Bello Bouba Maigari
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Bello Bouba Maigari (born 1947[1]) is a politician in Cameroon. He is the current Minister of State for Post and Telecommunications; previously, he was Prime Minister of Cameroon from 6 November 1982 to 22 August 1983. He is the National President of the National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP).[2][3]
Maigari was born in Baschéo, in Benoué Department in the North Province of Cameroon.[1] From 1972 to 1975, Bello Bouba was Secretary General of the Ministry of the Armed Forces.[1][4] He was appointed Assistant Secretary General of the Presidency on June 30, 1975,[1] serving in that position until January 1982[4] (as a Minister from November 11, 1980[5]). In the government named on January 7, 1982, he became Minister of State for the Economy and the Plan;[1] when President Ahmadou Ahidjo resigned in November 1982, Bello Bouba was named Prime Minister under the new President, Paul Biya.[4][6] Biya's appointment of Bello Bouba was said to have been at the behest of Ahidjo, and many thought that Ahidjo intended for Bello Bouba — a Muslim from the north, like himself, and unlike Biya — to be his ultimate successor, and that Biya was intended to serve as essentially a caretaker president in the meantime. After Ahidjo and Biya came into conflict with one another and Ahidjo went into exile, Biya dismissed Bello Bouba as Prime Minister on August 22, 1983, replacing him with Luc Ayang.[6] Bello Bouba went into exile in Nigeria following a failed 1984 coup attempt against Biya.[7]
Bello Bouba announced the formation of a new party, the National Union for Democracy and Progress in Cameroon (UNDPC), in Paris on May 25, 1990. After the party was legalized (as the UNDP) in March 1991, he returned to Cameroon on August 17, 1991.[8] At the UNDP congress held in Garoua on January 4–5, 1992, Bello Bouba became President of the UNDP, ousting the party's previous leader, Samuel Eboua.[9] He was elected to the National Assembly in the March 1992 parliamentary election[4][7][10] as a deputy from Benoué.[10] Although a five-year residency requirement initially prevented him from running for president later in 1992, this was changed to one year; the change has been attributed to the desire of the French government to have Bello Bouba participate in the election.[7] Bello Bouba placed third in the election, held on October 11, 1992, behind Biya and Social Democratic Front (SDF) candidate John Fru Ndi,[11] receiving 19.22% of the vote.[9] In two provinces, Adamawa Province and North Province, he won majorities: 64.04% in Adamawa Province and 50.42% in North Province.[12] He disputed the official results which proclaimed Biya the winner, saying that Fru Ndi had actually won,[11] and he and Fru Ndi unsuccessfully sought to have the election annulled by the Supreme Court due to alleged fraud.[13] Bello Bouba strongly opposed the appointment of two UNDP members to the government by Biya in November 1992.[14]
Maigari was re-elected to the National Assembly in the May 1997 parliamentary election.[4] Although the UNDP participated in the opposition boycott of the October 1997 presidential election,[15] in December 1997 Bello Bouba accepted an appointment to the government as Minister of State for Industrial and Commercial Development.[4][14]
Maigari was again a candidate in the 2002 parliamentary election from Benoué West constituency, but this time he was defeated.[16][17] The UNDP won only one seat in this election, and Bello Bouba described it as a "farce", alleging that low voter registration was used to rig the election in favor of the RDPC; some party members, however, reportedly attributed the UNDP's poor performance to disapproval of Bello Bouba's cooperation with the RDPC in the government.[17] Some party members wanted him to leave the government after the 2002 election and for the UNDP to join the broader opposition, but he chose to remain, despite dissent within the party.[16] He supported Biya, the incumbent president, in the October 2004 presidential election;[3][10][18] he said that, although parties are created to win power, it is not necessary for them to participate in every election, and that the UNDP supported Biya for the sake of continued peace and economic growth.[18] In the government named on December 8, 2004, he was moved from his position as Minister of State for Industrial and Commercial Development to that of Minister of State for Post and Telecommunications.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Profile at government website (French).
- ^ Dieudonné Gaïbaï, "Undp : Maigari Bello Bouba ratisse dans le Logone et Chari", Mutations (cameroon-info.net), July 18, 2007 (French).
- ^ a b "Cameroon: The National Union for Democracy and Progress (Union nationale pour la démocratie et le progrès, UNDP), including its structure, its membership card and the treatment of its members by government authorities (2003-May 2005)", Responses to Information Requests, Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Ottawa, May 6, 2005.
- ^ a b c d e f g Profile at Ministry of Post and Telecommunications website (French).
- ^ Page on government website noting 1980 entry into the government (French).
- ^ a b Milton H. Krieger and Joseph Takougang, African State and Society in the 1990s: Cameroon's Political Crossroads (2000), Westview Press, pages 67–71.
- ^ a b c Victor Julius Ngoh, "Biya and the Transition to Democracy", in The Leadership Challenge in Africa: Cameroon Under Paul Biya (2004), ed. John Mukum Mbaku and Joseph Takougang, page 441.
- ^ "Bref historique du parti", website of the UNDP's French section (French).
- ^ a b Jean-Pascal Daloz and Patrick Quantin, Transitions démocratiques africaines: dynamiques et contraintes (1990-1994) (1997), Karthala Editions, page 117 (French).
- ^ a b c "Nord : Le triomphe des fils d`Ahidjo .", Mutations (Camerounlink.net), October 13, 2004 (French).
- ^ a b John Mukum Mbaku, "Decolonization, Reunification and Federation in Cameroon", in The Leadership Challenge in Africa: Cameroon Under Paul Biya, page 34.
- ^ Joseph Takougang, "Cameroon: Biya and Incremental Reform", in Political Reform in Francophone Africa (1997), ed. John F. Clark and David E. Gardinier, page 175.
- ^ "Chronology for Westerners in Cameroon", cidcm.umd.edu.
- ^ a b Joseph Takougang, "The Nature of Politics in Cameroon", The Leadership Challenge in Africa: Cameroon Under Paul Biya, page 83.
- ^ Ngoh, "Biya and the Transition to Democracy", The Leadership Challenge in Africa: Cameroon Under Paul Biya, page 444.
- ^ a b Gerald Ndikum, "UNDP in Crisis: Bouba Bello Maigari in danger of expulsion!", Camerounlink.net, July 25, 2003 (French).
- ^ a b Gerald Ndikum and Asong Ndifor, "Legislative re-run: Bello humiliated, SDF holds tight to Kumba but CPDM sweeps 16 more seats", The Herald (Cameroon-info.net), September 18, 2002.
- ^ a b Emmanuel Kendemeh, "Election 2004: CPDM Patiently Awaits Results", Cameroon Tribune (Cameroon-info.net). October 18, 2004.
| Preceded by Paul Biya |
Prime Minister of Cameroon 1982–1983 |
Succeeded by Luc Ayang |
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