Politics

Details

Rita Akana

27.Apr.2017

Hits: 3459

The UN has called on the Cameroon Government to ensure that minority populations like Anglophones are considered in the sharing of posts in the public service. The call, amongst others was made last April 20, 2017 by the Director of the United Nations Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa, Ahowanou Agbessi during the validation workshop of the 22nd and 23rd Reports by Cameroon on the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination organized in the conference room of the Ministry of Justice in Yaoundé. The UN official used the occasion to reiterate the support of their centre for all actions geared towards the implementation of human rights in Cameroon. Cameroon was also urged to deposit its report on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination on time on the table of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 

Chairing the workshop on behalf of Minister of State for Justice and Keeper of the Seals, Laurent Esso, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice, George Gwanmesia pledged Cameroon’s commitment to make sure its human rights reports are deposited on time as soon as they are ready. Cameroon is obliged to deposit this periodic report on the UN Convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination latest July 2017.

After listening to three exposes, participants drawn from the Ministry of Justice, other administrations, independent institutions, the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms, Civil Society Organizations and the UN Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa adopted the following recommendations; that government should take measures to limit rural exodus of pigmies often displaced by 3rd persons for exploitative reasons, a national observatory be created specifically to handle discrimination problems, that civil society and international organizations evaluate the pilot education project in Baka language of the East region supervised by Plan International to see if it meets the cultural and local development preoccupations of the pigmies, that minorities in the country like Anglophones be considered in the sharing of posts in the public service, the promotion of bilingual education etc.
It should be recalled that the Mbororos and Pigmies are the two minority indigenous populations in Cameroon reported to be facing a lot of challenges. 

The Sun Newspaper

Details

Rita Akana

27.Apr.2017

Hits: 5526

To an innocent observer, the recent wave of reforms in Cameroon signals the arrival of a messiah and his gospel. Many ministerial decrees; several commissions; uncountable appointments and what have you.

The National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism is certainly one of the major stories making news in Cameroon as its members are to be officially commissioned by Prime Minister Yang today, Thursday 27.04-20167. 

Some people see this move as a historic decision from the powers that be. But what they do not seem to is the staleness of the whole show. This is a drama acted by the same actors who have been on stage for several decades, singing the same song with the same dance but a different style.

How can we swallow this change when indeed it is not change as such? The majority of the members of the commission are ‘popular’ figures of the regime. May be they are the best! But if they were that 'outstanding' they should not have come after the president and gone before him. Peter Mafany Musonge should still be prime minister if he were that ‘good’. Likewise for Ama Tutu Muna. If these persons have worked with the regime, and yet things remain the way they are, what can we expect from them when they take over the commission? By the way, under whose control is the commission? The president of course.

Cameroon became 'bilingual' more than sixty years ago, and these people have been there, though not from the probably, and English has been trampled upon without them making the difference.

In fact, if anything could come out of this commission, it must first and foremost gain independence. it should not lean on anybody, for he who pays the piper calls the tune. Barrister Nico Halle ought to lead the commission as an independent and outspoken person.

We are saying this in relation to what we see on the stage on a daily basis. Last year a commission was created and put under the ‘prime minister’ to investigate the causes of and propose solutions to one of the most deadly train derailment in the country’s history. The report was to be submitted in thirty days. But after the deadline there was no trace of the findings, unless it did not reach some people.

Details

Mbi James

27.Apr.2017

Hits: 1558

Dr. Ndi Richard Tanto, a well-known Peace Building consultant proposes to the newly created Commission for Bilingualism and Multiculturalism to promote Cameroon’s cultures and at the time providing constitutional safeguards that will prevent assimilation of these cultures.

According to Dr. Ndi, Bilingualism in Cameroon is only constitutional but yet to be realized in practice especially within the civil service as English seems to have been pushed to a background position. 

“The constitution says Cameroon should be bilingual. In theory, Cameroon is a bilingual state because the statutes of the state say Cameroon is bilingual but I think in practice it has not been very effective. When you look around especially in ministries where it is stipulated that documents should come out in English and French, you see them essentially in French. The English Language is not used in the Army or in any of our forces of law and order. At times it seems that English has been pushed to the Background” says the Consultant. “I think those who work with the administration; who can be moved from one end of the country to the others should be bilingual so that they deliver services to Cameroonians in the languages that Cameroonians understand” he adds.

However Villagers seem to have their own part of the story. According to Pa Peter Ndi of Tabenken Village of North West Cameroon, Bilingualism in his village makes no sense.

Pa Peter Ndi says “I don’t see myself learning to speak French and English now. I speak the dialect and a bit of English I am OK with it here in the village. In fact you will never hear anybody around here speaking French. May be it will happen in the future.  But I have a son who is the city and I think he needs to know the two languages in order to advance in his Banking Career.

Nevertheless, the propositions of Dr. Ndi are coming in a day before the installation of the newly created Commission in charge of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism in Yaoundé.

Still, many Cameroonians are waiting to see if Bilingualism on paper will soon be a thing of the past in Cameroon. 

Details

Ndi Derek Giyoh

27.Apr.2017

Hits: 1891

 Sometime ago, a news publication (Cameroon Tribune) quoted President Paul Biya as saying he would like to be remembered as the man who “brought democracy” to Cameroon. That sentence or call it a declaration was scorned by many and some were quick to coin it otherwise; “President Biya is a big lover and advocate of democracy, but he only wishes it to be really functional after him.

I am not a judge of intentions; like Spinoza Tractacus Policus, I prefer to understand human actions rather than condemn or judge them. The President certainly cast those intentions and it is left for him and his creator to know whether those thoughts were genuine and if circumstances barred him from standing tall in that line. I say so because I also read from books that he said in the early days of his Presidency that people “would no longer have to hide under their beds to express their opinions, whatever those opinions are”.

A school of thought holds that if the most populous opposition in Cameroon were not manned by Anglophones, power alternation would already have taken place in the country. This scholarly current insists that in as much as the French (they are reputed to still decide everything in Cameroon) have been weary of Mr. Biya for a long time now, their frustration has been the conviction that going by democratic means , the only other choice would be a Southern Cameroonian; an “abomination”.

Every other election since 1992 has come home with the very same message and in 2004, the foreign ambition to move from threats to action in effecting regime change in Cameroon was seen in skewed tactics to force a French speaking Cameroonian (despite the smallness of his following) to be the unique candidate of the country’s opposition. Again, it failed because the Social Democratic Front with its large following decided to pull out of the alliance which it judged as biased.

That 2004, current Communication Minister and Government Spokesman, Issa Tchiroma Bakary said this in an interview: “You know, really, Fru Ndi was elected as Head of State but he was deprived of his victory and he self-proclaimed himself as the elected Head of State. If you can recall, a state of emergency was declared at that time; we had to choose between saving the republic which was on the verge of collapse and civil war or to stick by our principles which consisted in saying that no, Mr Biya did not win the election and to join Mr. Fru Ndi and the consequences might have been unforeseeable. We decided to save the government; to save legality, not legitimacy and this prompted us to even violate some of our principles in order to save peace in the country”.

The question that arises here is would it have been the same if the winner of that election was a Francophone? What would have been the French position and how would the country have reacted across the board? I do not have answers to these questions, but my guess could well be yours, reason even councils won by the SDF in the nation’s capital- Yaounde were all turned back to the ruling party on such grounds as; some of their candidates had not resigned from the CPDM and their mere presence on the lists made the victories those of Mr. Biya’s party. The overall understanding was that it would be improper for an Anglophone-led party to hold councils in the capital city.

Anglophones in Cameroon have complained ceaselessly over the years of worsening conditions; they have expressed disgust at policies meant only to demean and make them less human, such as causing large companies to pay taxes only in Douala and Yaounde, but no one had ever bothered to listen. The All Anglophone Conference brought interesting proposals on how a return to the two-state federation could rescue the country from total collapse, but the organizers were scorned and martyred.

Unable to comprehend how the AAC I failed to produce results that could make Southern Cameroonians feel a sense of belonging, the Anglophones who loved the union to heart, returned to yet another conference- the AAC II, even that did not convince President Biya that the only thing indigenes of the North West and South West wanted was to be recognized as his ‘children’ in the same light like people from the other eight regions. Mr. Biya’s refusal or failure to understand this fact led to worsening conditions, marked by the hard and disgusting fight that resulted in the creation of the GCE Board- a gain that is being eroded in the current fray.

I like to draw the attention of President Paul Biya to this statement by J. F Kennedy: “There are risks and costs to programs of action. But they are far less than the long range risks and cost of comfortable inaction”. The people are crying and their ‘father’ is either silent or taking his holidays around the globe; he seems not to understand that his roof is on fire. That inaction may lead to irreparable damage and history is most likely, as I have seen during my scholarly years, to hold only my beloved President Biya responsible and not all those who are feeding him with stories that have no connection with the real situation on the ground.

The need to return to the two-state federal option as proposed by Anglophones for decades, but rejected brutally by the regime has pushed many to think it does not make any sense thinking of it any longer. When the lawyers and then the teachers came up with that request again in 2015 leading up to 2016, it seemed laughable and they were mocked out of proportions. Five of our ministers held a press conference and described them as clowns; in fact a new and uncanny definition of who an Anglophone was emerged; some ministers told their audience that they had Anglophones in their homes. Months only afterwards, Minister of State, Laurent Esso who was actively present at that press outing came away with a new definition that gave Anglophones in Cameroon a geographical definition.

I wish to recall to our President that if his security and intelligence services decided to do their work properly and delivered to him the raw results of their findings, he would realize much to his dismay that no one in his government had ever told him the truth. The truth would have been that neither lawyers, nor for that matter, the teachers who ignited this revolution have the power to determine how it ends anymore. The government got some union leaders to call off the strike and it did not work, they got the University of Buea SYNES President, Prof Abangma to do same in the university system and the result is still so mitigated and that is likely how new attempts to get the jailed Consortium leaders released to come out and end things could definitely end up.

If the intelligence services also reported honestly, Mr. President would understand that schools are not going on in the Anglophone regions. The three, four or five students who run away from work art home to get taught in classes of 70 or 80 students in the name of schools resumption is like telling oneself lies and believing same. Let us graduate from this farce and face the reality in the supreme interest of the republic of which the President is the guarantor.

Another very important detail; if the intelligence services work well and report exactly what they certainly know by now would be that less than 10% of Anglophones still want any form of union with French speaking Cameroon on account of what has happened since the 17th of January, 2017. That 10% of federalists appears sincerely to be dwindling by the day, especially as news is awash that the GCE Board may have its office moved to Yaounde, that the BACC Board which was never asked for, but got created before the GCE Board over which people lost their sights from splashing waters through water cannons, may organize GCE examinations this year and a lot of other uninteresting news.

The time to rescue the union is fast running out and the struggle which may look like dying Mr. President should know, seems so only in the eyes of those who want to obtain vain favours from the situation. Evidence could be found in the fact that anti ghost town marches have been organized in Kumba (2 days afterwards ghost towns returned), in Buea (three days later the situation remained unchanged), in Limbe (with mitigated results) and then the ridicule of last Monday the 24th of April, 2017 in Bamenda where less than fifty people paraded the streets with placards against ghost towns and were later caught on camera at the Governor’s Office receiving stipends for the ‘dirty’ job.

Anglophones, the President should note, are currently running on the principle enunciated by Harriet Beecher Stowe that; “When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you till you cannot hold on a minute longer, never give up then for that is just the place and time the tide will turn”. The steam of the revolution is growing and only a courageous decision from the most authorized office of the state can make things seem different.

That is why Dr. Mrs Cecilia Ibru says “Risk taking creates opportunities for growth, development and competitive advantage. Any venture, social, political or economic that has no risks, is not worth doing. What is needed is a better understanding of the risks and design strategies to cope with the likely problems”.

This is the time for the President to count the cost and pay the appropriate price, otherwise he runs the risk of re-enacting a historical figure well known of scholars; Joseph II of Austria who demanded that the following words be written on his tombstone: “Here lies a prince whose intentions were pure, but who had the misfortune to see all his plans collapse before his own eyes”. Mr. President inherited one country and to find himself leaving behind two when the bell tolls for him to go off-stage may be a not-too-glorious end.

I have written this opinion piece with so much verve and no fear because I know my President stands for freedom of expression and would not also want to be seen as one who spent the last years of his reign destroying all what he stood for in the early days of his Presidency. Yes, Mr. President, I do not need to hide under the bed to say what I think in a way that can help move us forward; you had abolished repression of public opinion since 1982 and I respect you for that.

Details

John Mbah Akuroh I The Times Journal

26.Apr.2017

Hits: 2128

Why have the parliamentarians from Southern Cameroons not yet resigned from the glass house at NgoaEkele? Better yet, are the parliamentarians and Senators from Southern Cameroons going to resign?  

A plethora of social media analysts, pundits, and even some academics have been saying that the resignation of these legislators from the National Assembly and Senate of La Republique du Cameroun would all but seal the coffin to the fictional union that has subjugated Southern Cameroons for the past 56 years. They opine that the faithful attendance of these parliamentarians and Senators constitutes proof of an indisputable umbilical chord knotting La Republique du Cameroun and Southern Cameroons in the eyes of the International community, including the United Nations. Proponents argue that should these MPs and Senators resign from Yaounde and return to Buea, whatever claim of Union would be over - concubines, come-make-we-stay, njumba, real marriage, or partnership.

Precedence of this actually exists. In 1953 Hon Dr Endeley led the Southern Cameroons legislators out of the Eastern Nigerian House. Their action effectively terminated the relationship with Nigeria, although it would, arguably, ultimately take Southern Cameroons from frying pan (hotplate) into hell fire with La Republique du Cameroun. But the fact of the matter is that there is precedence, strengthened by UN Resolution 1608 of April 21st 1961, and the immobile Article 47 of the 1961 Constitution that made sacred the two-state Federal character of supposed Union.

Why then can the current crop of Southern Cameroons Parliamentarians and Senators not replicate what Hon Dr Endeley and his group did in Nigeria in 1953? And what is stopping them? Buckle up for an honest answer. It is the only answer. There is no other answer. The answer is one word. MONEY! MONEY! MONEY! MONEY! MONEY! If you prefer another word for it I have one: GREED! GREED! GREED! GREED! GREED! But let us go with MONEY!

Cuba Gooding Jr is a famous American actor whose epic performance in the sports movie 'Jerry McGuire', is remembered for the line "show me the money, baby!"  In politics, pundits and investigative journalists say "follow the money". So, let us follow the money to understand why our parliamentarians and Senators will absolutely not resign, unless we force them.

Take any parliamentarian. Take the parliamentarian from your village. How about I take a Parliamentarian from Kom, my village. Kom has two of them. Do you know how much they earn? Do you know what their salary is? You think CFA 300,000 frs? No. How about
CFA 500,000 frs? No. How about CFA 750,000 frs? No. Try CFA 1,000,000.00. Yes! That is the base, the minimum, at which our hand-clapping parliamentarians get paid. We are talking about the same guys and gals that we occasionally see sleeping on TV and at rallies in our villages. Yes, they are the same parliamentarians that have never successfully crafted and passed a single bill in their own National Assembly - the people's house. They get paid for approving any bills that senile President Biya sends to them to maintain or tighten the grip on power for the remainder of his life.

But do not forget that the CFA 1,000,000.00 frs is before the brand new car, a Prado, worth CFA 60,000,000.00frs (60 million CFA frs). It does not include the car maintenance allowance. It does not include the gas coupons. It does not include their lodging allowances. Add it all together, including their benefits package that includes health insurance and paid vacation tickets to Europe and the US, and you begin to have a glimpse at the big picture.

Remember I asked that you think about who your local parliamentarian is? What was he or she doing before they became a parliamentarian? Was he or she earning one million CFA frs for doing nothing? Did he or she  own a brand new Prado SUV worth CFA 60 million frs? When was the last time they just spent a weekend at the hotel much less months in Hotel Le Depute, drinking and socializing in the chicken parlors and other beers houses around Obili? Now, would you easily give that up for an uncertain or competitive future in a Southern Cameroons that you are not sure will happen because you are undermining its independence by staying in the unholy union with La Republique du Cameroun?

Do you now understand why Hon Mbah Ndam, the SDF opposition leader in the Parliament, has been digging heels and defending the position that the very effective Calling Squad from the Diaspora should begin by calling on Philemon Yang, the spineless colonial Prime Minister of La Republique du Cameroun to resign? Why is he doing that? Why is he asking that the Prime Minister, who is not an elected official from Southern Cameroons,  resign before Mbah Ndam and crew resign? It is an easy answer.

They want to buy time. Yes, Mbah Ndam and his colleagues know that PM Yang serves at the behest of President Biya, who can actually hire even a Frenchman to do the same job and no one will cough about it openly. Did Biya not hire a team of French men to advise him at the outset of the ongoing crisis? Does a former French Ambassador not serve as his Adviser? So, yes, Mbah Ndam and co are buying time and milking the cow. They are cashing their millions. And Hon Mbah Ndam,  by dint of his seniority and position, is making at least two times as much as his peers of the opposition bench. You think Hon Mbah Ndam was earning as much at his law firm before he got into parliament? Now, look into his eyes and the eyes of your local parliamentarian. Do you see what I see? $$$$$$$$$! You know who else sees the money and loves the money? Ni John Fru Ndi.

Ni John Fru Ndi. Fact: In an agreement between the Government and the opposition that was brokered by the French, Ni John Fru Ndi is entitled to an undisclosed salary. It is by the terms of this very agreement that Ni John Fru Ndi affords the guarded mansion in Yaounde, a security detail and other benefits befitting his title of main opposition leader. He is also a Franchisor (owner of the SDF Master Franchise) and SDF parliamentarians and Senators are Franchisees. To this extent, every Parliamentarian and Senator pays a royalty to the party boss, although they say it is used to run the party Secretariat! That amount is anywhere between 15% to 20% of CFA one million Frs income. So, multiply a conservative figure of CFA 150,000 frs by the number of SDF Senators and Parliamentarians. Add to this, the fact that Ni John Fru Ndi has a right to some high profile State Contracts...$$$$$$$$$$$

In fact, Ni John has grown so accustomed to the perks that there is a sense of entitlement. For instance, at the burial of President Paul Biya's mother in law  (mother of current wife, Chantal Biya), Fru Ndi came back from Mvo Meka with a brand new car. Curious eyes started asking where the car came from? The chairman reportedly informed that his car broke down on his way to the burial and President Biya loaned him a car. More than a year later, Fru Ndi is yet to return that loaner and will most likely not return it. What does it say about the character of the man? Very polite persons see the behavior of an individual who is more than happy to partake in the spoils of the country, same behaviour  like the Former Director of Budget, Antoine Samba, who would build his own mansion of over $40 million. Fru Ndi is not the charismatic charging leader he sold the nation in the 90s.

The new Fru Ndi has proven himself more of an egomaniac that thinks less in terms of the strategic constituency that sacrificed limb and life in Bamenda on May 26th, 1990 for the launching of the SDF some 27 years ago. Now he thinks in terms of the blocks that finance his operations - Biya block, the Bamileke block, and then the rest. This readily explains why in the memorable audio in which a young man from Britain called in to find out the position of the Chairman and the SDF regarding the ongoing Southern Cameroons crisis, he questioned whether the caller was a card $$$ carrying member of the SDF. It also explains why he appointed the Bamileke gentleman the SG of the party and claimed that it was for strategic reasons. But those with intimate knowledge of Fru Ndi question that he has any strategic political acumen other than primitive survivalist instincts.

There is nothing that he does that is ultra vires to conserving and consolidating absolute power...including the press conference of April 10th, 2017 in which he decided to throw Hon. Wirba under the bus. I would bet that in a moment of lucidity he immediately regretted his excoriation of Hon. Wirba, clearly a standout figure who legitimized the "coffin revolution" of Mancho Bibixi by taking it from the streets of Bamenda and Buea to the glass palace of the rubber-stamping legislators in Ngia Ekele, Yaounde, and into the world wide web (www).

There is no doubt, upon examining how much money parliamentarians and Senators in Cameroon are making, Hon Wirba has risked everything that he had, all his political capital and his life, for the cause of his primary constituency of Southern Cameroons. He has been siding with the least of us. He has also been betting against the thieftocracy and dictatorship of Yaounde, a regime that has abused, by several fold, and disregarded its Federal entente with the other half of the Union that did not gain independence on January 1st 1960, and has so far been treated with less than subhuman status. Hon Wirba decided to forfeit all the financial gain that his colleagues, as well as party boss Ni John Fru Ndi, are guaranteed. Given the chance, Hon Wirba chose his soul and people over crumbs, damnation and the eternal servitude of Southern Cameroons. He chose his conscience and the freedom of his people, and dangerous as the road ahead may be. That is leadership.

By contrast, Ni John Fru Ndi's public rant of April 10th, 2017 was unmistakably a warning to anyone who may be thinking of repeating the stomp on his parade. "This is my party" Fru Ndi literally said at his press conference in response to Hon Wirba's letter that had been leaked to the press. "Forget the line about POWER TO THE PEOPLE. I am the people and the people are me". Teaspoons of water eventually fill a bucket, and the 10th of April may go down in infamy as the tipping point when Ni John Fru Ndi lost what little respect Southern Cameroonians yearning for independence had for him. And if you doubt how much respect he has lost over the years in Bamenda, how do you explain that his last son, the Benjamin of the family, bribed all the other local council candidates to stand down before he won unchallenged in Ntarinkun.

The entry of the son of Fru Ndi into the political fray, albeit at the minimal council level, is not insignificant. It sets up successor battles that have been brewing within the party for a very long time. It also readily explains why the SDF party is postponing the NEC meeting to an undetermined date - because of prominent resurgence of questions of if/when does Fru Ndi hand the relay baton to whom? But those are internal party squabbles that only interest us at this point to the extent that Southern Cameroonian parliamentarians (SDF and CPDM alike) are serving as umbilical cords and holding Southern Cameroons in bondage.

Unlike Hon Wirba,  by dint of the emptiness that a cross majority of them bring to the table and to their constituencies, these fellows will not quit from the National Assembly or Senate on their own volition. We have to make them. Yes, voters have to make them quit. If you have not already been disenfranchised by the voting registers of La Republique du Cameroun,  you have the power to stay at home during the next elections. Do not go out to support any candidates in Southern Cameroons. We can declare, you and I and all those who believe in the reality of an Independent Southern Cameroons, that there are no political parties in our territory, which means no voting. It puts the CPDM and the SDF out of commission.

No one is naive to not factor how smart Paul Biya is. The government will most likely decide to extend the term of the parliamentarians indefinitely. They have done it in the past at the Council level. Nothing happened. And they can decide to try their hand at it again. But things are very different now than they were back then. The world is unto La Republique du Cameroun and following what is happening in Southern Cameroons. By virtue of the Internet apartheid that Southern Cameroons endured for close to 100 days, a world record shut down by a government to deprive people of free speech, it has been established beyond the reasonable doubt that all that matters to La Republique du Cameroun are the resources (oil, timber, cocoa, etc). Southern Cameroonians do not matter. Our culture does not matter. Our education does not matter. Our identity does not matter. Our legal system does not matter. Nothing but our collective extinction matters to La Republique du Cameroun. Is that right?

No! Nothing could be further from the truth!

And the last 95 days without internet has taught them how resilient we are as a people. The last 95 days have made crystal clear to them what the Hon. Wirba meant by two cubes of sugar denying to dissolve in a bowl of water. To the last one of us, we will more than resist any annihilation of our values, culture, traditions or identity to La Republique du Cameroun.  Through the 95 days without internet, we have also come to the realization that our Parliamentarians and Senators are no better than the imbecile police and paramilitary officers that vampire Biya and his looting cabal sent to our University Campuses and streets to rape our sisters, daughters and mothers. They are similar in that they know they are not qualified for their jobs and very few would honestly win in a fair and transparent election in Southern Cameroons. They are, like the police and paramilitary officers, abysmally qualified for anything and are paralyzed with fear about what the future would hold for them in a true democratic Southern Cameroons.

It is for this reason that the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front  (SCACUF) must not tarry on the subject of organizing the election of an Interim Government in Exile as stipulated in the roadmap yielded to it by the Movement for the Restoration of the Independence of Southern Cameroons (MoRISC). That Roadmap, endorsed a few back at its conclave of leaders in Nigeria, calls for the election of an Interim Government in Exile in May, 2017. And there is much fervor for such a government in exile within the community, especially so in light of what the government will be able to do that SCACUF, or MoRISC,  or any of the other standalone organizations could not do on their own. A Government in Exile, once acknowledged by a host country, and therefore agreeing to provide it with protection and cover, would be able to enter into treaties with other governments; defend the national territory by whatever means deemed necessary by a recognized government, including self defense through an army; impose a tax on us like the Eritrean government in exile did for several years leading to their independence; negotiate for our seat at ECOWAS with other regional governments that have already expressed their support of our candidacy; negotiate our seat at the AU, and the UN. Right now, SCACUF, no matter what any one says to the contrary,  cannot do any of that for us. That is why we need a Government in Exile like yesterday! It has to be the raison d'etre of SCACUF, or it would be that SCACUF is trying silently to become that government. That would be an imposition and a travesty of trust that could lead to the eternal damnation of our cause!

I pray it is not what is secretly brewing in the belly of the beast. SCACUF can show us that they mean serious business by keeping to their own promises. The promise is still fresh on our minds that as the Umbrella Organization, SCACUF has now charged itself with the execution of the roadmap and are going to be organizing elections for a Southern Cameroons Government in Exile in May. We are less than a week from May. We need to be seeing movement in this direction. A lot of movement. We need to have a specific date. We need to know about likely candidates... Failure is not acceptable and Pa Wilfred Tassang and Barrister Eyambe know it all too well. Postponement is not an option either. We have postponed this moment for 56 years and cannot afford to do it one more day. Not one more week. Not one more month.

There are more than qualified Southern Cameroonian candidates who have shown commitment, grit, savvy, compassion, wit, and charisma. Hon Wirba, for instance, has proven leadership and name recognition at the national and international levels. Random polls on popular sites and shows (like on SCTV by Dexter Brains Washington and Ambomu Live) show Hon Wirba leading by a mile, even though he has been missing in action (MIA) recently visited. Whatever the case, there are other well qualified candidates and experienced  Southern Cameroonians that will best protect the interests of the 56th African nation!

Innocent Chia

Details

Innocent Chia

26.Apr.2017

Hits: 2307