Beyond the Bullying Message to Southern Cameroons MPs: A Conscience Call

 Members of Parliament of Southern Cameroons extraction and to a certain extent the Senators (because they are elected by indirect suffrage, while others are appointed outright) have in recent days been subject of so much talk and even angry debates. A good lot of them have been called and insulted, others bullied and yet a sound number threatened to stand with their constituents. This far, not a single one of them has promised to resign from the Parliament of La République du Cameroun. Two things must be standing in the way of the desired objective; either the approach is wrong, or the ‘representatives’ of the people have closed their eyes to the sufferings of the masses and their hearts to their own consciences.

Several definitions of conscience abound, given the important role conscience plays in key decision-making, particularly when it concerns the scourge of humanity. This of course, concerns only those people who still have consciences; and we at The Times Journal are convinced that a majority of our Parliamentarians still have this vital part of the human being. The importance of having a conscience can be easily deciphered from this definition offered to us by H.L Mencken; “Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking”.

John Calvin extends Mencken’s thought, adding that; “The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul”. This contribution only goes to tell us that conscience is so important in all we do. He who decides to ignore his or her conscience at a critical moment like this one may truly miss the point in life not only for themselves, but for generations of their descendants. This is so because at a certain age, those who reason well will understand that their future is in the past, while the present should serve to prepare a better future for their children and grandchildren.

Some of the biggest figures in history remind us that no matter how great you think you are, no matter how big you imagine yourself to be and no matter how seemingly secure your standing is, the conscience call remains too paramount. Just listen to Mahatma Gandhi; “The only tyrant I accept in this world is the ‘still small voice’ within me. And even though I have to face the prospect of being a minority of one, I humbly believe I have the courage to be in such a hopeless minority”.

Where Gandhi speaks with caution, Martin Luther blows the abscess open when he insists that; “It is neither right nor safe to go against my conscience”. This brings us to the fundamental question as to when we know someone has ever had or still has a conscience. This is where Gaylord Nelson sails in by establishing in an unambiguous manner that; “The ultimate test of a man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard”.
Thus, going from Jim Carroll’s point of view that “Conscience is no more than the dead speaking to us”, we are praying our Parliamentarians not to look so much at the comfort of their offices, the beggarly allowances they are still earning and the empty promises being made to them of a better treatment were they to go all the way and let their people down. A good lot of them, we are told, are being reminded that the people never elected them in the first place; they are being told that the same way they were ‘rigged’ into the Glass Building, shall be the same way they could be taken back to Yaounde in 2018 if they continue cooperating.

Our dear Parliamentarians, true representatives of the people do not give in to blackmail, rather they blackmail in the name of their constituents, they do healthy blackmail in order to attract measures that improve the livelihoods of the people they represent. That is why Martin Luther King Jr. tells us all that; “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right”.

Currently, there is so much talk of our Parliamentarians not being themselves, particularly those of the ruling CPDM Party. There is a school of thought promoting the idea that they are enslaved to the regime and the Head of State, Paul Biya to the point they can no longer reason for themselves. We are told regime barons are constantly telling them to listen to their consciences and not to betray the one man who made them- Paul Biya. It is even rumoured that they are being told that betrayal is common for men with no conscience.

What this means is that our Parliamentarians are today faced with ‘the hard right and the easy wrong’. The easy wrong would be to stand with the oppressor and send a clear message to their constituents that they represent only the Head of State and his interests in Parliament. If they choose the hard right, they shall regain a crucial kind of freedom they lost by belonging to the system. That freedom is found in this beautiful line by John Milton Areopagitica; “Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties”.

The notion that our Parliamentarians in huge numbers do not own themselves, not even their very hearts and consciences could be so frightening if it turned out to be true, although for the most part, and over the years, their actions seem to suggest so. In this light, they need to learn from Jon Katz when he says; “The immature conscience is not its own master. It simply parrots the decisions of others. It does not make judgments of its own; it merely conforms to the judgments of others. That is not real freedom, and it makes true love impossible, for if we are to love truly and freely, we must be able to give something that is truly our own to another. If our heart does not belong to us...how can we give it to another?”

This editorial may anger some of our Parliamentarians who out of mere pride, would want to contend that they indeed own their hearts and consciences; they would simply be losing the point. The honest truth is that they need freedom even more than the common man in the Southern Cameroons, because in the eyes of others in the Anglo-Saxon world, they are not so different from a Clarke. That is why this time is the best for them to act, to arrest that much needed freedom, in fact to stand and be counted.
Pride comes before a fall and this is time to shun pride, because as C.G Jung points out; “Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune”. This is the ripe moment for our dear Parliamentarians to handle “something” that is out of tune, and do what history is expecting of them, do what they people are expecting of them, do what their children, grandchildren and generations upon generations of Southern Cameroonians will live to remember them for.

Dear Parliamentarians, permit us to share with you this word of wisdom from Edmond Rostand; “I have a different idea of elegance. I don’t dress like a fop, it’s true, but my moral grooming is impeccable. I never appear in public with a soiled conscience, a tarnished honour, threadbare scruples, or an insult that I haven’t washed away. I’m always immaculately clean, adorned with independence and frankness. I may not cut a stylish figure, but I hold my soul erect. I wear my deeds as ribbons, my wit is sharper than the finest moustache, and when I walk among men I make truths ring like spurs”.

This is the time to think right; it is the time to tell detractors that you are with your people and shall forever be with them. Do not therefore let anyone end up taking credit that they forced you to do what you have known all along that it was right to do.