Veteran CRTV Journalist endorses the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, Says there are no anointed ones ⁰

Former political commentator with the Cameroon radio and television, Lawrence EyongEchaw has broken the silence he maintained ever since the Anglophone uprising started in 2016. Larry Eyong who also moonlighted as the Shadow Minister of Communication for the Social Democratic Front posted on his Face Book page an endorsement of the leadership of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium. In this soul-searching write-up, Larry argues that there are no anointed ones and that some people need to get over themselves:

For nearly a quarter century, the restoration of the independence of Southern Cameroons has been spearheaded by, a desultory consternation of mutually antagonistic, and self –serving organizations, with larger-than-life leaders, who are more concerned with undercutting one another, than creating the synergy for the realization of the goal of liberating the people.

Paradoxically, the upstarts leading the rival liberation movements, operate in the same monolithic political culture that they condemn in the leader of “La Republique du Cameroun”, with each leaders, perpetuating himself as, “Leader of the People of the Southern Cameroons’, like Kim Il Sung, in North Korea, and Moi Tse Tung in China.

Like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, each believes that because he make so much sacrifice for the liberation struggle, he has carte blanche to run roughshod against the participatory democratic principles that we cherish and want to restore in the Southern Cameroons.

Early in the life of the movement in the Diaspora-which has become the spear of the nation- there was an existentialist debate, about whether to support fugitives of “La Republique du Cameroun” who were seeking asylum in the United States, or to allow these fugitives to swim or drown by their own devices.

Ironically, the decision to extend our support to the fugitives, created the financial wherewithal to support some of our leaders who were languishing in the dungeons of “La Republique du Cameroun’. But, in a classic case of, killing the goose that laid the golden egg, some of these leaders, out of egotism and the need to enhance their credibility in the eyes of the world, decided to substitute themselves for the immigration authorities of Western countries, by wanting to personally vet those who claimed to be fugitives of the struggle.

Fortunately, the laws of these countries afford the opportunity, for a case by case, evaluation of the factual basis of each émigré’s claim, resulting in the acceptance of a huge number of émigrés, who are now the backbone sustaining the struggle in the Diaspora, to the extent that the regime is suspending social media, and sending marksmen to the West, to physically eliminate some émigrés and scare others.

Yet, the self-proclaimed leaders of the Southern Cameroons Independence movement must remember that, but for the ingenuity of these compatriots who have settled in the West, and are able to make financial contributions to the struggle, they would not have audiences to deliver speeches and extol their exploits in the struggle.

The regime in Yaounde had become comfortable with the consternation of rabble-rousers who were rivaling each other, in claiming legitimacy in leading the liberation movement. This would generally enhance their negotiating position and increase their bribe offer with the Yaounde regime.

But when a new organization was borne with leadership that had the bona fides to leverage the momentum that had been created by the “coffin revolution” back home, the factional leaders of the Southern Cameroons resorted to a scorched earth policy of distraction, disorientation, division and doubt that was intended to result in desperation and despair in the people of the Southern Cameroons in the Diaspora.

Fortunately, Southern Cameroonians are able to see through these smokescreens and maintain their eyes on the prize. Outrageous and unfounded accusations have been levied against people who had a pioneering role in advocating for multi-party democracy in Cameroon, and spending time in the Kondengui maximum security prison, for being agents of the Yaoundé government.

The reality is that, some Southern Cameroonian leaders, who have developed a bunker –mentality are scared of new leadership with the wisdom and connections to take the struggle to greater heights. These Machiavellian machinations have already failed as the bulk of Southern Cameroonians have vowed to support the new leader, ready to put his ingenuity at the service of the people of the Southern Cameroons.

By Larry Eyong