19, January 2017

Anglophone Problem: Government backtracking on Ad Hoc Committee decision ⁰

The Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government is backtracking on its decision that dissolved the Ad Hoc Committee and eventually led to the arrest of the leaders of the Consortium. It is now even hard to say who is really in charge in Cameroon. The Minister of Higher Education, Jacques Fame Ndongo made public a press release stating that the government will resume dialogue with the teachers on the 31st of January 2017.

The Fame Ndongo communiqué also stated that the fourth round of talks shall be held at the conference hall of his department. A lot of tongues have been waging ever since the Biya acolyte published the press release yesterday January the 18^th 2017. We understand the Director of Cabinet at the Prime Minister’s Office; one Mr Ghogumu Paul Mingo had announced that discussion with the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium was over.

Ghogumu Paul Mingo’s pronouncement prompted the banning of the Consortium by another inexperienced Francophone Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Rene Emmanuel Sadi. The MINAT order led to the arrest of the leaders of the Consortium. Cameroon Concord News sources say Wilfred Tassang is currently at the US embassy in Yaounde.

One of the interesting features of the Minister Fama Ndongo press release is that the CPDM operates many governing councils within the crime syndicate. At present, we do not know if Minister Fame Ndongo intends to appoint teachers representatives who will brave the bad roads and come to Yaoundé to dialogue with him. “This is highly unsatisfactory from a government that has many cabinet ministers with PhDs attached to their names” noted a retired Anglophone Head Master contacted by CAMCORDNEWS.

But something very unusual has just happened. The Minister of Higher Education observed in his press release that he was by his action informing “national and international public opinion” of the 31^st of January meeting. The inclusion of international public opinion not by the government spokesman is a major backdown.

Nigeria has had numerous armed struggles: Boko Haram, Niger Delta Avengers and Biafra. It has never disconnected internet services in any of its region. The decision to cutoff internet and telephone services in British Southern Cameroons tells us how they (Francophones) see us and tells us that we are not part of them. It is sad to see the powerful Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime backtracking on this.