CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The term “gerontocracy” is most conceivably as a political concept in Western sociopolitical thought, gerontocracy is a political system or a form of oligarchical rule, whereby a small group of elderly individuals are in control of power. Unpopular due to its peculiar nature, it is, in short, a rule by old men. It was a common political practice in the communist states, especially the then Soviet Union (Gerner and Hedlund, 1989:346), where individuals who were significantly older than most of the adult population were in leadership positions. But gerontocracy is not restricted to socio-political thought alone.

There has continuously been a twist of knowledge between age and wisdom; are old people wiser, and is such wisdom that comes with time applied to statecraft? Meanwhile the standard definition of a youth as drawn from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as persons with ages between 15 to 24years without prejudice from other definition from member states whereas the African Youth Charter for purposes of implementation of local community youth programs considers youths as persons with ages between 15 to 55 years (UNR2250).  It is a common terminology in Cameroon that ‘youths are the future of the country’. From the 1960s right up to 2019, youths are still referred to as the future of the country giving one an impression that youths were in a sort of an incubator whereby, they are being trained to be handed the mantle of leadership someday which is probably when they also are in their 50s. The relegation of youths to the background in Cameroon politics and the resulting feeling of being unable to make meaningful contributions to the decision making process of the country has caused youths to show an apathetic nature to political participation from voting which is the formal form of political participation to more of informal forms of political participation such a protests and strikes as an attempt to make their own contributions to public policy formation. (Ndongmo,2018)

During the later summer of 2017, a historical event occurred where France elected the 39-year-old Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron as its President. Not necessarily a guarantee that youth leadership produces good governance and development but is a positive remark that youths could have a space in the decision-making procedure. Emmanuel Macron’s victory at the polls set a fresh agenda for public debate in Africa. (Ebai, 2017:3)

While global leaders sent congratulatory messages to the newly elected president one of which included President Paul Biya of the Republic of Cameroon who became President when Macron was barely five years old. The question of youth’s involvement in mainstream politics moved to the front banner of public discourse. He was barely two years old when Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasongo of Equatorial Guinea assumed power close to four decades ago, and the same age when Jose Eduardo dos Santos assumed office as president of Angola in the late 1970s.

Recent elections on the continent do not offer much hope of a generational shift. President Muhammadu Buhari has been re-elected as Nigeria’s president in 2019 at the age of 77; Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo was also 73 years old at the time of his election in 2017; Malawi’s president, Peter Mutharika was elected in 2014 aged 74. The call for concern in this research is not really the fact that the President and his government is a gerontocracy but the fact that the will of the youths which constitute the majority of the population does not seem to be reflected in terms of the results of presidential elections and so therefore youths believe that whether they vote and participate in political discourse, the results are already known and therefore, voting is a waste of time and rather giving more political legitimacy to a regime that derives its legitimacy from its instituted mechanism for manipulating the electoral process. Cameroon has a record of wild post electoral protest for dissatisfaction in the results especially that of October 2018 presidential elections where all major opposition leaders filled petitions to the Constitutional Council for several instances where the electoral process and votes were tempered with (Fokwang 2007).

It suffices to add that there have been attempts by younger men to vie for political offices across the continent but with little or no success. For example, in the 2014 general elections in South Africa, expelled former youth leader of the African National Congress (ANC) Julius Malema, then aged 33, led the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to third position in the overall election. The October 6th presidential race in Cameroon also witness 39 years old Cabral Libii Li Ngue who vied in for the Unity Palace of Cameroon. He was nation-wide referred to as the ‘Macron of Cameroon’ and as a candidate and savior for the youths in Cameroon. His campaign rallies had a significant turnout of youths especially in Douala, the economic capital and Yaounde the political capital of Cameroon. Cabral Libii of the Universe Party emerged 3rd position with 222020 votes (ELECAM 2018). His position no doubt was as a result of his over one-year campaign of 11 million citizens where he actively brought youths into developing a liking for politics. In Cameroon, 35 in the minimum running age for the presidential race and with a deposit of 30 million XFCFA. This among other political constraints constitute the problem of gerontocracy and youth political apathy and resulting effects in Cameroon.

The central argument of this research is that, for many reasons, a larger percentage of Cameroon’s youth have not shared in the process of governance. These range from political apathy and passivity on the part of the youth, to governments that are skewed to prevent new entrants into mainstream structures and a culture that silences the young. This study examines the role played by the founding fathers of Cameroon’s independence and their political understudies in the emergence of a generation of acquiescent youths. These young people are frequently used to perpetrate violence before, during and after elections, rather than participating in any real political decision-making and governance. Youth political apathy in Cameroon is fast moving from the effects of gerontocracy to becoming a political culture which started from the gerontocracy as is being handed to the next generation gradually as less interest is developed in anything political.

This study involves content and textual analysis of both primary and secondary data regarding the political involvement of the youth in Cameroon. The findings result from a study conducted in Cameroon and it would be imprudent to extrapolate these to experiences in the rest of the African continent.

1.2. Statement of the Problem

When a government has all genders and age groups represented on all processes of governance, it gives the government credibility and an eventual support to the system. The case is not true in Cameroon as there exist a generational divide which has led to underdevelopment intense interclass struggle and divide.

The feeling of belonging to a state and supporting the political system derives from participation and representation. Youths in Cameroon are confronted with a society which does not take into consideration their particular needs and challenges therefore creating an apathetic behavior to the political system.

There is also the issue of sustainability and development at the pace of the 21st Century development pattern which entails a State inculcating technology in its modus operandi. Conversely is the case in Cameroon where there still exist high bureaucratic pathology and bottle neck, there is still the traditional way of production with basically production of primary goods. This hampers on growth of the economy and therefore do no suit the taste of youths as they compare other systems of the world.

An inclusive and a transformed system of governance is therefore the only way forward to enhancing national development, participation and support to the political system.

1.3. Research Questions

This study is guided by the following questions:

1. Why has it been near impossible for a generational change in Cameroon, from the old to the young or a blend of age groups?
2. What has been the outcome of Gerontocracy on national development?
3. What must Cameroon youths do in order to have their wills being expressed in electoral results.

 1.4. Research Hypotheses

This research hypothesizes that:

1. There are many reasons why a generational change is difficult some of which are constitutional.
2. Cameroons GDP has dropped from 7.1 in 2016 to 4.6 in July 2019 with more youths losing interest in the political system.
3. Youths in Cameroon must galvanize behind a leader of their choice with very high turnouts at the pools to have their will expressed undeniably.

1.5. Objectives

1. This research is principally focused on advocating for a constitutional modification and a restructuring of the system of administration.
2. Providing alternative solutions for a rotational government which contain all age groups.
3. Making available possible ways in which youths in Cameroon could do in order to contribute actively in policy formulation.

1.6. Justification/Significance of the Study

Deriving a constitution that gives room for more inclusiveness in governance and which encourages youth political socialization is of great importance to the state as it gains support from the entire population and also legitimacy. This goes a long way to reduce social conflicts and inclusive participation also makes governance easier and accelerates the process of development.

Should inclusive governance be met, the government on the one hand benefits in that public policies are an expression of public will and therefore gain public support. The rate of unemployment is reduced since all age groups and genders of the working class occupies an approximately equal portions of the public space.

This research further creates awareness and a call for political consciousness and participation in the university milieu since they host a bulk of the mentally conscious youths of the society. It entails therefore that political apathy is a major stumbling block to effective governance and retards development. The university must therefore as an example enhance student leadership and inculcate the habit of participation as the university constitute a primary source of political socialization.