This Op-Ed serves to contribute to the recent initiative by some Church leaders in Cameroon to seek lasting solution to the Anglophone crisis that has recently taken the turn of an armed conflict. On July 25, 2018; leaders from the Catholic, Presbyterian and Muslim Church communities in the Anglophone regions announced a peace plan to resolve the on-going conflict in Cameroon. The plan involves as necessary first step, the holding of an “Anglophone General Conference” (AGC) convened for August 29-30, 2018 in Buea. The aim of the AGC is to seek consensus among Anglophones on the “issues to be examined at a yet-to-be convened national dialogue, as well as freely designate Anglophone representatives at that dialogue”. The conveners of the AGC designated Dr. Simon Munzu, an international luminary and renowned Cameroonian civil society leader, as their spokesperson and also outlined a number of initiatives that the Cameroon government should take to ensure a smooth conference participation by all Anglophone Cameroonians. These initiatives include notably, an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of all detainees, and a general amnesty.

Already, some voices within the Cameroonian diaspora, which has been the brain behind the armed separatist movement, have raised a number of critical concerns regarding the form and modalities of holding such a conference in Cameroon at this time. Let me highlight just three of the main concerns of the separatists. First, separatists claim that the time for dialogue with the government of Cameroon has passed and now is the phase of mediation as the crisis has transitioned to an armed conflict. They also criticize the choice of Dr. Simon Munzu as spokesperson of the AGC, given his controversial vocal stance for a federal Cameroon. Federation is no longer an option for a solution to the conflict, according to the separatists. Lastly, the separatists fear that, even with an amnesty, the Cameroon government is capable of rounding them up while in Buea, attending the AGC. And there are legitimate reasons to distrust the government, notably at the start of the crisis, representatives of the then Cameroon Civil Society Consortium that met with the government to dialogue were arrested soon after the meetings. Separatists are thus suggesting a safe venue outside of Cameroon for the AGC and for a neutral spokesperson, instead of Dr. Simon Munzu.

Let me quickly comment on the initiative by the Church authorities and suggest ways of making this work, considering the concerns raised by the separatists.

The peace plan to gain consensus on the root cause of the Anglophone Problem, it’s solution as well as to designate representatives to a broader national dialogue; dovetails nicely with the biblical approach to resolving conflicts that I opined not long ago in a piece circulated on social media in early June 2018. In particular, it’s of prime essence to have genuine interlocutors of the Anglophone Problem. Although there are two clear parties to the on-going armed conflict in Cameroon, the interlocutors on the side of the separatists are highly divided ideologically and the risks of the conflict becoming intra (among the separatists themselves) is high. Thus, a conference with the stated objectives is highly welcomed as a necessary first step towards dialogue/mediation/negotiation to resolve the conflict.

Now to make the Anglophone General Conference work, there’s more to do and a few more conditions to be fulfilled than the conveners have proposed.

1. In a situation of an on-going armed conflict, there’s need not only for a ceasefire but also for supervision of the ceasefire, in order to limit any further casualties. This necessitates the intervention of the UN in Cameroon, through its peace-keeping arm. The presence of UN peace keepers will also reassure displaced populations about their safety thereby contributing to a smooth holding of the AGC.

2. Although understanding the urgency of the need for a lasting solution to the conflict, the holding of the AGC need not be hurried. The proposed date seems rather hasty and fears are that the conference might not contribute to healing and an atmosphere of detente, if some perceive it’s timing as corresponding to the electoral calendar in Cameroon. This crisis has been on-going for about two years and several peace building initiatives by the government need to take place for trust to build on both sides. That takes time but the timing of the conference a few months to the forthcoming presidential elections to hold in October 2018 sends mixed messages. I would suggest a date for the AGC further ahead, preferably after the presidential elections.

3. Given the fact that the leadership of the separatist movement mostly reside in the diaspora, to ensure their effective participation and representation at the AGC, there need to be a preparatory conference of Anglophone Cameroonians in the diaspora (preferably held in the US) where representatives of the diaspora community to the AGC would be designated.

4. Participants at the AGC should be allowed to elect their own spokesperson and Dr. Munzu (the conveners’ spokesperson’s) mandate should end on day one of the conference, unless he is elected at the meeting to continue.

5. Following the AGC, the next stage of dialogue/negotiation/mediation, should be between the belligerent parties (that is, between the Cameroon government and would-be representatives of the Anglophone community) and not a national dialogue per se, as the Church leaders propose. The resolution of a crisis/conflict, needs to be primarily between the belligerents, of course, inter-mediated by third parties. The role of the international community and friends of Cameroon would be to facilitate as mediators.

By Dr. Julius A. Agbor, Associate Professor at Vanguard University of Southern California (USA)

Author is a Political Economist, and Associate Professor at Vanguard University of Southern California, Formerly, a Research Fellow at the Africa Growth Initiative of the Brookings Institution in Washington DC
Also, a contributor to the NY Times.

Cameroon’s opposition has again failed to present a single presidential candidate to challenge Paul Biya who has been in office for 36 years. Twenty-eight candidates will be contesting the country’s October 7 presidential election, which Biya is favored to win.

The youngest candidate registered to compete in the October 7 presidential election is journalist Cabral Libi. Just before the filing deadline, the 38-year old said he was still uncertain if he would run because he could not single handedly raise the $60,000 required by the election commission to run. He says he had to ask well wishers to help him.

He says he has demonstrated that he is the only candidate strong enough to challenge the incumbent president because he was able to raise over $ 60,000 from well wishers within three days to pay the caution fee required by Cameroon’s electoral laws for each presidential aspirant.

Libi is one of the 28 candidates to contest the poll. Two women: Ze Genevieve, an independent candidate and Habiba Issa who will run for the opposition UPC party, also registered to challenge the 86-year old Biya, who has been president for 36 years.

Last January, Cameroon’s notoriously fractured opposition attempted to unite behind a single candidate. About a dozen opposition parties were negotiating to back Akere Muna, a prominent lawyer who specializes in fighting corruption. Muna pledged a non-partisan platform, but today is running on the ticket of his Peoples Development Front political party.

Maurice Kamto, who was meeting with Muna and the main opposition political party the SDF to discuss the possibility of a single candidate, is today running for his Cameroon Renaissance Movement Party. Kamto says after discussing with some political parties, he found out that all of them wanted a single candidate, but felt they were the stronger politicians that other weaker parties should join.

He says he then decided that he, like other politicians who want to run for president should present to Cameroonians their programs and projects that they will implement if elected, instead of basing their strengths on the religious, tribal and ethnic groups they represent.

The SDF has chosen a 50-year old lawmaker, Joshua Osih, as their candidate and says it is sure Osih will perform better in the elections if the polls are transparent and fair.

The ruling CPDM party has gathered at least 30 of the divided opposition political parties to rally behind its candidate, Paul Biya. Issa Tchiroma, president of the Cameroon National Salvation Front, says the opposition’s inability to come up with a single candidate indicates how they are divided and so he will support Biya, who according to him is the only one that can bring peace and development to the troubled country.

“By declaring his candidature, this is an indication, clear indication that he sent to the nation and the world that he is the man of his generation. Mr president move forward, we are ready to support you,” said Tchiroma.

Cameroon is dealing with attacks by Boko Haram militants in the north, separatist movements in two English-speaking regions and a spillover of violence from the Central African Republic.

Biya has ruled Cameroon since 1982 and is Africa’s second longest serving president, after his neighbor Theodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea.

He is seen by many as favored to win the polls. If he does, he will rule the central African state up to 2025 when the next presidential election will take place.

Source: VOA

The Social Democratic Front (SDF), Cameroon’s main opposition party has officially filed the candidacy of its flagbearer for presidential polls slated for October 7, 2018.

Local media reports that a mammoth crowd accompanied 49-year-old Joshua Osih Nabangi on Wednesday (July 18) as he submitted his papers at the Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) regional offices in Douala.

Osih, the main challenger to long-serving Paul Biya was accompanied by SDF founder and former flagbearer, John Fru Ndi. A number of candidates are also expected to enter the race before submission deadline.

Speaking to the media after his submission, Osih stressed that even though the number of candidates in the October 7 race may be lesser than that of 2011, it was the reason why this election was “significant” in Cameroon’s political history.

“We will mobilise to ensure victory to improve the people’s living standards …our doors are open to those ready to see us through this journey,” Osih declared. Osih, who hails from the Toko Subdivision in Ndian Division of the South West Region is a first-timer in the presidential race.

For his part, SDF leader and veteran opposition leader Fru Ndi told reporters that Osih and the SDF remained the only sure path to salvage the Central African country.

“Cameroonians have suffered enough, many have died. We will wipe their tears and put an end to the people’s sufferings…taking part in this election is a step ahead for victory,” he is quoted to have said.

Culled from Africa News

Cameroon has set October 7 as the date for its presidential election. However, it remains unclear whether the vote can take place in the country’s two English-speaking regions, where separatists are fighting for an independent state.

Abdoul-Karimou, deputy manager of Cameroon’s election management body, ELECAM, said ELECAM has yet to receive documents from any presidential candidates. But he expects that to change.

He said according to Cameroon’s electoral code, people who want to run for president still have up to July 19 to send their documents to the elections management body for examination.

Already, a dozen people including Joshua Osih of the main opposition Social Democratic Front, Akere Muna, a lawyer and former vice president of Transparency International, Maurice Kamto, head of the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon, and journalist Cabral Libi have declared their intentions to run.

Incumbent President Paul Biya, who has been in office more than 35 years, has not said whether he would run. But there have been calls from his party, traditional rulers, and even some opposition political parties for him to be their candidate.

Traditional ruler and lawmaker Chaffa Isaac said they are asking Biya to run in the hope that his reelection could bring peace to the embattled northwest region and complete development projects he had initiated for the whole country.

“We are calling on president Paul Biya to take all appropriate measures to create a conducive atmosphere, one for peace to reign in Cameroon, two, for there to be a successful election where he is candidate,” he said.

But the Social Democratic Front’s Joshua Osih said he does not think the elections can be conducted successfully in the northwest and southwest regions, where the military is battling armed groups fighting for the creation of an English-speaking state.

Twenty percent of Cameroon’s 23 million people are English-speakers in a bilingual country where French is the predominant language.

The conflict has killed more than 250 soldiers, armed fighters and civilians. It has also left over 160,000 people internally displaced and and forced tens of thousands across the border in Nigeria.

“Elections are not possible in the present circumstances in the northwest and the southwest,” said Osih.

Last week, lawmakers in the national assembly passed a law extending their mandate for 12 months. They said the country cannot handle having presidential and parliamentary elections in the same year.

Some lawmakers said they voted for the bill because the crisis in the English-speaking regions will make it impossible for the elections to take place.

Last March, senatorial elections did not take place in the English-speaking Manyu and Lebialem administrative units where some municipal councilors were arrested and locked up by armed groups.

Armed separatists have vowed to block any elections in the English-speaking regions. The government says it will ensure the security and safety of voters.

Source: VOA

The 86 year autocratic, dictator and  ruler of la République du Cameroun in his typical Machiavelli way of doing things announced a  couple of weeks ago, despite the escalating war that he declared on the people of the English speaking region in Cameroon that the presidential elections would hold on the 07 of October. Prior to this announcement, two other elections (municipal and parliamentary) that were supposed to take place this year were postponed and members of parliament and mayors had their mandate extended to 2019. Political pundits and observers have been wondering aloud if it makes any sense to organize presidential elections in a country caught up in a senseless war that has produced some 200.000 internally displaced persons with over 50.000 as refugees in Nigeria? A lot of tongues have indeed been wagging on how the Biya regime intends to stage the elections in the Southern Cameroons, where citizens are gunned down indiscriminately by Francophone soldiers and where Southern Cameroonians are not allowed to communion in groups, as the military continues to kill indiscriminately.

The robust resistance of the restoration forces, who have basically taken over authority in Anglophone Cameroon, and who enjoy the support of the communities is definitely an insurmountable challenge to the infamous electoral project. The restoration forces have vowed that no such election is going to take place in Africa’s newest state-The Federal Republic of Ambazonia. The restoration forces are in total control of the communities and have reportedly intensified ghost town operations. Attempts by the Yaoundé government and the mayor of Buea to disrupt the idea of ghost town recently led to deadly clashes with state authority ending up with a bloodied nose, and the restoration forces having the last word.

This week, the minister for defense Joseph Beti Asomo on a special mission ordered by the head of state of la Republic visited the affected regions to meet and congratulate the soldiers for their bravery and courage in killing their fellow citizens. What was thought to be a robust and security tight convoy of 30 armoured vehicles ferrying the minister  and several army generals including colonels came under attack. Beti Assomo and his entourage met what has been described as the most audacious attempt by the restoration forces to make an emphatic statement to the Yaoundé regime.

One of the journalists traveling with the minister got injured in the attack. He narrated the ordeal to the world and in his statement, he compared the restoration forces to Boko Haram, and pointed out that although the Nigerian Islamic sect uses sophisticated weapons; the restoration forces were in possession of locally manufactured weaponry. He further pointed out that Ambazonian forces are more organized and intelligent than Boko Haram fighters. He said if the restoration forces had modern assault weapons, the damage on the convoy would have been unimaginable as the minister would have been captured. In the midst of this insecurity and uncertainty, and the attack on the defense minister’s convoy, it is abundantly clear that elections will not take place in the former British Southern Cameroons. The restoration forces have instructed Ambazonians not to part of the upcoming counterfeit presidential elections, which they described as provocative and illegal. How the 86 year old dictator intends to make such a precarious election to take place remains a mystery, wrapped in a puzzle inside an enigma.

By Ntam Charles Ngeh

Bonn, Germany

Cameroon is facing a growing danger of economic collapse and a civil war, provoked in large part by French government support for the 85 year President Paul Biya. This week Biya tweeted his intention to run for the October presidential elections amid worsening security situation in the country. The Biya move came after the United States ambassador Peter Barlerin sounded a note of caution to the CPDM Chairman to step aside. The Biya action has failed to win wide support in the entire nation.

In announcing his decision, Biya is responding to intensifying pressure from the Western powers particularly the US. The US Senate recently held a hearing on the crisis in Southern Cameroons which will eventually commit Washington to use its influence to block all international aid and financial assistance for Cameroon. This comes on top of sanctions already implemented by the Federal Republic of Germany.

The UK, meanwhile, has decided to maintain a kind of deliberate silence on the crisis in Ambazonia but has however up the African activities of its foreign intelligence service MI6 in the Gulf of Guinea. Britain had long established a new ministerial committee, ostensibly to give advanced warning of coup attempts and threats of civil war in sub-Saharan Africa.

The ruling CPDM crime syndicate which is mainly based in the cities of Douala, Yaounde and Maroua including some towns and villages in the Center and South regions has alienated not only Southern Cameroonians but also the Bamilekes, the Bassas and the Sawas. The widening political division between Southern Cameroons and the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime and the long standing grievance of the Ahmadou Ahidjo following contains the potential for civil war.

The sharp decline in living standards, 95 percent unemployment and the increasingly repressive character of Biya’s rule provoked popular opposition deep within Southern Cameroons and created conditions for violent social conflict. Aware of the extent of social and political tensions, Biya declared war against his own people-the people of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. The 85 year old dictator has never accepted measures that would undermine his rule and as I write, his kinsmen and women in the army are moving like a train with no brakes crushing anyone on Biya’s way.

The US through the voice of its ambassador Peter Barlerin has decided that it was time to move against Biya. But the world’s strongest nation is yet to cut off funds and investment to Yaoundé and have failed to encourage the formation of an alternative political leadership that is more responsive to US and EU demands.

Biya offers no progressive response to Western demands and meddling. Instead, he is seeking to hold onto power by whipping up anger of the Francophones not only against Southern Cameroonians but also against the Bamilekes. For nearly four decades, Biya did little to make Ambazonians feel Cameroonian, resulting in an erosion of popular support in Southern Cameroons for his regime.  In an attempt to reverse Biya’s decline and counter calls for an Anglophone head of state, Biya declared war on Southern Cameroons.

For the last two years, the Francophone dominated army has been patrolling Southern Cameroons towns and villages, killing innocent civilians and beating up people suspected of supporting the quest for an independent state.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon’s Anglophone regions will participate in presidential polls slated for October 7, 2018. This is according to the country’s electoral organizing body, Elections Cameroon (ELECAM).

The said regions – North West and South West – have been restive for months now amid armed exchanges between government forces and secessionists under the banner of the so-called Ambazonia Republic.

The elections organizer assured that elections will take place in the regions stressing that the issue of security for all stakeholders in the process was the responsibility of the government.

ELECAM’s Assistant Director, Abdoul Karimou is quoted as saying, “Elections will hold in the North West and South West regions but ensuring security is the responsibility of the State.”

The government recently announced an October 7 date for the presidential elections. Political and security watchers have expressed worry over the worsening situation in the region and averred that peaceful polls could not hold in the affected areas.

The presidential poll is the biggest contest for a busy election year. Voters have already elected other legislative representatives earlier this year.

There were security challenges in the Anglophone regions during some of the polls. These challenges were also present during a national examination – there was heavy security presence at exam centers but some centers were burnt down by suspected separatists.

Source: Africa News

Cameroon’s president Paul Biya issued a decree on Monday saying a presidential election will be held on October 7, amidst a worsening security situation in the Southwest and Northwest Anglophone regions.

As Biya’s decree was being read on public television, the inhabitants of Buea, the capital of the Southwest region were still confined to their homes for fear of going out after witnessing gunfire in the morning between soldiers and Anglophone separatists.

This is the first time that gunfire has been exchanged in neighbourhoods of this city of more than 100,000 inhabitants, that has had a large number of military personnel deployed since the beginning of the English-speaking crisis at the end of 2016.

President Paul Biya, 85, who has been in power for close to 36 years has not announced whether he will run for a seventh re-election, but in May his party sais he is their “natural” candidate.

“Paul Biya is our candidate in the next presidential election, given his eloquent record, his national and international credibility, diplomatic, economic, social and cultural”, wrote leaders of the ruling party and traditional leaders from the South, where Biya comes from.

The same month, the US ambassador to Cameroon, Peter Henry Barlerin, said after a meeting with the president that Paul Biya “should reflect on his legacy and how he wants to be remembered in history books”, provoking strong criticism in the presidential camp.

Biya’s likely opponents

The opposition has described Biya’s state record as “chaotic”.

Among them, Joshua Osih, who was elected in February as candidate of the main opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF, English-speaking).

This 49-year-old businessman contest for the Cameroonian presidency, after Ni John Fru Ndi, leader of the SDF and historical opponent to Biya decided to give way to the “young cadets” of the party.

Other prominent opposition candidates, according to analysts, include Transparency International lawyer and former vice president Akere Muna, as well as the president of the Mouvement pour la renaissance du Cameroun (MRC) party, Maurice Kamto.

On October 7, these candidates will seek the 7 year mandate to run the affairs of the troubled West African nation.

Security crisis

The voting will take place in a delicate context.

The jihadist group Boko Haram is still active in the far north of the country and the English-speaking regions of the North-West and South-West have been facing a serious socio-political crisis since late 2016.

The latter started as a modest industrial strike action by English-speaking lawyers and teachers in 2016, but has since developed into a full blown armed conflict.

Today, fighting between Cameroonian security forces and armed men claiming to be “restoration forces” of an English-speaking state that had briefly emerged between the two world wars, under British mandate, has disrupted business and livelihoods in the Anglophone regions.

According to the government, more than 80 members of the security forces were killed in the fighting.

The UN says up to 160,000 people have fled their homes as a result of the violence, while the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency says 34,000 have fled to Nigeria.

Source: Agencies

Though Boko Haram’s lethality and tactical innovation, al-Shabaab’s resilience, and the brokering of partnerships by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) have rightfully dominated analysis of political violence in Africa, other situations are also increasingly relevant for those concerned with political violence in Africa. With the escalation of the crisis in Anglophone Cameroon and the October general elections presenting a risk of further increased tensions, the evolution of the country’s conflict and its implications for political violence across the continent is worth noting.

Much can be learned about conflict escalation from the Cameroonian government’s reaction to the calls of Anglophone activists, which has pushed the country towards violent conflict and has made the prospects for peaceful dialogue ever dimmer. The Cameroonian government, historically, has not effectively integrated and engaged its Anglophone population through inclusive governance practices. And since protests erupted nearly two years ago, the Biya administration has not seem inclined to engage in peaceful dialogue to draw down the crisis. Taken together, these suggest that the scale of the conflict, and its lethality, are likely to escalate.

Origins of the Crisis

The origin of friction between Anglophone and Francophone populations in Cameroon can be traced back to the colonial era. Originally under German rule, Cameroon was partitioned between the French and British into two territories, both governed as trusts. Anglophone and Francophone Cameroonians were unified under a federal system in 1961 after a plebiscite was held in which voters were given a choice to join either Nigeria or Cameroon. It is worth mentioning that, among Anglophone Cameroonians, nearly 60 percent of Anglophones in the majority-Muslim northern region voted to join Nigeria, while roughly 70 percent of Anglophones in the majority-Christian southern region voted to join Cameroon.

In 1972, under President Ahmadou Ahidjo, the federal system was discarded in favor of a united, bilingual republic. To this day, however, Anglophone regions are governed by Common Law, whereas the rest of the country is governed by a civil code. Debates over the extent to which the country is dominated by Francophones, what sub-national authorities that the two Anglophone regions should be granted, and various cultural matters, have resulted in a proliferation of Anglophone activist groups and general politicking around the issue. Groups that may seem at face value to be apolitical—including teachers’ unions and legal associations—have taken up Anglophone issues as a part of political campaigns.

Anglophones currently make up roughly 20 percent of the country’s population and are undeniably under-represented in President Paul Biya’s government. Since taking power in 1982, less than 11 percent of the ministers appointed by Biya have been Anglophones. At present, just three of the 33 generals in the country and six of the 63-person cabinet members are Anglophones. Even within Anglophone districts, government jobs are often given to Francophone appointees.

Escalation of the Crisis

Though longstanding, the conflict between Anglophone and Francophone Cameroonians took a lethal turn in 2016 when widespread, peaceful protests and strikes emerged. Media reports focused on the role of Common Law lawyers advocating to abandon the Cameroonian Bar Association. Other groups, including the country’s teachers, then joined the protests. After weeks of strikes, gendarmes used tear gas against protesters. Shortly thereafter, four people were killed in clashes with security forces during a protest in Bamenda that arose after the Cameroon Teacher’s Trade Union called for a strike. Reports also emerged in late November of sexual violence against students at the University of Buea by Cameroonian security forces.

As the protests continued, the Biya government also began detaining and arresting Anglophone activists and journalists and shutting down newspapers and radio stations. Beginning in January 2017 the government cut or greatly slowed down internet services in Anglophone regions. The internet shutdown ended up being one of the longest recorded in sub-Saharan Africa, lasting just under 100 days. The shutdown was economically harmful—given the region’s reputation as “silicon mountain”—and also hamstrung efforts to keep track of events in the region.

At the same time, the government also engaged in some conciliatory measures. A National Commission on the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism was established and was accompanied in short order by the “appointing [of] Anglophone magistrates and bilingual teachers, and [the] releasing from prison some Anglophone civil society leaders and activists.” According to Amnesty International, however, “these moves were viewed by the Anglophone movements as being too limited,” and the protests continued.

The groups that have emerged to advance Anglophone rights have advocated different means and different ends. The vast majority of Anglophone activists advocate for peaceful resolution of the conflict, but as government repression has intensified, groups who advocate secession, or worse, violence, have become more significant. Some groups advocate for more federalism, while others call for secession and the establishment of an independent state called “Ambazonia.” A number of armed separatist groups also formed an umbrella organization, the Ambazonia Recognition Collaboration Council (ARCC), claiming to have thousands of fighters.

Through the spring and summer of 2017, however, Anglophone protesters steadily escalated their tactics. Over this period, at least 42 schools and a number of market stalls in Anglophone Cameroon were burned down. A recent report catalogued a number of instances in which Anglophone separatists targeted civilians who did not engage in the demonstrations. The Biya government imposed curfews and increased the security sector’s presence in the region in response. Despite this, Anglophone separatists declared independence on October 1, 2017; in clashes with the state security forces that day, reports indicated that at least a dozen people were killed and 40 arrested.

By November 2017, separatists were making attacks on the government more frequently and brazenly. In the Northwest province, for example, they began targeting police with homemade explosive devices. The Biya government stepped up its repression and arrests, labeled the separatists “terrorists” by comparing them to Boko Haram, and declared war on them.

Actions taken by armed separatist groups and the government continued to worsen. Separatists are suspected to have kidnapped nine employees of a construction firm and in response to the arrest and repatriation of Anglophone activists that fled to Nigeria, an armed separatist group called the Ambazonian Defence Force (ADF) began abducting government officials. Soon thereafter, a Tunisian national living in Cameroon was abducted and killed, after which the government organized a rescue mission to release 18 hostages, including 12 Europeans. Just this May, a radio journalist and Anglophone activist, Mancho Bibixy, was sentenced to 15 years in prison under the country’s anti-terrorism law in a military court. Four journalists had previously been held under the act until President Biya issued a presidential decree for their release. Bibixy’s conviction has prompted speculation about what sentences could be handed down to the other detained activists and journalists.

Throughout this escalation, more than 20,000 people have fled the country for neighboring Nigeria and an estimated 150,000 have been internally displaced. The escalation has transformed a generally peaceful, albeit contentious, debate over the extent and nature of federalism in modern Cameroon into a violent, potentially-existential crisis over the future of the Cameroonian state.

What Lies Ahead?

Though a number of the characteristics of this conflict are specific to Cameroon, the events of the past few years highlight the importance of inclusive governance measures and the ramifications of heavy-handed security responses to political dissidents. In particular, the Cameroonian experience points to the need to engage moderate political dissidents early and earnestly. In waiting months before attempting to work with the Anglophone community and doing so after violence began to escalate, the Biya administration allowed hardliners and separatists within the movement to mobilize effectively and gain influence. Had the government engaged the initial protests, led by lawyers and teachers, the escalation of the crisis may have been averted.

In October, Cameroon will hold elections, which could result in increased tensions. Anglophone territories have previously thrown their support behind the Social Democratic Front (SDF), which currently controls 18 of the 180 seats in parliament. If any perception of illegitimacy in the electoral process takes hold, the current level of violence could take an even deadlier turn. Avoiding an escalation of this kind, and ultimately changing the tone of the current situation, requires dialogue between prominent moderate, non-violent Anglophone activists and the government.

Source: Reliefweb

President Biya is implementing an aggressive and destructive policy in Southern Cameroons. The 85 year old dictator has precipitated an armed conflict against the English speaking community of the country which is getting worse. He is pushing the Francophone dominated army against Southern Cameroonians and he is opening and maintaining military bases in Southern Cameroons and claiming that he is fighting separatists.

Senior political commentators have recently opined that Biya has smashed the 1961 Foumban agreement with West Cameroon. And he is making matters worse because of his excessive use of force. The French government of President Macron is supporting Biya in his slaughter in Ambazonia. Correspondingly, the special relationship between Biya and Buhari has massively supported the expansion of French Secret Service operations inside Nigeria. On the top of this, Biya does not have any serious plans for solving the crisis in Southern Cameroons.

A prominent traditional ruler from the Manyu constituency who spoke to Cameroon Intelligence Report but sued for anonymity said Biya is a clown with guns in his hands. And that is why CPDM militants are now realizing that Biya is a political disaster that has been around for 35 years.

Soon and very soon there is going to be a massive anti Biya movement in French Cameroun. Our chief political editor noted that Biya is dangerous. He is dangerous to the One and Indivisible Cameroon. He is dangerous to the African Union. He is dangerous to his own country-French Cameroun and he is dangerous to the world.

By Chi Prudence Asong