The Will of God for Southern Cameroons at this point is a referendum ⁰

Dear Cardinal TUMI,
I am writing this letter to you, hoping that the people of Southern Cameroons will be patient and for once give you and your team a benefit of doubt as you attempt to listen to the different views and opinions as you find Solution to the Southern Cameroon problem during the upcoming Meeting you have convened.

As a moral Authority in Cameroon for so many years, I do not doubt your sense of truth and Justice. I say so because I believe that, on the one hand, God wants to manifest himself to the government of Cameroun as a God of Truth and Justice. On the other hand, he is revealing himself to the People of Southern Cameroon as a God of Mercy. Truth, Justice, and Mercy are all part of the attributes of God, and he chooses how to dispense them to individuals and nations without compromising His integrity.

The people of Southern Cameroon voted in a Plebiscite to join La Republic du Cameroon in a Federal system of Government in 1961. Whether this was a right step or a mistake is not the issue here. It is a historical fact. There were terms binding the two States together in that Federation. Over the years, because of the selfishness and wickedness of one party, it was considered that the other, because she was small in size could be manipulated, marginalized and systematically assimilated into the larger part. That is why, from a Federal Republic in 1961, we mysteriously find ourselves in La Republic, the name of the bigger Party at the time of the Union.

Sir, a lot has happened in Cameroon within the last two years that are facts that are in the public for anyone to read and see for themselves. My concern is to remind you that where we are now, the government of Cameroon has lost its credibility in the sight of the people of Southern Cameroon. The inability of the government to initially dialogue with the Consortium, the torture, the arbitrary arrests, the targeted killings and the War declared on the Southern Cameroonians are a testimony to the hatred of the regime against a part of the Country she wants to make the World believe she governs. Unfortunately, this has only helped to open the eyes of the people to a point where they are all willing to die than to cowardly submit to such slavery. To add insult to injury, the regime while still pursuing its master plan of wiping out protesting Southern Cameroonians, went ahead to organize elections in this parts of the Country where they have practically chased into the bushes or out of the Country the majority of the masses. Using the plight of Southern Cameroonians to their advantage, a miserable 5% (from their own statistics) for most part made up of Soldiers and government officials gave the government Party a crushing majority in S.W. and N.W. Regions. What a shame. What moral and Political injustice. Let me also recall that the government, using the plight of the suffering displaced Southern Cameroonians, made fund raising with a target of 12 billions which was supposed to go to those who lost properties and the displaced. Now that campaigns are over and the military is well equipped to continue the burning of Villages and killing of innocent civilians, I can assure you the project has been realized.

In the face of all of these, what message do we have again as Servants of God to the people of Southern Cameroon? What message does a Pastor have for a Slave under the yoke and burden imposed on him by the Slave driver, if not to stand with him and seek his liberation. Or should we ask him to remain under the yoke of slavery and die so that God will receive his Soul. Any true man of God with a conscience in Cameroon at this moment should know that our real assignment at this moment, is to stand with the oppressed in their quest for Justice. This should be done not only by Prayer, but by proclamation as well. We should speak the truth.Nobody should be fooled, the way to true Peace in Southern Cameroon is by going back to the roots. There is injustice, craftiness, pride, and deceit buried in the root of the Union. A system and a pattern of evil by the government geared towards Suppressing and Marginalizing the Anglophones for fear that they should not grow and become a bigger threat in the future. This has manifested in different ways, at different times, in different places all over Cameroon, until lately the time of full occupation was rife. Otherwise, what can even remotely explain the fact that even English Common Law Courts were already taken over by French Civil Law Judges, and English Schools were taken over by French teachers who do not understand English. Why is it that our Bilingualism only understands the French Language and only considers the Francophones?

Some people will want us believe that we were one nation in German Cameroon before the French and English came and divided us. This is a week argument and a hypocritical attempt to escape from reality by the party that always seeks to marginalize. In German Cameroon we were more than 250 ethnic groups brought together by the colonial power, in most of the cases against our will, to serve her own interest. We were only one in the sense that we are all created by God, whether Black or White, Jew or Gentile. God requires all men to repent and be united with Christ so that we can be one family here on Earth. Nevertheless, from the scattering of the Human race at the Tower of Babel, God permitted diversity. Every Nation (people) have a right to self-determination. The government is there to facilitate and protect this right. The government exist because of the people and not vice versa. That is why the quest for independence made sense. Now, when independence was granted for those who were colonized, lines were drawn, not by God but by the Colonial Powers. God created the Earth and He still keeps the title deed (Psalm 24:1). However, it is not God that drew the lines over Nations to demarcate them and set boundaries between one nation and the other as it presently stands. This was done by man. God just stood as a witness. The name Cameroon was given by man, and when it was given so many parts of the present Cameroon were not included. Also, when the Germans were in charge, the map was different from what it is today. So, the Union between Southern Cameroon and La Republic is a Historical fact, but not a Gospel Truth. The map of any nation on earth is not static but dynamic, depending on what God decides to do with that nation. That is why there are so many nations and Kingdoms that no longer exist today on Earth. God can decide to use His Sovereign Power as the Owner of the Earth to separate two people who do now agree to walk together (Amos 3:3).

In view of the facts above, and taking into consideration the devastation brought upon the people of Southern Cameroon by the Government of La Republic du Cameroon, recognizing also that the will of God in this matter is for Truth and Justice to be established(reconciliation can only come after), it is my humble opinion that the next step for the Southern Cameroonians is a Referendum. This Referendum will determine whether or not Southern Cameroonians still want to continue with the Union with La Republic. Another reason why a Referendum is the solution is because the government claims that those who are advocating for Secession are a negligible minority. The Referendum then will check the veracity of that claim. Therefore, if we are to revisit the root of the problem of Cameroon as recommended by many, we must realize and recognize that the root of our problem is a Union which has not worked. It has resulted into a situation where one party, having all the Political, Judicial, Economic and Military might, with all its numerical Strength is about to wipe out the other from the face of the Earth in which only God has the title deed. If there will be any All Anglophone Conference at all (and I think we should give it a chance), the wisdom of God demands that the people of Southern Cameroon be given a chance in a REFERENDUM to determine their future. Anything short of that will be tantamount to trying to treat a serious wound lightly.

By hook or by crook, there is a people who exist here on Earth and who see and identify themselves as English Speaking Cameroonians from the Southwestern and Northwestern Region of Cameroon (They have recently identified themselves as Ambazonians; which is also their right), the former British Colony of Southern Cameroon. These people, whose language, education, training, and values have been impacted by the British, are in a way different from those of the other part of the Country called Cameroon, who were impacted by the French. This is the difference between the Anglophone and the Francophone in Cameroon, but this is not what is bad or bringing problem. I will like our Francophone brothers to take note of this. What is bringing problem is the fact that over the years, since the two parties came together, there has been a systematic plan orchestrated by the Government and Sponsored by the French Colonial Masters, to marginalize and consequently assimilate the Anglophones thereby eliminating all that he represents in the Country. The proof is vivid in all sector of life in the Country. This is the Gospel Truth about Cameroon, and the almighty God will not allow this injustice. I love my French brothers and Sisters on the other side. I do not preach hatred and division. But I have a duty to speak the truth. I also thank God for their passion in standing to defend the truth in condemning what they see as fraud in the present Elections of October 7, 2018. This means they too have the same instinct against injustice. I only hope that they will understand and see reasons with Southern Cameroonians when they stand up to say enough is enough.

To conclude this epistle, dear Cardinal, I will like to remind you and your Team who have offered to serve as facilitators and Moderators of this event that History and above all God, stands as your Judge. The government of Cameroon, who has only accepted this Conference reluctantly because of pressure and lack of no better alternative, will try to influence it by infiltrating with its agents to have the last say. That will be counterproductive and will lead to even more bloodshed than we are experiencing now. The People of Southern Cameroon are between Federation and Separation, and only a Referendum held in Southern Cameroon for Southern Cameroonians can be a Just bargain.

May God help the people of Southern Cameroon.

Rev. T. H. Mbu-Arrey