Cameroonian medic and health blogger Dr Sea paints the anglophone marginalization

This is for my non-cameroonian family and friends trying to understand what is going on in Cameroon.

For decades a minority English-speaking region has faced institutional marginalisation and social disregard. The educational and legal system best reflect it. E.g entry into higher training institutions for civil service, medicine school etc were largely only available in French although the constitution states both English and French are official languages. For this reason until lately (less than 10yrs) almost all English speaking doctors of Cameroonian origin were forced to train abroad, mostly through personal efforts.

In the last months this minority has been on strikes initiated by lawyers and teachers, using civil disobedience to get their voices heard. Negotiations were started by the government who turned around and arrested all the negotiators and leading activists for threatening national security and integrity. Internet has also been clamped down in the english speaking regions of Cameroon since Jan 17th.

Arbitrary arrests of persons seen as a threat to the government are going on. Many are on the run. The number of deaths officially range btw 6 to 10 persons.

The people have since then decided to continue the strikes which mostly affects courts and schools.
The document you find below is a ministerial order asking the rector of a university to translate upcoming exams in English.

The most important detail in this document which is only written in French as usual is the given reason for the needed translation: because of the current crisis in the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions.

So it is not because it is constitutionally right to do so but simply because the people are protesting. This is just another proof of Anglophone Marginalisation in Institutions.

Senior Journalist Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai commented on the said document from the minister on his Facebook wall: