In an article, Biya’s Democracy or an Exercise in Fraud published by the New York Times on February 14, 2005, Staff Writer, Ken Silverstein proffered some disturbing insight into the magnitude of election fraud during the 2004 elections. Ken Silverstein reveals that even the so-called International Observers who witnesses the elections had their palms greased.
Ken Silverstein writes, “When the strongman who has ruled the West African country of Cameroon for more than 20 years swept to another election victory last fall, a number of observers quickly questioned the process.
International monitors led by a former Canadian Prime Minister said they had no confidence in the voter registration lists. Roman Catholic Cardinal Christian Tumi of Cameroon said the election, like all others in his country, was "surrounded by fraud."
Nevertheless, after having their throats oiled by the Biya regime, former members of the U.S. Congress on the scene were more upbeat about President Paul Barthelemy Biya's 71% landslide. "In general, the process was free," Ronnie Shows, one of six observers from the Washington-based U.S. Assn. of Former Members of Congress, told reporters in Cameroon. "This is what democracy is about."
The American mission was different in another way: an association member who also was a lobbyist for Biya’s government had organized it. The lobbyist served as the mission's chief staffer and billed Cameroon for his work.
Biya's government also picked up the 80,000 USD tab for the Americans' visit.”
The huge sums given the American Congressmen raised a huge furor internationally. Association Executive Director Peter Weichlein defended the mission, saying it met all ethical standards and that a written report a week after the election included serious criticisms of the process. Five of the observers said in interviews that they had no problem with the lobbyist, former Rep. Greg Laughlin, playing such a key role in the mission.
But three experienced election-monitoring groups said their standards would bar a variety of the association's procedures in Cameroon.
David Carroll, director of democracy programs at the Carter Center, which has monitored dozens of foreign elections, said his group did not accept funding from the government of a country where it was observing an election.
"That's a clear conflict of interest," he said. "So is the involvement of anyone on the delegation who has a clear financial or political interest at stake."
A spokesperson at Cameroon's embassy in Washington said he was surprised that former members of Congress had allowed his government to pay for their trip. "It's not normal practice," said Richard Nyamboli. "I would think they would want to be autonomous."
And a month after the group left, one of the six observers signed his own lobbying contract with Cameroon, promising to show that the country was making great strides in human rights and democracy, according to federal lobby disclosure records.
In July, the Washington law and lobbying firm Patton Boggs inked a 400,000USD deal to help improve ties between the U.S. and Cameroon, including on "issues relating" to the October election. Three Patton Boggs lobbyists, including Laughlin, traveled to Cameroon in August. Laughlin said in an interview that government officials told him they wanted Americans to monitor the vote so they could see how much progress Cameroon had made in building a democracy.
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