What to do when there is no hope?
Every day talented and honest individuals give the fight up in Cameroon. It's crazy to see the waste of talent and passion in (under) developing countries in Africa. Three days ago, an Ivoirian doing an internship in Cameroon had a case in his country, and the matter was handed over to Interpol, who issued a search warrant.
Interpol Cameroon was asked to find the guy out and send him back to his country for investigation. At the time we were contacted, we called the person who issued the case in Cote d'Ivoire (who happen to be a friend of the Trainee) and the matter was immediately sorted out, as it appeared to be a huge misunderstanding.
The person went to Interpol Cote d'Ivoire and cancelled the case at 4pm. At 5:33 pm Interpol Cote d'Ivoire sends a message to Interpol Cameroon to cancel the procedure. Instead of canceling it as the legal procedure says, the commissioner in charge in Interpol Cameroon decided to hide the message from Cote d'Ivoire, kept the trainee in a cell for the whole night, and in the morning told him to give him 800 usd to be set free.
After enquiry, he admitted the case was over, released the intern but kept his passport until the money is given to him. As he said, the 800 usd transaction had to remain confidential, as he admitted the money was for the pain he personnally had in handling the case. At the time i write this, the commissioner still has the passport. The trainee is flying back in 6 days. He has no passport. The commissioner wants a bribe. How can a person who is destined to be a role model be so corrupt he risks his position for 800 usd? His behavior is so illegal that a simple letter to the local newspapers would get him fired, but yet he does it!
I then had a talk with a young police officer, and i told him the whole story. He was not surprised at all. What he told me stroke me: "I see such things happening everyday. I decided to join the police four years ago to change my society for the best. But I quickly realized I would never be enabled to do anything in that way. All cases i'm in charge of are removed from me when a phone call is given to my hierarchy by them (the influential people that rule and abuse the country). In my batch, lots of brilliant people have given up, they are now as corrupt as the old generation. It's just too tough to fight the system. I've lost hope, i just wanna leave the country. I could accept a blue-collar job abroad, but at least i will stop seeing the abominations I see every day. "
I went to the university yesterday to discuss with the youth, as we had the information session for prospective AIESEC members. I was shocked to realize they have also lost hope. They are disappointed in the government that they don't think they could change anything! The head of state is in power since 1982. 26 YEARS AND THE COUNTRY IS TOTALLY FUCKED UP!
A political leader can fail to deliver on general welfare, education, employment, social justice, good governance, but when he takes away the hope and ambition of the youth, the climax is reached. I'm a Cameroonian and I love my country.
But what to do when there's no hope?
