Dakolé Daïssala
Encyclopedia
Dakole Daïssala is a Cameroon
ian politician and the President of the Movement for the Defense of the Republic (MDR), a political party based in Cameroon's Far North Region. He served in the government of Cameroon as Minister of State for Posts and Telecommunications from 1992 to 1997; subsequently he was a Deputy in the National Assembly
from 1997 to 2002 and then Minister of Transport from 2004 to 2007.
and was born in Goundye (Kaélé
), located in the Far North Province. In 1967, he became first deputy prefect in Ngaoundéré
; subsequently, he was Deputy Director of General Administration at the Ministry of Finance from 1969 to 1970 and Director of Transport from 1970 to 1973. He served as Deputy Director-General of the Cameroon Urban Transport Authority (Société de Transports Urbains du Cameroun, SOTUC) from 1973 to 1975, and then as Director-General of SOTUC from 1975 until 1984.
Daïssala was arrested following the failed April 1984 coup attempt against President Paul Biya
. After spending seven years in prison without ever being tried or even charged, he was released in 1991. He wrote a book about his experience in prison called Libre derrière les barreaux (Free Behind Bars).
Once released, he founded the Movement for the Defense of the Republic (MDR), an opposition party; some have suspected that the party was actually created by the authorities as part of a strategy of diluting meaningful opposition. The MDR won six seats in the National Assembly in the March 1992 parliamentary election
(all of them in the Far North Province) and afterwards it allied with the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement
(RDPC); the two parties thus constituted a narrow parliamentary majority with 94 out of 180 seats. Daïssala was appointed to the government as Minister of State for Posts and Telecommunications on April 9, 1992; four other members of the MDR also received positions in the government at the same time.
Daïssala was a member of the Consultative Constitutional Council in 1995, prior to the adoption of the new constitution in January 1996. He was elected to the National Assembly from the Mayo-Kani South constituency of Far North Province in the 1997 parliamentary election
and was the only MDR candidate to win a seat, serving in the National Assembly from 1997 to 2002. In the October 1997 presidential election
, he supported Movement for Democracy and Progress
candidate Samuel Eboua rather than President Biya; following the latter's victory, he was notably absent from Biya's swearing in ceremony on November 3, 1997. After more than five years as Minister of State for Posts and Telecommunications, Daïssala was excluded from the government that was appointed on December 7, 1997. According to Daïssala, his departure from the government was voluntary, based on his desire to serve as a Deputy in the National Assembly.
In May 1998, Daïssala was barred from leaving the country to travel to France for a private visit and his passport was withdrawn. He described this as a violation of human rights. Subsequently, he was said to have regained his passport and was able to travel again. Along with four other opposition parties, including the Social Democratic Front (SDF), the MDR signed a statement on November 23, 2000 calling for the creation of an independent electoral commission and denouncing the government's "contemptuous indifference with respect to the requirement of free, fair and transparent elections".
On January 13, 2001, Daïssala and various other party leaders participated in an unauthorized protest in Yaoundé against the National Election Observatory, believing that it would not be an impartial body. The protest was dispersed by security forces, and Daïssala, along with the other party leaders, was detained for five hours. Following the June 2002 parliamentary election
, Daïssala and four other notable northern politicians released a statement in July, in which they alleged electoral fraud and announced the formation of a "resistance front". They warned that the RDPC was moving the country back to single-party rule and called on politicians "to transcend any divergence, selfishness and personal ambition in order to create a movement capable of saving Cameroon from collapse". He also joined other northern politicians in signing a September 2002 memo decrying the government's alleged marginalization and neglect of the north and urging that more attention be paid to addressing the north's problems.
Daïssala supported President Biya in the October 2004 presidential election
, and subsequently, after seven years out of the government, he was appointed as Minister of Transport in the government named on December 8, 2004. As Minister of Transport, Daïssala signed an open skies
agreement with United States
Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer
on February 16, 2006, thereby permitting mutual unrestricted air travel between the two countries.
Daïssala ran again for a parliamentary seat in the July 2007 parliamentary election
, saying that he believed that a minister in the government should stand for election; he also said that if the MDR ever obtained a parliamentary majority, it would immediately pass a law requiring ministers to stand as parliamentary candidates. However, the MDR failed to win any National Assembly seats in the 2007 election, and Daïssala was defeated in Mayo-Kani South constituency. The MDR list in Mayo-Kani South narrowly lost with 48.67% of the vote against 51.33% for the RDPC list. Although Daïssala said that he was willing to stay in the government despite his electoral defeat, he was excluded from the government that was appointed on September 7, 2007. In addition to the dwindling of the MDR's support, another factor in Daïssala's dismissal was thought to be his lackluster response to the crash of Kenya Airways Flight 507
at Douala
in May 2007; he had been criticized for inactivity following the crash and failing to visit the crash site.
Daïssala and the MDR supported the 2008 constitutional revision that removed the presidential two-term limit, thereby permitting Biya to run for another term in 2011. However, Daïssala also said that he favored other constitutional changes, such as the creation of a two-round voting system and compulsory voting
.
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
ian politician and the President of the Movement for the Defense of the Republic (MDR), a political party based in Cameroon's Far North Region. He served in the government of Cameroon as Minister of State for Posts and Telecommunications from 1992 to 1997; subsequently he was a Deputy in the National Assembly
National Assembly of Cameroon
The National Assembly is the parliament of Cameroon. It has 180 members, elected for five-year terms in 49 single and multi-seat constituencies....
from 1997 to 2002 and then Minister of Transport from 2004 to 2007.
Political career
Daïssala is a KirdiKirdi
The Kirdi are is a term that describes some many cultures and ethnic groups who inhabit northwestern Cameroon and northeastern Nigeria.The term was applied to various peoples who had not converted to Islam at the time of colonization and was a pejorative, although some writers have reappropriated it...
and was born in Goundye (Kaélé
Kaélé
Kaélé is a town in Cameroon's Far North Province, on the Diamaré Plain at . It lies near the Chadian border and 104 km south of Maroua. The town has a population of roughly 7,000 and is the capital of the Mayo Kani division. The cottonseed oil company Diamaor runs a mill there. Kaélé is...
), located in the Far North Province. In 1967, he became first deputy prefect in Ngaoundéré
Ngaoundéré
Ngaoundéré or N'Gaoundéré is the capital of the Adamawa Region of Cameroon. It had a population of 152,698 . It lies at the northern end of the railway to Yaoundé and is also home to an airport. The current city was founded in approximately 1835 by the Fulani leader Ardo Njobdi, although the...
; subsequently, he was Deputy Director of General Administration at the Ministry of Finance from 1969 to 1970 and Director of Transport from 1970 to 1973. He served as Deputy Director-General of the Cameroon Urban Transport Authority (Société de Transports Urbains du Cameroun, SOTUC) from 1973 to 1975, and then as Director-General of SOTUC from 1975 until 1984.
Daïssala was arrested following the failed April 1984 coup attempt against President Paul Biya
Paul Biya
Paul Biya is a Cameroonian politician who has been the President of Cameroon since 6 November 1982. A native of Cameroon's south, Biya rose rapidly as a bureaucrat under President Ahmadou Ahidjo in the 1960s, serving as Secretary-General of the Presidency from 1968 to 1975 and then as Prime...
. After spending seven years in prison without ever being tried or even charged, he was released in 1991. He wrote a book about his experience in prison called Libre derrière les barreaux (Free Behind Bars).
Once released, he founded the Movement for the Defense of the Republic (MDR), an opposition party; some have suspected that the party was actually created by the authorities as part of a strategy of diluting meaningful opposition. The MDR won six seats in the National Assembly in the March 1992 parliamentary election
Cameroonian parliamentary election, 1992
Parliamentary elections were held in Cameroon on 1 March 1992. They were first multi-party elections for the National Assembly since 1964, although they were boycotted by the Social Democratic Front and the Cameroon Democratic Union. The result was a victory for the ruling Cameroon People's...
(all of them in the Far North Province) and afterwards it allied with the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement
Cameroon People's Democratic Movement
The Cameroon People's Democratic Movement is the ruling political party in Cameroon.-History:Previously known as the Cameroon National Union, which had dominated Cameroon politics since independence in 1960, it was renamed in 1985...
(RDPC); the two parties thus constituted a narrow parliamentary majority with 94 out of 180 seats. Daïssala was appointed to the government as Minister of State for Posts and Telecommunications on April 9, 1992; four other members of the MDR also received positions in the government at the same time.
Daïssala was a member of the Consultative Constitutional Council in 1995, prior to the adoption of the new constitution in January 1996. He was elected to the National Assembly from the Mayo-Kani South constituency of Far North Province in the 1997 parliamentary election
Cameroonian parliamentary election, 1997
Parliamentary elections were held in Cameroon on 17 May 1997. The result was a victory for the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement, which won 116 of the 180 seats, including seven constituencies in which the result had originally been cancelled by the Supreme Court due to serious...
and was the only MDR candidate to win a seat, serving in the National Assembly from 1997 to 2002. In the October 1997 presidential election
Cameroonian presidential election, 1997
Presidential elections were held in Cameroon on 12 October 1997. They were boycotted by the main opposition parties, the Social Democratic Front, the National Union for Democracy and Progress, and the Cameroon Democratic Union, as well as the smaller African Peoples Union. As a result incumbent...
, he supported Movement for Democracy and Progress
Movement for Democracy and Progress
The Movement for Democracy and Progress is a political party in the Republic of the Congo. In the parliamentary election held on June 24 and August 5 2007, the party won 1 out of 137 seats....
candidate Samuel Eboua rather than President Biya; following the latter's victory, he was notably absent from Biya's swearing in ceremony on November 3, 1997. After more than five years as Minister of State for Posts and Telecommunications, Daïssala was excluded from the government that was appointed on December 7, 1997. According to Daïssala, his departure from the government was voluntary, based on his desire to serve as a Deputy in the National Assembly.
In May 1998, Daïssala was barred from leaving the country to travel to France for a private visit and his passport was withdrawn. He described this as a violation of human rights. Subsequently, he was said to have regained his passport and was able to travel again. Along with four other opposition parties, including the Social Democratic Front (SDF), the MDR signed a statement on November 23, 2000 calling for the creation of an independent electoral commission and denouncing the government's "contemptuous indifference with respect to the requirement of free, fair and transparent elections".
On January 13, 2001, Daïssala and various other party leaders participated in an unauthorized protest in Yaoundé against the National Election Observatory, believing that it would not be an impartial body. The protest was dispersed by security forces, and Daïssala, along with the other party leaders, was detained for five hours. Following the June 2002 parliamentary election
Cameroonian parliamentary election, 2002
Parliamentary elections were held in Cameroon on 30 June 2002. The result was a victory for the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement, which won 149 of the 180 seats. In 17 constituencies the result was cancelled by the Supreme Court due to irregularities and the election re-run on 15...
, Daïssala and four other notable northern politicians released a statement in July, in which they alleged electoral fraud and announced the formation of a "resistance front". They warned that the RDPC was moving the country back to single-party rule and called on politicians "to transcend any divergence, selfishness and personal ambition in order to create a movement capable of saving Cameroon from collapse". He also joined other northern politicians in signing a September 2002 memo decrying the government's alleged marginalization and neglect of the north and urging that more attention be paid to addressing the north's problems.
Daïssala supported President Biya in the October 2004 presidential election
Cameroonian presidential election, 2004
The 2004 Cameroonian presidential election took place in Cameroon on 11 October 2004. Incumbent President Paul Biya was easily re-elected in an election which the opposition claimed had seen widespread electoral fraud.-Background:...
, and subsequently, after seven years out of the government, he was appointed as Minister of Transport in the government named on December 8, 2004. As Minister of Transport, Daïssala signed an open skies
Open skies
Open skies is an international policy concept which calls for the liberalization of rules and regulations on international aviation industry most specially commercial aviation - opening a free market for the airline industry...
agreement with United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer
Jendayi Frazer
Jendayi Elizabeth Frazer is the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, heading the Bureau of African Affairs. She currently serves as a Distinguished Service Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College and Department of Social and Decision...
on February 16, 2006, thereby permitting mutual unrestricted air travel between the two countries.
Daïssala ran again for a parliamentary seat in the July 2007 parliamentary election
Cameroonian parliamentary election, 2007
A parliamentary election was held in Cameroon on 22 July 2007, with some polls held again on 30 September 2007. 1,274 candidates stood for the 180 seats in the National Assembly, with 41 parties participating...
, saying that he believed that a minister in the government should stand for election; he also said that if the MDR ever obtained a parliamentary majority, it would immediately pass a law requiring ministers to stand as parliamentary candidates. However, the MDR failed to win any National Assembly seats in the 2007 election, and Daïssala was defeated in Mayo-Kani South constituency. The MDR list in Mayo-Kani South narrowly lost with 48.67% of the vote against 51.33% for the RDPC list. Although Daïssala said that he was willing to stay in the government despite his electoral defeat, he was excluded from the government that was appointed on September 7, 2007. In addition to the dwindling of the MDR's support, another factor in Daïssala's dismissal was thought to be his lackluster response to the crash of Kenya Airways Flight 507
Kenya Airways Flight 507
Kenya Airways Flight 507 was a scheduled Abidjan–Douala–Nairobi passenger service, operated with a Boeing 737-8AL, that crashed in the initial stage of its second leg on , immediately after takeoff from Douala International Airport...
at Douala
Douala
Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Province. Home to Cameroon's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Airport, it is the commercial capital of the country...
in May 2007; he had been criticized for inactivity following the crash and failing to visit the crash site.
Daïssala and the MDR supported the 2008 constitutional revision that removed the presidential two-term limit, thereby permitting Biya to run for another term in 2011. However, Daïssala also said that he favored other constitutional changes, such as the creation of a two-round voting system and compulsory voting
Compulsory voting
Compulsory voting is a system in which electors are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, he or she may be subject to punitive measures such as fines, community service, or perhaps imprisonment if fines are unpaid...
.