The violence that was served to residents of Bamenda on Thursday, December 9, 2016, following demonstrations in the North West regional capital should not be part of the country’s history if the culture of dialogue and tolerance had been sown in the collective psyche. The negotiating table was also designed for Cameroonians and the country’s government should be promoting this culture that has served other people and stood the test of time. The demonstrations that were started by lawyers were designed to be peaceful until the forces of law and order came to sow disorder. Many lawyers were brutalized and this has drawn the ire and flak of many Anglophones who now hold that the government is not interested in addressing their issues in a peaceful manner. Yesterday’s killings in Bamenda constitute irrefutable proof of the government’s arrogance and determination to push the country into the abyss of violent conflict.

While ordinary, armless and peaceful Anglophones are simply calling for their leaders to listen to them, the government which is supposed to be leading from the front seems to be looking for an excuse to mow down its own citizens and Bamenda did serve yesterday as a training ground for the military to put into practice its own killing skills. Such violence does not create proper room for meaningful dialogue. Taking down your own citizens only makes matters worse. Violence, regardless of the form, only begets violence. If demonstrations by Anglophones are not considered legal, what could have justified the CPDM march that was supposed to take place in Bamenda? Just a few days ago, SDF parliamentarians were blocked in a hotel in Buea just because they wanted to demonstrate their support for the striking Anglophone Cameroonians. If the SDF march in support of angry Anglophone teachers and lawyers was not right, why did CPDM stalwarts think their own march in Bamenda would be considered right and appropriate by a people who feel frustrated and marginalized? Does this not look like a double standard? Why should there be different strokes for different folks? When will the government and ruling party understand that tricks of the past cannot really produce the same results in a new era?

In a genuine democracy, it is normal for frustrated citizens to make their angst known to their leaders without resorting to violence. But when government officials seem to live in an Ivory tower, it becomes challenging for dialogue to actually take place. When will Cameroon government officials come down from their pseudo pedestal of superiority to have frank and meaningful discussions with the people they government? This is not the attitude to develop when running a country with different linguistic blocs and multiple tribes. It is preposterous to hold that unity and peace will always prevail and that weapons will always intimidate the people. Differences of opinion will always exist in such societies, but it is incumbent upon the government to play its role as a stabilizing force. Cameroonians, especially those of Anglophone extraction, sincerely think that there is no true and reliable partner on the other side for them to have real discussions on those issues that have made the union feel and smell like a very bad marriage. In their view, it is hard to achieve anything in their country without taking to the streets. They point to the creation of more universities in 1993 in the country and this only happened after long and painful demonstrations wherein some of their compatriots were killed by the people who weresupposed to protect. Multiparty politics was birthed in bloodshed in Cameroon and the memories of the past are still very fresh. The country is still littered with victims of this period. The psychological and physical scars are still there and the people, especially North-westerners, will surely not forget those bad and ugly days. Such examples only come to strengthen the argument that citizens of this country cannot achieve anything without bloodshed.  Some even assert that even the government comes to the negotiating table, it ends up speaking from both sides of its mouth. Isn’t it time for the government to clean up its own act?

Like their Francophone counterparts, Anglophones simply want the government to lend an ear to their cry. They are slowly running out of tears and blood seems to be replacing tears. The need for dialogue is not new in Cameroon. Even in the days of the country’s first president, Anglophones always called for dialogue, although the cries fell on deaf ears and their marginalization and assimilation gathered full momentum when the country’s first president yielded power to the current president.

In a letter to President Ahmadou Ahidjo in 1964, Prof. Bernard Fonlon said that  “A traveler on the road stops from time to time to look back and see the ground he has covered; merchants close shops at intervals to take stock; users of machines are bound to service and overhaul them now and again. Thus it is the most natural of things for the people engaged in an enterprise such as this to halt, once in a while, to see how much ground has been covered, to draw up their balance sheet, to service or overhaul, if need be, the machinery of the State.” This implies that both Anglophones and Francophones should come to the table to assess the state of their union. It also implies that Anglophones have been crying for a very long time and the government be it the current or the past one has been totally indifferent to their sorry plight.

Prof. Fonlon like current Anglophones had called for genuine dialogue. He summed up the Anglophone spirit of dialogue in the following words, calling on the government not to view an assessment of the union as a challenge. “We shall call upon you, therefore, brothers and co-builders, to hear us with sympathetic understanding. As I have said, again and again, we are not making this appeal in a fault finding spirit. We are making it because of our love for this country, because of our faith in its destiny, because of our concern for this welfare and prestige. We make it because we are mindful of the solemn words of practical wisdom addressed to all builders in the Sermon on the Mount.”

Cameroon political authorities should lend an ear to their people. Dialogue is the answer. Violence has never addressed any issues. Violence only begets violence. Government authorities can spare this beautiful nation the scourge of war if they embrace dialogue and peaceful resolution of conflicts. Provocations, regardless of the form, only cause problems to escalate.

Dr Joachim Arrey

Cameroon Concord News Group

Two Higher Teachers Training Colleges existed in the then United Republic of Cameroon. Bamenda for Southern Cameroonians and Yaoundé for French speaking Cameroonians.  The Francophone spiritual and political leaders said let us pray for national integration, peace, work and fatherland and we closed our eyes and Yaoundé became Higher Ecole Normale and Bamenda, the Annex!!! Today out of 100 student teachers admitted in Bamenda 80 are from French Cameroon. This begs the question: How can this be North West domination over the South West people?

Buea had a School of Posts and Telecommunications for Anglophone Cameroon and Yaoundé for French Cameroonians. As Francis Nkwain, E.T.Egbe, Joseph Awunti and Muna were concluding the last stanza of the peace, work and fatherland prayer, Buea became annex and Yaoundé was renamed Higher School of Post and Telecom. Today, 162 students are presently studying in Buea and all of them are French speaking Cameroonians. The language of study is French and all lecturers too are Francophones. How can this be North West domination of the South West region?

The situation at the Public Works School in Buea is shameful, disgusting and disgraceful. Of the 200 students currently studying there, only 27 are from the North West and South West regions. This cannot be a North West or Fru Ndi SDF plot against the South West people.

In the University of Buea, lectures are given predominantly in French. In the School of Translators and Interpreters, only 7 Anglophones are presently there. In Police Academy in Mutengene, out of 400 young officers including administrators only 22 are Anglophones. This cannot be a Bafurchou mafia arrangement against the South West people.

At the Regional Delegation for Health apart from the Regional Delegate and the NTCP coordinator any other person sitting in a Program with huge budget is Francophone. All District Medical Officers in Limbe are Francophone. All districts medical Administrators from ENAM in the South West are Francophones.

Those who championed the North West/South West divide policy as teleguided by the regime in Yaoundé have all been given a thank you package. Chief Inoni in Kodengui, Forjindam at New Bell, Peter Agbor Tabi eliminated. Your turn will come sooner or later

The recent announcement by the Cameroon Radio and Television, CRTV that Anglophone lawyers and teachers have agreed to end the strikes in British Southern Cameroons breaks no new grounds. The timing of the announcement was intended to change the focus from the ongoing debate on the Anglophone problem and ramifications from the massive Anglophone Diaspora protest in Western Europe, the USA and Canada.

The Anglophone Spring, coming so close to Paul Biya’s decision time on whether to run in 2018 has evoked sad memories. It has reminded the citizenry particular those of La Republique and Paul Biya himself that his end is near and may not be a happy one.  The steadfastness of our lawyers and teachers and the support and respect they have so far gained from the French Cameroon political elites has reminded Paul Biya in particular, about his own potential ouster from power. His recent meeting with the US ambassador featuring the Anglophone uprising has also reminded him of the illusions of absolute power and its consequential unpredictability. Mobutu Seseko’s last meeting in Congo-Kinshasa was with a US envoy known as Bill Richardson.

Biya’s attempt at using the veteran lawyers to instill fear and refocus the national debate to good governance and to consolidate power which seems to be slipping away due to consequences and factors beyond his control has failed woefully. The actions taken by the presidency of the republic and imposed on the Cameroonian public opinion via a prime ministerial order has reminded Philemon Yang that power in Cameroon is in the Unity Palace and not in the so-called Star Building located opposite a noisy market and behind a five star hotel.

The announcement made by CRTV against  the new generation of Anglophone leaders and the strike actions surprises only those who may not be paying attention to Paul Biya’s politics of personal power and his Francophone domination policy. Like many French Cameroun corrupt media organizations owned by the CPDM crime syndicate, the state radio and television is an important tool of blackmail, misinformation and Paul Biya’s image laundering used by pro Biya comedians like Paul Atanga Nji.

CRTV like Cameroon Tribune are used to perpetrate crimes against Anglophones far worse than the Lake Nyos Disaster or the numerous deaths recorded on the Tiko-Douala highway. They are instruments of mass mobilization through falsehood, corruption of the popular conscience and the deification of the 83 year old dictator who has finally destroyed the tribal tolerance miraculously put in place by the late President Ahidjo. CRTV was and is the conduit through which egregious violations and crimes of unimaginable magnitude are perpetrated against British Southern Cameroonians.

It is the conduit through which fraud is celebrated and the flames of the North West/ South West divide are fanned and Francophones in Mfoundi Division are incited to take up arms against their neighbours. It remains the voice of hate, sycophancy and intimidation. The question one may ask, is, who benefits from these crimes? The answer points to Paul Biya. This does not absolve Paul Atanga Nji  for the crimes he perpetrated or for accepting to perpetrate or oversee the use of CRTV to perpetrate crimes against the Anglophone community in which alleged “enemies dans la maisons” “biafrais” “anglobami” “Opposants” and now are blackmailed and targeted on account of their ethnicity or valid claims for self determination.

University students will be having their day in court if there is enough evidence to proceed against them. On a matter of principle and legality, however, the problem is not with the arrest of the students but with the political calculation surrounding the arrest. However, if the Anglophone Spring will lead to Paul Biya finally realizing that his 32 years in power were mired in systemic corruption and unprecedented criminality, and peacefully step down without being forced to do so, then it is significant development. CRTV will henceforth serve La Republique du Cameroun with pride.

We of the Cameroon Concord News Group believe and fervently too that the time to boycott CRTV radio and television including Cameroon Tribune is now.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai (Editor-in-Chief) 

Cameroon Concord News Group

This is how Minister Laurent Esso has been slowly but surely eliminating the Anglophone legal system and our Common law values and he was quick to say we have to stay in a “united” Cameroon where he Esso can jail a former Anglophone Prime Minister and Head of Government and nothing happens.

Francophone dominance in the legal department in the South West region

Of the 148 Magistrates in the South West- 58 are francophone

Of the 89 Magistrates in the legal bench in the Southwest region, 54 of them are francophone

Of the 50 Magistrates serving in Buea (Bench & Legal Department) – 20 are francophone

28 Magistrates in the legal division and 20 of them are francophone.

30 new bailiffs were appointed in January 2014 and 28 of them are francophone.

Francophone domination in the legal department in the North West region

There are 128 Magistrates in the Northwest and 67 are francophone with no mastery of the English language.

There 97 Magistrates of the Legal Bench and 64 of them are francophone

There are 45 Magistrates serving in Bamenda metropolis and 22 of them are francophone

27 Magistrates in the divisions  and 21 of them are francophone.

21 new bailiffs were appointed in January 2014 and all of them were francophone.

Comparing the appointments of Magistrates in a bilingual Cameroon:

There are 119 Magistrates in the Courts in Douala metropolis and only 2 of them are Anglophones

There are 107 Magistrates in the Courts in Yaoundé and only 2 of them are Anglophones

49% of Magistrates in Bamenda and 40 % of Magistrates in Buea the Anglophone regional headquarters are Francophone.

Why are more Francophones sent to our key jurisdictions and only an insignificant number of Anglophones sent to the francophone key jurisdictions?

If at all there is blending of both systems:

Why are our Anglophone Magistrates only good for Tcholire, Ambam, Poli, Ntui, Kousseri, Yokadouma, Batouri,Tignere and not considered good for Yaoundé and Douala?

Why is it that almost all the newly appointed bailiffs in Anglophone Cameroon are civil Law trained jurists?

Do you think the envisaged appointment of Notaires will depart from this train if any ?

Why is the Language of the military only French in a Bilingual Country?

Why is French the Language of the Military Courts in a Bilingual Country?

The government of Cameroon on Thursday, December 1, 2016 finally came out of its silence with a series of Prime Ministerial Orders as a response to the demonstrations that have been playing out in the North West and South West regions of the country. Over the last two weeks, the government’s response to this unfortunate situation has been very confusing. While some ministers such the Ministers of Justice, Communication and Higher Education have taken turns on various media platforms to advise the world that there is no Anglophone problem, the Prime Minister, for his part, has made a trip to the North West region to meet the demonstrating lawyers and teachers in order to gain a better understanding of the issues. The President, for his part, has completely switched off, giving the impression that the demonstrations have no justification and that the demands of the protesters will not be met. In certain cases, peaceful demonstrators have been victims of violence on the part of Cameroon Defense Forces.

In Buea where university students organized a peaceful demonstration against university authorities, the police responded to the students with force that was grossly disproportionate. Many students have been tortured and wounded while some have been arrested and are still in jail for reasons that are only known to the government. Many innocent students were arrested even when they were not part of the protests. This is making it hard for Anglophone leaders to actually sit down with government authorities to have a frank and fruitful discussion on how to deal with the issues that are hurting the people. Government surrogates are on media platforms and outfits trying to put a spin to the issues with some even indicating that no student had been tortured or raped although the Internet is awash with videos substantiating the claims. These spin doctors are still living in the past. For them, the world has stood still, failing to understand that smart phones have transformed many Cameroonians into citizen journalists. With cutting edge technology, it is possible to stream images in real time. Tactics of the past have no place in the world of hi-tech. It is no longer possible for governments to oppress their people without the world being aware. It is almost impossible to shape global opinion with cock-and-bull tales. The world has moved on, but Cameroon political authorities are still frozen in time.

Thursday’s announcement by the government did not make any mention of an Anglophone problem. Rather than provide real solutions to the issues that have been raised by demonstrating Anglophones, the government is, as usual, seeking to provide some cosmetic and Band-Aid solutions. It will be recruiting 1,000 bilingual teachers, many of whom will be sent to those areas where there is a shortage of teachers. Of course, that sounds interesting. But the issue has not been about bilingualism. It has been about meeting the real educational needs of the population and teachers. Of what value will a bilingual Francophone be if he will be asked to go and teach English in a city like Ossing in the South West region or Oshea in the Northwest region? The government is failing to understand that oral bilingualism is different from intellectual bilingualism.

Anglophone schools will surely be requiring mathematics, physics and chemistry teachers. How will a bilingual Francophone address such an issue? Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry in English will surely not be the same in French and when it comes to expressing oneself intellectually in such complex subjects, the teacher’s rudimentary knowledge of English will surely take French leave of him. Would it not be wise for the government to come up with the appropriate solutions that will help it stave off conflict? Why is it trying to fan the embers of conflict? Cameroonians – be they Anglophones or Francophones – want to have a good education in the language they understand better. They want to live in harmony and conflict-free. When will their authorities understand that the issues that have pushed other nations into fratricidal conflicts have been very little things such as indifference and injustice?

The prime ministerial orders also indicates that the government will also be reaching out to mission and private schools to enable them achieve their goals in the best possible conditions. In this regard, the government will be providing some two billion francs to these institutions, although there is no time frame for such a gesture. It could take a decade or less. This is a country where things are done in slow motion. Before a health center is completed in some villages, almost everybody is dead and gone and the structure will be there for politicians to pride themselves on. Are Cameroonians not tired of promises that hardly come true? What has become of those computers that were promised to university students across the nation? Why is the government not seeing the writing on the wall? Cameroonians are frustrated. Years of economic hardship and frustration are gradually transforming a peaceful people into a violent people. Why can the government not understand that those who make peaceful change impossible only make violent change inevitable?

There is still time for the government to deal with some of the key issues that have been put on the table by the Anglophone minority. The lawyers are still prepared to down their tools until they are sure that Francophone judges will no longer be transferred to Anglophone courts; something that has been a bone of contention for years. They want a pure common law system in Anglophone Cameroon and not the harmonized legal system the government has been trying to stitch together for decades. How does the government expect a heavily Anglophone lawyer to make submissions in French just because the judge or magistrate is illiterate in English? There are other issues and some of these issues also affect Francophones. Anglophones like Francophones have been caught in the throes of an unprecedented economic and financial crisis. Both Anglophone and Francophone kids need quality education. Both Anglophone and Francophones need good hospitals.

The country’s hospitals have over the years been reduced to places where patients go to die. Doctors have become business people. The oath of Hippocrates has been transformed into the Oath of Hypocrisy. Healthcare, genuine healthcare, is out of the reach of many helpless Cameroonians. There is nothing to write home about the country’s road network. The roads are at best death traps. Corruption and nepotism have blighted the lives of Cameroonians. These could be sources of conflict and the fear is that conflict is like rumor. It spreads very fast and it could take a different dimension as it spreads. What might have started as an Anglophone problem could end up becoming a national issue. Poverty knows no language and it has hit both Anglophones and Francophones like a ton of bricks. The government has to sit up. It must take appropriate measures to spare this country the scourge of war that has gripped other African countries. This is not time for any grand-standing. It is time to acknowledge that certain things have not worked well for Cameroonians and that those things could be done differently to bring peace and stability to this fractured country.

By Dr. Joachim Arrey

Do you know that since the inception of the Cameroon oil refinery corporation, SONARA more than 30 years ago, no Anglophone had ever been a General Manager even though this corporation is in Limbe?

Do you know that, even though SONARA is in Limbe, they pay their taxes in Douala?

Do you know that even though the crude oil of SONARA comes from Ndian division, there is no tarred road to Ndian division?

Do you know that even though SONARA is in the Anglophone Region, there is no SCDP-the petroleum storage company in any of our Anglophone towns, yet these petroleum storage companies are scattered almost in all francophone cities?

Do you know that the petrol filling stations in the South West Region with Limbe inclusive gets petrol from Douala while those in the North West Region get their petrol from Bafoussam?

Do you know that the four ministries involved in the education of young Cameroonians- Higher Education, Secondary Education, Basic Education and Vocational training have had only one Anglophone-the late Peter Agbor Tabi as a minister?

Do you know that the Ministry of Special Duties at the Presidency of the Republic is a ministry without portfolio?

Do you know that the police force is an Anglo-Saxon force but their working language in Cameroon is the French language?

Do you know that the training language of the police college in our own Mutengene is the French language?

Do you know that majority of the Senior Divisional Officers in the Anglophone territory are Francophones who do not even master the English language let alone our way of life?

Do you know that even our Minister without portfolio-Paul Atanga Nji who pretends he doesn’t know there is an Anglophone problem knows deep down in his heart that an Anglophone like him can never be appointed Secretary General or Director of Civil Cabinet at the presidency of the Republic?

Do you know that anytime there is cabinet shake up, two miserable ministries like Forestry and Culture are reserved for Anglophones just to deceive us while there are divisions like Mfoundi with just 44 families and towns like Ebolowa with more than five cabinet ministers each?

Do you that whenever the post of Prime Minister changes hands from a Francophone to an Anglophone, there is always a Vice Prime Minister?

Do you know that the Vice Prime Minister is always a solid Francophone political figure whose personality bullies the Anglophone Prime Minister to submission? The late Gilbert Andze Tchoungi and Simon Achidi Achu including Peter Mafany Musonge and of recent, Yang Philemon and Amadou Ali.

Do you even know that Limbe has the deepest natural habour for a sea port but the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government decided to spend 3 times the money they would have used in Limbe just to make one in kribi?

Do you know that the Menchum hydro electricity dam was announced 2yrs before Memvele and  Lompaga!!! Yet the once that came behind have been constructed already?

Do you even know that prior to the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, FIFA summoned the captains of all participation teams for a preparatory meeting and Cameroon was the only nation that was represented by two persons-Tataw Stephen and Kunde Emmanuel in Milan? Kunde was so ashamed and remained all day in the hotel room.

Do you know that Cameroon has 4 international airports and there is none in any Anglophone region?

Do know that the abandoned airport in Bafut in the North West region has the longest run way of all the 4 international airports in this country?

Do you know that for any one Anglophone Captain in the army, there are a hundred and twenty Francophone captains?

Who is more nationalist and patriotic than the other? The Cameroonian who embezzles billions with impunity or the Cameroonian who calls for a debate on Federalism? Join the AGBAW-EBAI DEBATE