For many decades, many people around the world have been doubting why French-speaking Cameroonians have been indifferent to their own suffering. Many have been seeking to know if the French-speaking Cameroonian is a sado-masochist who is enjoying his excruciating pain.

Experts around the world have put the indifference down to alcohol and the government’s high-handed approach to life.

The typical French-speaking Cameroonian loves food and drinks and has a diminished view of the future because he has been made to think that the short term is more important than the long-term.

But the last two decades have ushered in a new mentality and the scales are gradually falling off. French-speaking Cameroonians are now traveling to English-speaking countries and they are noticing the difference.

 Even on the African continent, English-speaking countries are making giant economic strides while their French-speaking counterparts are turning in circles, hoping that France will come to clean up their political, economic and financial mess.

Besides, the country’s English-speaking minority has brought down the wall of fear and over the last four years, the country’s government has been battling an insurgency that will not be rolled back anytime soon.

Despite repressive measures taken by the government, the fighters in the country’s two English-speaking regions have stood their ground and they will not yield to anything short of total independence, though some English-speaking Cameroonians hold that a well-designed federation might calm down tempers and lay a solid foundation for a peaceful coexistence between the two linguistic blocs.

Besides the armed conflict, the country is also dealing with terrorism in its northern regions where Islam is predominant. Soldiers and civilians are being blown up everyday by suicide bombers affiliated to Boko Haram, a feared religious sect that has its tentacles in Niger, Nigeria and Chad.

Boko Haram has become a real nightmare to the Yaoundé government that lacks the resources to deal with such a man-made catastrophe.

The Yaoundé government is corrupt and its legendary arrogance has made it hard for ordinary citizens to live a normal life. Unemployment is at its highest level while the number of young unemployed graduates is growing exponentially.

Corruption that has become the government’s hallmark has paralyzed government services and sent many to an early grave. The country’s hospitals have been reduced to consultation clinics while government offices have become places where bribery has taken up residence.

Senior government officials, soldiers, police officers, medical doctors, nurses, court clerks, university professors, high school teachers and other civil servants have simply transformed their offices into money-making endeavors.

The most disturbing thing is that French-speaking Cameroonians have always felt that genuine change will come through the ballot box.

 Strangely, the ruling party, which considers itself as the state, has won every election since 1992 when the country’s so-called advanced democracy started, with the country’s president, Paul Biya, ruling for 38 years without campaigning and with nothing to show for his long stay in power.

With the system finally falling apart, the docile French-speaking Cameroonian understands that change will not come through the ballot box.

Biya and his collaborators have held the country hostage and they are determined to hang on to power even if all Cameroonians have to die.

All attempts to let the government see beyond its nose have failed. The country is disintegrating and Mr. Biya, who is bed-ridden due to age and poor health, has held onto old strategies which have outlived their usefulness.

But the hour of change is around the corner and East Cameroonians are pumped up and are determined to flush the regime out on September 22, 2020.

The regime is the worst disaster that has ever befallen the country. The regime is worse than the Coronavirus and it has consumed millions of its own citizens.

Support for the government has been crumbling for years, but it is the eroding military support that is causing the ailing regime to lose sleep.

Many army soldiers have been deserting, with hundreds calling on their fellow soldiers to understand that the real enemy is the regime which has looted state coffers, fostered corruption and ruined the country’s economy, and not the population which is crumbling under the weight of mismanagement and arrogance.

Burkina Faso, Algeria, Mali, Sudan, Tunisia and Egypt have all chased their dictators away from power and this seems to be the road to peace, stability and economic prosperity that the French-speaking Cameroonian is prepared to walk.

The hour has come and every Cameroonian must join in to ensure Mr. Biya and his regime becomes a distant memory.

The Cameroon Concord News Group shareholders and staff endorse Prof. Kamto’s call for a national demonstration that must lead to the departure of the incompetent and corrupt Yaoundé regime that has brought untold hardship to the hardworking and peace-loving people of Cameroon.

The military is on the people’s side and all Cameroonians, especially those in Yaoundé and Douala, must come out on September 22, 2020, to see off Biya and his corrupt collaborators.

Bye bye, Biya!

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in Germany

After months of diligent work by U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffers, the Coalition for Dialogue and Negotiations welcomes this very strong draft Senate Resolution calling on the United States Government (USG) and the international community to leverage their influence on Cameroon to bring a negotiated end to the escalating civil war between Cameroonian Government forces and armed separatists(restorationists) groups.

The Coalition applauds all thirteen Senators for introducing this carefully worded bipartisan Resolution. Special thanks go to Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), for their extraordinary leadership and commitment towards ending the ongoing armed conflict.

The Coalition appeals to many more members of the U.S. Senate, across the political spectrum, to sponsor and support this milestone Resolution. We equally call on the Senate membership to pass the resolution overwhelmingly as a demonstration of the Senate’s commitment to uphold international human rights, including that of children and women; to hold perpetrators of international human rights abuse accountable, and to reaffirm Congress’s legislative role in directing the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

This resolution complements H.R. 358 and S.R. 292 introduced in the House and Senate in July 2019 and further highlights the ongoing and escalating situation on the ground, including the international human rights abuses, putting millions of lives at risk.

We are particularly thankful this resolution addresses the major stakeholders of this civil war, denounces France’s limited response, joins the European Union Parliament’s call for the conflict to be brought before the United Nations Security Council, calls for an immediate ceasefire, and enjoins parties to negotiate through an independent mediator.

The Coalition for Dialogue and Negotiations will continue to work with the United States Congress to further strengthen this Resolution and other endeavors, and is committed to continue its engagement with relevant international stakeholders to ensure the achievement of a durable, mediated, and negotiated end to the war.

The conflict, since 2017 has reportedly resulted in more than 12,000 Southern Cameroonians arbitrarily arrested, detained, imprisoned, summarily executed, massacred, and killed. The Government of Cameroon reported the killing of at least 700 of its security forces and administrative personnel. Over 300 villages have been razed by Government forces, forcing the displacement of more than 900,000 and over 70,000 seeking refuge in other countries including Nigeria and the United States. An estimated one million children have been unable to attend school for the past three years, and approximately 1.9 million face severe hunger.

STATEMENT FROM INTERIM GOVERNMENT OF AMBAZONIA ON APPEAL COURT DECISION ON OUR LEADERS

The Interim Government of Ambazonia is by this statement informing the world that today, 17 September 2020, the Court of Appeal of the Centre Region of La Republique du Cameroun, chaired by Mr Mindjimba Mindjimba and flanked by Mr. Njola Crispin and Colonel Mekouabouth, have delivered one of the most scandalous judgments in legal history.

Without listening to any legal arguments from defendants and their legal representatives, the kangaroo court has upheld the sham judgment of the military tribunal that slammed life sentences upon our leaders in Yaoundé on Black Tuesday 20 August 2019.

The Nigeria Abuja High Court Judgement of 1 March 2019 declared the abduction of President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his leadership team illegal. The transfer and continuous detention of our leaders in Yaoundé remains unlawful and their trial and life sentence is a legal travesty.

As a nation, we shall respond appropriately and forcefully. The cabinet of the Interim Government of Ambazonia shall be meeting over the next few hours to consider a firm response befitting of the recent charade.

Thank You

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

Four years of unceasing conflict have overwhelmed any attempts to separate civilians from Ambazonia Restoration Forces and made the concept of a normal, quiet life a seemingly unachievable goal in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia.

While the Southern Cameroons Interim Government, the French Cameroun military,  weapons and goals of both President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and President Paul Biya have shifted shape and character, the average Southern Cameroonian has borne the brunt of a conflict that is hard to fathom but too easy to feel.

Yesterday’s attack on civilians in Bamenda by soldiers loyal to the regime in Yaoundé despite calls for a ceasefire by the UN Security Council  is a willful act from a determined French Cameroun political structure backed by French President Emmanuel Macron that does not  care about international laws but it is only interested to win at any cost.

Evidently speaking, the attacks on civilians in Bamenda have finally revealed how French Camerounians hate the people of Southern Cameroons. Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered from a well placed source that the soldiers were under the influence of alcohol and drugs provided by the administrative hierarchy headed by Governor Lele Afrique.

The chaotic nature of the Southern Cameroons crisis and the immaturity and ignorance of many in the Cameroon government and military is helping to ensure that attacks on Southern Cameroons civilians are constant and unrestrained.

Why Cameroon government army soldiers attack civilians

The four years of the Southern Cameroons crisis can best be defined as a “war against Southern Cameroons civilians”.  The success of the Biya led-war can be measured only in the sea of dead bodies and thousands of broken families in both the North West and the South West constituencies of Southern Cameroons. To be accurate, the idea of civilians coming under attack and being subjected to torture and other vicious forms of treatment once reserved for captured Ambazonian fighters is now a legal part of the Cameroon government army.

The international community is being fed stories of crimes committed by Ambazonia fighters with the support of Barrister Agbor-Balla the founder of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, an organization that is claiming to be documenting human rights violations in the ongoing crisis and representing victims of the violence.

However, what the human rights lawyer did not mention in his recent report is that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Cameroon government troops have not halt their attacks on Southern Cameroons towns and villages because they are having trouble deciding who is an Amba fighter and who is a town or village resident but have simply replaced the United Nations policy of treating civilians well with a scorched earth approach where Francophone army soldiers are being ordered to burn the people’s property.

When I met Barrister Agbor Balla some months ago in the city of Essen in Germany, he pointed out that “Burning 1 or 2 villages may be a mistake but burning 300 is definitely a government policy.”  Of course destroying all, burning into ash is the objective of fighting the Southern Cameroons enemy.

Cameroon government soldiers are destroying the Southern Cameroons economy! To be sure, the Biya regime in Yaoundé backed by the French is destroying everything Southern Cameroonian. Soldiers are burning houses, warehouses, cutting off roads; electricity and water supply in order that Southern Cameroonians lack supplies to even combat the Covid-19 so that the population would compromise.

The Bamenda attacks witnessed civilians running in front of bullets. It was indeed the Francophone soldiers’ intention to shoot them as their bullets have no eyes. The Bamenda attack was shameful, disgusting and disgraceful. It may as well be a birthday gift from the Biya regime to Barrister Agbor Balla who celebrated his 50^th recently.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Group Chairman/Editor-In-Chief

La Republique du Cameroun is evidently on the verge of a civil war, more likely a tribal war, instigated by the Beti, Bulu and Ewondo tribes of the Central and South Regions. The President of the Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon Prof Maurice Kamto has invited all political entities including the diaspora to pool their efforts to oust the 87 year old President Paul Biya.

Beti Ewondo servicemen and women, armed Bulu militias’ including senior army officers all backing President Biya are ready to stage attacks against the Bamilekes who are pushing for change in Etoudi.

Yaoundé inhabitants are reportedly preparing for a nightmare scenario as they believe there is the prospect that Biya loyalists will fight to hold on to power and will refuse to accept any outcome that will keep the ruling CPDM party out of government.

Biya and his kinsmen are also preparing for the anticipated fight and the regime is doing everything to intimidate the population of the capital city with regular fake bomb alerts.

Prof Maurice Kamto has blamed the fighting in Southern Cameroons on the Biya regime and he is also pressing the government to reform the electoral law that has legalized electoral fraud, voter suppression, irregularities, late ballots and long lines at the polls which are problems often manufactured by ELECAM the French Cameroun body responsible for organizing elections run by persons appointed by President Biya.

Ever since the 1988 Kaki and Green parliamentary elections, the ruling CPDM crime syndicate has excelled at rigging their own internal elections for the party’s favorites and National Chairman Paul Biya by suppressing and targeting potential challengers. The late Ayissi Mvodo, Prof Titus Edzoa and Albert Nzongang have all been victims.

The situation in French Cameroun has become very complicated. To be sure, what is different in this recent appeal by Prof Kamto is that the Beti Bulu Ewondo political and military elites, who usually work overtime to suppress citizens from other ethnic extraction on election days, now have a president whose end is looming!

 A likely outcome is that there might be a major split in the French Cameroun army if someone from the Biya family is chosen to succeed the 87 year old dictator.  Both sides of the French Cameroun divide are “Frenching” up in Paris for an epic fight.

Conditions in French Cameroun are dire now. La Republique du Cameroun is on the verge of a civil war, more likely a tribal war. Even if Biya agrees to step outside, such a war might still be in the offing, as some CPDM hardliners have been hungering for such a war against the Bamilekes for decades and the emergence of Prof Kamto and Biya’s imminent departure has green lighted the plan.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

“Mr. Tassang had crossed the reddest of the red lines. He should have understood that while in prison with other people, he is supposed to work for the group’s solidarity and not to tear the group apart. He might think he is raising issues that need to be addressed, but he is also failing to understand that he is shooting the group in the foot. As a teacher, he should have understood that in the circumstances in which he finds himself, unity of purpose is a fortune in affliction,” says Dr. Joachim Arrey, a Canada-based translator and technical writer in this soul searching interview with Chi Prudence Asong 

Cameroon Concord News: You recently sent a message to Mr. Wilfred Tassang which many people truly appreciated. What really prompted you to write to him?

Dr Joachim Arrey: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain a few things about my response to Mr. Tassang, who through his letters has been arrogating to himself the status of a saint and a speaker of the truth. His last letter to the President of Southern Cameroons, Sisisku Julius Ayuk Tabe, wherein he raised a number of issues which I found to be so trivial was one letter too many, especially in the context in which the country finds itself. I understand that when people are working together, there are bound to be differences, especially differences of opinion, but I hold that when I work with other people, there are differences that could be overlooked in the interest of the group’s unity and interest. It is hard to find a very united and well-oiled team, but that does not imply that the group’s dirty linen must be washed in public. In my view, Mr. Tassang had crossed the reddest of the red lines. He should have understood that while in prison with other people, he is supposed to work for the group’s solidarity and not to tear the group apart. He might think he is raising issues that need to be addressed, but he is also failing to understand that he is shooting the group in the foot. As a teacher, he should have understood that in the circumstances in which he finds himself, unity of purpose is a fortune in affliction. His failure to understand this simple philosophy was actually what prompted me to respond to one of his many write-ups that do not really make a lot of sense to me.

Cameroon Concord News: But some people hold that your disagreement is more ideological? 

Dr Joachim Arrey: Mr. Tassang believes in the total independence of Southern Cameroons. He has a right to his opinion and there are many Southern Cameroonians who think like him and will not bulge an inch. Like the government, they are frozen in their positions and this attitude is what is feeding the rebellion and carnage that are taking place in the country’s two English-speaking regions. I respect Mr. Tassang and his view, but this does not imply that he is beyond reproach. I hold that the parties involved in the fighting back home could meet each other halfway through constructive and purposeful dialogue. I clearly stand for federalism and I think this system of government could help the country address those issues that triggered the disagreement and fighting. 

What all Southern Cameroonians agree on is the fact that they have faced marginalization for more than five decades and they want it to stop so that future generations do not face the same issues. I must recall here and now that if there are more than three million Southern Cameroonians out of the country, it is because of the systemic and institutional marginalization that has robbed the people of Southern Cameroons of so many opportunities. However, this can be addressed if the government and those who are calling for total independence demonstrate exceptional flexibility. But with people like Mr. Tassang frozen in their positions, it will be hard for genuine peace to return to our own part of the country. 

In his letter to President  Julius Ayuk Tabe, he clearly stated that Barristers Paul Ayah and Felix Nkongho Agbor Balla were not fit to negotiate for the people of Southern Cameroons because of their moderate stance, but he fails to understand that those two barristers have much to offer because of their sound knowledge of legal justice and their involvement in the struggle. There won’t be a better negotiator than a lawyer. Furthermore, Mr. Tassang like the Yaounde government holds that victory will be obtained in the battlefield. I think he is simply oblivious of the reality on the ground. His knowledge of history is either inadequate or it is failing him. No war has ever ended without talks and negotiations. The Treaty of Versailles sanctioned the end of the First World War while the Yalta and Potsdam agreements remain in history as those negotiations that ended the Second World war. 

Talking and negotiating to end a conflict are as old as man. Mandela negotiated to bring about racial parity in South Africa. Colonial Africa had to negotiate to end colonialism. Why does Mr. Tassang hold that talking with the Yaounde government is tantamount to treason? Why would he chide those who had accepted an invitation for talks with the government when he knows that without talks, the current situation in Southern Cameroons which is close to an apocalypse will linger for a long time? When a man invites you, go and listen to him. You will surely have your turn to talk and you will tell him how you feel and why you do not buy their perspective of things. If you turn down the invitation due to anger or inflexibility, then your point of view will never be known and that could be used against you. A reasonable person will not want to go down in history like someone who lacked foresight and a vision. That is where I disagree with Mr. Tassang, but we agree that we are all victims of the government’s marginalization policy. 

Cameroon Concord News: But even after the informal meeting and the international community’s pressure, the killing has continued, and many people are still fleeing the region.

Dr Joachim Arrey: I am indeed unhappy about the way things are playing out in the two English-speaking regions of the country. Right from the beginning, I was against any armed conflict because such conflicts easily start but linger for a long time. The government had an opportunity to avoid such a catastrophe in our country, but it opted for violence. Southern Cameroonian fighters, for their part, felt they had a right to self-defense, and this has left the country in the grip of Kafkaesque violence that has already consumed more than 5,000 lives and reduced many villages to ashes. What the government and Southern Cameroonian fighters thought would be a walk in the park has turned out to be Sisyphean task.  There is no end in sight, especially as both parties are stuck in their positions. The mindset must change, and all Cameroonians have to work and pray to bring about sustainable peace in our country. I have been seeing pictures of Southern Cameroonian fighters killing soldiers and there are also pictures of soldiers killing innocent civilians. It is even alleged that soldiers now arrest civilians just to make a fortune out of them, especially after the ministerial order banning the purchase of machetes without authorization from a senior divisional officer. I do not know how residents of those two regions will be going about life, especially as 80% of them are farmer and machetes are part and parcel of their lives. I believe that there is a better way to do things. Both parties should be open to dialogue so that the local population can go about its business without fear.

Cameroon Concord News: You have written a lot about this conflict, but we are not seeing an improvement. Do you think your writing is having any impact on the parties involved?

Dr Joachim Arrey: Thanks for acknowledging my peaceful role in efforts at seeking a lasting solution to the Southern Cameroons conflict. As a writer, my primary role is to make both parties see the mess they are creating in their country. I have always stated that fighting and destruction will not address any issues. I believe in talks and if we can talk, we will spare so many lives. This is not the time to demonstrate that we are tough. History has no respect for people who believe in destroying the lives of others. History has a good place for people who turn to seek solutions and that is why people like Mandela, Koffi Attah Annan, Bishop Desmond Tutu, etc will always be remembered. While they oppose oppression in any form, they hold that oppression, no matter how hard, could be defeated at the negotiating table. Apartheid was defeated at the negotiating table and not in the battlefield. South Sudan gained its independence at the negotiating table and not necessarily in the battlefield. Canada addressed its issues with Quebec at the negotiating table and not on the streets. Southern Cameroonians can learn from Quebecers and the Canadian government. Like Canada, we can have one country, two systems where each linguistic group uses its culture to address its problems. Federalism has never threatened Canadian unity. It has only made Canada the envy of the world. The Yaounde government and Southern Cameroonian fighters should use the Canadian example to bring peace to Cameroon.

Cameroon Concord News: I have always asked you this question and you have always been evasive. When will you return to Cameroon to put your vast experience at the service of your people?

Dr Joachim Arrey: Thanks for asking this question. As I have always said, when it comes to human resources, Cameroon has more than enough. I might be experienced, but I hold that my place is in my native Ossing where I can positively impact many lives. I would let others do the politics while I watch them from the sidelines. I could carry out an analysis of their actions and publish for the public to gain a better understanding and maybe draw its conclusion.  Spectators could also influence players and I want to be that spectator who holds sway over players through writing. That is my role as a writer, and I love it. Thanks indeed for recognizing that I have the experience that can help others. I will however take it to my native Ossing where I can help the farmers to be better and encourage kids to go to school. I will certainly go back, but that is if the fighting ends. 

Cameroon Concord News: Thank you for your time!

Many political commentators in French Cameroun have opined that the 87 year dictator Paul Biya is a liar, a corrupt man, fraudster, a cheat and he is cruel. Deep within the Anglo Saxon tradition which is in the DNA of every Southern Cameroonian, Paul Biya is indeed a reckless leader with no principles and he is so mean.

None of the above description of Mr. Biya is new to the hardworking people of Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia and all of them ring true as well throughout French Cameroun territory but it doesn’t seem to matter to men like Prof Joseph Owona, Prof Fame Ndongo, Prof Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, Dr Dion Ngute, Hon. Philemon Yang, Sultan Ibrahim Mbombo Njoya and Biya legion of followers in the ruling CPDM crime syndicate.

As his late kinsman Ayissi Mvodo pointed out some years ago, Paul Biya knows nothing about domestic policy, foreign policies, economics, or any other subject, other than living a lavish lifestyle in Europe which his parents could not provide for him in his youth days. Biya was never qualified to be president and has been manipulated by Francophone political elites who flatter him including those he envies like Joseph Owona who has produced a PhD son in the person of Eric Mathias Owona Nguini.

Several French Cameroun political elites who successfully insinuate themselves by flattery into Biya’s inner circles have persuaded him easily to carry out incredibly destructive policies. The chief example is Minister Amadou Ali, who has consistently lined up a sea of cabinet ministers from his Far North Region with nothing to show as development in the area. This was also true with the late Dr Martin Belinga who spent all his time in government posing as the next-of-kin. And of recent Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh who has plunged Biya into a Southern Cameroons journey of many dangers.

Biya’s Southern Cameroons bungling has resulted in almost 35,000 deaths and the economy of the two Cameroons is in shambles with record unemployment. Five thousand people are now homeless in Douala because the city council spends money organizing CPDM rallies instead of investing on waste management and anti flooding schemes. The Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime has completely run short of ideas. It has bailed out Camair Co, state corporations and left working citizens on their own. To be sure, if French Cameroun were a company, it would have long been shut down!

In any functioning society with a decent military like Mali and Algeria, Paul Biya would have been history but French Camerounians are the most docile people on planet earth. The only genuine opposition leader Prof Maurice Kamto does not have support from the French imperialistic apparatus running the politics of French Cameroun and there are fears he may chase the French Cameroun oligarchs.

While many French Cameroun villages, towns and cities are experiencing nothing in terms of economic development and job creation, police brutality is steadily on the rise, all in a bid to guarantee Biya’s continued stay in power. Biya and his gang will stop at nothing to ensure they remain on top and they are using every dirty trick in the book including the Covid-19 pandemic against their opponents and the people of Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia.

For over four decades, Biya and his French Cameroun criminals have done nothing to address the gross inequality in the two Cameroons and nothing will be done to curb Francophone interventionism in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia.

French Cameroun is a failed state, one where a dubious business tycoon, Amougou Belinga is shown on national television celebrating a presidential decree that propelled his wife to a senior judge in the French Cameroun judiciary.

The regime in Yaoundé is controlled by oligarchic elites who are intent on further enriching themselves at the detriment of the entire nation. Southern Cameroonians will never have any real voice in the so-called one and indivisible Cameroon government and the people of the Ambazonia will never be allowed to have the ability to stop the French Cameroun madness.

It’s up to the Southern Cameroons diaspora to support the Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima and reject French Cameroun hegemony. They can do so if they forget about the Maryland comedians such as Ikome Sako, Chris Anu, Fru John Nsoh and Elvis Kometa.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Group Chairman/Editor-In-Chief

Originally planned for March 2020 the International Conference on the Armed Conflict in the Southern Cameroons was postponed indefinitely due to the growing COVID-19 pandemic. We are pleased to announce that this conference will now take place from October 30 – November 1, 2020 and will be online only.

 The last few months have seen, unfortunately, a severe escalation in the armed conflict in the Southern Cameroons. Gross human rights abuses are registered daily with women and children bearing the brunt of it. Despite a recent United Nations resolution for a global ceasefire, the conflict in the Southern Cameroons is rather escalating. There is currently a stalemate in the Swiss initiative and no credible pathway for a broad-based negotiation to resolve the conflict.

 The Coalition for Dialogue and Negotiations has again undertaken consultations in view of identifying a pathway for durable negotiations. All Southern Cameroonians must come together to define a path to durable negotiations and an end to the armed conflict.

 Given the urgency of the situation and after due consultations with various stakeholders, we have rescheduled the International Conference on the Armed Conflict in Southern Cameroons to October 30 to November 1, 2020. Due to travel restrictions this conference will be organized VIRTUALLY.

 The 3-DAY Virtual Conference will bring together Southern Cameroonians from all walks of life: civil society leaders, all leaders of “restorationist” (separatist) groups, Southern Cameroons political leaders, activists, religious and traditional leaders, legislators, businessmen and businesswomen, youth leaders, academics, media personalities and members of the diaspora.

The theme of the conference is:

“Defining a Pathway for Our Future”

The Conference has two main objectives:

Engage all segments and professionals of Southern Cameroons origin to establish the majority view on a pathway to a permanent negotiated solution to the armed conflict, and

Develop a detailed framework for a robust post-conflict reconstruction.

The seven previously established Working Groups (WG) will guide deliberations throughout the conference. WGs are made up of technical experts, representatives from major stakeholder groups and interested Southern Cameroonians. The seven Working Groups are: (1) Mediation and Negotiations; (2) Healthcare and Humanitarian Relief; (3) Judiciary and Constitutional Affairs; (4) Peacebuilding and Public Security; (5) Economic Reconstruction; (6) Education and Vocational Empowerment; and (7) Governance.

 The Coalition has put in place a credible authentication process to ensure the decisions and positions during this conference represent the views of Southern Cameroonian attendees. We strongly encourage Southern Cameroonians from all walks of life to become actively engaged. The stakes could not be higher. We need to do everything possible to bring a durable end to this escalating war.

Canada-based translator, technical writer and journalist, Dr. Joachim Arrey, analyzes the letter written by Mr. Wilfred Tassang, one of the NERA 10 who are currently in the Yaounde Maximum Security Prison known as Kondengui to the leader of the Southern Cameroons struggle, Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe. In his analysis, he calls for unity of purpose and urged Mr. Tassang to see the negotiating table as the place where sustainable solutions to the Southern Cameroons conflict could be found.  

Dear Deacon Tassang,

I have read your message to Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe with rapt attention and I do sincerely appreciate your decision to let Southern Cameroonians have an insight into your mindset and your vision of life. While you have cast your letter as an attempt at mending the cracks on the wall of the Southern Cameroonian leadership, it must also be pointed out that your litany of unnecessary complaints and reprehensions is instead counterproductive as it clearly puts on public display the bitterness and anger that have inhabited your mind for years. It will also go a long way in turning off many Southern Cameroonians and their friends around the world who sincerely hold that those in jail must forge a unity of purpose in order to conquer the enemy. 

Instead of making this message an attack on your intellectual genius, I would rather like to use it to highlight the shortcomings in your thought process contained in your more than 8,500-word-long letter which, to all intents and purposes, does not help the Southern Cameroonian cause which, for some time now, has been struggling due to internal divisions and betrayals. I will, therefore, conduct a profound, but objective analysis of some of the paragraphs in your long letter. The selected paragraphs are in inverted commas. 

“I come to you not as a judge, but that we may reason together, review together how far we have come. I do not come in bitterness like you are want to think, but in distress. He is a foolish man who does not take time off to recollect, to examine himself, and to be his own judge; but sometimes, we become too complacent to our persons that we paint ourselves in glowing colours even when everyone else sees us in darker shades. If those around us do not tell us the reality of our situation, it is most probably because they know what pleases us and that we would take offense if told the reality, or that they actually desire our fall. However, there are others like me who will say it as we see it because we believe that the truth in all circumstances brings advancement and that falsehood will cause nothing but retardation at all times. In clearer terms, falsehood can never lead to any measure of advancement, just as the truth will always push every good cause forward.”

In the opening paragraph of your letter to Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, you cast yourself as a man with the monopoly of the truth and who must say it at all time. Unfortunately, many are those who will clearly disagree with your assertion. I know you are a teacher and given your age, I would think that you are aware of the adage that “silence is golden”, and this is all the more true in this context which clearly calls for a demonstration of unity of purpose. Your view is not necessarily the truth because it is you. Arrogating to yourself the status of a visionary and a lover of the truth only casts you in very negative light. A good team player is he who keeps differences out of the public square, especially if such differences could dampen the determination of the group’s followers. Also, from your litany of complaints, you seem to seek perfection which unfortunately is not of this world. Sisiku Ayuk Tabe will surely not be the first perfect human being on earth even if he implements all of your untested recommendations. I would like to advise that those who lay claim to the monopoly of the truth and wisdom are good materials for psychiatric and mental analysis. In many cases, they are the problem and not the other way round. 

“…Perhaps not; I mean that I know about our cultures and traditions and do respect them, especially, the titles that get conferred on people. I don’t know what “Sisiku” means, but from the way you go about with this title, from the value you attach to it, (to the extent that it has replaced your name), it is clear to me that “Sisiku” is indeed a great title, and that those who answer it are to be reverred. Is the reverence found in the title or is it found in what those who go by the title do? 

I also know that titles are inherited through one’s lineage, or that one may earn them through achievements such as acts of chivalry or benevolence towards one’s community. I trust that yours belongs to one of the above, and not to the third category of those who purchase theirs at the village market square. If it is so, then it is a worthy title indeed.”

Deacon Wilfred, I guess you know that in diplomacy, you must call people by the titles they want you to call them. Besides, as Africans, at a certain stage in our lives, we avoid calling our friends by their first names out of respect which must be reciprocal. I am not from the north west region, but I have many friends from this region who call each other by certain titles and this is done out of respect. Talking about traditional titles from Manyu Division with such levity is like throwing a grenade in your own camp while expecting the enemy to die. I have noticed in your letter that you add titles to almost all the names from the North West region, but you claim to be non-conformist when it comes to Sisiku.  The following are just a few examples and I would like you to advise if this demonstrates your claim to non-conformism. “Shufai Barrister Blaise Berinyuy, Pa Nfor, Mister Nanchop, and Dr. Santos.” Do these people deserve their titles just because they are from the northwest? I do not want to get into the northwest – southwest divide because it will adversely impact the cause of the Southern Cameroonian, but would like to draw your attention to the fact that you have a moral obligation to sow unity by controlling the flow of your emotions and ink.  You seem to have profound disrespect for Manyu traditional titles by playing down their importance and this spells disaster for our unity of purpose. While I seek unity, I would advice that I have the courage of my conviction and I do have the right stomach to fight this northwest-southwest fight. 

Again, you lay claim to the monopoly of wisdom and the truth in the following paragraph. This is hurting the cause and you should know this if you are the wise man you claim to be.

“You see, dear brother, (how I wish we could return to those days when you and I called each “brother”) many people think that things are going wrong because I have not spoken to you, to let you know that the path you have taken is the wrong one. When I have told them that you believe that I am rather the one that has chosen the wrong path, they don’t believe me. I do not know why they think you would listen and harken to me though. That is why I have decided to write this love letter to you, trusting the heavens and the earth, even the walls of this prison to be our witnesses. More importantly, the Ambazonian people shall bear me witness this day. Therefore, this note is not about any new occurrences, but rather, it is a synthesis of things that have happened which you and I are witnesses to; which we had spoken about, and or taken part in executing. It is my pleasure to lovingly replay this tape to you, but I will try to do so in the reverse gear as it were.”

From the paragraph above, it seems you have been conducting surveys on Southern Cameroonian issues that directly affect the lives of our people. I think the ideal thing to do will be publishing the findings of your surveys instead of keeping them to yourself. The fact that a few people get in touch with you does not imply that they represent a huge segment of the Southern Cameroonian population. 

“…I was really shocked that you could disown Dr Santos. I’d like to remind you that several times in the past, even after we had parted ways, I advised that you distance yourself from certain persons whom I judged to be ruining the struggle though they seemed to be working in your favour. On all these occasions, you turned down my advise and declared that people had the right to speak freely. Yes, freedom of speech even when that freedom was used against the revolution and in your favour, was to be allowed. To refresh your memory, I advised that you distance yourself from Kisob Bertin who was and is clearly against the struggle, but you refused. Remember that this Kisob approached us (you, Pa Nfor and myself) only a few days after we entered Prison Principale.”

From the paragraph above, it is obvious that you consider your advice as the “gospel truth” that must be applied to the letter. I guess you understand that when you advise someone, they still have the right to reject or accept your advice. A true leader should listen to those around him, but he must demonstrate a lot of maturity when making decisions. I personally do not understand why you think your views are the best and must become the Southern Cameroonian law. Even the Bible is questionable. I guess you remember that the Bible was used to enslave and colonize people around the world, though it teaches love and humanity. I see that you quote it extensively in your letter to send home your message but be advised that those who preach the Bible hardly live according to their own teachings. The Bible and those who have faith in it advise that there is a world (Heaven) that is better than the one in which we currently live and that death is the vehicle that will take those who qualify to that world. Strangely, when the same people are sick, they go looking for the most effective medication. The Coronavirus would have been an ideal vehicle to take many people to Heaven, but for eight months now, pastors, deacons, religious ministers and priests have been hiding in their homes, scared of going to Heaven; the place they tell us is without sorrows. This is just an example to let you know how hard it is to implement one’s advice. 

Also, you seem to hold that every Southern Cameroonian believes in your philosophy of independence. I do not know if you have conducted another survey. I would like to point out that the common thread that holds us together as Southern Cameroonians is our total rejection of the marginalization that has blighted the lives of our people. This does not imply that we all are fighting for independence. As a wise man, you should have known this, and you should have known that we must make common cause if we must achieve something. It is therefore preposterous of you to brand some people as unfit to negotiate for Southern Cameroonians.  This unreasonable message of yours is contained in the following paragraph taken from your letter:

“Birds of the same feather flock together my brother. I have heard you several times declare that there will be no negotiations without the likes of Justice Ayah Paul, Agbor Balla, and Mancho Bibixy sitting at the table to negotiate for Ambazonia, and you have not even of recent shifted from this position. When you make these declarations, do you expect us to read some hidden wisdom behind it, or is it that you are completely oblivious to the fact that all these people are unionists/federalists? Can you truly get Agbor Balla and Justice Ayah Paul to go and negotiate homeland restoration for Ambazonia? My brother, I am trying to help you search your mind. As for me, there shall be two parties at the negotiation table; LRC and Ambazonia. If the likes of Mancho, Balla and Ayah will sit there, it shall be on behalf of Yaoundé. Am I making sense at all? Are you even beginning to see why we fear you are compromised? If you are not, how can you even dream that Mancho who has declared that his “Coffin Revolution” was hijacked from it’s original purpose, and the above listed whose positions are equally known to be against homeland restoration, can be hired to negotiate for the same? So, brother, are you a federalist or a restorationist? While Ambazonia when restored shall belong to all equally, I think that it is ill advised to join forces with Federalists during the restoration quests. That was why I backed off a fundraising programme organised by Yanick Sikod in the US when I discovered that Tapang Ivo, a federalist (at the time) was his co-organiser.” 

Deacon Tassang, the fact that we are flocking together today does not imply that we are birds of a feather. We have a common problem – marginalization – and this requires all Southern Cameroonians to make common cause so that it can be ended once and for all. That can also be achieved through the negotiating table if the opponent is understanding and willing to bring about peace. From your letter, it is obvious that only the slaughtering taking place in the cities and towns of Southern Cameroons can grant you the independence you want. There is just no single way that is the only effective way that will help us wade off the death and destruction that have become our people’s fate. What is happening in Southern Cameroons is not new. History is replete with such unfortunate situations. If you look into the mirror of history, you will find out that the African National Congress in South Africa also went through the same crisis Southern Cameroons is going through at this time. While Mandela felt that negotiations could result in the racial parity that all South Africans needed, some extremists thought it could only be achieved in the battlefield. Mandela and his group won the day and today, South Africa is a rainbow nation that is still forging ahead despite the challenges and issues that still undermining efforts at bringing a beautiful life to everybody. This is however not unique to South Africa. Other nations also have their own challenges.

“Like me, you spent part of your youth in the village; did you at anytime witness a common congregation of doves and vultures? What do you really think our people would think of you when your friends are those who have in their words and actions, turned against the struggle? Or did you not also learn that “actions speak louder than words?” Even if you did not, let me remind you that you have made reference to this truism several times when pontificating on leadership here in prison; or were you referring to other people’s actions only and not yours? In Communication, you said, words account for less than 20 per cent of information transmission, tone of voice for 30, gestures or actions for 50 per cent. Do you now see how hollow we sound when we proclaim “Restoration or Resistance forever” and yet do the things that delay restoration?” 

Indeed, you seem to be enamored with your own expressions and views to the point where you think reconciliation and peaceful negotiations are impossible. I hear you were a teacher before ending up in the Yaounde Maximum Security Prison, but you do not seem to have sound knowledge of history that should be guiding you and informing some of your views. Sometimes, even hungry lions spare the lives of their preys. Some predatory species sometimes live in peace with theirs preys. I guess you still remember the story of Romulus and Remus who were twin brothers. They were abandoned by their parents as babies and put into a basket that was then placed into the River Tiber. The basket ran aground and the twins were discovered by a female wolf which eventually saved their lives. 

 In the following paragraph, your know-it-all mentality comes through like a moon in a bright sky.

“You know Sir, that I have always told you the truth; even the things that those who “love” you won’t tell you, I have not kept away from you. Fortunately, you have only not liked the animated way I make some of these criticisms, but have listened with sports each time. Remember how I presented to you an observation made by the partner at Foley Hoag when you visited the head office of the law firm in Washington? The counsel said: “Wilfred, your new leader speaks well, and seems to know what he is about, but….” He said he didn’t know how you would take it but thought he could raise the point more easily with me; that he thought your dressing didn’t exactly reflect the cause you stood for, defending the cause of a suffering people. Your “gold watch” did not reflect the suffering people you were supposed to be representing, he said. This, I remember telling you in SED, but did it register? You did agree that you wore a gold watch. We have not agreed on this (dressing code) ever since, yet the call for modesty in all things stands, not only for you and I, but for every leader in the struggle. Your position on this matter has been that a man is addressed as he is dressed. I agree with you here but differ on where the virtue lies. While the monk is not made by his cassock, it is also true that a man who is flamboyant in appearance proclaims what he will do if allowed to manage the community’s granary.”

I would like to highlight here that before the struggle, many Southern Cameroonians, including Sisiku Julius Tabe Ayuk, had their money. Their good jobs and skills opened huge doors for them. Dressing properly or expensively is a matter of choice. There are very many wealthy people whose sartorial taste leaves much to be desired. This does not imply that they do not cherish their wealth. I guess you are not calling on Sisiku Julius  Ayuk Tabe and other wealthy Southern Cameroonians to dump their earthly possessions just because Southern Cameroons is going through a crisis. There is no rule in life that states that to lead a people, you must be modest in your dressing. In the Southern Cameroons’ case, dressing properly is part of good packaging, especially when it comes to meeting other personalities and dignitaries in the West. Your dressing is part of your ID. If you lose it, you lose who you are. Tell Southern Cameroonians that in his seven weeks as a leader, Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe embezzled their funds just to buy suits and a gold watch, we will all understand. I will be the first to go after him. But telling Southern Cameroonians that he was wearing a gold watch bought with his own money only portrays you like a man who is chasing a mirage. You seem to be pursuing perfection which is not of this world. Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo were leaders of the African National Congress. They never went about naked to prove their modesty. Mandela was a lawyer and he had to dress appropriately. I strongly hold that Southern Cameroonians have more serious issues to deal with. The ones you have raised in your letter are, indeed, a major distraction that should be avoided. The USD 1.2 million that is missing in Washington was embezzled by those who took over from Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe and there are documents to prove that. Stop distracting the hard-working people of Southern Cameroons. 

Deacon Tassang, I would like to end here. My objective is to highlight some of the weaknesses in your thinking. You know more than I do that Southern Cameroonians are focused and they have their eyes on the big prize. They know they will have it at the negotiating table and not in the battlefield. Instead of seeking to demonstrate your monopoly of wisdom, I would suggest you work very closely with other people who think that negotiating could deliver better results than the slaughtering that are taking place in the towns and cities of Southern Cameroons. I wish you the best and more courage as you deal with the frustrations of incarceration.

Sincerely,

Dr Joachim Arrey

The author of this letter has served as a translator, technical writer, journalist and editor for several international organizations and corporations across the globe. He studied communication at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom and technical writing in George Brown College in Toronto, Canada. He is also a trained translator and holds a Ph.D.