Southern Cameroons Crisis: Hopes are high for Biya to announce reforms ⁰

President Biya now has an opportunity to announce significant reforms that could help him get a respectable exit from the Cameroon political scene and de-escalate tensions with Southern Cameroonians.

The 85 year-old monstrous liability of a head of state is due to meet with the US and French ambassadors to discuss the way forward for the crumbling nation and the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia will be watching for remarks on the war in Southern Cameroons that has claimed the lives of more than one thousand Ambazonians.

It’s hoped Biya will say something specific enough and tangible enough to give Ambassador Peter Barlerin of the United States and French chief diplomat Gilles Thibault confidence that he will be stepping down as president of the republic and that negotiations will begin with Southern Cameroons leadership soonest.

Our senior correspondent in Yaoundé who contributed to this report said the question on the table is how big the Biya reform package will be and how specific it will be vis-à-vis the war in Southern Cameroons.

French President Macron has reportedly made a dramatic u turn after pressure came from the Trump administration and Paris has dispatched the French Secretary of State at the Ministry of European and Foreign Affairs to Cameroon to discuss the war in Southern Cameroons with French Cameroun authorities.

Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne has been quoted as saying that confidence building measures between Francophones and Anglophones are necessary at this time to de-escalate the tensions. Washington has long pressed Biya to step aside honorably or face devastating consequences. Not only will Biya resigning help heal the Southern Cameroons-French Cameroun relationship; it will also benefit the one and indivisible Cameroon theory.

A well-placed source deep within the Francophone regime in Yaoundé hinted this reporter on Thursday that Biya will begin with reforms aimed at getting a new head of state because it is the right thing to do.

Biya’s previous calls for dialogue and the so-called humanitarian package have all been described as a little bit too little.  The United States is seeking immediate action from Biya that goes beyond fake promises of dialogue and aid to Ambazonians.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon Concord News Group