New Prime Minister for the Republic of Cameroon

The Republic of Cameroon has a new Prime Minister and head of government.This happened with the President of the Republic signing a decree on June the 30 2009, making some changes in the government.The main news was that of making Yang Philemon the new Prime Minister and head of government of the Republic of Cameroon.

Some of the changes made in the recent Cabinet Reshuffle.
These are some of the changes made in the composition of the Cameroon government on June the 30 following a Presidential decree.
Peter Agbor Tabi who had been out of the government for close to 12 years was brought back in and given the post of State Minister,Assistant Secretary General at the Presidency.He at one time was the Minister of Higher Education and was prior to this nomination the Pro-Chancellor of the University of Buea.At one point before leaving the government, he was even rumored to be the next Prime Minister of the Country before the post was given to the then General Manager of CDC corporation,Peter Mafany.
Mr. Agbor Tabi is from the Manyu division and his recent nomination puts him back on track for the Prime Minister and head of government position some time in the future if he still wants the position.
There is a new guy occupying the post of Minister of Sports and Physical Education.His name is Zoah Michel and he replaces a certain Augustine Edjoa.The poor performance of the Indomitable lions in the combined 2010 World cup-African nations cup qualify played a big part in the change.Augustine Edjoa was constantly fighting with the main football body of the country which is known as "FECAFOOT".That is a problem with "FIFA" which does not like the government of nations interfering in the affairs of football.The football governing body is in charge of this sector and hopefully the new guy coming in gets the point.The Minister of Sports and Physical Education is in charge of all the sporting and physical education events in the country not just football.
Bello Bouba Maigiri stays with the government but he gets a job as Minister in charge of Transport.He is one of the long standing leaders of the North part of the country and has been working with the government for some decades now.There is a new guy also in the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication in the name of Biyiti BI-Essam Jean-Pierre.His name suggest he is from the same tribe as the President of the Republic.

The Main Change.
The President stayed with the tradition of letting an Anglophone head the government with the title of Prime Minister.Yang Philemon replaces Inoni Ephraim who had held the position for about five years now.The other anglophone Prime Ministers had been Peter Mafany and before him a certain Achidi Achu.
The nomination took a lot of people by surprise because usually in this country before the cabinet is reshuffle,you get some street rumors.This time is was quietly done and the President went to the North West Province of the Anglophone part of the country to pick the new Prime Minister.The past two PM have been from the South West Province,from the Bakweri tribe in particular and people were beginning to wonder if the position belongs to them.
In the past year or so in the country, there was noise that the people from the North part of the country,the "nordist" is how they are known here would like to get this position.The highest position that they occupy in the country is the post of the head of the National Assembly.
By staying with an Anglophone,the President of the Republic keeps this part of the country happy to a certain extend.
Yang Philemon has been working in the Cameroonian government for quite a long time now.I remember him from my days as a student in the University of Yaounde in the early 1980s.At the time, Ahmadou Ahidjo was the President of the Republic and Yang Philemon,then only 28 years old was the youngest of the ministers in the then President's administration.He should now be in his early sixties.He comes from a tribe called Oku, in the north west Province and he is taking over a strategic position in the country.The post is one of nomination, so although he is the head of the government, he does not get to form a cabinet of his choice.That job here is the responsibility of the President of the Republic,his excellency Paul Biya.So the Presidency is where real power lies in this nation.That said,the position of that of Prime Minister is a big deal.You get name recognition right away in different parts of the world and you can influence a lot of decisions that are made in terms of hiring people that control major corporations in the country.This is true because quite a few individuals have lost jobs as head of some large corporations because of standing in the path of the Prime Minister in the past.
By also going with somebody from the north west province of the country, the President is making a strong move towards winning re-election come 2011 if he chooses to stay as President of the Republic.The main opposition party in this country is called SDF and its leader is from the North West Province.The nomination of Yang Philemon should win the President some votes come 2011.
The nominations also eliminates Yang Philemon from contending for the position of presidency of the republic come the 2011 elections because that would be standing on the way of his boss.Amongst the names of people that are said to take over the Republic of Cameroon,in case President Biya decides to step down,Yang Philemon's was high on a list that included some "Nordist".

Reactions.
People from this part of the country are not out in the street celebrating that an Anglophone has been made Prime Minister and head of Government,at least not yet.There are a lot of problems going on in peoples personal life's throughout the world and this is true in the Republic of Cameroon.The new Prime Minister did thank the President for the nomination and stressed the fact that he would be learning on his current job.The rest of the individuals given ministerial nomination also expressed gratitude to the President of the Republic for the confidence that he has showed in them by given them their new positions.

Conclusion.
I am from the Anglophone part of the country and I express some happiness in the President's decision to stay with an anglophone in this important governmental position in the country.My greatest wish though would be to have an individual from the Bayangi tribe of this part of the country occupy this position sometime in the future.There are quite a few capable individuals from this tribe and hopefully one on them will get the position come 2014.The country has made some steps towards true democracy in terms of allowing for more than one party but in would also be nice to see the head of the government to get some real power in terms of forming a government of his choice.That is still a long way off but hopefully we get to see it sometime in the future.