Politics

As the date for the traditional end of year’s message of 84year old president Paul Biya on December 30 draws near, Anglophones in Cameroon who down tools and embark on a strike action for over two months now, are set to await the speech with a lot of skepticism and optimism while some fear for its outcome.

But the question on the minds of pundits’ is; will Biya exalt or show some remorse towards the Anglophone problem or will he just ignore it as he is reputed for? This reporter after speaking to some prominent Anglophones in the two English speaking regions of Cameroon, gathered that not only do they (Anglophones) anxiously await the head of states message but equally noted that it will matter a lot as to if the strike will take a different twist or not.

It is worth pointing out that since the strike which started with Common Law Lawyers and later snowballed to its current state started, the head of state in his usual mannerism decided to remain mute and give almost a deaf ear on the upheavals and plights raised by the various parties. In a recent conducted vox pop, respondents expressed the will that the head of state should have made a statement on the current situation. Prominent figures including legal minds, peace crusaders have taken turns to criticize the dead silence of President Paul Biya which they describe as “disturbing” and “provocative”.

From the spyglasses of this reporter, the head of state who for the pass 34years is yet to address the nation in English during his end of year address broadcast “live” on the state run CRTV, might have more viewership as all and sundry will be watching to hear what he will have to say on the Anglophone problems or if he will neglect it as he has for the pass months being doing. Another school of thought hold it that, the head of state commenting on the Anglophone strike could go a long way to quill down tempers of the English speaking Cameroonians who believe they have been marginalized for the past 60years.

Many had questioned why he failed to make a statement on TV or visit Bamenda after the strike went violent as it was speculated that his presence could have helped to put an end to the strike that continue to paralyzed courts and schools in the North West and South West Regions.

As the president mounts the rostrum to address the nation on December 30, political observers have advised that to give Cameroonians a sign that they truly are one and should remain that way, President Biya should address the nation for the first time in English while taking considerable time to address the ongoing strike action in the two English Speaking Regions of Cameroon.

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Amos Fofung

20.Dec.2016

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Out of nearly 2,000 temporary staff in the Presidency of the Republic, only half received their monthly salary ranging from 16,000 FCFA to 20,000 FCFA. The transaction was suspended for lack of liquidity and was scheduled after the end of the year.

According to Le Quotidien L’Épervier Plus published on December 16, 2016, the temporary staff in the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon are angry and made it known. “Sources close to the stewardship report that, on behalf of December 2016, many temporary agents were unable to take their monthly salary, which ranges between 16,000 FCFA and 20,000 FCFA.

This despite the fact that these employees would already accumulate many months of wage arrears,“the paper said.
According to the source, it was on 9 December 2016 that some temporary agents were invited to receive their pay. Almost half of the 2000 agents went to the cash register. “But against all odds, while the payroll ceremony continued on December 14, 2016, those who were waiting on that day were informed that the payer no longer have cash. They will have to wait until the end of the year celebrations pass to take possession oftheir pay.
According to the newspaper, many observers wonder if the Presidency of the Republic is running out of liquidity.

In view of the number(2000) of young people recruited, it was foreseeable that at some point the Presidency would be confronted with difficulties related to the salary of the latter. Many young people have already thrown in the towel. Some of them prefer to be drivers of motorcycle taxis, “rather than receiving irregular salaries from catechists.”Others who have also gone with badges stamped Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon (PRC) indulge in scams from imprudent people.

There are also some who are unfortunately involved in cases of robbery and assault.

Cameroontoday

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Rita Akana

17.Dec.2016

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The former Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Marafa Hamidou Yaya has given his opinion on the ongoing tension in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon. Though the former Secretary General at the Presidency, presently incarcerated disagrees with a return to federalism, he however believes that key aspects of the federal period be incorporated in modern day Cameroon.

Full letter below, Translated from the Original French text.

Cameroonians, Cameroonians, dear Anglophone and Francophone compatriots,
In recent weeks the anguish of Anglophone Cameroonians has turned into anger when lawyers and teachers have taken to the streets of Bamenda and Buea to demand greater respect for the bilingualism of our country in its judicial and educational systems. In recent days, this anger has unfortunately been transformed into violence: in these streets, young partisans of the independence of the English-speaking provinces are now confronting the forces of order. Blood flows, men die. How did we get there ? Why do Cameroonians today face other Cameroonians? Why this outpouring of fratricidal violence?

Through the referendum of May 20, 1972, the people of Cameroon chose to put an end to federalism to give birth to a "United Republic of Cameroon", the ambition of all, anglophone and francophone, He said, to prepare for the arrival of a new, bicultural Cameroonian, an equal heir to the "lessons" retained by the two regencies and likely to draw the best from these two inheritances. Current events prove enough that this project has failed. Two distinct Cameroonian identities coexist today, and Anglophones rightly feel a sense of being marginalized, of being citizens of a lower rank than Francophones. Since bilingualism enshrined in our Constitution is applied in a profoundly unequal manner in administration, justice and education, they do not enjoy equal opportunities which should be granted to all citizens of a modern and democratic state. This inequality also affects their living conditions: they suffer, even more than their Francophone compatriots, from unemployment and the lack of infrastructure. And the anglophones have no recourse, no relay to denounce these discriminations, since, finally, their community is largely kept apart from the key positions of the State and the administration, including within their own regions .

Anglophone Cameroonians, who today feel that their destiny escapes them, rightly denounce the betrayal of the spirit of the unification pact established in 1972 between the representatives of the two communities. Failure to respect this pact, the primary responsibility lies with francophones, and the latter must acknowledge their wrongs. In addition, from "United Republic", our country became simple "Republic" by the change of the law by a simple majority, a semantic sliding announcing the gradual forgetting of the bicultural identity of Cameroon by a monoculture power! And centralizing. Francophone leaders did not fulfill the commitments they made in 1972 to their English-speaking compatriots. But the Anglophone leaders who had taken part in this unification pact also failed in their duties: this drift of French power, they did not know - or not wanted, too satisfied with their personal privileges - to denounce it.
Do the new generation of Anglophone Cameroonians, who suffer the combined effects of this betrayal and renunciation, have to turn their backs on their Cameroonian identity, our common history? Not to mention the illusory and suicidal character of Anglophone Cameroon's independence, the return to federalism, which many Anglophones are calling for today, is not a solution to their difficulties.
To return today to two federated states, one English-speaking and one French-speaking, would definitively devalue the failure of the 1972 pact and would only accentuate the marginal economic and geographical character of the English-speaking regions. On the contrary, it is necessary to give life to the 1972 Pact, and finally to build a United Republic of Cameroon.
Because bilingualism, a legacy of our history, is now an opportunity for our country. As the only bilingual Franco-British country in the world with Canada, an inspiring model, Cameroon could be more effectively integrated into the practices and codes of a globalized world by introducing an egalitarian bilingualism.

To achieve this, the ghost of federalism must not be resurrected, but rather the choice of modernity and progress, that of diversity in unity, and finally the decentralization of the country. Representatives of the two communities must sit down at a table and write a new code of living together on the basis of past experience and the decentralization laws of 2004. This enhanced consultation will be constructive to the development of Anglophone Cameroon's infrastructure and could, for example, lead to the construction of a new international airport in this area or the construction of a university twinned with a prestigious international institution offering specific training and advanced (pilot, high-tech, ..) and non-existent in the French-speaking area. I propose today that a National Council of Unification be created at the highest level of the State: it will meet every six months to evaluate the implementation of this code, the purpose of which will be the advent of Cameroonian New, rich of its double culture. To mark symbolically but powerfully the break with the centralizing policy that the government has been leading for more than 30 years, I also propose that our country regain its name of "United Republic of Cameroon" as well as the flag sporting two yellow stars on the green band, Instead of a yellow star on the red band as is currently the case. The return to the spirit of 1972 is the best guarantee of a harmonious and prosperous future for all Cameroonians.
Yaounde, 12 December 2016
Marafa Hamidou Yaya

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Peter Nsoesie

17.Dec.2016

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Rita Akana

17.Dec.2016

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According toIssa Tchiroma Bakary,the leader of the Social Democratic Front worked for a return to calm in the Northwest and South-West Regions.In its December 13, 2016 issue of the daily newspaper Le Jour, Minister of Communications (MINCOM) Isa Tchiroma Bakary suggested that Ni John Fru Ndi, the leader of the Social Democratic Front (SDF), is one of the “statesmen” who worked to restore calm in the English-speaking Regions.

Today, they are emerging, little by little, manymood swings that have been accompanied by numerous violence and repression decried by public opinion. The newspaper surprised by the MINCOM’s congratulations to the leader of the first opposition political party in Cameroon, in this same edition, wonders whether “the SDF and the power of Yaounde work hand in hand in these times of anglophone demands” .A question that arises from the fact that the SDF and the Government so far have had quite divergent positions. First point of divergence: the idea of Ni John Fru Ndi on the establishment of federalism in Cameroon.

“The subject was declared taboo by the Government. And Issa Tchiroma Bakary reiterated this position during its press conference last December 10,“the paper said.It should be added that the MINCOM then explained that the return to federalism is “in total dislocation with the founding principle of our Republic that is our national unity“.Another point of divergence between the Government and John Fru Ndi that the daily paper raises is the question of the so-called anglophone problem. One recalls that the president of the SDF had declared that “the Anglophone problem is real in Cameroon“. Yet the members of the Government in all their statements have always indicated that they do not exist.

The newspaper in its analysis notes that there is however in these congratulations “the underlying question about the stakes of the political transactions that could exist between the power of Yaounde and the main opposition party which is an undeniable force in the Anglophone Regions“of Cameroon.
MP Joshua Osih of the SDF, met by the daily,said that there is no rapprochement between the political formation and the Government: “we are an opposition force and will not do the work of the Government in its place. The Government can consult our political agenda and if it does not understand, we can always provide it with insights, “he said.

Cameroontoday

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Rita Akana

15.Dec.2016

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Mwalimu George Ngwane, renowned writer and notorious Pan Africanist who is equally a Chevening, common wealth, Rotary and United Nations minority rights fellow in Geneva, Switzerland has in an interview granted to Cameroon Concord proposed that the best solution to the ongoing crisis in Anglophone Cameroon is to conduct a referendum.

The scholar opined that while some Anglophones are for independence others are for the institution of a federal government and in a bid to ensure that every one is given the chance to choose among the two, a referendum like that conducted in 1961 when West Cameron became a state should be carried out in Camerroon.

Speaking earlier this week in Buea, George Ngwane who is executive director of the Pan African Association, AFRICAphonie and author of over seven books including “The Cameroon condition”, “The Mungo Bridge” and “Settling Dispute in Africa” among others explained that in the near future a referendum could just be the best way as it will help Cameroonians of the English Speaking expression who for over two months now have been on strike to decide their faith.

His words “…now the question is, would most Anglophones prefer a federalist structure or go for an outright independence? But I think the way to either of them can only through a referendum and now it is incumbent of the powers that be or the policy makers to understand that there is a possibility of creating a referendum like it was done in 1961 and 1972 when West Cameroon state was destroyed.

Therefore there is a possibility of also doing a referendum in the years ahead for Anglophones to equally decide their future within or without Cameroon” Commenting on the aching silence of the Etundi resident, which has been on everyone’s lips lately, George Ngwane who aside publishing his own newspaper equally writes and acts as an editor for numerous international magazines and newspapers was categorical that “anyone who is used to President Paul Biya will not be surprised that he is silent but that does not speak well because the more you keep silent the more the issues escalate and I would say that his silent has further radicalized the position of those who were moderate.” “When I return from the United Nation some weeks ago, one of the items I wrote in one of the papers that its time Biya makes a public statement about the Anglophone problem, something he has never ever done since he became head of state. It is time to address the Anglophone problem as a separate problem that beset Cameroonians” To him, the consequences of the strike action are deeper that the government thinks and not only will it take Anglophones a long time to bounce back especially as all sectors of the economy is affected but he fears that is nothing is done urgently more havoc will plague the two English speaking regions of Cameroon.

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Amos Fofung in Buea

15.Dec.2016

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