Garga Haman Adji
Encyclopedia
Garga Haman Adji is a Cameroon
ian politician. He served in the government of Cameroon as Minister of the Civil Service from 1990 to 1992 and is currently the President of the Alliance for Democracy and Development
(ADD), a minor political party. He is also a municipal councillor in the First Arrondissement of Maroua
.
and a member of the Fula ethnic group
, Garga was born in Maroua. He began working in the state administration when he was a teenager, becoming an auxiliary administrative assistant in Yagoua Prefecture on 26 November 1961 and then head of the secretariat of the sub-prefect of Kar-Haye in July 1962; the latter post enabled him to gain experience in preparing a budget. He also joined the ruling party in 1962, and he studied at Cameroon's National School of Administration and Magistracy, at the International Institute of Administration in Paris
, and at the Federal University of Yaounde during the 1960s.
Following the April 1984 coup attempt, in which northerners were implicated, Garga was arrested and held at the Kondengui prison. He was soon released, however, and he was appointed as Director-General of Boston Bank Cameroon on 24 October 1984. President Paul Biya
appointed Garga to the government as Minister of the Civil Service and the Supreme State Audit in 1990. Reflecting later on his appointment, Garga said that he was pleased by it because he thought Biya had recognized his determination to fight corruption and would allow him to do so freely. After the legalization of multiparty politics in December 1990, Garga helped to found a political party, the Alliance for Democracy and Progress; it was legally recognized on 4 June 1991.
In the government, Garga worked to fight corruption. As head of the Supreme State Audit, he reported that various senior officials owed a total of 357 million CFA francs in missing funds, identifying 42 of them who were alleged to have stolen one million CFA francs or more. Garga argued that the senior officials should be put on trial to demonstrate that corruption would not be tolerated, but no action was taken against them. Garga's ministerial portfolio was then modified on 9 April 1992, when he was appointed as Minister of the Civil Service and Administrative Reform; he thus lost his authority over the Supreme State Audit. According to Garga, Biya did not explain to Garga why he had altered Garga's responsibilities, but Garga believed it was done because Biya and those around him disapproved of Garga's hardline stance against corruption. Frustrated by the situation and feeling that Biya lacked confidence in him, Garga resigned from the government on 27 August 1992. He denied that he was persuaded to resign by opposition leader John Fru Ndi
, although he campaigned in support of Fru Ndi's candidacy in the October 1992 presidential election
. At the time of the election, Biya said that Garga had resigned because Biya was unwilling to do what Garga wanted. Biya won the 1992 election according to official results; however, Garga claimed that the election was rigged and that Fru Ndi was the actual winner.
, but the program was banned immediately prior to its broadcast. According to the radio station's management, the program was not aired due to incomplete paperwork.
As the representative of a political party, Garga was included on the 22-member National Vote Counting Commission at the time of the October 1997 presidential election
, and he accused the Commission of acting fraudulently in its handling of the results.
Following the June 2002 parliamentary election
, Garga 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 governing Cameroon People's Democratic Movement
(RDPC) was moving the country back to single-party rule and called on politicians to "to transcend any divergence, selfishness and personal ambition in order to create a movement capable of saving Cameroon from collapse". Garga 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.
Garga stood as the ADD candidate in the October 2004 presidential election
. Refusing to join the opposition coalition at that time, he said that aside from Fru Ndi and Adamou Ndam Njoya
the coalition was composed of unreliable opportunists, while his critics argued that wanted to run for President only to satisfy his own ego. Along with other opposition leaders, Garga called for the computerization of the electoral process, saying that it was necessary to "preserve the social peace and guarantee a transparent election". In the election, he placed fourth with 3.73% of the vote. Biya won the election overwhelmingly, although Garga managed a "respectable" performance in the area of Diamaré
, located in Far North Province
.
In a statement released on 15 October 2004, a few days after the election, Garga condemned the election as fraudulent, pointing to a wide range of flaws and asserting the need for an independent electoral commission to oversee future elections. He also criticized other opposition leaders for behaving in what he described as a fractious, selfish, and inconsistent manner since the early 1990s. In other post-election observations, he disapprovingly noted that people tended to vote for candidates native to their own region and stressed the importance of unity, saying that the people should move beyond tribal politics and vote on the basis of ideas. Regarding discontent and secessionist tendencies in the Anglophone population, he said that their grievances had merit and that the government should take those grievances seriously.
Aside from his role as President of the ADD, Garga also headed the "Good Conscience" non-governmental organization
as of 2006. Following the creation of the Mo Ibrahim Prize, which was intended to promote good governance by rewarding retired African leaders with large sums of money, Garga expressed skepticism in an October 2006 interview with BBC Africa. He argued that an unwillingness to engage in corruption was based on one's "personal conviction, which has nothing to do with wealth". He was also skeptical that the prize would encourage African leaders to retire, arguing that no amount of money would be sufficient if they did not want to leave power.
On 15 March 2007, President Biya appointed Garga to a three year term on the Coordination Committee of the National Anti-Corruption Commission. At the swearing-in ceremony on 30 May 2007, Garga collapsed, but he received quick medical attention and recovered within minutes. In the press, his collapse was blamed on the very crowded atmosphere in the hall, as well as the fact that he had been standing for about an hour.
Garga was one of three ADD candidates elected to the 35-member Municipal Council of the First Arrondissement of Maroua in the July 2007 municipal election
. Although his party won only a few municipal seats and no parliamentary seats, Garga observed that the ADD had never before won any municipal seats and argued that the ADD had made progress because it existed "in an environment of thieves" but still managed to "save some of [its] possessions". At the first session of the First Arrondissements Municipal Council, Garga was designated as Vice-President of its Finance Committee. Although a secondary position in local government was minor compared to positions he had held earlier in his career, Garga said that he wanted to be useful and was happy to share his experience with other members of the council. In reaction to the National Elections Observatory's generally positive report on the 2007 parliamentary and municipal election, published on 31 July 2008, Garga said that the election was rigged and that the Observatory's report did not reflect reality. According to Garga, voter registration was selective and represented such a small portion of the population (4.6 million registered voters out of 18.5 million citizens) that the election had no credibility. He also pointed to allegations of multiple voting and vote-buying in claiming that the election was not free and fair.
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. He served in the government of Cameroon as Minister of the Civil Service from 1990 to 1992 and is currently the President of the Alliance for Democracy and Development
Alliance for Democracy and Development
The Alliance for Democracy and Development is a political party in Cameroon. At the presidential elections, 11 October 2004, its candidate, Garga Haman Adji, won 3.7 % of the vote....
(ADD), a minor political party. He is also a municipal councillor in the First Arrondissement of Maroua
Maroua
Maroua is the capital of the Far North Region of Cameroon, on the Ferngo and Kaliao Rivers. The city had 201,371 inhabitants at the 2005 Census,and is a centre of cotton industry. The city also has an airport located near the town of Salak, an agricultural school and ethnographic museum. To the...
.
Early life and education
A MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
and a member of the Fula ethnic group
Fula people
Fula people or Fulani or Fulbe are an ethnic group spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa...
, Garga was born in Maroua. He began working in the state administration when he was a teenager, becoming an auxiliary administrative assistant in Yagoua Prefecture on 26 November 1961 and then head of the secretariat of the sub-prefect of Kar-Haye in July 1962; the latter post enabled him to gain experience in preparing a budget. He also joined the ruling party in 1962, and he studied at Cameroon's National School of Administration and Magistracy, at the International Institute of Administration in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and at the Federal University of Yaounde during the 1960s.
Professional career and government service
Early in his career, Garga held a succession of high-level administrative posts in Cameroon, working as Sub-Director of National Security, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Finance, Secretary-General of the Ministry of the Civil Service, and Finance Director of the National Electricity Company of Cameroon. He then served as State Inspector and Deputy Director of Inspection and Administrative Reform.Following the April 1984 coup attempt, in which northerners were implicated, Garga was arrested and held at the Kondengui prison. He was soon released, however, and he was appointed as Director-General of Boston Bank Cameroon on 24 October 1984. 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...
appointed Garga to the government as Minister of the Civil Service and the Supreme State Audit in 1990. Reflecting later on his appointment, Garga said that he was pleased by it because he thought Biya had recognized his determination to fight corruption and would allow him to do so freely. After the legalization of multiparty politics in December 1990, Garga helped to found a political party, the Alliance for Democracy and Progress; it was legally recognized on 4 June 1991.
In the government, Garga worked to fight corruption. As head of the Supreme State Audit, he reported that various senior officials owed a total of 357 million CFA francs in missing funds, identifying 42 of them who were alleged to have stolen one million CFA francs or more. Garga argued that the senior officials should be put on trial to demonstrate that corruption would not be tolerated, but no action was taken against them. Garga's ministerial portfolio was then modified on 9 April 1992, when he was appointed as Minister of the Civil Service and Administrative Reform; he thus lost his authority over the Supreme State Audit. According to Garga, Biya did not explain to Garga why he had altered Garga's responsibilities, but Garga believed it was done because Biya and those around him disapproved of Garga's hardline stance against corruption. Frustrated by the situation and feeling that Biya lacked confidence in him, Garga resigned from the government on 27 August 1992. He denied that he was persuaded to resign by opposition leader John Fru Ndi
John Fru Ndi
Ni John Fru Ndi is the founder and leader of Cameroon's Social Democratic Front .Fru Ndi was born in Baba II, near Bamenda in the Northwest Province of Cameroon. The title of Ni, a marker of respect, was given to him when he was born...
, although he campaigned in support of Fru Ndi's candidacy in the October 1992 presidential election
Cameroonian presidential election, 1992
A presidential election was held in Cameroon on 11 October 1992. It was the first presidential election since multi-party politics had been legalised, and it was also the first to feature more than one candidate. Incumbent Paul Biya won with 39.98% of the vote. Voter turnout was 71.9%.The 1992...
. At the time of the election, Biya said that Garga had resigned because Biya was unwilling to do what Garga wanted. Biya won the 1992 election according to official results; however, Garga claimed that the election was rigged and that Fru Ndi was the actual winner.
Political career after 1992
Garga's party, which was renamed as the Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD), performed poorly in elections, but Garga said that was due to electoral fraud. In May 1996, he was planned to appear as a guest on Les Heures fugaces, a debate program on public radio, for a discussion about the death of Ahmadou AhidjoAhmadou Ahidjo
Ahmadou Babatoura Ahidjo was the first President of Cameroon from 1960 until 1982.-Early life:Ahidjo was born in Garoua, a major river port along the Benue River in northern Cameroun, which was at the time a French mandate territory...
, but the program was banned immediately prior to its broadcast. According to the radio station's management, the program was not aired due to incomplete paperwork.
As the representative of a political party, Garga was included on the 22-member National Vote Counting Commission at the time of 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...
, and he accused the Commission of acting fraudulently in its handling of the results.
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...
, Garga 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 governing 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) was moving the country back to single-party rule and called on politicians to "to transcend any divergence, selfishness and personal ambition in order to create a movement capable of saving Cameroon from collapse". Garga 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.
Garga stood as the ADD candidate 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:...
. Refusing to join the opposition coalition at that time, he said that aside from Fru Ndi and Adamou Ndam Njoya
Adamou Ndam Njoya
Adamou Ndam Njoya is a Cameroonian politician, lawyer, author, and professor. He was Minister of National Education from 1977 to 1980, and he has been the President of the Cameroon Democratic Union , an opposition party, since 1991. He has also been the Mayor of Foumban since 1996, and from 1997...
the coalition was composed of unreliable opportunists, while his critics argued that wanted to run for President only to satisfy his own ego. Along with other opposition leaders, Garga called for the computerization of the electoral process, saying that it was necessary to "preserve the social peace and guarantee a transparent election". In the election, he placed fourth with 3.73% of the vote. Biya won the election overwhelmingly, although Garga managed a "respectable" performance in the area of Diamaré
Diamaré
Diamaré is a department of Far North Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 4,665 km² and at the 2005 Census had a total population of 642,227...
, located in Far North Province
Far North Province
The Far North Region , also known as the Extreme North Region , is the northernmost constituent province of the Republic of Cameroon. It borders the North Region to the south, Chad to the east, and Nigeria to the west. The capital is Maroua.The province is one of Cameroon's most culturally diverse...
.
In a statement released on 15 October 2004, a few days after the election, Garga condemned the election as fraudulent, pointing to a wide range of flaws and asserting the need for an independent electoral commission to oversee future elections. He also criticized other opposition leaders for behaving in what he described as a fractious, selfish, and inconsistent manner since the early 1990s. In other post-election observations, he disapprovingly noted that people tended to vote for candidates native to their own region and stressed the importance of unity, saying that the people should move beyond tribal politics and vote on the basis of ideas. Regarding discontent and secessionist tendencies in the Anglophone population, he said that their grievances had merit and that the government should take those grievances seriously.
Anti-Corruption Commission and 2007 election
When Biya launched an anti-corruption campaign in early 2006, Garga expressed cautious approval, saying that Biya was finally doing what he had recommended in the early 1990s and that it was "better late than never", but he also said that the anti-corruption campaign needed to extend much further. According to Garga, many ministers and heads of state corporations were corrupt.Aside from his role as President of the ADD, Garga also headed the "Good Conscience" non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
as of 2006. Following the creation of the Mo Ibrahim Prize, which was intended to promote good governance by rewarding retired African leaders with large sums of money, Garga expressed skepticism in an October 2006 interview with BBC Africa. He argued that an unwillingness to engage in corruption was based on one's "personal conviction, which has nothing to do with wealth". He was also skeptical that the prize would encourage African leaders to retire, arguing that no amount of money would be sufficient if they did not want to leave power.
On 15 March 2007, President Biya appointed Garga to a three year term on the Coordination Committee of the National Anti-Corruption Commission. At the swearing-in ceremony on 30 May 2007, Garga collapsed, but he received quick medical attention and recovered within minutes. In the press, his collapse was blamed on the very crowded atmosphere in the hall, as well as the fact that he had been standing for about an hour.
Garga was one of three ADD candidates elected to the 35-member Municipal Council of the First Arrondissement of Maroua in the July 2007 municipal 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...
. Although his party won only a few municipal seats and no parliamentary seats, Garga observed that the ADD had never before won any municipal seats and argued that the ADD had made progress because it existed "in an environment of thieves" but still managed to "save some of [its] possessions". At the first session of the First Arrondissements Municipal Council, Garga was designated as Vice-President of its Finance Committee. Although a secondary position in local government was minor compared to positions he had held earlier in his career, Garga said that he wanted to be useful and was happy to share his experience with other members of the council. In reaction to the National Elections Observatory's generally positive report on the 2007 parliamentary and municipal election, published on 31 July 2008, Garga said that the election was rigged and that the Observatory's report did not reflect reality. According to Garga, voter registration was selective and represented such a small portion of the population (4.6 million registered voters out of 18.5 million citizens) that the election had no credibility. He also pointed to allegations of multiple voting and vote-buying in claiming that the election was not free and fair.