Politics

The Teachers/Lawyers strike which started in November last year and gradually turned in to civil disobedience in the two Anglophone regions of Cameroon is seen by many as the becoming more complicated as the days go by.

According to Dr. Ndi Richard Tanto, Member of EITI and Director of Ecumenical Service for Peace Yaounde, the conflict has stayed way too long without proper resolution and as a result, stakeholders are now dwelling on side issues which have emanated from the conflict before coming to the problem itself.

“Today, questions that have to do with the preconditions for dialogue to hold which preoccupies many are all secondary things that do not have any direct relevance to what brought about this conflict. We are now focusing on the side issues because we allowed it for too long and other things are spreading out of the original problem. Today we have a national crisis instead of a Teachers/Lawyers’ crisis because the original crisis was not given attention on time. The crisis has slowly become complicated and it is going to require extra strategies and efforts from the government to properly address it” says Dr. Ndi.

Many say, as the days pass by without stakeholders having any meaningful dialogue, the problem may keep degenerating to levels which may soon become disastrous.

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Tawe Gije nkfunji

11.Apr.2017

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Federation, as perhaps the only solution to the protracted Anglophone crisis, has once again reared its head after Government virtually declared it taboo.

The National Chairman of the SDF party, John FruNdi, revived the ‘beast’ on Tuesday April 4 at his Ntarinkon residence during discussions he held with the International Crisis Group, ICG, for over three hours on the current socio-political crises in the two Anglophone regions.

The IGG from Nairobi, Kenya,was on its seventh trip to examine and discuss the current Anglophone problems rocking the two English-speaking regions.

Fru Ndi said in order to keep in check the ills meted by the Biya regime on the Anglophones,the panacea is a federal system of government, whether Biya and his government wants it or not.

He recalled that when the SDF was launched more than 27 years ago, it did not mince words in calling for a four-state federation.

“Since then, the party still believes that the best model for social, economic and cultural development is federalism which gives local communities greater autonomy in the management of their affairs, instead of the hyper-centralisation that has stifled creative initiatives,”the opposition leader said.
According to Fru Ndi, this conviction is based on facts: some of the highly developed and advanced countries in the world; USA, Canada, Germany, among others, practice federalism as an instrument of participatory development.

“The golden age of the development of West Cameroon(Northwest and Southwest Regions) can testify to this,” Fru noted.

The SDF Chair equally told the ICG that if Biya convenes a constituent assembly, it would solve most of the problems because it would revisit the form of state in view of putting in place a federal architecture which will guarantee the bi-cultural and bi-jural heritages inherited from colonial experiences.

Going by Fru Ndi, the Anglophone problem is arising in Cameroon because of bad governance.

“Anglophone Cameroonians have genuine problems that should not be mistaken for an issue of multicultural, multi-bilingualism as Biya wants the world to believe,” Fru Ndi told Hans De Marie Heungoup, ICG analyst for Central Africa, who also held discussions with the Minister of Justice, the two ministries of education, politicians, civil societies and politicians.

Last week Biya ordered the creation of ‘law schools’ in Francophone regions that never asked for the institution.In the 90s he did the same thing when Anglophones demonstrated for the creation of the GCE Board, by creating the BAC Board which the Francophones never expressed the need for.

The SDF Chair interpreted this move by Biya as one meant to continue keeping Anglophones under servitude, because the Francophone Universities will train thousands of lawyers and magistrates in those schools and post them to Anglophone zones to kill the Common Law practice.

“Creation of this structure [Legal and Political Science Department] and dancing around it is a negation of the gamut of Anglophone problems as presented by Common Law lawyers, teachers’ trade unions and the SDF,” said Fru Ndi.

Fru Ndi told the ICG that President Biya should be held accountable for the situation prevailing in the two Anglophone regions and the gradual radicalization of some Anglophone Cameroonians who are for the federal system of government, but who are getting frustrated and are beginning to think of separation as a solution owing to Biya’s intransigence and insensitivity to their problems.

In addition, Fru Ndi condemned the continuous suspension of the internet in spite of its devastating economic and social effects on the populations.

Responding to a question concerning his appraisal of the Anglophone crisis, Hans De Marie Heungoup, said he couldn’t face the press or reveal anything when their reports are not ready.

Cameroonpostline

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Rita Akana

10.Apr.2017

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Basile Atangana Kouna, Minister of Water and Energy plans to electrify up to 10,000 rural communities in Cameroon under the Rural Electrification Program of Cameroon.

According to the Minister, the Rural Electrification Program which falls within the framework of the strategic development plans of the state has as objective to enable almost all Cameroonians to enjoy electricity by 2035.

The electrification program which plans to make use of renewable sources is also aimed at reducing disparities of electrification between urban and rural areas in Cameroon and encouraging the development of productive sectors in in the country as a whole.

Many Cameroonians are worried over the execution which will be supervised by a minister who is yet to clean his records as far as tribalism is concerned. They fear that what happened in the recruitment of 100 candidates in his ministry in February may repeat itself in the execution phase. They say the program which will cost the state about 805 billion frs CFA, has to be equitably distributed throughout the country. 

“I think the government should electrify an average of about 1000 localities in each region for equitability starting with Far North, East, South West and North West Regions” says an Onlooker.

According to Mr. Mumfor Emmanuel, a seasoned Development Economist, electrification is vital but road networks should also be given the same level of importance. He calls on the government to elaborate a Rural Roads Construction Program.

“Government should also elaborate what I will call a Detailed Rural Roads Construction Program and establish an activity timeline to direct the realization of the road projects. Like electricity, a good road network is a significant infrastructure for development. 

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Ndi Derek Giyoh

10.Apr.2017

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Boko Haram terrorists stormed several localities in Cameroon on Saturday night and killed at least five people, a day after a suicide bombing killed one and injured five others in Kolofata, the country’s battered far north region.

Boukar Blama was killed in Sandawadjiri locality while four unidentified persons were murdered in Ganei, as reported by Cameroonian newspaper, L’Oeil du Sahel.

It seems to have become a daily affair in Cameroon’s far north region with regular bomb and gun attacks, which leave many dead and send thousands away from their ancestral land.

President Paul Biya of Cameroon who was quick to block Internet in the Souththeast and Southhwest regions of Cameroon after protests for equality and justice erupted there late last year, has not made any single trip to Cameroon’s far north since Boko Haram killers began massacring his people three years ago in 2014.

Rather, Mr. Biya spends months abroad every year, and once failed to attend the burial ceremony of over 30 Cameroonian soldiers who were killed by Boko Haram, and their bodies brought to Yaounde, the country’s capital where his presidential palace is. 

Mr. Biya is in Geneva now and activists have promised to embarrass him should he fail to return home within seven days. But the octogenarian who has been in power for 35 years does not always succumb to threats by his countrymen.

In all, Boko Haram has killed more than 2000 civilians in Cameroon since 2014 in over 500 attacks, including 50 suicide bombings. About 150 soldiers and policemen have also died during that unconventional war.

Thousands have been kidnapped and hundreds of thousands have been displaced. But Mr. Biya has not found time in three years to show solidarity to troops or populations running helter-skelter and wondering where the leadership is.

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Rita Akana

09.Apr.2017

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The President of the Common law Bar Association now christened Southern Cameroon Bar Association has revealed that the strike taken by Common law lawyers in October last year had a two phase agenda: Drawing the world’s attention to the continuous erosion of the common law system in courts in the North West and South regions and also restore the statehood of Southern Cameroon through independence and “not” federation as the Consortium showed during the protest.

In a recorded address, Barrister Bobga Harmony who fled on exile following a brutal crackdown on members of the Anglophone Civil Society Consortium in Cameroon explained that the protest which later became a sweeping revolution in the former trust territory of Southern Cameroon also had a mission of “ demanding whether there was a proof of an act of union between Southern Cameroon and La République du Cameroun.” With that in mind the second agenda provided a “ corridor to the end the colonization of Southern Cameroon by LRC.

Following the brutal crackdown on members of the Consortium, Bobga revealed he “took along the leadership of the revolution” by virtue of his position as President of the Southern Cameroon Bar Association. And carries with him the “leadership and commitment of the Bar and the people with the homeland and across the world”.

Bobga has promised as the leader of the Anglophone revolution to ward off the brutality of the colonial occupation of La République and restore the statehood of the territory through independence.

Commentators have been digging deeper into the revelations of Barrister Bobga Harmony, the first reading that has emerged from it being the fueling of the deepening leadership crisis rocking the leadership of the Anglophone Civil Society Consortium. Going by his declaration, Bobga has positioned himself as the “true” face of the struggle for independence since he claims the struggle is exclusively led by lawyers. Thereby dismissing the Consortium to which he was a member. This showcases a triple headed leadership. Mark/ Tapang Vs Tassang /Eyambe Vs Bobga not leaving out other pressure groups like Boh Herbert’s MorisC and SCAUF. Critics say the lack of a proper leadership is the reason behind why the struggle could be drowsing back home.

This position observers say further complicates the trial of Barrsiter Agbor Balla, Dr Fontem Neba, Mancho Bibixy and more than 30 others who are risking a death penalty for secession amongst other trumped up “crimes against the state”. Charges which have been denied by the accused. The logic here they say is that, the Consortium stood for federation and never secession. With Bobga’s revelation it gives the state prosecutor ample evidence to believe that federation which the Consortium called for to protect Anglo Saxon values is equal to secession, an idea held by regime die-hards like Issa Tchiroma, Laurent Esso, Atanga Nji and Fame Ndongo. As a leading figure in the protest such revelations takes those on trail on a speedy ride to the hangs man.

For other observers, the Consortium in itself could have been in disarray since and only needed time for it blow out. The revelation of Bobga contradicts that of Dr Fontem who recently said the Consortium had planned to end the protest before government changed the gear to a brutal crackdown. This could also mean that some of those fighting for positions could have facilitated the arrest of the Consortium president and his Scribe, getting them out of the way so they can have a taste of power. This school of thought finds it shocking for Bobga not to have said a word about the arrest of one of his close aides, Barrister Agbor Balla but instead positions himself as the leader of the struggle at home and abroad.

Many would either agréé or disagree with these schools of thought. But the revelations of Barrister Bobga Harmony at such a critical time is far from being just an ordinary talk and need a closer examination by a silent majority of Southern Cameroonians who now believe the struggle which had drawn every nerve of support is fast becoming a stand up comedy show by those who ought to have been given a unilateral push to it.

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Rita Akana

08.Apr.2017

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At least one person has been killed in Cameroon and many others injured following a suicide attack by Boko Haram on Saturday morning.

The attack took place in Kolofata, Cameroon’s far north region, close to the Nigerian border, said L’Oeil du Sahel newspaper. It was not clear whether the blast was carried out by a lone attacker or many.

“For now, one dead and many people injured,” L’Oeil du Sahel said.

Boko Haram has been wreaking havoc in Cameroon since 2014, killing about 2000 civilians and at least 150 soldiers and policemen and displacing hundreds of thousands of people in a war that does not seem to go away.

Presidents Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria and Paul Biya of Cameroon have vowed many times to crush the “godless, mindless” militants who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in March 2015 and have since been modelling their barbarism after the Middle East killers, but those boasts have failed to bring peace and stability to the Lake Chad Basin.

Rather, the terrorists have been rising in strength and the Governor of Borno warned some weeks ago that help was needed now more than ever.

In a region where most people are stuck in squalor and hopelessness, the long term solutions are far away from being reached, especially because Mr. Biya for instance,  has not deemed it fit to visit his war zone, even though thousands of his countrymen have been massacred there in three years, and President Buhari is battling with his health since January 19 when he left Nigeria for a medical vacation in London, returning only 50 days after and declaring that he might go back for more tests.

Mr. Biya is abroad again and has been given seven days by some activists to return home or face the consequences.

He spends many months abroad every year, and his country’s Northeast and Northwest regions have been without Internet for months now as punishment for demanding justice and equality in a country where the President has been in power for 35 years, and has refused to learn English language to communicate effectively with those in those two regions.

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Simon Ateba

08.Apr.2017

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