26, September 2019
Southern Cameroonians express skepticism ahead of peace talks 0
In English-speaking Cameroon, there is little optimism that the forthcoming National Dialogue will resolve the decades-long Anglophone crisis.
On September 30, the government will start hosting a national “dialogue” on the future of the anglophone territories, where separatist violence and a government crackdown have cost thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands to flee.
The following day, October 1, marks the second anniversary of this spiral towards conflict — the declaration of the self-described “Republic of Ambazonia” for Cameroon’s English-speaking minority.
One of the prerequisites should have been a cessation of hostilities.
Choosings sides
Traders in Buea, the capital of Cameroon’s Southwest Region, say they are under relentless pressure to choose sides.
The militants have staged “dead city” protests every Monday, aimed at bringing the English-speaking regions to a standstill.
If traders close their store, they risk being punished by the authorities. But if they keep it open, they face the wrath of separatists for ignoring strike calls.
“If you’re stubborn,” said snack-bar owner Jeremie, the separatists “come back and burn down your property or they’ll follow you and pay you a visit.”
“We’re scared,” said a man who asked not to be named. He kept his shop open on Monday but said he feared the arrival of the “Amba-boys” at any minute.
A member of a local NGO said the army had recently managed to secure a volatile part of Buea because it found informants among residents fed up with racketeering by separatists.
“The Amba-boys who operate in town from time to time come from rather remote parts,” he said, asking not to be identified.
Will National Dialogue succeed?
All the people approached by AFP in Buea expressed weariness at the situation.
None voiced much hope for the “Great National Dialogue” announced on September 10 on President Paul Biya, who has ruled Cameroon for 37 years.
The five-day forum will take place in Yaounde under the leadership of Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute, who comes from the troubled territory.
Several separatist forces and some opposition parties have announced a boycott. Many of their leaders and activists have been imprisoned, but Biya said that “recent court decisions” were no obstacle to talks.
“One of the prerequisites should have been a cessation of hostilities,” teacher Virginie said as armed troops passed by.
In her eyes, the dialogue “has already failed before it even started.”
“We’re so tired of this situation,” said Kingsley Ebong, employed by a state-run firm. “We hope that the dialogue works. Above all, people need to go there with goodwill.”
“The dialogue is a waste of time,” said a lawyer who wanted to remain anonymous. “The anglophone problem has persisted for many years. The government can’t pretend to be unaware (of it).”
Quest for independence
Many English-speakers favour partition, considering themselves estranged from the rest of a nation where they say the francophone majority has a lock grip on power and wealth.
Most leaders who want independence, like Sisuku Ayuk Tabe, sentenced to life in jail in August for “terrorism”, have rejected the offer of dialogue. In public, Ayuk Tabe called for secession based on talks.
Some moderate anglophone leaders would like to introduce a presidency rotating between the two language groups, coupled with a federation of eight states, according to the press.
But Biya, after he was re-elected in 2018, ruled out any move towards federalism or the notion that he would be ready to relinquish the presidency.
The Anglophone crisis
English-speakers account for about a fifth of Cameroon’s population of 24 million, who are majority French-speaking.
Anglophones are mainly concentrated in two western areas, the Northwest Region and the Southwest Region, that were incorporated into the French-speaking state after the colonial era in Africa wound down six decades ago.
Years of mounting resentment at perceived discrimination exploded in 2017, unleashing a conflict that has claimed more than 2,000 lives, according to International Crisis Group (ICG) thinktank, while the UN says at least half a million have fled their homes.
AFP
26, September 2019
National Dialogue:Cardinal Tumi says Anglophone independence must be on agenda 0
A survey conducted by religious leaders ahead of Cameroon’s Sept. 30 – Oct. 4 “Major National Dialogue” has indicated the severity of the nation’s Anglophone crisis, according to the country’s sole Catholic cardinal.
Cardinal Christian Tumi, the emeritus Archbishop of Douala, and a delegation of religious leaders met with Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute – who is chairing the dialogue – on Sept. 18 with the 400-page results of a survey conducted in the country’s volatile Anglophone regions.
The “Anglophone Crisis” began in 2016, when demonstrations broke out in the English-speaking North West and South West regions after there were demands to use French in their common law courts and English-modeled schools. English speakers make up around 20 percent of the country’s population and have long complained about being marginalized by the French-speaking ruling class.
After Cameroon’s security forces’ heavy-handed response – including using live ammunition on demonstrators – rebel movements arose calling for the independence of Anglophone Cameroon, saying the new country would be called Ambazonia.
According to the UN, the ensuing fighting between the separatists and government forces has led to the deaths of at least 2,000 people, and the displacement of a further 500,000.
Tumi says over 1,000 Anglophones responded to the questionnaire, and that a vast majority – 69 percent – want to secede.
“In our questionnaire to Anglophones, we tried to influence the Anglophone opinion, but we did not succeed; therefore, it shows how deep the problem is… When we said, ‘what form of government do you think can solve this problem? Federation or decentralization…’ I think just about 4 or 5 people reacted out of a thousand. 69 percent said absolute separation,” Tumi told journalists shortly after his meeting with the prime minister.
The cardinal said the questionnaire did not even ask about the possibility of separation, only giving the option of federation or decentralization, but respondents used the space provided below the question for “other options” to write in “separation.”
”We drew the conclusion … that 69 percent of our respondents are convinced that if we want to love each other; that is to say, if the Anglophones and Francophones want to live as brothers and sisters, absolute separation…that is to say, secession, is important,” Tumi said.
The cardinal has been a long advocate of a federal system of government for Cameroon, but said that if Anglophones want separation, their wish should be granted.
“If they [the separatists] succeed in convincing everyone that separation is the only way forward, then it should be adopted. It is possible that he [Cameroonian President Paul Biya] accepts that he is human. He is not God. I think separation can resolve this problem,” Tumi said.
Biya has long ruled out separation as an option, insisting that Cameroon will remain “one and indivisible.”
Even when he called for the national dialogue, he reaffirmed his hard-line stance against the separatist rebels, insisting they lay down their arms.
Still, Tumi said the upcoming dialogue means that Cameroon is “gradually emerging from the Anglophone crisis.”
“The President of the Republic has decided that citizens must meet to see how to get out of the difficult situation. What the head of state has done is a very good thing; we are on the right path,” the cardinal said. “We are coming out of this unfortunate situation in the two English-speaking regions.”
A positive outcome to the dialogue will depend on the sincerity of those taking part. Tumi waved aside concerns that the prime minister, who once denied the existence of an Anglophone problem, is the wrong person to lead the dialogue.
“We will see on the ground what he will do before judging. There are people who automatically believe that since he is a member of the party in power, he would not be objective enough. We must instead look at his work. If he works in all objectivity, no one will have anything against him,” Tumi said.
Bishop Andrew Nkea of Mamfe, a major hotspot of separatist activity, said “dialogue is always the best way to solve problems.”
Speaking to Crux after the meeting with Ngute, the bishop said the dialogue “is a praiseworthy initiative.”
“Now it depends on what we do with the dialogue. The first thing is that we should be sincere. We should be able to talk what we feel, and we must look at what will better the situation on a permanent basis,” said Nkea.
“Let us not do cosmetic surgery. It will not help us. We say in Latin Sanatio in Radice – you heal from the roots. This is what will help this dialogue. If we do not go to the root to try to heal the problem from the roots, then we are only postponing the problem. The only way to heal from the roots is to be honest, sincere and not to fear to help our country,” he continued.
The bishop said the first item on the agenda must be: “Why are Anglophones angry?”
The answer is rooted in Cameroon’s past. Originally a German colony, the country was divided between France and Britain after Germany’s defeat in World War I.
When British Cameroon joined the already independent French Cameroon in 1961, it did so under a federal system that allowed both parts to practice the legal and educational systems inherited from their colonial powers.
But when the country’s first president, Ahmadou Ahidjo, scrapped the federation in 1972 and introduced a unitary national government through a hastily organized referendum, it was clear that the minority English-speaking population would see its legal and educational systems chipped away.
In other words, the present crisis has been decades in the making.
Tumi understands the complexity of the problem, and said all participants of the dialogue must “speak with sincerity and honesty.”
The cardinal also said the country’s religious leaders must play a role.
“The men of God are obliged to do everything, even at the cost of our lives, so that peace returns to us here in Cameroon,” the cardinal said.
Source: Crux