Watching the general election from Cameroon (no, I didn't vote for Barack Obama)
on Mischa in Cameroon (Cameroon), 18/May/2010 09:46, 34 days ago
I was in Maga without internet for the two weeks on either side of the UK General Elections, so I was reliant on three alternative sources of information to find out who was going to run my country. 1)   The BBC World Service. This can only be picked up in Maga between about six and ten in the evening. The rest of the time its wavelength seems to be taken over by people speaking what I think is German, but is possibly some Nigerian local dialect, and an American religious station, which runs a lot of church services. The local Cameroonian radio seems to have a strong focus on which dignitaries opened regional agricultural conferences. 2)   Text messages. Useful both for telling my Dad how to use my proxy vote and receiving my Mum’s infallible text messages, by far the fastest and most reliable source of up to date election information.3)   Local commentary.My friend the baker got confused about which election I was talking about, and asked me if I’d voted for Barack Obama. I explained that I hadn’t been able to do so, as I wasn’t American, but that I admired him a lot. The baker replied that he was disappointed that Hillary Clinton hadn’t won, which surprised me, as most Cameroonians are obsessed with Barack Obama. When I asked him why he replied that he likes her dress sense.Even when people get the right country understanding of the political party lines is also not always clear. One local dignitary told me he was a great fan of the Labour party because they were the party of Winston Churchill. When I was trying to explain to the Sultan why I hadn’t voted for the Conservatives he told me that he knew there were problems with the Conservatives just from their name. He informed me that he doesn’t approve of people that cling conservatively to old traditions (the Sultan himself rarely allows his four wives to leave the house, makes people take their shoes off before they enter his palace, and keeps a private army that runs his own justice system largely based on him saying “Because I say so”).In West Africa unclear election results tend to lead to violent coups, so people were understandably concerned during the period after the election when I explained that my country had no government. My boss, the Inspector, gave me the most reassuring advice on the day after the elections, telling me that“I know that the politics in your country are hotting up, but don’t worry, because the Queen will rule if they can’t chose a Prime Minister.”