Drawing lessons from last week’ s Venezuelan elections in which the opposition won by over 67 percent thanks to the securing of all copies of the printed tally taken by representatives at the polling stations, English Cameroon for a united Cameroon has called on the Cameroonian opposition to train polling station observers to circumvent fraud in the 2025 presidential election.
In a write-up titled “Sovereignty: The recognized authority of a people to exercise self-government through constitutional democratic processes within a given geographical region”, Dr Benjamin Akih, initiator of the movement, says in addition to defending results of the elections, they should be prepared for massive protests to circumvent any electoral hold-up as has happened in Venezuela where the incumbent Nicolas Maduro has declared himself winner by 51 percent and is being supported by Russia, China, Iran, and other anti-American socialists. Dr Akih who believes the opposition won the presidential election in 1992 and 2018 but they were rigged in favour of the incumbent Biya dreads that France would come in to support elections rigged in favour of President Biya .Following is the write-up in its entirety:
Sovereignty: The recognized authority of a people to exercise self-government through constitutional democratic processes within a given geographical region
Dear brothers and sisters,
We give thanks to God Almighty for this new week and we stand in solidarity with those who suffer natural causes and the effects of this bad government.
With respect to the Olympic games in Paris and the behavior of our leaders there, especially under the “showers of blessings”, we can’t say much but think of the irony of Ferdinand Oyono’s novel, “The Old Man and the Medal”. It is an apt analogy.
What is sovereignty? This is very important. In our fight for the liberation of Cameroon, we need to realize the controversy related to this word. It has different meanings in different cultures but we need to embrace its meaning as advanced by protestant theorists. If we have a good understanding of this concept, then we will be able to recognize abuses of sovereignty in our country and in other countries. We will then be able to defend that sovereignty correctly by first broadening the cultural understanding that aligns with freedom of a people. We will consider the meaning of sovereignty from two traditions, then consider the current situation in Venezuala where the sitting president has orchestrated electoral fraud but the opposition has creatively exposed that fraud, then we will say something about defending the sovereignty of Cameroon in 2025.
1. Sovereignty: contrary to Catholic political thought which vests sovereignty in a person or group, protestant theorists have established the modern idea of popular sovereignty.
1.1. Sovereignty is a difficult legal and political concept. It is vague or controversial. When people in Francophone or generally Catholic nations use it, they mean one thing. Those in Anglo or protestant states have different ideas in mind. The trouble lies with the development of political theory from the 16th century to this day.
1.2. The Catholic view of sovereignty may be illustrated by starting with the French theorist, Jean Bodin (1529-1596). He is considered a humanist, not extremely religious and not very anti-protestant. Bodin holds that sovereignty is the most high, absolute, perpetual, and indivisible power over the citizens and subjects in a country. These words are all important: most high, absolute, perpetual, and indivisible. He has had significant impact on Catholic theorizing on sovereignty. For this reason, it is typical to hear in the predominantly Catholic world that “the president incarnates the sovereignty or is the guarantor of it”.
1.3. Bodin had an impact on the British protestant theorist, Thomas Hobbes, even when Hobbes advanced the social contract theory.
He acknowledged that power can be wielded by a monarch, and aristocratic group of people, or the people themselves. In the trial of Charles I, the king said he was the sovereign, and so could not be judged by the people.
The English demonstrated that the people of England are the true sovereign and Charles was guilty of waging a civil war against the sovereign people of England. He was executed. But a far-reaching protestant theory of sovereignty came from Jean Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau’s political philosophy is sometimes a logical account of the Calvinist Republic of Switzerland that came out of the Reformation.
1.4. From Rousseau to modern times, sovereignty is understood as the recognized authority of a people to exercise self-government within a given geographical area, using constitutional democracy and international law. The sovereign, that is the self-governing people within a given land, are recognized to be such by other sovereigns and by all the members of that nation. Conflicts arise in recognition of sovereigns by other sovereigns and by segments of the sovereign arrogating sovereignty to themselves or defining a new sovereignty. These conflicts will continue but are clearly understood as issues of the location and limits of sovereignty.
1.5. Attempts by the French revolutionaries to use Rousseau’s philosophy were not successful. While they read Rousseau, they still thought and acted under the influence of Bodin’s supreme, absolute, perpetual, and indivisible exercise of power that led to the horrors of the revolution.
1.6. Critics of the social contract theory that leads to popular sovereignty have differed along religious lines. Thus, while the protestant Hegel attacks social contract, he ends up explaining the ideal state which should act in accordance with freedom. But a certain Karl Ludwing von Haller, a protestant who converted to Catholicism, offered the most tyrannical theory of sovereignty. Essentially, the patrimonial state. In the 20th century, an even more extreme Catholic theorist, Carl Schmitt, offered a totalitarian understanding of sovereignty. To him, the sovereign is he who decides on the state of exception. He cannot be bound by the rule of law. But once this theory is embraced, then everything is a state of exception. Anarchy descends and the power of the sovereign or the one said to incarnate the sovereignty of the state, becomes the demigod who decides for the nation.
1.7. The logical consequences of the theory of sovereignty from the Catholic tradition are absurd and easily recognized as undesirable. Modernity has embraced popular sovereignty that emerged from the protestant tradition. Almost all constitutions around the world today begin with the expression, “We, the people of X”. Some still seek creative ways to infuse the constitution with patrimonial state reflexes.
1.8. What is the meaning of all this? We want to underscore the fact that sovereignty belongs to the people at all times. They only delegate people through elections to exercise aspects of their sovereign will. The government is so divided that no one person has as much sovereignty as that wielded by the people. Further, anyone who steals an election in order to exercise an aspect of the state’s sovereignty, is guilty of an attack on the sovereignty of that nation. He or she is like a foreign nation attacking across the borders. Also, a foreign nation looking for the cheapest way to attack the sovereignty of an independent sovereign nation, can achieve that by helping to rig an election. Any citizen or group of citizens who have the ability to subdue any such election thief shall, in due course, be recognized as a hero who rescued the sovereignty from usurpation. But better is the organization of the people to protest any such attempts at usurpation of sovereignty.
2. An attack on sovereignty from within: the example of Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election
2.1. About 200 years ago, the philosopher Hegel explained differences between attitudes toward constitutional democratic rule. He differentiated protestant northern Europe and protestant North America from Catholic Southern Europe and Catholic South America. He predicted unceasing civil wars in South America. These predicted patterns continue today in Americas, though Europe is almost homogeneously aligned today with Protestant modernity.
2.2. Venezuela is one of these South American countries where even the ideas of socialism are implemented within the framework of totalitarianism, where the president thinks he is the sovereign.
2.3. Cameroonians need to know everything about the presidential election that took place in Venezuela on July 28, 2024. The main opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, has won with about 67%, while the incumbent dictator, Nicolas Maduro, claims victory with a score of 51%.
2.4. Prior to the election, the main leader of the opposition, Maria Corina Machado, was elected by her party as presidential candidate. The dictatorship barred her from the election. Her replacement was also barred from running for president. They then united behind an independent candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez.
2.5. The opposition anticipated electoral fraud by the regime. They recruited about a million volunteers to mobilize voter turnout and monitor elections. About 10 million people voted in this election. There were 30 000 voting machines. At the end of the voting process, each machine prints the voting tally, showing the results of each candidate. There was more than one party representative at each station, and they are allowed to take a copy of the printed tally.
In all, 90 000 party representatives were taught to obtain a copy of the tally sheets printed from electronic voting machines after polls close. Before the regime and electoral body realized what was going on, about 80% of the sheets, accounting for about 73% of the voters, had been printed. These have been uploaded to a website specially prepared for this purpose and the whole world can see results of voting machines. It is on the basis of these results that it is shown that Mr. Maduro lost.
2.6. Also, prior to elections, opinion polls showed that the main opposition leader had about 58-63% while Maduro had about 30%. An exit poll on the day of election showed that the main opposition candidate had about 65% while the incumbent had about 30%. Even if all the missing votes are 100% for the incumbent, the opposition still wins.
2.7. Despite this clear electoral fraud and intimidation, the international community has reacted based on their own self-interest. It does not matter what you think of USA, what matters here is that an oppressed opposition clearly demonstrated their victory over a dictatorial incumbent. But China, Russia, Iran, and other anti-American socialists are saying that the election was free and fair. They have embraced Maduro’s version of the results. The USA, Argentina, Peru, and Uruguay have recognized the victory of the opposition candidate. Venezuela has asked the diplomats of Peru and Argentina to leave Venezuela.
2.8. The opposition has called on its supporters to engage in street protests. Venezuela, taking advantage of anti-Americanism and the fact that the USA recognizes the opposition victory, is enjoying the support of China, Russia, and Iran. In the context of the sovereignty discussion above, the sovereignty of the people of Venezuela is being robbed now by the incumbent with the help of foreign countries China, Russia, Iran, and others. The USA may be a bad imperial power but the fact that it recognizes the true winner ought not be a reason to usurp sovereignty. The Maduro courts claim to confirm the victory of incumbent dictator.
3. Cameroon and the 2025 election: A call for preparedness and a warning to China, Russia, France, Israel, and other enemies of Cameroon’s sovereignty
3.1. Venezuela may be far away, but its political model is similar to ours. Mr. Biya claims he incarnates the sovereignty of Cameroon. He clearly lost the presidential election in 1992 and 2018; he is president by virtue of his confiscation of our sovereignty.
3.2. We, the people of Cameroon, are the true sovereign. We ought to defend our sovereignty against attempts to steal it from us through rigged elections. We must therefore be prepared for massive protests but also train polling station observers, collection of results, and defense of these results.
3.3. We cannot rely on the chaos in international relations for the defense of our victory. We must defend the integrity of our elections ourselves. Let any anti-Americanism views we have or critical views toward any other country not stop us from defending our sovereignty from election thieves. Let us also warn all those who encourage election thieves by jumping to congratulate fraudsters. In this respect, France is a historical example. Increasingly, China and Russia, are practicing this vice. As you may recall, the fake election observers in 2018 were citizens of Israel with secondary passports. Many countries find it easier to exploit other countries by helping incumbents rig elections. Let us be vigilant and defend our country against such vices.
May God bless you and May God bless Cameroon as we defend our popular sovereignty, for we, the people of Cameroon, are the true sovereign. Nobody should incarnate our God-given popular sovereignty even if we delegate them to do specific things on our behalf.
English Cameroon for a united Cameroon
Serving the nation since 2017
August 2, 2024
