Cabinet Reshuffle: Dion Ngute on his way out
The long-awaited cabinet reshuffle will soon be released and many southwesterners will end up being unhappy, as Dion Ngute is on his way out.
Though hated by Southwest separatists, the current prime minister, Dion Ngute, has his supporters who think he should still be in government. But Biya and the international community think differently. He has not been up to the task a source at the UN told the Cameroon Concord News Group’s editor-in-chief.
According to the international community and France, Dion Ngute has outlived his usefulness. The Biya government thought Dion was capable of disconnecting the Southwest region from the separatist movement, but the Ndian Division native has not been able to unite Southwesterners for more than three years. On the contrary, he has been a lightning rod for controversy.
The Southwest Diaspora is totally against Dion Ngute as it is being publicly alleged that he has not done anything for his people. He has not been to his native Ndian since he became the Prime Minister.
Also, Dion has never sought to talk to the Southwest Diaspora which has been financing the fighting in his region of birth and this makes it hard for the dying Biya regime to keep him as the Prime Minister, a source told the Cameroon Concord News Group.
According to a source at the country’s Presidency, Dion’s fate has been decided and he will be promptly replaced by a Francophone, presumably by someone from the north who is expected to calm down northerners who have been planning to slaughter Betis once Biya disappears.
Dion’s departure has been made a lot easier by the need to appoint a vice president who will succeed Biya in the event of a vacancy.
A Cameroon Concord News Group source at the Presidency has said that the Biya regime is still looking for a Southwesterner who will be capable of serving as a vice president. For now, it is hard to find a credible Southwesterner at home.
The source added that the French are insisting on an establishment Southwesterner but most credible and presidential Southwesterners are out of the country. They are working abroad and many of them are not loyal to the government.
The government is looking at Southwesterners in international organizations, especially those who can have an influence on separatists.
The French are worried about losing Cameroon and they hold that a moderate Southwesterner could help calm down tempers in the two English-speaking regions of the country.
The Source hinted that a list of Southwesterners in international organizations such as the African Development Bank, the African Union, the United Nations and the World Bank is being studied at the Presidency.
Many names have been floated but the fear is that will those in international organizations be capable of protecting those who have been very loyal to Biya over the last forty years?
While it is difficult to find a very reliable Southwesterner at the international level, the French are suggesting that Abouem à Tchoyi could also make a good successor because of his deep understanding of the government and the Anglophone problem which is tearing the country apart.
Abouem à Tchoyi has served as governor in the two English-speaking regions of the country and he understands the issues. He is supported by Anglophones because he knows the issue, but he is from the center region and this makes things complicated, the source said.
Currently, a few names from the African Development Bank and the United Nations are being analyzed. The fear is that those being considered are loose electrons. Will they be able to work according to French dictates? the source asked.
There is tension at the Unity Palace. Most Betis who are close to the regime are scared. Any Anglophone is feared. They know many Anglophone Cameroonians feel hurt and may not give the Betis the protection they need at this time.
For now, the die has been cast for Dion Ngute. Cameroon needs to remain united and indivisible and only an Anglophone vice president can make that happen.
By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai