Politics
That there exists an Anglophone Problem in Cameroon demands no further explanations, but areas in which this marginalisation is practised abound.
Amid the general condemnation of neglect and maltreatment meted on citizens of Northwest and Southwest extraction through Government circles, The Post, revisits other decades-long aspects of maltreatment that have kept the common Anglophone person in trauma.
Across the Northwest and Southwest, daily proceedings in most establishments for long have taken a French style of operation.
Often times, employees of French extraction respond more to persons who identify with the French language than others who struggle to make their point in English.
Scenarios abound at the level of Commercial Banks, Railway Stations, Bus Stations, brewery companies, National Social Insurance, telecommunication companies, money transfer agencies, hospitals, laundry services, police stations and other areas of daily activities.
It is common knowledge that persons on retirement face a lot of language problems following up documents at the level of insurance companies.
First, a handful of employees are Francophones. This puts an average Anglophone retiree in a disadvantaged position. In an attempt to get clarification on forms and other documents, elderly persons try for long and several times just to make meaning of the French written on the forms.
At times, some of these persons have to spend hours, either waiting for an Anglophone youth or employee who speaks or understands French to bail them out of the trauma.
The story is told of an elderly man who recently exploded in anger after such conduct at the Social Insurance Fund in Mile 17 Buea.
In the domain of rail transport, tickets dished to passengers carry messages completely in French. Sign posts along rail lines are in French on Anglophone soil without any English version.
This is the situation at the Kumba-Banga rail axis. Tickets here are designed uniquely in French but a majority of those who use this axis are English-speaking.
Similar traumatising experiences abound in the road transport sector.
Road signs and other directions are completely in French in villages across most of Anglophone Cameroon where major road works take place.
At the level of commercial banks, the general conduct has been that of favouritism. It is common place for a Francophone employee to attend to a French-speaking customer, even if such a person came after an Anglophone.
In most of these commercial banks, adverts, messages and other announcements are provocatively dished out in French.
Quarrels usually spark over such issues but there is no one they can report to. Same obtains in money transfer agencies.
Sometimes, when there is congestion, especially in student residential neighbourhoods like Molyko, Francophone employees tend to treat with students who speak French first.
Mobile telephone companies share in the process. Their messages to customers are predominantly in one Language, mostly French.
Brewery companies have their computerised receipts crafted in French only. Yet they apply the same format in English-speaking Cameroon.
The same language marginalisation exists at police stations and laundry houses.
Pius Itoe, a political observer, told The Post that for such aching trends to be reversed, Government must take a firm stance on the neglect of any of the country‘s official languages.
Itoe said investors and other companies must be made to respect policies
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The population of the nation capital, Yaoundé has refused to remain indifferent to what is happing in the Anglophone Regions of the North West and South West. The debate of problems posed by Anglophones through Teachers Trade Unions and Common Law Lawyers have taken central stage in private audio visual media organs, offices, schools, taxis, transport vehicles, streets and bars with people expressing mixed feeling.
Listening to a private radio station in Yaoundé based at the Essos neighbourhood, Magic FM 100.1 last week in its interactive call in programme “Magic Attitude” anchored by its Chief of Station, Jules Elobo, one could hear some listeners acknowledging and supporting the Anglophone course as genuine while others simply claimed that Anglophones just like Francophones also have problems.
Another spot that produces heated debate on the Anglophone problem has been newsstands scattered all over Yaoundé where readers on daily basis analyze headlines of newspaper. Some newspapers vendors in the nation capital confided in The SUN that ever since the strike began, Anglophone newspapers are being given a lot of consideration as readers want to get the latest happenings in the North West and South West Regions.
As the deadlock between the government and the Anglophone Consortium persists, some Francophones have objectively been admiring Anglophones for the courage to stand up for their rights unlike some of them who prefer to grumble in silence.
From the reactions and counter-reactions observed, keen observers are asking the government to be proactive and tactful in solving the Anglophone problem for fear it may contaminate the Francophone regions of the country.
The Sun
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Barrister Bobga Harmony is President of the North West Lawyers Association, NOWELA. He is one of the Lawyers who articulates very well the grievances of the Cameroon Common Law Lawyers and has been given the name 'General' in the Cameroon Common Law Lawyers Conference. According to him only the restoration of Southern Cameroon, can solve the grievances of West Cameroon. He spoke to THE SUN’s Daniela Neba Ngum at the sidelines of the Cameroon Common Law Lawyers Conference in Kumba
What brought Lawyers to Kumba at this period when Common Law Lawyers have been on Strike for four months?
We have come here to validate the creation of a Cameroon Common Law Bar. We have set up a bureau for this Bar, in order for it to go operational and be a platform for canvassing the issues that confront the lawyers, in collaboration with the consortium that regroups not just lawyers but people of other trades in life. And, together we are going to be fighting both from a professional angle and a general angle, to ensure that the restoration of the cherished values of the Southern Cameroonian is secured. We as gentlemen, we do intend to remain open to dialogue but we are not going to sacrifice one inch of our position because we have had endorsement from the community. This has put us in a position of leadership for the entire Southern Cameroon community. We are committed to delivering and with God on our side we are sure to deliver.
What is your impression on the presence of Minister Garga Haman?
Let me say the lawyers did not come here to have an open meeting; they came here to have a purely professional meeting. On my own personal account and I believe it is the view of many lawyers as well, Mr. Garga as an individual we have no problem with him. However, the fact that the President of the Republic can meet the former minister in a cocktail at the Unity Palace and tell him to come see us without any written mandate, is reinforcing the insults on Southern Cameroonians. It goes to show that we are just some disposable tissue that he can get just any one to come and talk to us anytime. It also despises and minimizes the Prime Minister, Head of Government and who had been mandated, and actually came out with a Prime Ministerial order, to set up an adhoc committee commission. This transaction between the President of the Republic and the former minister is gross disrespect on Southern Cameroonians, whether we look it from the perspective of the Prime Minister or us the lawyers. We assure you, God is in control. I believe that all these errors that Mr. Biya is making are ordained from heaven and we embrace it and pray that more errors must be made, to prove to the world that they do not take us seriously so the world should because we are acting on the foundation of truth.
What are some of the values which you think the Southern Cameroonians will not sacrifice?
It is not me thinking all Cameroonians want that the Common Law System be restored. When I talk about the system; our courts should be manned and run by the Magistrate who are trained in the Common Law; the lawyers of the Common Law should not just belong in a Common Law Bar and lose their identity like a cube of sugar in a bucket of water, which we have turned around and say that there has been proper respect and recognition of the Southern Cameroonian. We believe that we are really bending over to negotiate for a federal foundation for our co-existence and this is even a middle course because if we apply legality, it is the question of restoring the independent statehood of Southern Cameroon. That is, by bringing the British government and the government of La Republic du Cameroun as people who perpetuated a continuous trespass on the territory of the State of Southern Cameroon. Under UN resolution 1608…the territory of Southern Cameroon was handed to Britain to build up into an independent nation and the British Ambassador to newly independent Cameroon, without clearance from the West Cameroon House of Assembly handed over on September 30, 1961, the sovereignty of Southern Cameroon to the President La Republic du Cameroun Late Amadou Adhijo. On the 1st of October, 1961, when we were all saying we are independent, we did not have any sovereignty to back our claim to independence; we had already been traded as slaves.
Where will the Common Law Bar be affiliated to?
As a transitional measure we are ascertained ourselves within the status quo and because we are also perusing the Federation Option which if they reject, we will fall back to the restoration of our independent statehood. At that time, there will be an enabling law on legal practice, which will be the basis of the Common Law Bar. There is something that happens with legality, when you acquire legitimacy that legitimacy readily transforms into legality. Hence, if you are working on the truth and we are operating on the truth of the law constitutionally and we have put a matter in the constitutional counsel, that they should show us the Act of Union. In the absence of that Act of Union, we are legal and legitimate because our population has supported us and saying we are right to have researched and brought forth the truth.
The Sun
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“Cameroon Is One And Indivisible” is a pronouncement that is supposed to have a solemn ring to it. However, there is so much happening in Cameroon today that such a statement now produces more questions than answers. Are we talking about a territory or a people?
As A Territory?
Cameroon as a country, or parts thereof, has been known as: KAMERUN, SOUTHERN and NORTHERN CAMEROONS, “LA REPUBLIC DU CAMEROUN”, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON, WEST CAMEROON, EAST CAMEROON, THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON and the second “LA REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN”. Only the Constitution of the FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON of 1961 describes the territory of Cameroon. This constitution provides in Article 1 as follows:
1. (1) With effect from the 1st October 1961, the Federal Republic of Cameroon shall be constituted from the territory of the Republic of Cameroon, hereafter to be styled East Cameroon, and the territory of the Southern Cameroons, formerly under British trusteeship, hereafter to be styled West Cameroon.
Subsequent constitutions do not define the territories but proceed to change the name of the country. While the 1972 constitution attempts to maintain the notion of two territories getting together and forming a United Cameroon, the 1984 Constitution must be considered as the one that created the greatest confusion in the identification of the territory of the Cameroon. The 1984 Constitution states:
Article 1 - The United Republic of Cameroon shall, with effect from the date of entry into force of this law, be known as Republic of Cameroon (Law No 84-1 of February 4, 1984).
By reverting to the name Republic of Cameroon, already defined by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Cameroon as being East Cameroon, the perennial question has always been: What happened to Southern Cameroons or West Cameroon? So, when one affirms that the Republic of Cameroon is One and Indivisible, does this also concern Southern Cameroons or West Cameroon?
If ever there was a need to change the name of the country, it would be to revert to the German appellation KAMERUN. All the main political parties of Southern Cameroons did, in fact, use the word Kamerun, namely: KNDP (Kamerun People’s Democratic Party), KNC (Kamerun National Party) KPP (Kamerun People’s Part) and OK (one Kamerun). It is clear from this that, while the affirmation of the Southern Cameroonians for a genuine reconstitution of the former colonial entity, based on the two inherited cultures in the form of a federation, the intention of the Republic of Cameroon has been opaque to say the least.
The constant changing of the name is what has heightened suspicion. The “Anglophone problem”, as it is sadly described, is indeed a Cameroonian problem. We seem to be in denial of our history and our past. All the publications about the Independence of La Republique du Cameroon or East Cameroon commands us to face our history, once and for all, and make the necessary adjustments. Whether it is the book “KAMERUN”, or the recent publications “La Guerre du Cameroun” or “La France Afrique” in which East Cameroun is described as the laboratory of the “France-Afrique” policy, it is clear that there are issues that must be addressed.
Some of us still have traumatizing memories of human heads on sticks in roundabouts, as one travelled through the Bamileke region during the years of the fight for independence. I cannot forget seeing the burning down of entire villages of people whose only desire was freedom. UPC, a historic party, struggled through suspicion, humiliation and persecution. A very well-known French actor, during this process, actually affirmed that Independence was “given” to those who wanted it the least.
NGO’s in Namibia today are trying to sue Germany; the Kenyans sued the British for the repression in the era of the Mau Mau and obtained compensation. NGO’s in Cameroon are getting ready, in light of the release of the archives of the colonial and post-colonial period by the French government, to sue for compensation. The trusteeship agreements are being re-visited by different groups to see which clauses may have been violated. There is now the whole debate about payments by francophone colonies to France, and people are agitating about the political implications of the CFA franc.
If in the complex maze of this all we can gather is that this is an “Anglophone problem”, which we acknowledge half-heartedly and under pressure, then I am sad for my country. This continuous denial of facing our colonial history must stop. We must discuss it, understand it, and draw the conclusions that will help us chart a future. Simply rehabilitating people and calling them national heroes, without any concrete action to right the wrongs, talking of founding fathers without naming them, is at best a game of ruse. No street names, no national heroes day, no stamps, no monuments, just words of some anonymous folks, will take us nowhere. Furthermore, when a citizen of the country pays homage to a Father of Reunification in the form a statute in Douala, it is broken, pulled down and dragged through the streets of Douala under the nose of thousands of citizens who stare in total stupefaction and bewilderment. The so-called “Anglophone problem” is, in fact, a result of the state of denial we are in.
As A People?
As a people, are we then one and indivisible? It is interesting to read what a reporter for LE MONDE Afrique, Yann Gwet, says in commenting on the President’s 2017, New Year speech. He writes:
“Listening to President Biya, 82 years, talking about this jungle as a “democratic country and a “State of law” and positioning himself as the protector of “the foundations of our living together” solemnly referring to the Constitution, whereas he has been in power for thirty-three years, forcefully reaffirming the unity and indivisibility of Cameroon in reply to the “worries” of striking Teachers and Lawyers in the Anglophone part of the country who are described in the speech as “manipulated and guided extremists” I had the confirmation of what I already know. There are two Cameroons one official and one real.”
If we want to consolidate our unity, it is the real Cameroon we must face. We must talk to one another, frankly, truthfully, and transparently. If we continue to stay in denial, then we will never be united, the divisions will continue, and we will lose the peace we so dearly cherish.
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President Paul Biya has embarked on a mission to bring behind bars all strong anglophone voices of opposition.After the arrests of Consortium leaders and Coffin revolution leader Mancho BBC, his agents attempted an arrest on opposition leader and Deputy Attorney General at the Supreme Court of Cameroon Ayah Paul.
A team of gendarme officers led by a Colonel from SED, told AYAH Paul that he's being arrested. He quoted the law - Section 629 of the Penal Code which stipulates the process involved in questioning a judge of his status. After 90 minutes of phone calls to their boss, they backed out. They have asked him to report to SED, Yaounde tomorrow at 11:00 AM.
Meanwhile, AYAH Paul's closest aid- AKOSON A. Raymond too is on the run.Akoson A. Raymond - In an undisclosed location.
Below is a statement the Magistrate posted on his Facebook page:
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"About seven Gendarmes climbed over the fence to break into the girlfriend's home where Mancho spent the night," a Bamenda-based source narrated to me on phone a few minutes ago.
The source confirmed that Mancho was arrested at about 12:30 am this Thursday morning.Bamenda is calm but heavily militarized, undeclared State of Emergency.
Call for action
We, leaders of the consortium, call for his UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE alongside all other West Cameroonians held illegally in French Cameroun detention facilities.
We unequivocally condemn the illegal arrests made within the last 48 hours in West Cameroon. They are flagrant attempts to strangle universally accepted rights to freedom of association and expression, in particular, that bind all nation-states.
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Biya Article Count: 73
# Paul Biya and his regime
Explore the political landscape of Cameroon under the rule of Paul Biya, the longest-serving president in Africa who has been in power since 1982. Our Paul Biya and his regime section examines the policies, actions, and controversies of his government, as well as the opposition movements, civil society groups, and international actors that challenge or support his leadership. You'll also find profiles, interviews, and opinions on the key figures and events that shape the political dynamics of Cameroon.
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.# Southern Cameroons, Ambazonia
Learn more about the history, culture, and politics of Ambazonia, the Anglophone regions of Cameroon that have been seeking self-determination and independence from the Francophone-dominated central government. Our Southern Cameroons section covers the ongoing conflict, the humanitarian crisis, the human rights violations, and the peace efforts in the region. You'll also find stories that highlight the rich and diverse heritage, traditions, and aspirations of the Southern Cameroonian people.
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