is Rotten.

“…where corruption abounds, laws must be very numerous”. (Tacitus – Rome AD56-AD117)

The latest report from Transparency International (TI) breezed through Cameroon with the obvious criminal silence that is characteristic of the guilty. Highly ranked at 9.3 on 10, are Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore. Cameroon ranks 146 on 178 alongside Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Nepal, Paraguay and Yemen with a score of 2.2 on 10. As a rule-of-thumb in Cameroon, such reports are spun by apparatchiks to demonstrate external conspiracies to destabilize Cameroon. They prove a point unintentionally! Institutionally unreliable and structurally weak states do get easily manipulated by external reports. What is TI’s methodology and which countries rank alongside Cameroon? 

Scope: The World Bank describes corruption as the single greatest obstacle to economic and social development. As such attracting foreign investment requires perceptions of a healthy business environment, and information on levels of corruption influences the willingness of donors to assist or relate overtly with developing countries. First published in 1995, the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) has gained prominence over the years as a leading indicator on institutional corruption. Through these years, Cameroon’s consistency is apparent at the bottom ranks. This grim picture contrasts recent spectacular arrests of potentially corrupt public sector officials in Cameroon. Evidently these arrests have a reverse effect on Cameroon’s CPI rating. Rather than pulling Cameroon up the rankings, they stay low because these selective arrests prove that corruption in Cameroon  affects even the means to fight corruption. Perception finally caught up with reality. 

Limitations: The CPI is a cumulative indicator that ranks countries on the degree to which corruption is perceived among public officials and politicians. TI defines corruption as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain” and relies on thirteen resident and non-resident surveys from ten independent organizations. A minimum of three sources must be available for a country to be included in the CPI. Variations in the number of sources used for each country certainly occur. For example, while Singapore’s 2010 CPI rating was based on nine sources, only three were available for Iraq. The final source averages, score each country. Calling the report a perception index, betrays the difficulty in quantifying corruption absolutely. The major difficulty may stem from a non-universally agreed definition for corruption. Where is the line drawn between lobbying and bribery? 

TI defines corruption as “abuse of entrusted power for private gain”. Is this definition reasonable for a kleptocratic bureaucracy whose elite confiscate power by fraud, intimidation and tailor-made constitutions? “Abuse of entrusted power” does not therefore exist where power was never entrusted! Does this mean authoritarian regimes are not corrupt? Rather, it would be plausible to suggest that all the activities of ruling elites are corrupt, since their primary motivation is to hold on to power for private gain at all cost. Regardless, there exist striking similarities between Cameroon and the countries scoring 2.2 on CPI 2010:

• Heavy reliance on external financial aid,
• General disregard for human rights,
• A diplomacy that neither has determinants nor objectives,
• Constantly changing constitutions,
• A youthful but largely unemployed population,
• And an increasingly ageing and isolated ruling elite.

Yemen for example is convulsing with Islamic extremism; Haiti completely depends on emergency aid relief and witchcraft; Cote d’Ivoire is yet to recover from an identity crisis that sparked a civil war. Iran is trapped between technological blackmail and religious bigotry, while Libya is yet to differentiate between the state and the Gaddaffi clan. Nepal just emerged from regicidal carnage to parliamentary democracy won by Maoists in 2008 although Mao or Maoism never tolerates more than one party. Among these country’s rulers, President Ali Abdullah Saleh is president of North Yemen since 1978 and unified Yemen since 1990. Muammar Gaddaffi, Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution, presides Libya since 1969 while Paul Biya remote controls Cameroon  since 1982. The resulting picture is a group of institutionally weak states who maintain these same low ratings on HDI (Human Development Index) and MDG (Millennium Development Goals). 

Reality: Paul Biya’s increasingly long absences from Cameroon prove that he neither has the intention nor is he capable of fighting corruption effectively, because it is a tool he uses to control a cohort of c0-opted accomplices. This explains why “Operation Epervier” is carried out “with direct instructions from the Head of State”! The judiciary and the police end up playing stage-managed roles in a tragedy that will go down with a loud bang. 

“…clearing the mess should never be entrusted to the one who created the mess…” (Anonymous – Indian Traditional)

 

 

 

Battle Lines

Power alternation in Cameroon among presidential hopefuls ignores a crucial observation. Incumbency should be applicable to the opposition as it is to the party in power because since 1997, the actors and consequent results are the same. If absolute power corrupts absolutely, then absolute powerlessness surely renders imbecile.

 All political parties are good enough! There is no difference between UPC, UNDP, CDU, CPDM or SDF, but there is a huge difference between the people whose ideas and objectives dominate these parties. No ethical criterion exists to qualify the CPDM or the SDF as good or bad. Morality is not a political exercise. Parties are made of men, who promote dreams and nightmares. These men may be extremely bad and are found everywhere. Backtrack to Nuremberg Trials (1945): the Nazi Party was never put on trial. Individuals, albeit all Nazi, where tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Their similarity was not Nazi allegiance, but crimes carried out in the exercise of the functions in a Nazi state. Individual responsibility does not dissolve in the aggregate. The individual has moral and ethical obligations that the party may not have. The individual must be defined! Legally, you can neither protect nor confront what you cannot define.

In Cameroon there is no distinction between the party and the individual. Basically, the individual is not defined. Failure to define the individual in a potentially frenzied environment gives room for all forms of abuse and misconceptions about power. Beyond goat-herding slogans like “Great Ambitions” and “Power to the people”, what do political parties in Cameroon stand for? What does John Fru Ndi offer? Non-voter registration? A boycott? John Fru Ndi definitely wants to be the next president of Cameroon, but he has never planned to be one. Absence to recognize what an individual stands for explains why the SDF develops epileptic seizures because Kah Walla has a firm opinion about issues, especially voter registration. Voting is the ultimate political activity and eventually “those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber” (Plato, Athens 427 BC - 347 BC)

Paul Biya won the last presidential election by just over 2million votes. This means state machinery, sovereign institutions, a faulty electoral system and pre-determined malfunctions were put into contribution for an output of just over 20% of the electorate or 10% of the total population. The CPDM is not a formidable beast after all! Paul Biya counts on silence. That choice may be explained by the incapacity to misquote silence. His cohorts and opponents invest huge amounts of mental energy trying to second-guess him at the expense of building an effective electorate.

If you bellowed “SDF!” in 1991, the response was “power to the people”. By the turn of the century, the response was “power”. Presently there is no response since there is no rally call.  From “power to the people” to “power”: was that a simple contraction, or a psychological overhaul from the quest of a group, to an individual’s quest?

Power is essentially speculative. We think we are powerful because we compare ourselves to adversaries, potential and actual. Confrontation on the other hand is empirical and absolute. Only through confrontation can power be realized. Cameroon is on a collision-course to a generational confrontation whose victims are obvious. Challenging with novel ideas, plausible goals, verifiable solutions and an average age of 45years are Dr. Matthias Eric Owona Nguini, Kah Walla, Joshua Osih, Prof. Pius Ottou, Charles Ateba Eyene, Dr. Fomunyoh and Hilaire Kamgang. On the incumbent bench are Paul Biya and  Augustin Koddock (born at beginning of WW2 - 1933), John Fru Ndi and Adamou Ndam Njoya (born in 1941 and 1942 respectively), Bello Bouba (born in 1947) and cronies with an average age of 70years. These are the battle lines for 2011. A whole generation may not be sacrified for the personal comforts of a gerontocracy.

As in chess game, a threat is more formidable than its realization. The messages from the younger generation herald the first shot in this epic battle. Where do you stand?

John Fru Dilema

Charisma is a temporal political asset serving a strategy which in itself is temporal. Riding on the crest of political gains acquired between 1992 and 1997, the Social Democratic Front (S.D.F.) and its Chairman have clearly never evaluated the scope of gains made in the mid 90’s nor really identified how the S.D.F. achieved those gains. If not, why does the S.D.F. not encourage Cameroonians to participate in voter registration when the party’s clout depends on massive voter registration in the mid 90’s ? I identify two reasons which reveal the mindset of John Fru Ndi.

Firstly, incompetence. Fru Ndi is yet to adopt nor is capable of understanding the internal dynamics of a democratic party. Failure in politics is a sign of ageing. Absolute failure is a clarion for change. Politically, we do not fail because we have aged; but we age and become irredeemably “old” because we fail. This translates as the politicians’ inability to propose novel ideas and solutions, or when he becomes the raison d'être for reform. President Abdoulaye Wade, though aged 81 is “younger” than Thabo Mbeki (16yrs younger) because the latter could not propose solutions to South Africa’s problems. In Cameroon, disagreeing with Paul Biya is no longer enough! You need to propose actionable solutions. Fru Ndi is Chairman and Presidential candidate of the S.D.F. since 1990. He has never won an election in which he is a candidate. Statistically, it is the highest failure rate: 100%. Therefore, along with the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement(C.P.D.M.) and an incompetent Supreme Court, Fru Ndi shares the responsibility for Cameroon being subjected to the Biya regime till date. 

Secondly, Fru Ndi has no notion that equal opportunity is the underlying principle in democracy. Dictators are made of same stuff. A dictator often thinks his god-given mandate excludes all other contemporaries from decision-making. “Me or nobody” is the familiar statement. Fru Ndi and cronies think only he may be presidential candidate. As such they create ideal conditions for the exclusion of S.D.F. sympathizers from the voting process. If Fru Ndi genuinely believes there can be another candidate (apart from himself), he will have no problem encouraging S.D.F. sympathizers to register and vote. A bad strategy is better than no strategy at all. Fru Ndi must take a stand about voter registration. Nonetheless, Fru Ndi will maintain ambiguity between not calling a boycott and not calling for voter registration till it is too late to choose any. Thereafter, he’ll fake “democratic re-awakening” by losing to another candidate at S.D.F. primaries. But the candidate will campaign in vain, since there may be no S.D.F. sympathizers registered to vote.

Like Yasser Arafat in his last days, Fru Ndi clings to a potential charisma which serves only his personal political survival. Arafat never attempted to stop Hamas firing rockets into Israel from Palestinian controlled territories for two reasons: had he done so, and Hamas refused to oblige it would have proven he lacks complete control over Gaza. On the other hand, if he did, and Hamas complied, then Arafat assumes responsibility for Kassam rockets targeting Israeli frontline settlements. The political survivor confuses his destiny with that of the people he leads. Fru Ndi realizing that he lacks the mettle to dislodge Biya regime, has resorted to ultimate survival tactics. If S.D.F. sympathizers register and vote, he’ll still lose, so he prefers blaming the score on non-voter registration.

This situation raises a question that plagues African multiparty politics in general. What is the profile of a potential head of state? A bigot? An egotist? An illiterate incompetent? A monolingual demagogue? An Industrialist? An enlightened despot? No rule applies across-the-board. But there is a huge difference between putting oneself at the service of politics, and putting politics at the service of oneself. Fru Ndi fails both ways. He cannot win and his time is up!

Hammas and Sickles

There is always a threshold of tolerance to pain before a people with a common cause (despite differing means) decide to put temporal survival before pre-conceived ideals. The Palestinian people are reaching that point.

The Russians reached that point in 1991, when they decided to follow through with Boris Yeltsin and topple Communism despite his complete lack of tact and democratic tradition. Some Germans reached this point in 1944 when followed Claus Von Stauffenberg in his attempt to eliminate Hitler. South Africans, post 1991 forgot the past and embraced Mandela's peace-offer despite the fresh and bleeding wounds of Apartheid.

For four decades, the Palestinians accepted that their future be dependent on, and thus confused with the personal destiny of Yasser Arafat. Arafat's death produced nothing more than rivalry between his lieutenants and PLO factions. I'll never stop repeating that Palestinians do not realise the land they vowed to get in 1948 is getting smaller. And Hammas...?

Hammas was elected for sure! But Hammas' refusal to declare a ceasefire with Israel, or at least stop rockets from falling in Israel is a manifestation of one fundamental problem in Palestinian politics. There are two kinds of politicians in Palestinian territories. Those who have the prestige and those who have the streets. We know where Hammas stands. Hammas' inability to declare a ceasfire stems from the fact that she does not control those who send rockets into Israel. As such, declaring a ceasefire and still see rockets flying to Israel will expose Hammas as a "not so crucial" factor in the Palestinian equation. In fact, Hammas prefers not to declare that ceasefire so she may still virtually control that perception of mass-violence over Israel. The question is how much longer this will last? How much pain can Palestinians endure in the name of an ideal that makes them start from scratch every other time the Israeli tanks roll in. Or do we really want to accept that a new page in human psychology is being written in Gaza and the West Bank? A whole society has become suicidal? Not true. Mahmoud Abbas is part of that society ... and he doesn't throw bombs at his enemy. Like to say, a Hammers without Sickles are just carpenter's tools.

EU/ African Union Summit

The AU's presence in Lisbon is summarized to a Mugabe debate. Although worse dictators abound in Africa, i support every action against any dictatorship. One dictator less is always better.

What is the AU's mission in Portugal? Is it a level playing-field summit? Are African Leaders summoned to Lisbon? Is the African Union capable of inviting the EU to Africa. Do you imagine Sarkozy, Merkel, Brown, Prodi etc. converging on Lesotho.?

Over 40 years after most African countries where transformed from colonies to decolonised territories in the guise of political independence, Africa is yet to disengage from the choke-hold of a hitherto colonised elite, who's basic education created the "Colonial Auxiliary".

The EU will be present in Lisbon as political and economic block with a constitution, a continental parliament, a strong currency and supra-national rights and responsibilities. Europeans participate in referandii to decide on Euro-wide legislation.

The African Union on the other hand is a loose syndicate of Heads of state, most of whom prefer to be in power for life. Imagine a cocktail of homicidal theorists like Kabila, Compaore and Obiang Nguema. Sprinkle a handful of political dinosaurs like Mugabe, Moubarak... Stir with colonial auxilliaries like Biya, Bongo, Bouteflika, Ben Ali, Sassou and Museveni(altogether they have been in power for 200 years) The resultant fecal outcome, thanks to Kadaffi's erratic impetus, is a more sorry sight than what a Picasso painting appears to a purist. In this bleakness Mbeki, Sirleaf, Toumani Toure, Kouffor et al. are an endangered minority. Africa is represented at the EU/AU Summit by corrupt despots.

Feed The World

We begin this morning, I’m afraid, with an alarming revelation. Never mind the war, the rugby or gun crime. It has come to my attention that in the whole of the British Isles there isn’t a single eco-nutritionist.

The government’s Food Standards Agency employs about a million and a half working groups who tour the nation in cheap suits making sure that Bernard Matthews is not filling his turkeys with asbestos and that Sainsbury’s isn’t using polonium to make its bananas more bent.

But not one of them is thinking: “Wait a minute. If we build the 3m new houses Gordon Brown has promised by 2020, where will we grow all the stuff needed to feed the people who live in them?”

And worse. Nobody is wondering where we might get the water. Not for our lawns and our lavatories but for the crops, the cows and the piggy-wigs. Like I said, this is an alarming problem.

Already the Atlantic has fewer cod in it than Elton John’s bath, so we are having to import fish fingers from China. And you may think this is fine. Your underpants come from the Far East, and your mobile phone, so why should we not import our watercress and beef from those industrious little yellow fellows on the banks of the Yangtze?

I’ll tell you why. Because China’s population is growing, too, and soon they won’t be able to send us their fish fingers because they will have been scoffed before they get to the docks.

It is a fact that the world can just about feed 6.5 billion people. But it will not be able to feed 7 billion or 8 billion. And certainly not if, as the lunatic Al Gore suggests, Canada stops growing food and turns over its prairies to the production of biodiesel.

Maybe man is causing the world to warm, but we’ll never know because, frankly, we will all have starved to death long before anyone gets the chance to find out.

Obviously, one solution is to burn the entire Amazon rainforest and turn this rich and fertile place into the world’s pantry. But unfortunately this is not possible because Sting will turn up on a chat show with some pygmy who’s sewn a saucer into his bottom lip, arguing that the world’s “indigenous tribes” are suffering because of the West’s greed.

And never mind that the pygmy is wearing a Manchester United football shirt.

Another solution is that we all become, with immediate effect, vegetarians. It takes 1,790 litres of water to grow 1kg of wheat. But 9,680 litres to produce 1kg of cow. Sadly, however, this doesn’t work for people like me who only really enjoy eating something if it once had a face.

I fear, too, that if we all became vegetablists, the world would smell of halitosis and we’d all start to vote Liberal Democrat. Furthermore, all the veg-heads I know are sickly and grey and unable to climb a flight of stairs without fainting.

It all looks bleak. But don’t worry, because I have a suggestion that I worked out this morning.

At the moment, we eat only a very small number of things. Cows. Pigs. Potatoes. Lettuce. And that’s about it. So what I propose is that we spice up our lives with a bit of variety.

David Attenborough is forever finding unusual creatures in the deepest parts of the ocean. He tells us how they can see down there in the murky depths and how they mate. He tells us where they live, how they raise their young and how they use their tentacles to find prey. But he never tells us the most important thing: what they taste like.

It’s the same story with Monty Don. Each week, he crops up on Gardeners’ World and explains how lupins form the perfect backdrop to any rockery. Yes. Fine. But can you put them on toast?

I’m looking at my garden now and wondering. I know I can’t eat the yew hedge because it will bounce off my diaphragm and come right back out again. But what about the lawn? Would that be delicious and nutritious? And, gulp, what about Kristin Scott Donkey, who died recently?

Should I have given her poor body to the hunt, or should I have garnished it with some lupins and a sea horse and had her for supper?

Why not? Over the years, I have eaten dog, snake, crocodile, guillemot, whale, puffin and a scorpion. They all tasted like chicken, so it’s a fair bet donkeys would, too. Or what about camels, which, as we all know, need very little water?

This brings me on to the final solution. There are many people who are greatly concerned for the plight of endangered species such as the tiger, the panda and the blue whale. They work very hard doing charity marathons in zany T-shirts to help keep these poor creatures teetering on the right side of extinction.

So how’s this for a plan? We start eating them. I believe that if enough people demanded blue whale for supper, garnished with the ears of a panda and the left wing of a juicy great bustard, it wouldn’t take very long for big business to move in.

When there’s a quid to be made, pandas will be having babies with the regularity of hens and you won’t be able to go to the shops for all the leopards you’ll meet on the way.

It’s either this or, I’m afraid, we are going to have to start eating each other. If that happens, bagsy I get John Prescott.

Robert Mugabe

Eighty three year strong

Criminal responsibility for political acts is the absent ingredient in African politics. That Robert Mugabe should be held responsible for torture, or accused thereof, may change the way he sees his shortening future. Mugabe is aware of how long he may cling to power. The opposition does not.

At eighty three years and over, it is illogical that Mugabe be held responsible for simultaneous political repression in Harare, Chipinge, Matoto and Binga. Mugabe may be administratively responsible, but 83yrs olds don't wake up at 5am to issue arrest warrants.

Someone is doing Mugabe's job better than he imagined. And that "someone" knows that Mugabe's time is out in every sense. Like elsewhere in Africa, Morgan Tsvangirai is putting up a fight against an individual and forgetting that he should be waging war against a regime. Subverting the nomenklatura is most efficient. Listen to the Chief of Police in Zimbabwe or the Vice-President. They don't fear that Mugabe is in political overtime. As if when Mugabe goes, what they do is forgotten. So far as politics resemble chess, I'll say this to Tsvangirai and other opposition leaders in Africa: "a threat is more effective than its execution". Threaten those who work with Mugabe and the deal is done.

Death Becomes Adam

While being taken to his death, was there a slight hesitation in Saddam’s steps, a small stagger or fear in his eyes? I did not see any. Advancing towards the gallows, he resembled a soldier from a defeated army making inspection.

With an astounding calm, he wanted the black band prepared for closing his eyes to be wrapped around, and with the same calm he allowed the oily rope to be placed around his neck. Saddam’s way of meeting his own death can be seen as heroic to some. As a matter of fact, his family called the toppled leader’s attitude at the moment of execution “brave and heroic.” There are probably those who share this view among his former and new supporters. He did not appear that way to me. The attitude reflected on the screen resembled that of a man who did not believe in death and who was not familiar with what death meant for man. We cannot know; perhaps the psychology of the attitude that appeared to some as heroism and bravery was what is called the numbing of emotions.


Even if it was like that, it would not be incorrect to say that Saddam Hussein’s feelings had become numb long before he was caught, tried and led to his death. For the execution scene we saw was the final curtain of the spiritual state that made Saddam a dictator. We all saw in this last act that this spirit, which did not believe in man, life or even death, had other priorities.


Pride and the desire to dominate in every situation were his priorities. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Saddam Hussein saw himself as a semi-god above everything and that at least he imagined himself to be a Nebuchadnezzar. Signs of man like fear, doubt, regret, and the shadow of pain never crossed Saddam’s face even at the moment of death. Actually, the relation he established with death explains his actions during the period he was in power.


His calm attitude in the face of death

If a Saddam portrait is going to be made, I think that before any thing else it should be made from this lack of emotion in the face of death. Poisoning thousands of people at Halabca without blinking an eye is a result of this same numbness and determination. Not limiting settling accounts with his eternal enemy, the Iranians, to the ethnic cleansing he made against Shiite Arabs in his own country, his beginning a war with his neighbor Iran that would last for years and one of his last statements before his death being “Don’t trust an Iranian coalition” show the limits of his ambition and anger. Saddam probably took as his historical mission an Arab-Iranian or Sunni-Shiite conflict. Just as he saw himself as a Salahaddin fighting against the Crusaders when he opposed the West after his relations with his former supporter America broke down. We know that his notorious oppression and mercilessness shown to the Shiites and Kurds was too rough and devastating to be explained by sectarian fidelity. Saddam was not only extremely merciless to Shiites, but to Sunni Kurds as well. Who knows, perhaps this cruelty was nurtured in his mind by pre-Islamic archaic figures and archaic rage, for he lived in Babel, the heaven of the ancient world. Was it without reason that he called one unit of his army “Nebuchadnezzar” and another “Hammurabi”? Various things have been said about Saddam’s religious beliefs. However, we know by his pronouncing the Islamic testament just before he died that he had faith, but we do not know how religious he was. The half-finished second testament made his death even more tragic.


Of course, while images of the execution scene which caused me to have these thoughts were not yet available, just as everyone else opposed to capital punishment, I thought I would not be able to bear watching the moment of death. The only reason I thought like that was not the moral mistake of ending a life. Even if the one to die is a dictator and oppressor, I still think that no one should have the right to end another’s life, especially with others watching it.


In order not to be unfair to Saddam…

However, I was hopeful on behalf of Iraq that if, on the one hand, the execution should take place, Saddam’s death would have just an opposite effect. In a period when the whole world was full of hatred for things in Iraq, the smallest human reflex Saddam could give at the moment of death might create an effect of mercy and conscience on everyone who liked him and did not like him. And these reactions might make a positive contribution to the determination of the future of Iraq, which is on the border of inexplicable madness. But that did not happen. Just like the execution decision, execution scenes hurriedly appeared on our TV screens. While looking out of the corner of my eye wondering whether or not to turn off the television, I discovered in a strange way that it could be watched. So that it can be understood correctly, I am saying these without ever forgetting that Saddam was a soldier. In which of their faces does death not appear as a shadow that upsets and jolts those who are watching? That human shadow is felt even in photographs documenting the moment of death. Hesitation -- that is the essential hesitation. Forget about politicians and social leaders, a common murderer cannot even bear the moment of death. But there was something different in Saddam’s death. What made Saddam’s death viewable was his disbelief in death.


Maybe he did not have the meaning of death that we have. The secret of the many murders he committed is hidden in the relation he established with death. If he had believed a little in death, perhaps the number of his murders would have been smaller. While the photograph of his greatest massacre at Halabca is still fresh in our minds, the last picture Saddam gave becomes even more meaningful. Strangely enough, there is a similarity between the two photographs. I am talking about the picture of Saddam after he was taken down from the gallows and, with bruised blood spots on his neck and cheek, he was wrapped up in a white cloth and laid face-down. In this last photograph there was a human being, not an emotionally frozen dictator. Maybe it was because the consciousness and pride that had made him an oppressor had dispersed and the innocence of sleep overcame his existence. I do not know, but maybe what made me think of all this is the resemblance between the face-down sleeping state of Saddam wrapped in a white cloth and the state of the dying man trying to protect his baby at Halabca. Unfortunately, Saddam had to die in order to reflect a human appearance. That photograph where he seems to be sleeping, wrapped in a white cloth with a spot of blood on his mouth is going to remain in my mind.

Weights and Measures

"Israel must be held accountable for any violations of human rights and humanitarian law, Muslim nations said in a draft Organisation of the Islamic Conference statement"

Did heads of government and the cream of world Muslims need to travel half way around the world to say this? What is their own responsibility? War is not a breakdown of negotiations, but an extension of it. If Chiite terrorists think hatred-engineered Islam is a strategy, then they should accept to confront Isreali firepower.

The declaration above seems to read "We can only be held accountable for what we do" False! Muslim nations, meeting in Malaysia seem to forget there is a concept like "crime by ommision". Hezbollah is represented in the Lebanese Parliament, which means the state of Lebanon cautions Hezbollah's activity. How does Lebanon expect Israel to react, when the President of Lebanon thanks Hezbollah for its "sacrifices"? No Muslim, Arabic or Mid-Eastern country has condemned Hezbollah attacks on Israel, although the Chiite Militia fires an average of 75RPG's per day into Israel.

What accountability are we talking about? War is the only generally accepted form of violence. It is the only form of violence codified by laws - "Geneva Conventions". Its is but normal, that a reaction to terrorist activity be disproportionate. A propos ... "disproportionate" as opposed to what? Peace?

It's almost 60yrs since the state of Israel was established as a democracy. Arabs do not seem to realise that, the land they are fighting for is getting smaller by the day. Arabs need to understand that hatred is not a good enough motivation factor to fight Israelis. Hatred is a primitive instinct that will never produce a rational result.

Lebanon-Sense

The Lebanese are not genetically programmed to be victims of war.

Far from that, the most war-torn country of the Middle-East is the playground for intrigues that stretch far beyond its national identity.

The Israeli onslaught on Lebanon, which will definitely get to the gates of Beirut is not the first. But what explains that a country is literally being invaded for the second time in 2 decades and even the UN seems to be giving a head-nod? Of what interest is it to Israel to destroy Lebanon, when they could have dislodged Hezbollah without strafe-bombing vast areas of Lebanon? Is it not in Israel's interest to have a democratically elected leadership next door? Definitely yes!

In attacking Lebanon, Israel is playing two extreme cards. Firstly, even unprovoked, the Israelis always have to prove the military deterrent, in case someone forgets. This time they were provoked, and in the Israeli mind it is justified. Consider this statement by Ben Gurion to Ariel Sharon after the widely condemned Qibya Operation in the fall of 1953, in which 69 Palestinian civilians, half of which were women and children, were killed by Sharon's troops in a reprisal attack on their West Bank village. In the documentary "Israel and the Arabs: 50 Year War" Ariel Sharon recalls what happened after the raid, which was heavily condemned by many countries in the West, including the U.S.

"I was summoned to see Ben-Gurion. It was the first time I met him, and right from the start Ben-Gurion said to me:

-"Let me first tell you one thing: it doesn't matter what the world says about Israel, it doesn't matter what they say about us anywhere else. The only thing that matters is that we can exist here on the land of our forefathers. And unless we show the Arabs that there is a high price to pay for murdering Jews, we won't survive."

This is how the Israeli mind works. Israeli survival problems and security guarantees are threatened by extreme levels of poverty in surrounding Arabic/Islamic states. Democracy, in the Middle-East is an exception. So Israel is not only a religious and spiritual enemy, it is also a political and economic one too. This means that, the Israelis have every interest in having a budding democracy, Lebanon-style next door. But Lebanon is very slow in change.

It took the Rafik Hariri assassination to kick-start the Cedar Revolution which sent Syrians out of Lebanon. The Israelis are now gambling on getting Hezbollah out of South Lebanon (North of Israel) if the Lebanese realise that their peace has been jeopardised by a Irano-Syrian backed terror organisation. Whether Lebanese loathe Israel or not is another problem. Israeli attacks directly play in the favor of salient democratic forces in Lebanon.

But between the statements of PM Fouad Siniora and the man who has lost eight family members, the is a gaping abyss. Cedar Revolution (Take II) is coming soon. The Lebanese nomenklatura will be ejected, Hezbollah will run amock, and Lebanon will finally have its peace. Or the reverse the Israelis will fight the Syrians and Iranians until the last Lebanese is dead.

Sex-Obsessed Muslims?

A new tool by Google reveals how Africans use the Internet. Not being a surprise, "sex" is one of the most searched words in the Internet, but it may come as an embarrassment to many Muslim countries that their citizens are the world's most frequent digital sex searchers; in particular North Africans. But also in sub-Saharan Africa, "sex" is among the most popular searches. The Google Trends tool also reveals Africa's most popular celebrities and potential markets for African products.

When it comes to using the Internet to look for sex, North Africans in particular seem to have found a new outlet for societal taboos. The sex search on Google is topped by Pakistan, but closely followed by Egypt. Moroccans even reach the top-ten list both in English (6th on "sex") and in French (2nd on "sexe"). Algerians top the search for "sexe", showing twice as much interest as the French and Tunisians. A quick look inside the booming cybercafés in North Africa confirms this obsession.

On a regional outlook, Mauritanians, Malians and Nigerians are the most sex-searching West Africans, followed by the Senegalese, while Ivorians and Gabonese already have found other uses for the Internet. In Southern Africa, Zambians and Malawians are searching twice as much for sex as Angolans and Mozambicans. Tanzanians however are even more interested in finding sex on the Internet, while Ethiopians and Somalis demonstrate a true obsession.

Even homosexuality, which is illegal in most Muslim and African countries, spurs much interest in Muslim Africa. While the search word "gay" is dominated by Latin Americans, it is mainly Filipinos and Saudi Arabians looking for "gay sex". The African "gay sex" list is topped by Kenyans, Tanzanians, Namibians, Zimbabweans and South Africans. In the francophone world, however, Algerians and Moroccans by far top the world's search for "la homosexualité". Algerians also by distance top the search for the "sexe gay", with the French and the Moroccans being somewhat more timid on the issue.

There is of course also an awareness of the risks of unprotected sex. South Africans by far are those most searching information about "AIDS", followed by Indians. Disappointingly, however, there is no other African nation on the AIDS search top-ten list. On the French, Spanish and Portuguese equivalent - SIDA - Moroccans are on second place in a list dominated by Latin American countries.

Also when it comes to meet the AIDS treat, South Africans are the most aware in Africa, Google searches indicate. There is a significant search for condoms in South Africa, but the interest for this AIDS preventing object is by far much bigger in India. South African however top the world's search list of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs). The lack of other African countries on the ARV top-ten search list again indicates that the public awareness of these drugs is as low as their availability in other African states.

There are of course quite a few African celebrities attracting fans and followers. Football stars are among the most searched for. Ivorian star Didier Drogba is the most searched African football star, closely followed by Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o. Nigeria's Augustine 'Jay-Jay' Okocha has fallen well behind Eto'o since end-2004 on Google searches. No African football star can however beat French superstar Zinédine Zidane, of Algerian descent, who totally dominates searches.

As expected, football stars are most popular in their home countries. Eto'o is among the searches most done in Cameroon, but he also is very popular in Gabon, Mali and Côte d'Ivoire. Drogba is most searched in Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon and Mali. Okocha has a totally different fan basis, comprising of Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Côte d'Ivoire and Kenya. Zidane has an even wider audience, being most popular in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Algeria, Morocco and finally France.

It may be hard to believe that any African politician could compete with the popularity of the continent's football stars, but the pan-African icon Nelson Mandela almost reaches the world-wide popularity as Zidane. In South Africa, Mandela knocks out any football star - even local hero Lucas Radebe by a facto of one to twenty. Only in a few francophone West African countries, Eto'o generates more searches as Mandela; in Nigeria the two are on level.

Moving further into South African politics, three ANC leaders are competing for attention. On a world-wide scale, scandal-ridden ANC deputy leader Jacob Zuma has drawn more Google searches than ex-President Mandela since early 2004. President Thabo Mbeki lags very far behind both of them. Only among South African Internet users, President Mbeki narrowly beats Mr Zuma, but doesn't even reach half the searches as Mr Mandela. Outside South Africa, President Mbeki draws almost no attention.

Comparing African leaders, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe seem to take a clear lead among Internet users in 2006. Congo's Joseph Kabila is fighting with Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo and South Africa's Mbeki over the third place - which in April was temporarily conquered by Chad's embattled President Idriss Deby. Liberia's Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf had her heydays in January and has been falling on statistics since then.

Even when it comes to economics, Google Trends could prove a nice tool for African business analysts. If you want to offer safari holidays, Google reveals that the word "safari" is most searched by South Africans, followed by Singaporeans, Britons and Swiss - a good market indictor. The biggest non-African markets for "beads" may be found in the US, Australia and Singapore, it seems. Sweet mangos catch special interest in Lithuania, ostrich products in Iran, while there seems to be a market for "khat" in Viet Nam and Malaysia.

The Google Trends tool was only presented earlier this week - in a basic, unfinished version - but has already been praised on the technology market for opening up new possibilities within sociology analyses and market research. Search trends can be followed to a city level in most countries. Critics however warn that making search results public in an ever more detailed manner could collide with privacy rights.

Courtesy of Afrol News