Politics
Anglophones never voted to become the footstool of French Cameroun exploitation and plunder.
Despite repeatedly shouting at rooftops that Cameroon is one, united and indivisible, French Cameroun never wanted any union with Southern Cameroons. In the countdown to the 1961 plebiscite, the standing view was that Southern Cameroons was not economically viable and would be a drainpipe on Her Majesty’s government who was passing the buck to French Cameroun taxpayers. But if Britain had consulted the geological survey maps left by the Germans after their defeat in WWI, they would have granted Southern Cameroons full independence because the Germans had documented huge potential oil reserves in the Rio del Rey basin. Thanks to British indolence, the 3rd option of independence agreed by the 43 delegates at the August 1959 all party conference in Mamfe, chaired by Sir Sidney Phillipson, Acting Southern Cameroons Commissioner, was rejected by Andrew Cohen, Britain’s representative to the UN Trusteeship Council; and not presented as an option during the 1961 UN plebiscite.
Even after the plebiscite, in which Southern Cameroons voted for independence by joining French Cameroun, French Cameroun acted in bad faith by challenging the plebiscite results and proceeded to vote against UNGA Resolution 1608 (XV) of April 21, 1961 to prevent unification with Southern Cameroons. There were 64 votes for; 23 against and 10 abstentions. Amongst the countries that joined French Cameroun to vote against unification with Southern Cameroons were France, Ivory Coast, Congo-Brazzaville, Zaire, Senegal, Dahome (Benin), Niger, Upper Volta (Burkina Faso), Chad, Central Africa Republic and Gabon (the last three being former German Kamerun territories). President Ahidjo even went ahead to declare Feb 11 a day of national mourning for British Northern Cameroon, which had voted to join Nigeria. This begs the question: if Cameroon was one, united and indivisible as Francophones are now claiming, why did French Cameroun vote against unification at the UN?
This act of bad faith remains a sore point in Cameroon’s history and speaks directly to the hypocrisy and contradiction of French Cameroun’s assertion that Cameroon is one, united and indivisible. By rejecting political association with Southern Cameroons, French Cameroun maintained its international borders duly recorded when it was admitted to membership of the UN after it obtained independence from France on January 1, 1960. Southern Cameroons was then a self-governing British UN-mandated territory with all the trappings of a nation-state, including its own internationally recognized borders. French Cameroun started asserting territorial claims over Southern Cameroons only after Yves Bie’ville; the French lawyer who drafted the French Cameroun constitution learned about the existence of huge oil deposits in Southern Cameroons from a German intelligence source and informed officials at the Quai d'Orsay, who then ordered Ahidjo to drop his opposition to unification.
The French then dispatched a team of advisers to help Ahidjo navigate the Foumban conference of July 17-21, 1961. The Foumban conference was to be followed by a four party conference to work out modalities of the federation ahead of the planned October 1st unification date. But the conference never held. Rather, on August 6, 1961, Ahidjo announced an amendment of the French Cameroun constitution to “accommodate Southern Cameroons as the western part of German Kamerun.” On October 1, 1961 shortly after the Union Jack was lowered, Ahidjo sent French Cameroun troops into Southern Cameroons; where they have remained till this day. The hidden agenda of the deconstruction of Southern Cameroons had begun in earnest. In 1962, the pound sterling was abolished and the East Cameroun CFA franc imposed on the whole country. In 1964, the measurement system of feet, pounds and miles was abandoned in favor of the metric system of kilometers and kilograms.
In 1966, an unsuccessful attempt was made to harmonize the legal systems of the federated states, but this precipitated a crisis and was shelved. In the same year, all the political parties were dissolved to form the Cameroon National Union (CNU). Three years later, all trade unions in the country merged into a federation attached to the CNU, forswearing its allegiance to the international labor movement. Everything Ahdijo did, including abolition of the federation in 1972, was geared towards assimilation of Southern Cameroons and gaining unfettered access to its vast natural resources. Less than a year after the so-called May 20, 1972 referendum, in which Southern Cameroonians were asked to vote either “Yes” or “Oui”, the national oil refining company (SONARA) was created on March 23, 1973.
Thereafter, it became a race to the bottom to dismantle Southern Cameroons and all its institutions. One by one, they fell like dominos – Marketing Board, Cameroon Bank, PWD, POWERCAM, Mobile Wing, Tiko, Mamfe and Bali airports; Victoria Wharf, amongst others. In effect, nothing has been spared; whether it is our Anglo-Saxon educational system; or our football. Fifty-six years after independence and unification, the story of Southern Cameroons has been a mixed bag of missed opportunities, frittered wealth and marginal growth in her economic potentials. All indices of development in education, health, agriculture, political and social engineering, infrastructure development, power generation and supply, the manufacturing sector, short and long term strategic planning, and capacity to fully exploit and utilize her natural resources – show a dismal performance by Francophone bureaucrats and their Anglophone compradors who have conspired to steal Southern Cameroonians blind.
From all indications, Ahidjo’s masterplan of annexing and subjugating Southern Cameroons has neither changed, nor can Biya or any Francophone afford to change it. French Cameroun’s sickening interest in Southern Cameroons is driven only by the desire to continue exploiting Southern Cameroon’s natural resources to finance their corrupt system of abusive patronage and ethnic-inspired clientelism, while Southern Cameroonians wallow in abject poverty and misery in the midst of plenty. Proof: in the 2017 Public Investment Budget, the South region (the President’s region of origin) with a population of 800,000 was allocated FCFA 126.2 billion; while the two English speaking regions (which account for over 60% of national GDP) with an estimated population of eight million people was allocated FCFA 85.7 billion. This is insulting and unacceptable!
Before Francophones continue peddling the hoax of a one, united and indivisible Cameroon, they need to answer these questions. When they reaffirm their commitment to a united Cameroon, are they referring to the territory or the people? When government spokespersons cite former German Kamerun to justify why Cameroon must remain one, united and indivisible; why then did French Cameroun oppose unification and voted against UN Resolution 1608 in April 1961? Can anyone not blinded by prejudice and self-interest justify this act of bad faith? From 1961-1972 when the country was a federal republic, was Cameroon one, united and indivisible? Even as Francophones continue to remonstrate about one, united and indivisible Cameroon, they must apologize for the 1961 vote against unification and stop pussyfooting and paying lip service over addressing the needs of the exploited Anglophone region which produces the bulk of the nation’s wealth. Anglophones are no longer fooled.
While French Cameroun argues that Southern Cameroons is an integral part of its territory because they have been administered jointly for 56 years, it is worth noting that Ukraine and Russia parted ways despite sharing over 1,000 years of common history. Southern Cameroons broke away from Nigeria in 1953 despite sharing 44 years of common history as well. Even if French Cameroun claims Southern Cameroons is only two of its ten regions, it cannot forget that Eritrea used to be the only former Red Sea Province of Ethiopia. That did not stop Eritrea from gaining independence. The decentralization offer for regional autonomy sold as tangible reform under the 1996 Constitution is unacceptable notably because it makes the assumption that Southern Cameroons is part of French Cameroun, and not an illegally occupied and recolonized territory.
Besides, the past 56 years are littered with evidence that French Cameroun violated the terms of unification. It has broken every promise beginning with the promise to the UN to create a federation of two equal states. In addition, autocratic regimes do not honor such pledges. It was the case when in 1961, the emperor of Ethiopia revoked the autonomous status granted Eritrea by Britain in 1952, annexing it as Ethiopia’s 14th province; leading to the 30-year war of independence. In 1989, Serbian leader, Slobodan Milosevic, revoked the autonomous status of Kosovo leading to a decade of repression, culminating in the NATO war against Yugoslavia in 1999.
With Anglophones expressing disgust about the union, many are seeking a redefinition of the association in such a way that the imbalance and injustice in the system could be addressed for the emergence of a stronger and virile union. Within the circumstance, no amount of threat or intimidation will make Cameroon united. The government should stop reveling in self-delusion; we are no longer in the 1970s. The government can say what it wants, but nobody is fooled anymore. This generation of Anglophones are well-educated and know that the issue at stake here is their natural resources. And they have demonstrated their resolve to fight and die for their future and that of posterity!
The ostrich evasion of the President who pretended to dismiss the escalating crisis as the handiwork of terrorists masking as secessionists is a self-defeating strategy, which only aggravates the self-inflicted tragedy of a nation not prepared to engage in hard thinking; unwilling to introspect dispassionately and speak hard truths to itself; to muster courage to re-direct itself and do what is germane to peaceful co-existence. The only thing that will bring unity in Cameroon is for the government to eschew this conquest mentality and dialogue with Anglophones in a sovereign national conference where both sides will renegotiate the unity and the future of Cameroon as equal partners. This will enable French Cameroun to reconcile with the truth about unification - the subject of the next article in this series.
By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai*
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- Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai
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The president of the interim government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia has declared that every option is on the table to restore the state of Southern Cameroons.
Mr Sisiku Ayuk Tabe was speaking in Nigeria to French media giant France 24.
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- Tasha S.T
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The people of Eyumojock in Manyu division of the South West region are reportedly living in fear following the killing of some police officers on November 29.
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- Tasha S.T
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Just when we thought we had seen the worst of human rights violations against unarmed civilians–innocent men, women and children, young and old– in the Anglophone region of Cameroon (Southern Cameroon), a government official, the Napoleonic Prefect of Manyu Division, Mr. Oum II Joseph, proved that there are no depths to which a regime desperately clinging to power, and resisting change at all costs, can sink.
The Prefect issued a brazen order hours ago, expelling poor, powerless, men, women and children en masse from 14 villages in Akwaya, Eyumojock, and Mamfe sub-divisions. Oum II ordered the expellees to “relocate to safer neighborhoods.” He gave the people only hours to pack and set off on a journey to nowhere! Mr. Oum continued that those who did not leave their villages in a matter of hours will be treated as terrorists. Goodness gracious! The Biya government wants these poor villagers to move en masse to which “safer neighborhoods” in the equatorial rain forest?
Oum Joseph’s, mass expulsion order is a clear crime against humanity. It is illegal collective punishment against innocent people for the killing, by unknown persons, of soldiers in the area this week. There is no doubt that this mass expulsion order comes from the top national security brass that met in Yaoundé yesterday, Friday December 1, 2017 on orders of President Paul Biya. These mass expulsions and population movements are very reminiscent of expulsions that accompanied mass killings in Rwanda, Bosnia and currently, Burma! In his intransigence, Biya refuses to learn from history.
This very week when the world was scandalized by images of Africans being sold like cattle in Libya, the Cameroon government is deliberately expelling its own citizens from their homes and villages, and transforming them into refugees. The world needs to know the diabolical activities perpetrated by the Biya regime on innocent, unarmed men, women and children.
Where, oh where, are the political and traditional leaders of Akwaya, Eyumojock, and Mamfe? By their collective silence, the following leaders acquiesce to this evil and stand accused before the bar of history for being accomplices to this horrendous crime against humanity: Governor Tanjong, Senator Chief Tabetando, Senator Simon Anja, MP Susan Okpu, MP Elias Igelle, Minister Victor Mengot. Ladies and gentlemen, Cameroon is watching you, the world is watching you. Wole Soyinka said that those who keep silent in the face of evil, die! Are you going to lie down and die and let your poor innocent people perish or become refugees for life?
Instead of expelling poor people from their villages, the Cameroon government should convene a meeting to resolve this long-simmering Anglophone problem. This is a political problem that should be solved politically. The military option will never solve the problem, it will just aggravate it.
The Chinese general, military strategist and philosopher, Sun Tzu said that “victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” That describes the Biya government. Having failed to govern, and manage the Anglophone crisis, it has aggravated it and chosen to go to war with innocent men, women and children… poor destitute villagers. That is the sign of a defeated army. With gross human rights violations like these, the Anglophone problem will ultimately sweep the Biya regime to the trash heap of history. It is now only a matter of time.
Mola Eko
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- Rita Akana
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The Senior Divisional Officer for Manyu, Oum II Joseph has officially withdrawn the December 1 communique asking some residents in particular Manyu villages to evacuate their homes.
The SDO made this declaration a few minutes ago on Radio Evangelium: The One Family Radio of the Diocese of Mamfe. FM 94.0. As it stands, residents are free to stay in their homes. This decision our source at the Presidency hinted National Telegraph that it came from Mr. Biya after the Communique showed clear signs of Genocide and the UN was ready to intervene.
Since the Anglophone crisis escalated, Manyu has turned into a hot zone with a total of seven officials killed; one soldier in Akwen, four at Agborkem and just recently, two police at Otu.
Eric Tataw for National Telegraph, USA.
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- Rita Akana
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The French embassy in Cameroon has just marked the Central African country’s English-speaking western region as “red zones” due to the increasing social upheaval, advising its citizens to avoid travelling to the area, reports said on Monday.
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- Emergency Admin
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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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