Bamileke Businessmen in the Realm of Political Transition in Bamileke Region of Cameroon, 1990-2000
- February 27, 2019
- Posted by: RSIS
- Category: History
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue II, February 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186
Bamileke Businessmen in the Realm of Political Transition in Bamileke Region of Cameroon, 1990-2000
Nzeucheu Pascal1, Prof. Simon Tata Ngenge2
1History Department, Faculty of Arts, The University of Bamenda, Cameroon
2Vice Dean, Faculty of Law and Political Science, The University of Bamenda, Cameroon
Abstract:-In the Bamilike County of Cameroon the businessmen prior to the 1990s were not interested in party politics. After independence they were not interested in politics and concentrated in building wealth. The creation of a monolithic systemon 1st September 1966, made it that they were simple militants of the political system and went about doing their businesses successfully. The re-emergence of multi-party democracy in 1990 changed the perception of the businessmen toward political participation. To protect their businesses most of them became militants of Cameroon Democratic Movement (CPDM) in their various home towns in order to preserve their businesses while other defected from CPDM to join the opposition or created their own political parties. Following this change, the Bamileke businessmen actively participated in the 1996 council election, 1992 and 1992 legislative elections. During this political exercised they exhibited their financial capabilities of distributing electoral gifts and propagating their political platforms. This paper attempts to explain why the businessmen became involved in politics and participated in elections. It also expounds on the effects of transition from monolithic to multi-party system in the Bamileke region in the 1990s.
Key Words: Bamileke region, Businessmen, politics, elections, multiparty system, Ghosttowns
I. INTRODUCTION
Business and political economy are two features that actually characterised the realm of political transition in Cameron in general and in the Bamileke area in particular since 1990. The political mutation that gave rise to a form of political economy was vested on the use of economic resources in politics by businessmen.
