The Anglophone crisis that has been playing out for four months in Cameroon will surely not be petering out anytime soon. What started like a lawyers’ demonstration has unfortunately spiraled out of control with the government scrambling for solutions, most of which are inefficient and do not seem to reflect what English-speaking Cameroonians have been asking for. The country’s ruling party has always prided itself on its democratic credentials, though many analysts and the country’s opposition hold that such a claim is questionable. The Anglophone crisis has clearly put those credentials to the test and the government appears to be struggling in that regard. Its violent reaction to Anglophone demonstrations and strikes speaks to its inability to use modern conflict prevention and management concepts to stabilize a country that is sliding down a dangerous slope. Critics of the government argue that the government has the nasty habit of skirting around the issues and its creation of a bilingualism commission is more of a distraction than a solution.

The bilingualism commission is one of the measures the government had floated as a means to address some of the issues raised by Anglophones. Its creation did not generate any excitement among Cameroonians. Members of the commission were appointed yesterday, March 15, 2017 by the country’s president and while it is too early to judge the commission’s work, it is clear from the appointments that the government is not ready to walk away from its old ways. The commission will be chaired by Peter Mafany Musonge, a former prime minister, who drew a lot of flak last month for his hate speech delivered in Buea, the south west regional capital, against North westerners. Mr. Musonge, himself an Anglophone, has strong faith in the system that his follow Anglophones are decrying. The system is being criticized for being generous to a few to the detriment of the vast majority. Mr. Musonge could be an experienced politician, but critics hold that his knowledge of bilingualism and multiculturalism leaves much to be desired. They claim he has benefited from the cronyism that is the government’s hallmark. They point to the three key positions he holds in the country – senator, grand chancellor of national orders and chairperson of the newly minted bilingualism commission – as evidence of the moral decadence that is undermining the country’s development efforts. With his busy schedule and age – 75 years – many critics argue that he may not be able to deliver on his mandate as the commission chairperson. Many Cameroonians question the rationale behind giving one person three demanding jobs when there are thousands of effective and efficient Cameroonians begging to serve their country selflessly.

Though the commission will also have objective minds like David Abouem A Tchoyi, a seasoned administrator with exceptional mastery of English and French, many Anglophones hold that his presence on that commission is basically cosmetic as he is the only appointee who does not truly belong to the ruling party. Many, especially among the Anglophone Diaspora, argue that such an important commission should have been the subject of wide consultations with opposition parties and the Diaspora that has become a formidable political and economic force in Cameroon. They contend that the government is still ignoring Anglophones and their problems though there are four West Cameroonians on the twelve-member commission. The Anglophone Diaspora that has been the force behind the current revolution, clearly believes that it has a political and an economic role to play in that country. Its members contend that the government has to change its ways, if Cameroon has to make giant strides towards economic development and political stability. Most Anglophones are for a federal system which they believe can foster stability and unity. But the government is still not buying into their rhetoric. It has been accusing them of fostering disunity and fomenting trouble. The two camps are frozen in their positions and this has created a messy stalemate that is hurting the country and there is no end in sight.

The Anglophone problem is a true nightmare to this once-upon-a-time oasis of peace. It is a millstone around the neck of the government which is gradually collapsing under its weight. The ordinary Francophone is worried and many are scared that Anglophones might walk away from the union that was stitched together in 1961 between West and East Cameroon. Anglophones hold that the union has been predicated upon lies right from the beginning and that a review of the system is long overdue. They argue that without an extensive review, the English-speaking minority will only be left with the option of quitting their French-speaking brothers. Walking away from that ‘political marriage’ implies taking with them about 60% of the country’s wealth. The Anglophone region is blessed with many resources, including oil, gas, diamond and timber. Its rich sub-soil has brought lots of economic benefits to the country. For almost 50 years, the Rio Del Rey estuary has been the source of more than 90% and at times 100% of all the country’s hydrocarbons, specifically oil.

In 2014, Cameroon exported US$5.88 billion worth of products, of which US$2.65 billion, about CFAF 1,650 billion, was from crude oil. This is a significant amount of money and no government can afford to stay on the sidelines and watch manna vanish into thin air. The Cameroon government’s indifference to the Anglophone crisis is giving secessionists a field day. Many of them are working hard to win hearts and minds among Anglophones moderates who, right from the beginning, stood for a federal system that will give the regions greater autonomy and authority over their lives. But the delay to talk to Anglophone leaders, many of whom are in jail or exile, is compounding instead of helping matters. The radicals have taken their gospel of secession to the international community and there is a significant crowd that is listening to their gospel with rapt attention. If a secession were to happen, it would be a very costly mistake on the part of the government that is being accused around the world of being indifferent to the country’s declining political and economic climate. Every nation’s economic progress and development depends on its political stability. Instability spells doom for a country’s prosperity and prolong periods of instability could be a death sentence on many investments and investors do not like uncertainty. Allowing the Anglophone problem to fester is tantamount to committing economic and political suicide.

The stalemate is hanging over people’s heads like the Sword of Damocles. Every blessed day, Cameroonians believe that a silver lining might appear on this cloud that has been hanging over the nation for four good months. Anglophones have clear demands. They have been victims of marginalization for over five decades. They want this to stop and if it has to stop, then the government cannot continue to deal with issues in a cavalierly manner. They want a federal system that will guarantee their rights and protect their culture. While many of them could be bilingual, they still see French as the oppressor’s language and would like to reduce contact with a language that reminds them of their economic and political sorrows. Unfortunately, the government is not listening and the president has stated clearly that the structure of the state is not up for any discussion. All those who have openly called for that have felt the government’s wrath. Anglophone leaders are currently languishing in jail just for dreaming of federalism. Barrister Agbor Balla, Judge Paul Ayah and Dr. Fontem Neba are paying the price for calling for a more effective system of government. A system that has been tested and proven to be effective and reliable in countries such as Canada and the United States. The Canadian High Commissioner in Cameroon, René Cremonese, recently underscored the effectiveness of federalism, advising that the Cameroon government could borrow from the Canadian experience to end the ongoing Anglophone crisis in the country.

Speaking recently during a media exchange organized by “Le Club des Journalistes Politiques du Cameroun” in Yaoundé, the Canadian diplomat said through frank political dialogue and debates, his country was able to address grievances raised by minority French-speaking Canadians many years ago. He added that “I think like I said, the most important thing is to be able to share the experiences we had in Canada and to see whether or not these experiences can be used by Cameroon to address the current situation.”

The Anglophone problem has made its way to the international community. Many people around the world believe and strongly that federalism holds out a lot of hope for a country that is struggling to hold together a bunch of people that are culturally different. This problem needs to be addressed and the government holds the key. If Cameroonians have to see the light at the end of the tunnel, the government must engage Anglophone leaders in frank and sincere negotiations. Anglophones feel marginalized. They want to be Cameroonians, but they want their country to be federal so that they can run most of their own affairs. The old political dispensation has fallen short of their glory. It has brought them untold hardship and pain. They are calling on the government to listen instead of dictating to them. After all, a true government is that which listens and provides the people with what they need. True leaders don’t impose, they dialogue and seek solutions. Cameroonian leaders therefore have to listen, if they don’t, then the current situation will persist and the country’s future will surely be murky. The conflict is already taking its toll on the country’s economy and unity. The way forward is simple. The government has to come down its ivory tower to dialogue so as to put an end to this messy situation.

By Joachim Arrey

Contributing Editor

Cameroon Concord News Group

President Biya has signed a decree appointing members into the National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism. A move interpreted by some pro Biya comedians as a government plan to open talks with Southern Cameroonians.

As the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium continues to cripple key educational and economic installations in the West Cameroon region, Paul Biya reportedly appointed a team to begin promoting bilingualism and multiculturalism with “everyone involved” in the Anglophone situation. But the Francophone army and police would not scale back the hunt for Southern Cameroons activists all over the world.

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has installed a very efficient civil disobedience campaign and plans are underway for economic sanctions and boycott of La Republique.  The Consortium is demanding an independent state for Southern Cameroons.

In this revival of Francophone dominance whose military have launched attacks on many towns and cities in West Cameroon, Mr. Paul Biya has appointed Anglophone traitors and CPDM militants into his so-called National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism in Cameroon. We of the Cameroon Concord News Group call them known traitors and CPDM militants because their DNA indicates so.

George Ngwane was the first Southern Cameroonian to congratulate President Biya immediately after he created the commission. Noted for crafting numerous anti-North West press releases in the good old days of the South West Elites Association, Mwalimu Ngwane remains a diehard member of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate.

For the records, Barrister Halle Nico has always been a CPDM person though pretending to be neutral in difficult situations. Halle Nico enjoys full Francophone government support and constantly receives sinecures from the regime on the Southern Cameroons crisis. This is also true of former Minister Ama Tutu Muna who described Biya during a trip to the UK as her own god.

By appointing Peter Mafany Musonge to head the commission, it is evidently clear that Biya’s does not intend to solve the Anglophone problem but to destroy the Southern Cameroons identity and dignity. Musonge is the leader of the CPDM Senate group and hates North Westerners.

Frankly speaking, the Biya commission is a CPDM affair and has no independent personality and by extrapolation, no credibility. Justice Itoe Benjamin worked with the detained Chairman of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, Barrister Agbor Balla at the UN in Sierra Leone. It is shameful, disgusting and disgraceful for him to be seen as betraying a young man who constantly referred to him as “Dad’.

The inclusion of former governor David Abouem a Tchoy will change nothing as the commission has been designed to function like ELECAM. It is another ELECAM and Biya is indeed not prepared to negotiate with the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium. The members of the commission are predominantly known Anglophones traitors who have promised to make Southern Cameroonians suffer.

This group of known Anglophone traitors favors personal interest over those of the Southern Cameroons people. The group has never worked to ensure that the man on the street in Southern Cameroons receives the benefit from all that is available in West Cameroon.

The 12 other members include: Angouing née Ndanga Françoise, Djenabou Bakary, Mbappè née Tiki Ngonde Ndjo’o Agnès, Abbé Jean-Marie Bodo, Abouem à Tchoyi David, Ahmadou Mohamadou Baba, Efoua Mbozo’o Samuel, Halle Nicodemus Ndessi, Itoe Mutanga Benjamin, Mbafor Jean-Marc Afessi, Ngambo Fondjo Pierre Vincent and Ngwane George Essambe.

The National Commission on Bilingualism and Multiculturalism was created on January 23, 2017 following the inception of the Anglophone crisis.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The Anglophone crisis that has rattled the government to its core seems to be a nightmare that will not go away anytime soon. The desperate government that has been accused by the country’s English-speaking minority of marginalization and total neglect of the English-speaking region has been scrambling for solutions to douse the fire that many believe could bring down the house of cards that has resisted for well over five decades. Different strategies and policy options have been employed to wean the determined people of Southern Cameroons from their decision to question the government’s commitment to the notion of national integration. The crisis was triggered by Anglophone lawyers who, prior to their demonstration in November 2016, had in several memoranda to the minister of justice, called for the creation of a Common Law Bar, a law school for Anglophones, a common law bench at the country’s Supreme Court and the translation of key legal documents into English. Faithful to its colonial oppression strategy, the government instead dispatched heavily armed policemen to read the riot act to these legal minds whose cardinal objective was to draw the attention of the public and international community to their sorry plight.

Far from producing the desired effect, the brutality that the lawyers suffered in the hands of the forces of law (lessness) and (dis)order instead emboldened the lawyers. They were later joined by Anglophone teachers who, themselves, had a long list of grievances that had not been addressed by the government for years. But the matter came to a head when students of the University of Buea, an Anglo-Saxon university, boycotted lectures and called on their authorities to repeal a CFAF 10,000 charge for any late payment of fees. The students had designed their strike to be peaceful, and instead of meeting the students to discuss their grievances, the university vice-chancellor, Prof. NalovaLyonga, instead ordered troops into the university to brutalize unarmed students who simply wanted to address their issues in a peaceful manner. The police did not only brutalize the students, they also obliged some of them to roll in raw sewage. Girls were raped and many students, some of whom did not even participate in the strike, were arrested and taken to unknown destinations. It is rumored that some of the students have died as a result of the torture and deplorable detention conditions. The government’s Kafkaesque intimidation tactics have unfortunately been counter-productive, as the strike has spread to all Anglophone cities and the entire region has been radicalized. Farmers, bricklayer, mechanics, traders, students and other socio-professional groups have all happily joined the strike and their participation in ghost town operations called by the outlawed Consortium, an umbrella organization for all Anglophone organizations fighting against the English-speaking region’s marginalization, has been amazing.

As the crisis continued to play out and spread throughout the region, the government felt it was time to change strategy. Ferocious brutality had failed to dissuade the people and their leaders. Money had to come in. The carrot and stick approach had to be used to nip the revolution in the bud. The country’s government has always used money to buy over its opponents, especially in the early nineties when there were calls for multiparty democracy in Cameroon and, in this case, it thought money could cause the ringleaders of the revolution to flip. But the government, made up of old and tired personalities who have been in the political scene for more than 50 years, simply failed to have a good read of the situation. There were lots of players in the game. The old political dispensation had hurt many people, sending thousands of Anglophones into exile. These people have been very bitter and will stop at nothing to upset the current political arrangement that has favored a few to the detriment of the majority.

Whatever the outcome of this unfortunate situation, the Anglophone Diaspora has become a formidable political force in Cameroon, albeit from a distance. The Anglophone Diaspora, born out of marginalization, has driven the revolution and has the resources to cause the government to lose sleep for many more months. It jumped into the fray to take over the leadership of the revolution, especially when the government made the grave error of arresting Consortium leaders and Paul Ayah, a prominent Supreme Court judge of Anglophone extraction. The Anglophone Diaspora, numbering about one million, with huge concentrations in the United States, Nigeria, South Africa, Canada and United Kingdom, has been instrumental in reducing government authority in the English-speaking region and cutting down government ministers to normal human proportions. The Diaspora is rich and it includes some of the finest professionals the country can boast of. Engineers, translators, interpreters, economists, journalists, medical doctors, nurses, computer scientists and finance experts, many of whom are responsible for the wellbeing of their families back home. They are the ones paying the piper, so they are clearly calling the tune. They are therefore capable of making the region ungovernable. The events of the last three months stand to testify to this assertion.

The challenge is enormous and new to the government. Its strategies have not produced the desired effect. Despite missions by the prime minister and the Anglophone elite to the English-speaking region to talk parents into letting their children go to school, schools in West Cameroon are currently not in session. The heavy deployment of troops in West Cameroon has not helped matters. Things have taken a turn for the worse as even children now understand that the government has never been there for them. Anglophones are clearly sick and tired of a system that has reduced them to second-class citizens. Their way of life has been trampled upon and the arrogance of Francophone administrators in the Anglophone zone has embittered many English-speaking Cameroonians who are now calling for a restoration of statehood. Of more annoyance is the fact that even corporations in Anglophone Cameroon are being headed by Francophones and many arrogantly refuse to speak English, a language understood by the local population. Many Anglophones point to the national oil refinery known by its French acronym as SONARA located in Limbe, the Southwest region’s port city, and whose staff is predominantly Francophone. While the locals are living in grinding poverty, Francophones are earning astronomical salaries from the refinery and treating the locals with disdain. The government has a hot potatoes on its hands. Addressing these grievances is key to the restoration of confidence and the people have lost trust in a government that hardly keeps its own promises.

However, all hopes are not lost. Though Anglophones have upgraded their demand for a federal system to a restoration of statehood, there is still room for dialogue if the government stops playing possum. The government knows why Anglophones are threatening to walk away from the union that was put together in 1972. The predominantly Francophone government in Yaoundé has not complied with the terms of the Fumban Agreement that was signed in 1972. It has not even lived up to the glorious expectations of the English-speaking minority which voluntarily opted to join French-speaking Cameroon in a free and fair referendum. The people’s grievances are many and challenging, but they could be easily addressed if both parties go to the negotiating table with a high dose of honesty and seriousness.

However, for any talks to take place, the government must show a lot of goodwill. Consortium leaders as well as all those arrested as a result of the revolution must be released as demanded by Anglophones. The current situation is unhealthy and government must understand it can no longer reinstate the status quo ante. The government must recognize that Consortium leaders are the only people mandated by the English-speaking minority to negotiate on its behalf, although these leaders have been charged with terrorism and chaos, charges trumped up to intimidate the English-speaking population of Cameroon. This demand is not hard to meet as many of those detained were not arrested according to the law. Many were simply kidnapped and others have been held in odious detention conditions. It should be recalled that the law was made for man and not man for the law. Sticking to the law in this context simply implies that the government wants the current situation to last for a long time and this is not healthy for a country whose economy has been caught in the throes of a devastating economic crisis. Like Anglophone leaders, the government has to walk away from its position that is rooted in intimidation and violence. The Anglophone region should also be demilitarized and Internet connection restored. Many Anglophones hold that it is preposterous for their children to return to schools that have been militarized and do not have Internet connection. For those demands that can only be addressed over the long term, the government and Anglophone leaders must agree on clear timelines. The dialogue should be moderated by a third neutral party such as the United Nations and/or the African Union. Anglophone leaders must also show a high degree of flexibility. They must understand that all their demands cannot be met in the short term. The country’s government can start using the clergy to set the stage for such dialogue and the Diaspora should be included in the discussions. It is impossible to circumvent the Anglophone Diaspora as it has played a key role in the conflict that has left the government helpless and powerless. If these steps are taken, the stalemate could be defused and Cameroonians will once more work together and look to the future as a strong and united people living happily in a one, indivisible country.

Dr Joachim Arrey

Contributing Editor

Cameroon Concord News Group

About the Author: The author of this piece is a keen observer of Cameroon’s political and economic landscape. He has published extensively on the country’s political and economic development, especially in the early 90s when the wind of change was blowing across the African continent. He has served as a translator, technical writer, journalist and editor for several international organizations and corporations across the globe. He studied communication at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom and technical writing in George Brown College in Toronto, Canada. He is also a trained translator and holds a Ph.D.