Cameroon on Monday handed a two-year jail term to Mamadou Mota, first vice-chairman of the opposition Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon led by Maurice Kamto.

Mota told AFP his punishment was “purely political” after he was tried over his role in a July 22 insurrection at Yaounde’s central prison where he has been held since June after participating in anti-regime protests.

The court found Mota guilty of “group rebellion” — but he insisted: “I am not a rebel.

“When the mutiny happened I was called on by the governor to calm the inmates,” Mota told AFP.

“We are going to appeal this sentence as no proof has been offered to back this accusation,” MRC lawyer Emmanuel Simh said.

Twelve other people, including another member of Cameroon’s Anglophone minority, Mancho Bibixy, also received a two-year term, with two others handed three-year sentences.

Most of those sentenced were Anglophones, with the remainder from the MRC.

The July 22 mutiny, which saw inmates demand better conditions, came at the height of opposition protests following the re-election in October last year of President Paul Biya, in power for 36 years.

Kamto, Cameroon’s main opposition leader and who unsuccessfully claimed victory in the election, went on trial with 88 others in a military court last Friday on insurrection, hostility to the motherland and rebellion charges — crimes which could carry the death penalty.

Their trial is scheduled for October 8.

The past two years have seen Cameroon mired in ethnic unrest leading to hundreds of deaths, with English-speaking separatists demanding independence in two western regions. Some 500,000 people have been forced from their homes as a result.

In a video posted to social media in the wake of the prison mutiny, Mota appeared among the demonstrators demanding better rations for prisoners.

He had been arrested in early June for attending an anti-government protest and for slamming the election result, which he termed an “electoral hold-up.”

(AFP)

An appeal, funded by residents of Canada, has been lodged against the sentences of life imprisonment handed down last month by a Cameroonian military tribunal to six academics arrested in Abuja, Nigeria, and deported back to Cameroon in January 2018.

The academics – who were teaching in Nigerian universities and had lived in the country in some cases for many years, marrying Nigerians and raising children there – were accused of terrorism and of belonging to an outlawed organisation, the aim of which was to facilitate the secession of Anglophone Cameroon from the rest of the country.

The academics are: Professor Augustine Awasum of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Dr Tata Henry Kimeng, associate professor at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Dr Egbe Nguitui Ogork, associate professor at Bayero University, Kano; Dr Fidelis Nde-Che, associate professor at the American University of Nigeria in Yola; Dr Cornelius Kwanga, a senior lecturer at Umaru Musa Yar’adua University; and Dr Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe of the American University of Nigeria in Yola.

Ayuk Tabe is reportedly the first self-proclaimed president of “Ambazonia”, a breakaway state declared in October 2017 in two English-speaking regions of Cameroon.

Barrister was ‘merely an observer’

The academics’ barrister Paddy Yong told University World News his role in the hearing was merely that of an “observer” but he had filed an appeal a few days after the ruling.

He said some “patriotic” Anglophone Cameroonians resident in Canada had contributed jointly towards the non-refundable sum of US$10,000 required to appeal the tribunal’s decision. “I have sent this amount of money to a dedicated bank account of the government treasury in Yaoundé,” he confirmed.

He said as a sign of solidarity with the convicted academics, Anglophone lawyers in the country had unanimously agreed to go on strike for four days.

The six academics were arrested after a meeting in January 2018 at a hotel in Abuja, Nigeria, where they apparently gathered to discuss the humanitarian situation facing Anglophone Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria. They were among 47 other separatists also arrested at the same time.

Two major objections

Yong said the trial had not been open to the public and had gone ahead despite him raising two major objections.

“When the trial was to commence, I raised two fundamental objections. First, I objected to the fact the military tribunal was headed by Lieutenant Colonel Misse Njone Jacques Beaudoin and that five other high-ranking military officers were members of the presiding panel. I objected to the fact that those accused were civilians who did not participate in any military uprising.

“My second objection was to the fact of the trial being conducted in French. My clients are Anglophone Cameroonians. Therefore, the trial should be held in English.”

Yong said his two objections were rejected. “But the trial continued. My role was reduced to that of an observer,” he said.

According to Yong, the linguistic crisis had its roots in what he called the “naïve” marriage between elites of Anglophone Cameroon and Francophone Cameroon on 1 October 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. He said the bilingualism upon which the federal republic was founded had not prevailed for many years.

In March this year, two separate judgments handed down by the Federal High Court in Abuja found that the arrest and detention of the academics was unconstitutional and that their deportation from Nigeria to Cameroon was illegal.

Problematic judgment

Nigerian barrister Abdul Oroh, who represented the academics when they were still in Nigeria, told University World News the ruling was problematic on three grounds.

“First, a Nigerian High Court sitting in Abuja declared illegal the forceful abduction of these university teachers and said they should be returned from Cameroon to their respective universities in Nigeria where they were working.

“Second, the trial of civilians by a military court was challenged as an aberration in the Court of Law in Yaoundé. The military tribunal ignored this case and continued with its assignment.

“And third, the judgment of life imprisonment smacks of a travesty of justice,” he said.

Culled from University World News

Cameroon’s main opposition leader Maurice Kamto, the runner-up in last year’s presidential election, goes on trial Friday in a military court accused of insurrection, despite a chorus of international protest.

Kamto, together with several dozen of his political allies and supporters, faces charges of insurrection, hostility to the motherland and rebellion, crimes which, in theory at least, could carry the death penalty.

The trial goes ahead despite repeated protests from France, the United States and the European Union, who have been calling for his release from detention for eight months.

Kamto, the head of the opposition Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC), and about 100 party supporters were arrested in late January.

The arrests came after several months of peaceful MRC protests over the October 2018 presidential election, which they say was rigged in favour of President Paul Biya, who has been in power for 36 years.

The crackdown on the opposition caused outrage among rights groups and many western governments.

In March, the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs Tibor Nagy, told Radio France Internationale that Cameroon would be “very wise” to release Kamto because his detention is widely perceived as politically motivated.

Later the same month, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini criticised the arrests and what she called the military court’s “disproportionate” proceedings against them.

‘Pressure on Biya’

International rights groups have also condemned the action against Kamto and his colleagues, calling for their release.

For Human Rights Watch, the arrests “appear to be a politically motivated move to curtail dissent”. What had happened so far called into question their chances of a fair trial.

France reacted in May, calling for the release of those arrested.

“We know Mr Kamto’s qualities,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters, stressing that they were pressing Biya to release the prisoners.

On Monday, just days ahead of their trial, Biya and his fellow defendants said they were determined to get the truth out in court.

In a letter Monday to the head of the court in Yaounde, they called for full access to the court for the press and public throughout the trial.

“Mr Kamto is full of confidence,” his spokesman Olivier Bibou Nissack told AFP on Tuesday.

His legal team have submitted a list of 31 witnesses to the court, including two ministers, the chief of police and other senior officers in both the police and the army.

The authorities in Cameroon dismiss claims from the defendants and others that this a political trial designed to “decapitate” the opposition MRC.

The MRC had adopted a logic of “provocation and planning for insurrection”, said junior interior minister Paul Atanga Nji.

Source: AFP

Cameroon on Tuesday sent its sixth contingent of troops to restive Central African Republic (CAR) to join UN peacekeeping forces mission focused on the stabilization and protection of civilian population.

Speaking at a send-off ceremony in the capital city, Yaounde, Cameroon’s Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo highlighted the peace efforts of Cameroonian troops in the CAR.

“Always determined to fulfill its regional and international commitments as concerns collective security in an honorable, decent and effective manner, the troops have provided the CAR with multifaceted support in order to enable the country to get its institutions which have already been damaged for several years now back on its feet,” Assomo said.

The soldiers are to contribute to the return of peace and stability while strictly respecting UN regulation of impartiality and respect for human rights during their mission, the minister said.

According to Assomo, the sixth contingent comprises 750 soldiers and 350 staff members of the National Gendarmerie.

The contingent is part of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) which started in 2014 to protect CAR civilians under the UN Charter.

The contingent is taking over from predecessors who spent a year building peace in the war-torn country.

The conflicts still in progress in CAR started in 2013 following a violent takeover of power by the armed group Seleka, meaning coalition in Sango, CAR’s national language.

Source: Xinhuanet

The separatist crisis in Cameroon deepened this week after a military tribunal handed down life sentences to the separatist movement’s leader and nine of his followers. As observers warned that the sentences would make it harder to bring the two-year conflict to an end, separatist militias launched reprisal attacks that killed at least two people and forced dozens more to flee their homes.

The conflict has its roots in concerns within Cameroon’s minority English-speaking population that they have been historically marginalized by the French-speaking majority. A 2016 strike in the Anglophone North-West and South-West regions culminated in a declaration of autonomy in October 2017. The situation rapidly deteriorated from there.

As Robbie Corey-Boulet detailed in an April briefing for WPR, long-time President Paul Biya responded to the declaration with a brutal state crackdown, with security forces killing civilians, sexually assaulting women, and burning and looting homes. The separatists in turn have reacted with a campaign of kidnappings and assaults. Hundreds of people have died and more than 500,000 have been displaced in the past two years.

The sentencing this week of separatist leader Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his followers further undermines any opening for dialogue between the two sides. The 10 separatists were arrested in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, last year and deported to Cameroon, where they faced charges of rebellion and complicity in terrorism, among others. In addition to the life sentences, they were ordered to pay a fine of $50 million.

Few domestic observers agreed with the assessment of government officials, who said the sentencings would not halt efforts to start a dialogue. Prince Ekosso, an opposition leader, told Voice of America, “The decision would intensify tension in the North-West and the South-West. It would intensify killings and it would intensify the destruction of properties.”

Source: World Politics Review

Since January last year, the two Anglophone regions of Cameroon have slid into a conflict that would have been unimaginable a few years ago. The Anglophone northwest and southwest have suffered the havoc of a war of secession that has displaced at least half a million people, leaving 1.3-million in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The conflict is largely based on historical grievances stemming from the fact that the Anglophone minority has been systematically marginalised since the abolishment of the federal system of government in 1972. Although periods, including in the 1990s and 2008, saw increased activism for Anglophone secession, the movements never became violent. 
But this changed last year after the violent government crackdown on teachers, lawyers and civilians advocating for legal recognition for the English language.

In the 20 months since then, the government and the Anglophone secessionist have become entrenched in their positions.

The secessionists, which are mainly led by people now based in the United States and Europe, have rejected calls for “dialogue” and insisted on only entering into direct negotiations for independence. The government insists that the secessionists are terrorists and has denied that its military has committed atrocities such as targeted killings and burning down villages. Furthermore, the two sides have become embroiled in infighting that has made even the potential of conflict resolution immensely difficult.

The secessionists have divided into two groups. One is led by Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, who is imprisoned in Yaoundé and was convicted this week on terrorism charges and sentenced to life in prison, and the other US-based Samuel Ikome Sako. The same can be said of the government with some Cabinet members more in-line with the hardline stance taken by President Paul Biya and others supporting the conciliatory tone expressed by Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute.

Amid all of this, the people residing in the two Anglophone regions continue to suffer at an unimaginable rate at the hands of both sides. Targeted and random killings of combatants and civilians alike at the hands of the government is commonplace. Instances of such have seen stray bullets taking the lives of women and children.

Further, the government has killed young men fearing that they may be secessionists. Similarly, the secessionist forces, who are called the Amba Boys, have prevented children from attending school in both Anglophone areas for nearly three years.

They also regularly kidnap civilians, including employees of humanitarian organisations. Further, they have been accused of barbaric actions such as decapitations, rape and drinking people’s blood.

In the past six months the international community has begun to pay more attention to the crisis that continues to deteriorate in what used to be one of Central Africa’s most stable countries. The US has cut some military assistance to the country and, during its presidency of the United Nations Security Council this past May, also co-organised a Security Council arria-formula (briefing) meeting on the country.

Canada and the European Union have expressed frustration and outrage at the situation. Even the government of Switzerland used its good offices to arrange dialogue sessions through a Geneva-based nongovernmental organisation that has yet to produce any tangible outcomes.

If anything, it has been a step back. It continues to deteriorate because of a variable that is relatively straightforward but near impossible to address, which is that the two sides are not willing to compromise on their hardline stances and have no motive to do so.

The leadership of the Anglophone secessionists is not directly suffering from the continuous war to the extent they would be if they lived in the midst of it. The government realises that it is much more sophisticated militarily than the secessionists and live in the relative stability of the capital Yaoundé. Further, the two sides are hinged upon several notions that must be dismissed if the conflict is to be resolved.

The secessionists have been firm in their position for months that they will only settle for independence, what they often refer to as restoration. This is because a key notion of their argument is based on an element of historical revisionism.

Specifically, they argue that the UN resolution that organised the post-colonial plebiscite in Cameroon in 1961 gave what was then British Southern Cameroons independence. Hence they strongly believe that history and international law are on their side in their bid for an independent state called Ambazonia.

The infighting between and within the independence movement has led to chaos and, at times, incompetence. Yet, all factions agree on one thing: they will only settle for independence and the conflict will continue until it is obtained.

The government has not been any better than the secessionists in its actions. It continuously denies the severity of the crisis regarding displacement figures and the number of fatalities. Additionally, it refuses to accept that the current crisis has its more recent origins in the beatings, intimidation, arrests and killing of Anglophone teachers and lawyers in the latter half of 2016. The independence movement became violent only after the military killed pro-secession demonstrators in 2017. Even after the breakout of violent conflict in 2018, the government denies proven human rights atrocities, and says the crisis is solely the result of “Ambazonian terrorism”. In doing so, it ignores the root causes of the crisis, for which the government bears responsibility.

It appears that the situation in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon will continue to deteriorate at the expense of civilians. Despite substantial international efforts, the conflict has yet to be resolved, largely because of the stubborn and zero-sum mentality that has been taken by the two sides.

Unless the secessionists and the government are able to change how they approach the conflict, any chance of it being resolved soon is wishful thinking.

Source: Mail&Guardian

When Switzerland offered that they wanted to mediate in the crisis in Southern Cameroons, some of our leaders and comrades jumped up with excitement. They called the initiative credible and said it was an opportunity for us to sit down with La Republique du Cameroun

The initiative was immediately endorsed by the international community. Many found and still find the Swiss initiative as a hoax. The endorsement of the initiative by the international community to many is a conspiracy. Southern Cameroonians do not understand why certain individuals think that because an initiative has been endorsed by the international community, the initiative is good and must be embraced. This same international community endorsed the ousting of Gaddafi including the war in Syria against Assad.

Now, Southern Cameroons leaders have been given life sentence. How many of them have spoken against the sentence? We know all those who quickly hailed the Swiss initiative and endorsed it. How many of these so-called international community guys have now stepped forward to condemn the regime? Has Switzerland done so? Has the UK done so? What has the AU said about it? Faki, the AU Chairman was quick to endorse the Swiss initiative. Now he is taking too long to finish his prayers to Allah because he doesn’t want to say anything. Harriett Baldwin MP former UK Minister for Africa who endorsed the Swiss nonsense can’t even make a comment. The UK Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab has his mouth shut up. The UK Minister for the Commonwealth, Baron Ahmad who hailed the Swiss dialogue has gone mute. Stephenson MP, new British Minister for Africa is busy drinking tea. Patricia Scotland of the Commonwealth too is drinking her champagne in the Caribbean’s.

If you want Southern Cameroonians to consider the endorsement of the Swiss initiative by the international community as credible, what then does the international community have to say about their indifference now? President Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe and his top aides have been condemned and the international community is not condemning it. Yes. Cohen condemned it but he ended up talking of federation that seems to miss.

In the midst of “Dialogue” you are sentencing the Ambazonia leaders to life imprisonment and expecting Southern Cameroonians to believe that you are willing to dialogue or negotiate with them! Well, there are others who strongly believe in Yaounde’s willingness to dialogue.

Source: Anonymous

After close to three years, it seems the Yaounde government has learned nothing. The leaders seem to blind to the changes taking place around them. They seem to be stuck in their old mentality of wanting to send home strong messages.

Strong messages no longer threaten Cameroonians, especially the Southern Cameroonian, who has seen his siblings, mother, brother and father killed by trigger-happy soldiers. The Southern Cameroonian loves peace, but not the poisoned gift that was given to his parents in Foumban shortly after independence.

If some Southern Cameroonians have picked up weapons against their own government, it is not because they are a barbaric people or people who do not have any regard for law and order. It is more because they are faced with a government that is indifferent to the sorry plight of its citizens.

The Yaounde government has no regard for its people. Human life does not mean anything to it. Instead of serving their people, Yaounde authorities have been serving themselves using the people’s resources.  The large number of ministers and directors that are today languishing in state jails is testimony to the egoism that these officials are noted for.

After three years of intense debates on and challenges to state authority, a selfless and reasonable government that holds national unity and peace so dear to its heart should be reaching out to all the stakeholders in all the crises that are tearing the country apart.

A reliable government should be thinking of the country’s future and its actions should speak to its determination and sincerity to pursue peace and national reconciliation.

But its latest action, that of slamming a life sentence on President Julius Ayuk Tabe and his fellow Southern Cameroonians speaks to the government’s recklessness and determination to pursue a line of action that will instead deepen the crisis in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

After a questionable and sham process, the leaders of the Southern Cameroons struggle have been sent to prison although they were already in hell before the politically motivated decision. This decision will not make things better in the country. Schools will surely not resume. Ghost towns and lockdowns will intensify in the coming days, and justifiably so.

Southern Cameroonian leaders and activists have been given a reason to pursue their own policies and they will do so in the firm belief that they do not have a reliable and peace-loving partner on the other side with whom they can hold a constructive and inclusive dialogue that will lead to sustainable peace in the country.

The Yaounde government has miscalculated on all fronts. It has mismanaged all the crises that are threatening to tear the country apart. While other countries of the word are seeking stability and peace so as to attain sustainable development, the Yaounde government that many Cameroonians hold is a crime syndicate is displaying a lot of irresponsible behavior and this is disturbing to the international community that is tired of calling for an inclusive dialogue to address the crises that are giving the country a very bad name.

President Julius Ayuk Tabe and many of those in jail are the people the population considers as leaders of the struggle. Slamming them with a life sentence only reduces any real chances for dialogue. President Julius Ayuk Tabe is the poster boy of this revolution and he must be at the negotiating table if any real results must be achieved.

Instead of throwing him in jail for life, the Yaounde government should have sought the middle ground as a means of defusing the tensions that have transformed the country into a “blast furnace”.

Cameroonians are going through the toughest moments of their lives. Jobs are scarce and life is a permanent struggle. Decisions like the one that was taken under the cover of darkness only makes the country to look like a ticking time bomb that might go off anytime soon.

The sentencing of Julius Ayuk Tabe in such circumstances does not address any real issue. He has been in jail for a long time and he is already used to his new environment. He is a man with a strong mentality and today’s decision will not break him down.

He has a cult following which makes it hard for the government to celebrate any success. A wise decision would have been to use him to defuse the tensions in the two English-speaking regions of the countries. The government seems to be willing to set a fire to a “tinder box” and the consequences will be catastrophic.

Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor Balla’s message on Facebook aptly captures the mood in the country and it rightly depicts how the country is being managed. “The sentencing of Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe to a life sentence is an affront to due process and the rule of law. The right to a fair trial is a fundamental human right. The sham process is a reflection of the sham management of the country,” he said.  

Today’s decisions are indeed a travesty of justice. The Yaounde government has displayed its reckless for all to see. It does not have the interest of the country at heart. Its cardinal objective is to send home a message strength to a people who are already deaf and frustrated. A message which does not have any legal basis will surely not have the desired impact. If anything, it will simply speak to the numerous accusations Cameroonians have been making against the government.

These unfortunate decisions are robbing the country of the peace it dearly needs at this time. The Southern Cameroons crisis will only deepen and the determined fighters will never drop their weapons. The violence will soon escalate. Many civilians in the two English-speaking regions will lose their lives while many soldiers will sent to the regions will never go back home.

The decisions are indeed a dead sentence to the school year which was already a lightning rod for controversy. If the government cannot show flexibility at this critical moment, how does it expect Southern Cameroonians who have been complaining for more than five decades to be understanding?

This is not the time to score points. This is time to take actions and decisions that can bring peace to Cameroon. The Yaounde government must take a look at its own actions and decisions to see if they are really helping to defuse the tensions in Cameroon. This is the time to show flexibility and any tough stance does not work in the interest of peace.

By Joachim Arrey in Canada

Americans are well acquainted with the influx of Central American asylum seekers along the southern United States border. But the Central Americans are not alone. Lost in the news cycle are people of many nationalities who have crossed continents to seek refuge in the United States. One such group from Cameroon has been forced to flee in part by contradictions in U.S. policy, only to have America slam the door in their face.

The longstanding marginalization of the country’s Anglophone minority gave way to violence in 2016 when the Cameroonian military met peaceful protests with excessive force. This overreaction strengthened separatist sentiment, and Anglophone pro-independence groups took up arms.

With government forces wrongly assuming that most civilians support the secessionist cause and separatist groups attacking people who have not joined the fight, civilians are trapped and face arbitrary detention, torture, and the destruction of their homes. It is hardly surprising that more than 1,000 Cameroonians, who have every reason to flee their country, have found their way to the southern border of the United States.

The U.S. government has recognized and responded to abuses in Cameroon. The Department of Defense cut ties with Cameroonian forces earlier this year, citing human rights abuses and the U.S. House of Representatives passed Resolution 358 this month, condemning human rights abuses by both government security forces and armed groups in Cameroon. The U.S. Department of State has acknowledged the excessive use of force and targeting of civilians by Cameroonian military forces in its 2018 Human Rights report.

Regrettably, and despite this U.S. recognition of severe problems in Cameroon, there has been little U.S. action to help the millions left in the crossfire or to address their mounting humanitarian needs.  In fact, the United States has contributed a mere $300,000 toward the $93.5 million required to assist the 1.3 million people in need.

So between January and May 2019, 1,023 Cameroonians arrived in Mexico. Nearly all arrived on foot. Most traveled by air to Ecuador, and then traveled north through Central America and Mexico to make their way to the U.S. border. They are relieved to have finished the worst of their trek, having made it without any knowledge of Spanish and little food or water on the dangerous journey. Many report robberies at the hands of armed groups and deaths along the way.

Cameroonians in Tijuana waiting to cross into the United States include lawyers, teachers, entrepreneurs, and members of Cameroon’s opposition party — people who had thriving careers before violence broke out at home.

I met with those in Tijuana waiting to have their claim heard, and they serve as proof that ignoring a far-away population in need doesn’t mean they won’t show up on your doorstep.  

Once in Tijuana, the Trump administration’s new Migration Protection Protocols (‘Remain in Mexico’) policy, requires Mexican authorities to compile a list of asylum-seekers and assign them a number for their place in line.

While at the Tijuana border-crossing last month, I saw hundreds of Cameroonians gathered around the port-of-entry to San Diego every day, despite knowing they wouldn’t be called for weeks or even months. They’re desperate for any information they can get on the next steps in the difficult process.

Asylum-seekers wait three to six months before they’re called to the border for their “credible fear” interviews. This process used to be overseen by asylum officers from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, it is now increasingly overseen by armed Custom and Border Patrol agents who are not trained on how to conduct interviews about traumatic events.

Moreover, immigration lawyers say the United States is refusing Cameroonians’ asylum requests for reasons as insignificant as not having official translations of French-language documents into English. For this, they’re being deported back to Cameroon, where many are immediately detained upon their return. There have even been reports of torture.

The United States cannot have it both ways. It cannot both condemn widespread human rights abuses faced by civilians in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions and tell asylum-seekers fleeing these abuses that their claims are not valid.

Even with greater U.S. support for humanitarian assistance for Cameroon, which is essential, Cameroonians are likely to continue to flee their country. Having recognized and criticized serious abuses of human rights in Cameroon, the U.S. government must now provide asylum to those who would face certain danger if forced to return home. And our government would also do well to remember that ignoring far-away humanitarian crisis means you may be compelled — politically and ethically — to address them closer to home.

Source: The Hill

After three years of self-destruction, the government and armed groups locked in an armed conflict in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon must yield to calls from the international community for an inclusive dialogue.

The conflict, which could have been avoided, has already consumed some 5,000 lives, including civilians and soldiers.  These lives could have been spared and the families of those killed or wounded would be a lot happier today.

The country’s economy has taken a nosedive due to the crisis and the hardship resulting from this man-made disaster is both visible and palpable, both in East and West Cameroon.  The country’s second largest employer, the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), has taken a blow to the liver as a result of the conflict and its chances of surviving are slim.

Threats from the separatists are making it hard for this state corporation to operate normally and its workers are scared of being punished by armed separatists who operate under the cover of darkness. PAMOL, another major employer, has been completely put out of business. Its facilities have been set ablaze by angry and armed separatists who are hell-bent on bringing the country’s economy to its knees.

But the greatest blow to the economy has come from the crashing of the nation’s lone oil refinery (SONARA) which went up in flames a few months ago. This is a huge blow to the government, as one of its major revenue streams has suddenly gone dry.

And this has been complicated by the death of thousands of small businesses that provided services to the oil refinery.  Besides those businesses, thousands of small businesses in the two English-speaking regions of the country have also folded up as the fighting between armed groups and the military rages on and spreads even into the rural areas of the country.

The destruction to the country’s economy is visible and its impact shows on many people across the country. But the greatest victims are the children in the two regions who are being robbed of their childhood and future. For three years, children in Southern Cameroons do not know how to play outside. Soccer matches that characterized life in the regions have all disappeared and the only thing the children know is violence.

Some of them have lost their parents and many are hiding in the bushes with relatives who hold that if they return to their homes – that is, if the military has not burned down the homes – they will be arrested and shipped to Yaoundé where the government has set up torture camps for Southern Cameroonians.

Even those who are still in the villages are permanently expecting a resurgence of violence as the military and the armed groups have engaged in a permanent game of mutual destruction.

Children in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon have not been to school for three years and in development terms, a generation is being gradually sacrificed. The education facilities are already crumbling and some of the have been brought down by fire set to them by army soldiers.

The adverse impact of keeping children away from school for long periods of time is usually long term, but residents of the two English-speaking regions are already living with the short-term impact. Banditry is on the rise. Kidnappings and ransom killings are robbing many people of a good night’s sleep.

Young men in the region have found a new lucrative business. Many of them are acquiring sophisticated assault rifles which they are using to intimidate innocent civilians so as to make money and live the gangster life they have been dreaming about. Rapes and unwanted pregnancies are hitting the roof and if care is not taken, the situation will spiral out of control.

Cameroon is gradually descending into hell and what many Cameroonians only heard or read about from the scary tales in Liberia or Sierra Leone is finally taking root in their own country. Africa’s sliding conflicts have finally made their way to Cameroon.

But this self-destruction can be stopped. The various factions have to demonstrate a lot of flexibility if they are interested in finding a peaceful solution.  There is no point being stuck in a position that is spreading death and destruction to a people. There are no points to be earned here. The international community is instead making a mockery of Cameroon.

The government in particular has a lot to change if peace has to return to Cameroon. It must restrain its military that has spread a lot of pain in the two English-speaking regions of the country.  A country’s military should not be used to kill the same people who are financing its own survival.

Taxpayers’ money could be better used to prevent conflict than to destroy a country’s economic and political infrastructure just because those in power want to prove a point.

There is nothing wrong with complaining. Southern Cameroonians had never intended to fight the government. Theirs was a peaceful demonstration that has been badly managed. Any government in the world owes its people a listening ear and a willingness to make things better and not a heavy hand that will only make matters worse.

The government has to take a long and hard look at its actions if it thinks of restoring peace in the two English-speaking regions of the country.  It must also listen to the international community that is ready and willing to support any efforts at resolving the crisis that has put the country in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

The government’s military violence has significantly contributed in keeping children out of school for three years.  Instead of spreading death and destruction, the country’s military could have sought to win hearts and minds within the civilian population.

Not every Southern Cameroonian is a separatist and the military’s reckless actions have only helped to swell the ranks of the fighters.

For their part, the armed groups must accept the bitter reality that an independent Southern Cameroons will not be seeing the light of day anytime soon. A clear military victory is unfortunately not within reach.

The international community has very low appetite for secession and even if the secessionists obtain a military victory, it will be hard for them to operate in a globalizing world that is instead fostering larger geo-political entities.

Gaining independence could be possible, but gaining international recognition could be a Herculean task. Puntland, that separated from Somalia and did not even participate in the bloody fighting that has defined Somalia, has never been recognized.

The world still considers it as part of the chaotic Somalia even when Puntland has proven that it can function as an independent geo-political entity.  Similarly, Southern Cameroonians around the world must understand that keeping their children away from school only hurts their cause.

Their use of armed groups to deter children from going to school only qualifies them as terrorists and the international community has no admiration for people with a penchant for mass destruction. While school boycotts might have worked in the initial days of the conflict, insisting on using it these days could be a sign of desperation.

The Southern Cameroons conflict has gone beyond a school boycott. The increasing diplomatic victories abroad and increasing international pressure on the Yaoundé government are better bargaining chips that could be used to achieve better results.

Keeping children at home  for many years when their rightful  place is in the classroom is not only immoral, it is also ungodly, especially as the advocates of a school boycott live abroad and have their children in schools abroad. By God, it is great to go to school.

 Keeping children away from school through intimidation only equates Southern Cameroonians to Boko Haram that has drawn a lot of flak for refusing children their birth right to education. Holding that the children will only return to school only after a comprehensive reform of the school system is a clear demonstration of ignorance of how administrative and educational systems operate.

Life is a work in progress and reforms could always be introduced at any time when the systems show signs of failure or fatigue. Both parties in the conflict must now demonstrate that they have attained a good level of maturity after the errors of the past three years.

Mistakes have been made, but it will preposterous to continue making more mistakes just because we have to score points   Human life is more important than individual opinions. Let us not let our egos to stand in the way of efforts to restore peace in Cameroon.  Cameroonians of all linguistic backgrounds must now support all initiatives that will help bring peace to Cameroon.

They must support the Swiss initiative that has already received the blessing of the United States, Canada and the European Union. The time for flexibility is now and Cameroonians cannot afford to miss it.

By Dr Joachim Arrey in Canada