Tensions between English-speaking Cameroonians and the West-central African nation’s French-speaking government stretches back to end of colonial rule nearly 60 years ago. At the heart of the tension is Anglophones’ desire to form their own independent state, Ambazonia. In recent weeks there have been violent clashes and several protesters have been killed, reportedly by government security forces. The Conversation Africa asked Verkijika G. Fanso to explain what’s happening.

The animosity is actually between English-speaking Cameroonians and the government led and dominated by French-speaking Cameroonians. They have ruled the country in an authoritarian way since the unification of the two former United Nations trusteeship territories – French Cameroun and British Southern Cameroons – in 1961.

The current dispute is between the part of the country that was once run by the British, and the larger part where French is spoken and which was once run by the French. In 1972 the original federal structure that post-colonial unification was based on was abrogated. The English-speaking, or Anglophone, West Cameroon was annexed in a united republic, and in 1984 the word “united” was scrapped. The country became Cameroon and the English-speaking region was assimilated into the French-speaking area.

The dignity and statehood of Anglophones was silently destroyed – not by the French-speaking (Francophone) community at large, but by the government led and dominated by Francophones.

Being Anglophone or Francophone in Cameroon is not just the ability to speak, read and use English or French as a working language. It is about being exposed to the Anglophone or Francophone ways including things like outlook, culture and how local governments are run.

Anglophones have long complained that their language and culture are marginalised. They feel their judicial, educational and local government systems should be protected. They want an end to annexation and assimilation and more respect from the government for their language and political philosophies. And if that doesn’t happen, they want a total separation and their own independent state.

What’s the history of the call for an independent state?

On January 1 1960 French Cameroun gained independence and became Cameroun Republic. Later that year Nigeria gained its independence from Britain and became a Federal Republic. The British-controlled southern Cameroons was then separated from Nigeria and was due to achieve full independence on October 1 1961.

But there was a hitch: the United Nations organised a plebiscite in which southern Cameroonians were asked to chose between joining the Cameroun Republic or Nigeria. This vote was prompted by a British report that insisted its former territory would not survive economically on its own.

Southern Cameroonians wanted nothing more to do with Nigeria. They had suffered enormously at the hands of Igbo people who’d settled in their territory in previous decades. So they elected to unite in a new federation with Cameroun Republic. It was supposed to be a partnership of equals, a notion reinforced by bilateral negotiations that had started before the vote.

These negotiations were concluded at the Foumban Conference in July 1961. The general view after the conference was that the delegation from the Cameroun Republic, accompanied by French advisers, got virtually everything they wanted. The Anglophones, who received none of the support promised by the British or the UN, were effectively sidelined.

So the new federation was born, but it was never a happy union. The regions were centrally governed but neither of the two presidents since unification have spoken nor understood English. The incumbent, Paul Biya, reads English with difficulty.

Since then Anglophones have pushed for autonomy. This call is actually supported in a UN resolution passed in April 1961 that defines the joining of the two former territories as a federation of two states, equal in status and autonomous.

What’s prompted the latest violence?

In October 2016 lawyers went on a strike in an effort to force the government to stop appointing Francophone magistrates who spoke no English and had no training in common law to preside over courts in the Anglophone regions.

During peaceful demonstrations in the cities of Bamenda and Buea, the lawyers were roughly manhandled by government security forces.

Teachers soon came out in support of the lawyers. They wanted the government to stop posting Francophone teachers who spoke no English to teach subjects other than French in Anglophone schools. People across professions followed the teachers, and Cameroon’s cities became “ghost towns” everywhere on certain days of the week as part of a large-scale stay away.

Earlier this year government banned the trade unions that had led the strikes. Many of their members – some of whom were engaged in discussions with the government – were arrested and jailed on charges of terrorism and attempts to change the form of the state. The government also shut down internet and other communication services in Anglophone regions to stop people sharing information and organising.*

Shamed by international condemnation, President Biya reinstated communication services three months later. He also ordered the release of some strike leaders and scrapped the charges against them. But he didn’t call for a resumption of talks.

Anglophones were unimpressed. On October 1 they took to the streets to commemorate what they consider their independence day. They raised the flag of Ambazonia in various towns and cities. It was an assertion of autonomy. Government security forces were deployed and used excessive. Over the next few days a number of people were killed, some reports suggesting 17 others suggesting as many as 100.

Is there any chance of resolving this conflict?

Dialogue and diplomacy are foremost. Cameroon’s leadership must initiate or reinstate dialogue with those representing Anglophone interests. Failing this, the African Union or the UN – or both – should initiate dialogue.

Cameroon is being haunted by agreements that were never respected, from the Foumban Conference to the UN’s resolution regarding autonomy. These agreements must be revisited and respected if the crisis is to end.

Culled from The Conversation

MTN Cameroon has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Secondary Education (MINESEC) for the use of its mobile money system for the payment of school fees and related charges in Cameroonian secondary schools.

Parents will no longer have to move and spend hours in queues to pay their children’s school fees, but will be able to pay remotely through their mobile phone, at any time and from any location.

This will enhance transparency and traceability in the collection of fees by secondary schools. This will enable the Ministry of Secondary Education to improve the quality of services provided to the Educative Community.

Source: Telecompaper

One of the things imperial Cameroon brandishes to the world as a success is its bilingualism. No one seems to see that Cameroon bilingualism is an act of fraud; that it disrespects the Anglophone component of the imposed nation; that it is an arch example of colonization and assimilation; that nowhere else in the whole wide world is this form of bilingualism practiced. Today, we lift the veil, so that the fraud may be exposed.

2. What is bilingualism? Bilingualism is a situation in which the administration of a country uses two languages to serve two groups of its users, each of which uses only one of the two languages in question. A country adopts bilingualism only when it has two groups of its population, each of which understands or is presumed to understand only one of the two languages in question, and not both. In that situation, the government makes it its responsibility to serve every user in one of the two languages of the country.

3. Bilingualism exists to honour and respect the identity of each of the linguistic groups of users; it recognizes the language of each of the groups as part of its identity and therefore will never impose upon each of the groups the language of the other group. Whether you take the example of Canada or of Switzerland, this is what you will find. In Canada for example, the official language in Quebec is French, not the English of the majority. It is only in imperial Cameroon that English is not the official language of the English speaking peoples! Nowhere else in the world is this form of fraud practised.

4. In Cameroon, bilingualism has taken the form of the imposition of French on the English speaking peoples of the Southern Cameroons; the refusal to recognize their own language, English, as the official language in the Southern Cameroons; the absence of any law which makes texts issued only in French illegal in the Southern Cameroons and therefore virtually no responsibility for the government even to translate official texts. No citizen can sue the government for issuing a text only in one language or reject a document served to him in French. Translation by government is done on an optional basis. They say that English is also used in La Republique du Cameroun, but this is a mere hoax since no English administrator dares serve anyone there a text in English. On the contrary, French is the language in which most administrative texts are served to Southern Cameroonians within the Southern Cameroons; French is the official language in the military and polices forces and virtually all professional schools; everywhere in the Southern Cameroons you find government sign boards in French, but you cannot see one single government sign board in English in Republique du Cameroun.

5. The absolute and primary condition for the existence of bilingualism (or the use of two languages in the administration of a country) is that each linguistic group should keep its own language as its official language and not be imposed the language of the other group. Once the two groups are forced to learn each other’s language, the administration is bound to become monolingual. It is the language of the minority group that will die, for the simple reason that the minority must first learn the language of the majority and thus establish communication in that language!

6. For bilingualism to exist in Cameroon (and not the assimilation that is now called bilingualism), English must become the official language in the Southern Cameroons and French to be the official language in
La Republique du Cameroun. This would dramatically increase the need for bilingual services, because all French documents must be translated into the official language in the Southern Cameroons and all English documents be translated into the official language in La Republique du Cameroun. Interpretation services will also increase because all conferences must be interpreted.

7. It is the monolingualism of individuals which forces the administration to be bilingual. That is to say, for the administration to be bilingual, those who use that administration must be monolingual or at least have the choice of using only their own language! Bilingualism of individuals must necessarily end the bilingualism of the administration or the state! If all or most citizens are bilingual, what need would there be for the government to translate any texts? In Cameroon, bilingualism was introduced only because there are Anglophones who don’t understand French. If Anglophones who don’t understand French continue to diminish in number every year, the need for bilingualism must also decrease! Translation of government texts is done only for this group! As you can see, it is only a matter of time before the generation of Southern Cameroonians who don’t understand French is phased out. When that happens, all Southern Cameroonians will be speaking French. At that point, it would be completely useless to use English in the Cameroon administration.

8. Language is simply a tool for communication. Once communication is established, there is no need for another language! The more so-called Anglophones learn French, the more communication is established in French, and the less need there is to use English any more, especially in the administration. Always remember that English was introduced into the colonial Cameroon administration only for the colonized Anglophones who could not yet speak French! It was not introduced so that Francophones should learn English! No, it was a measure to accommodate their colonized Anglophones while their assimilation is completed. Consequently, once communication is established through French, English must naturally cease to be valid as a means of communication in the administration.

9. If I can speak your language, what would be the need for you to learn my own? Even if you can learn my own, what purpose would it serve since we are already able to communicate in your own language?

10. In the current imperial Cameroon situation, translation and interpretation services must naturally dwindle and finally die. It is an impossibility to continue to translate texts and interpret conferences for those who already understand the original language in which the texts were written or conferences held! It would not be long before everyone would discover the enormous waste of time and resources, and also the hypocrisy involved.

11. When Southern Cameroonians meet people from La Republique du Cameroun, what language do they speak? French, of course! Why? Because Anglophones are the first to learn French and so communication must occur only in the language which both sides understand.

12. If most or all Southern Cameroonians begin to speak or even merely understand French, what would be the need to use English in the Cameroon administration? And if Anglophones continue to speak in French, who will speak their own language? Does this not tell you that English is programmed to die in the Cameroon administration?

13. Yes, only the language that is used in the administration counts as an official language or as part of the bilingualism. A sizeable portion of English people speak French; that does not make England a bilingual
nation. Similarly, a sizeable portion of Germans speak English, that does not make English one of the official languages of Germany. Many French people speak English, that does not make English an official language in France. An official language of a nation is only a language that is used in the administration or in public offices.

14. As further proof, let me ask you this question: In 1961 or even 1972 what percentage of Southern Cameroonians understood French? What is the percentage today? Probably in 1961 and later on in 1972, less than 20% of Southern Cameroonians understood French. Today, probably 70%! Does that percentage that understands French today need any translation or interpretation? If the need for translation and interpretation is constantly dwindling, what does that tell you about the future of bilingual services in colonial Cameroon?

15. The questions above prove to you that Cameroon is moving towards a single language, not bilingualism. Colonial Cameroon is therefore guilty of fraud, misrepresentation, swindle and cheating. Its version of bilingualism is an act of fraud against the people of the Southern Cameroons; it is part of its colonial and assimilation policy, not bilingualism at all.

16. The only way for bilingualism to survive is for English to be the official language in the southern Cameroons and French to be the official language in La Republique du Cameroun. That is what will promote bilingual services such as translation and interpretation.

17. Southern Cameroonians, you now see the gigantic fraud, the misrepresentation, the hoax, the swindle that is practiced on you by colonial Cameroon! Wake up and claim the right to your own language. No more should French be accepted as the official language in the Southern Cameroons; no more should French sign boards be accepted; no more should administrative texts be served in French in the Southern Cameroons.

18. Francophones learn English today, not so that it can be used in the Cameroon administration, but for the enormous advantages that English gives them in the world. Do not be deceived. Even Francophone Ministers who study in English countries use only the French language when serving in the Cameroon administration. The Anglophone Prime Minister uses only French and so do all other Anglophones in the administration. They must do this, to prove to their Francophone bosses that they have been thoroughly assimilated; to pretend to belong, to gain favours and so on. No one dares point out the programmed end of bilingualism in Cameroon.

19. There you have your so-called bilingualism, one more crime against the people of the Southern Cameroons

By Denis Atabong

International rights group, Human Rights Watch (HRW) have warned separatists in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions to quit attacks on education facilities and anything that obstructs education.

The group has subsequently called for the safe and immediate release of a female school head who was abducted by suspected separatists late last week.

Madam Georgiana Enanga Sanga of Government High School Bolifamba Mile 16 was abducted along with another head teacher on 25 May in capital of the restive Southwest region, Buea.

According to reports, the taxi they were travelling in was intercepted and they were specifically picked whiles other passengers were allowed to continue their journey.

Her colleague head teacher has since been released with machete wounds, but Ms Sanga has yet to be accounted for. The action of the abductors is believed to be connected with ongoing nationwide examinations – GCE Ordinary and Advance Level Examinations.

“Enanga’s kidnappers should release her immediately, and separatist groups should put a decisive end to all attacks meant to obstruct children’s education,” HRW’s deputy director of global advocacym Philippe Bolopio said .

“Attacks against students, teachers, and schools inflict long-term harm on children, and sully the reputation of those who carry them out.”

Separatists have long used attacks on schools as a measure to ground life in the affected regions. The move is seen as part of a wider plan to put pressure on government in the ongoing fight for secession.

The Catholic Church and the United States have recently expressed disquiet about the attacks on both sides and its effects on lives of people living in the two regions. Abductions are not uncommon as separatists have used it as a means to put pressure on government.

What has become known as the Anglophone crisis affects the North West and South West regions of the Central African country with a section of the English-speaking minority pushing to secede under the so-called Ambazonia Republic.

Source: Africa News

The latest round of abduction by alleged separatists in Cameroon’s restive Anglophone region has claimed two school heads in the Southwest region.

The two were reportedly abducted late last week in the capital of the region, Buea. Sources gave their identities as Georgina Enanga Sanga, headmaster of the public high school (GHS) Bolifamba Mile 16-Buea and Eric Ngoumba, head of the Cameroon Baptist Academy Yoke-Muyuka.

According to witnesses quoted by local media, the two officials were in a public transport that was intercepted by four armed assailants. The attackers are said to have fished out Georgiana and Eric despite incessant pleas from other passengers.

State security forces deployed in the area are said to have arrived late thus the inability to track the armed men. The authorities have, however, reassured students and parents about the smooth running of the end-of-year exams.

The crisis which started in November 2016 in Cameroons English-speaking areas was in protest against marginalization and demand for more participation in French-dominated Central government.

The separatists have since October 2017 mounted guerilla style attacks that have killed about 45 security forces – police, soldiers and gendarmes. It is estimated that more than 600 civilians have already died as a result of the Anglophone crisis, according to NGOs.

In addition, some 160,000 people have fled their homes as a result of the violence, according to the UN. Thousands of these people are currently seeking asylum in neighbouring Nigeria.
Source: Africa News