The west African nation of Cameroon is plagued by near-daily clashes between security forces and anglophone separatists that can be traced back to its split between Britain and France 100 years ago.

Here is some background:

WORLD WAR I SPLIT

Germany was stripped of its African colony of Kamerun after its 1918 World War I defeat when the League of Nations, the forerunner to the UN, split the territory between victors Britain and France.

Four-fifths went to France, becoming independent Cameroon in 1960.

The British portion, along the border with Nigeria, became independent in 1961. A northern Muslim-majority section chose to join Nigeria while the remaining southern area was unified with Cameroon in a federation.

The federal structure was scrapped in 1972 and the anglophone portion was annexed.

ENGLISH-SPEAKING MINORITY

Largely francophone Cameroon has 10 regions, two of which are mainly English-speaking: Northwest Region, whose capital is Bamenda, and Southwest Region with Buea as its capital.

They are home to around 14% of Cameroon’s population of 23 million.

The two regions are permitted some self-governance and language rights, including bilingual schools. But many complain of francophone-favoured discrimination in education, the justice system and the economy.

DEADLY PROTESTS

Calls for a breakaway English-speaking state mounted in the 1990s with demands for a referendum on independence accompanied by low-level unrest.

In 2001, secessionists defied a ban on rallies to protest the 40th anniversary of unification with Cameroon and were confronted by security forces. Several people were killed and secessionist leaders arrested.

The separatist Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) set up a “government” in Britain and leaders moved into exile.

There was a new outbreak of violence in 2016 after lawyers went on strike to demand the right to use Anglo-Saxon common law. Teachers followed, protesting at the appointment of francophones in the region.

While some protesters want only a return to federalism, a minority is pushing for the creation of an independent state called Ambazonia.

ARMED REVOLT

In January 2017, senior secessionist activists were arrested and charged with terrorism and rebellion. President Paul Biya halted their trials in August, apparently trying to calm the situation.

In October 2017, separatist leaders issued a symbolic declaration of independence. At least 17 people were killed in clashes on the sidelines.

Radical separatists took up arms in late 2017, attacking security forces and torching symbols of the administration, such as schools. They also kidnapped police officers, civil servants and businessmen, sometimes foreigners.

CIVIL WAR

In April 2018, the main opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF), which defies the separatists, described the violence as “civil war”.

Separatists torched the Northwest Region home of SDF leader Ni John Fru Ndi in October and also kidnapped his sister, who was later released. Fru Ndi was briefly kidnapped twice in 2019.

A US missionary was killed in the unrest in October 2018 and the following month 79 schoolboys were kidnapped in Bamenda but freed two days later.

In December 2018, Biya ordered the release of 289 people arrested in connection with the crisis. However, in August 2019, separatist leader Julius Ayuk Tabe and nine others were sentenced to life in prison for charges including “terrorism and secession”.

Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in violence between separatists and security forces in the anglophone regions since October 2017, Human Rights Watch says. Around 530,000 have fled their homes, according to the UN.

EWN

Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Rogelio Sierra Diaz on Monday met with Etong Ndzok Hilarion, senior vice president of Cameroon’s National Assembly, in Cameroon’s capital of Yaounde to discuss how to strengthen legislative ties between both countries.

“We believe this visit is an opportunity to foster ties at parliamentary and diplomatic levels,” Diaz told reporters after meeting with the senior vice president.

“We are signing a cooperation agreement which will enable us to rethink and identify new horizons … for the development of our communities,” Diaz added.

Diaz underlined Cuba’s deep respect and admiration for Cameroon, “with whom the Caribbean island shares strong ties of solidarity and historical cooperation.”

The senior vice president said the official visit has helped to highlight Cubans’ fondness for Cameroon and the longstanding ties between the two countries.

Source: Xinhuanet

President Paul Biya, looking every bit of his 86 years, delivered a rare televised speech to the nation Tuesday evening – and the first thing many observers noticed was that he spoke only in French, to a nation divided since October 2016 over grievances in its English-speaking regions.

Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis was at the heart of Biya’s 30-minute speech. What once began as peaceful protests organized by lawyers and teachers pressing for equality – and crushed by Biya’s government – has transformed, in some corners of the nation, into a violent secessionist movement.

Now, Biya is calling for unity and proposed a national dialogue meant to move the country forward. At the same time, he argued that those who choose violence “will have to contend” with security forces.

“We should all work towards a successful dialogue,” Biya said, making clear that the country’s prime minister, Joseph Dion Ngute, will lead the proposed dialogue beginning at the end of this month.

Ngute noted in June that the Cameroonian government wants to negotiate with the armed groups, but that demands for secession of the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions of the country in order to establish a separate Ambazonia nation are not on the table.

Cameroon’s crisis gained international attention with the outlawing of the Anglophone movement, the arrest and trial of prominent leaders, the many fatalities and the allegations of human rights violations by both government security forces and armed opposition groups.

The conflict has claimed at least 1,850 lives and left more than a half-million people displaced, according to a May report from the Crisis Group.

Source: Africa Times

Cameroonians are going through their longest day today as many are looking forward to hearing from the country’s president, Paul Biya, who has not been forthcoming about how he intends to deal with the numerous crises that are tearing the country apart, especially the Southern Cameroons crisis that has given the government a bad name and left the country in the throes of a disastrous economic crisis.

The Yaounde dictator is expected to deliver a long televised statement today and many inside sources that have contacted the Cameroon Concord News Group have indicated that he will be talking about the formation of a commission which will kick start talks on the country’s future.

The sources add that the president had secretly met with Christian Cardinal Tumi, the retired Archbishop of Douala, who has been calling on the government to pursue the path to peace regarding the Southern Cameroons crisis.  

The Southern Cameroon’s crisis has been playing out for three years and there is no end in sight, as both factions have continued to double down. Southern Cameroonians want their total independence from a regime that has been, at best, inefficient and, at worst, cataclysmic to Cameroonians.

The Southern Cameroons crisis that has claimed more than 3,000 civilian lives has brought the country’s economy to its knees and the chaos is still playing out. Major state corporations in the two English-speaking regions of the country have gone under and this has reduced the government’s ability to prosecute a war it declared on innocent Southern Cameroonians.

SONARA, the country’s lone oil refinery was recently gutted by a huge mysterious fire whose origin has not been established by the Biya regime which lacks the tools to conduct such an investigation.

SONARA has for more than three decades been the government’s major source of foreign exchange and government officials have been using the state corporation as their personal piggy bank and this has robbed the nation of vital development resources.

Cameroon’s oilfields are located in the country’s Southwest region, but the region is one of the most underdeveloped, with thousands of children not attending school while women are still living in abject poverty and squalor.    

Ever since the oil refinery went up in smoke, the Yaounde government has been having nightmares that will not be ending anytime soon. The beleaguered government has been sending delegations to international development finance institutions for loans, but their efforts seem to be falling flat on their faces.

Last month, a seven-man delegation was in Washington, D.C. to seek resources for the reconstruction of the bedeviled refinery. Each member of the delegation was granted CFAF 14 million for a first-class ticket, per diem, accommodation and subsistence while in the American capital. The discussions with the World Bank did not go well and the delegation is expected to return to the American capital at the end of September to help push the government’s case through.

The government had already contacted other institutions like the African Development Bank, the continent’s leading development finance institution, for a large loan, but given Cameroon’s economic record and its history with sovereign loans, the African Development Bank Group might not be able to meet Cameroon’s financial needs as presented by the government.

But it is not only SONARA that is the government’s nightmare. The Cameroon Development Corporate, the country’s second largest employer, is also facing major difficulties. The Southern Cameroons crisis has also dealt the state corporation a severe blow that has left it on the ropes for months. Most of its facilities in the Southwest region are down and many will surely be found obsolete when the crisis ends. Only a huge cash injection into this corporation will help to resuscitate it.

PAMOL, another state corporation, has also been hit hard by the crisis. PAMOL has always stood the government in good stead, especially during tough financial times. Its shutdown has been bad news to the government, as this revenue stream will not be flowing for a very long time.

The government is down on its knees and this might have contributed in making Biya, a notorious warmonger, to have a change of mind. This, coupled with unrelenting pressure from the international community, could be the reason for this much-awaited address from a man who has no emotional attachment to his own people and country.

The pressure has been on for a long time. The 86-year-old Biya felt he could withstand it, but mounting financial troubles and decreasing confidence in state institutions have caused him and his team to buckle down to negotiations as a clear military solution in Southern Cameroons is not in the offing.  

The same sources, which have elected anonymity, have also suggested that the ailing Biya might put paid to the Kamto saga that is sucking out a lot of oxygen from the government. Much time and resources have been wasted on a project that has no legal basis.

The numerous arrest and false imprisonment of many government opponents has only placed Cameroon among the worst human rights abusers in the world. Chaos has taken root in the country because of poor governance and the Diaspora is ready to give the government a run for its money. The Brigade Anti Sardinard (BAS) has just been doing that and their latest action that led to Mr. Biya’s repatriation from Switzerland should have informed the diaper-wearing Biya that Cameroonians will stop at nothing when it comes to leaving him with a bloodshot eye.

Times have changed, but the Yaounde regime is still locked in an old mentality where state institutions are abused to keep the president in power. The regime has not understood that the globalizing world is different from that which existed in the 60s. It is hard these days to manage a people like cattle.

The advent of the Internet has reduced government’s indispensability. Globalization has reduced dependence on the civil service and many Cameroonians now have alternatives. They can work in any part of the world to sustain their families and this makes it easy for them to challenge a corrupt government like the one Mr. Biya has presided over in the last forty years.

Mr. Biya has lost a lot of legitimacy and credibility over the years. His mismanagement of the economy has left many young Cameroonians bitter and frustrated. His rigging of elections has stunted Cameroon’s democracy and this has put the country in reverse mode, both politically and economically.

His penchant for bizarre appointments and his legendary corruption make it hard for Cameroonians to trust him. Whatever he says tonight, will be taken with a pinch of salt. He has never been as good as his world and the word negotiation is a foreign concept to him.

However, this is a great moment for him. He can choose to put the train back on its track by apologizing and reversing some of his obnoxious policies or continue with his war rhetoric in the hope that time will solve his problems for him. Southern Cameroonians have also developed a tough mind like him and they will be watching to see if he will be holding an olive branch or a gun that has served as a symbol of his military brutality.

Human beings have a way of forgiving. If he chooses the right words, he might witness a radical change in the way Cameroonians see him. To forgive is divine, but to avoid errors is godly. Mr. Biya has erred against his people. He has brought untold hardship to a people who trusted him and who had pinned their hope on him. His arrogance has alienated millions and nepotism that has become the hallmark of his regime has made millions of Cameroonians to head out of the country for greener pastures.

Biya has to speak well today if he wants to soothe the minds of his people. War has never addressed any issues. Killing your own people because of arrogance does not make you a good leader. It takes a noble mind to accept that times have changed and that new methods must replace the old ones.

 Today is that day that will either make or mar Cameroon’s future. Biya should know this. Addressing the country out of the normal official schedule implies that something special is happening. In 37 years, Mr. Biya has done this only twice. In 1984 when he missed being killed in a coup d’état. In 2008 after the food crisis that led the military to killing thousands of innocent Cameroonians. Today will be the third time and this might be the last, as Mr. Biya is running out of time. He must know this and he must choose the right words to make a positive difference.

By Kingsley Betek and Linda Embi in Yaounde with contributions from Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai at the Cameroon Concord News Group’s global headquarters in the United Kingdom.

Cameroon on Monday handed a two-year jail term to Mamadou Mota, first vice-chairman of the opposition Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon led by Maurice Kamto.

Mota told AFP his punishment was “purely political” after he was tried over his role in a July 22 insurrection at Yaounde’s central prison where he has been held since June after participating in anti-regime protests.

The court found Mota guilty of “group rebellion” — but he insisted: “I am not a rebel.

“When the mutiny happened I was called on by the governor to calm the inmates,” Mota told AFP.

“We are going to appeal this sentence as no proof has been offered to back this accusation,” MRC lawyer Emmanuel Simh said.

Twelve other people, including another member of Cameroon’s Anglophone minority, Mancho Bibixy, also received a two-year term, with two others handed three-year sentences.

Most of those sentenced were Anglophones, with the remainder from the MRC.

The July 22 mutiny, which saw inmates demand better conditions, came at the height of opposition protests following the re-election in October last year of President Paul Biya, in power for 36 years.

Kamto, Cameroon’s main opposition leader and who unsuccessfully claimed victory in the election, went on trial with 88 others in a military court last Friday on insurrection, hostility to the motherland and rebellion charges — crimes which could carry the death penalty.

Their trial is scheduled for October 8.

The past two years have seen Cameroon mired in ethnic unrest leading to hundreds of deaths, with English-speaking separatists demanding independence in two western regions. Some 500,000 people have been forced from their homes as a result.

In a video posted to social media in the wake of the prison mutiny, Mota appeared among the demonstrators demanding better rations for prisoners.

He had been arrested in early June for attending an anti-government protest and for slamming the election result, which he termed an “electoral hold-up.”

(AFP)

An appeal, funded by residents of Canada, has been lodged against the sentences of life imprisonment handed down last month by a Cameroonian military tribunal to six academics arrested in Abuja, Nigeria, and deported back to Cameroon in January 2018.

The academics – who were teaching in Nigerian universities and had lived in the country in some cases for many years, marrying Nigerians and raising children there – were accused of terrorism and of belonging to an outlawed organisation, the aim of which was to facilitate the secession of Anglophone Cameroon from the rest of the country.

The academics are: Professor Augustine Awasum of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Dr Tata Henry Kimeng, associate professor at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Dr Egbe Nguitui Ogork, associate professor at Bayero University, Kano; Dr Fidelis Nde-Che, associate professor at the American University of Nigeria in Yola; Dr Cornelius Kwanga, a senior lecturer at Umaru Musa Yar’adua University; and Dr Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe of the American University of Nigeria in Yola.

Ayuk Tabe is reportedly the first self-proclaimed president of “Ambazonia”, a breakaway state declared in October 2017 in two English-speaking regions of Cameroon.

Barrister was ‘merely an observer’

The academics’ barrister Paddy Yong told University World News his role in the hearing was merely that of an “observer” but he had filed an appeal a few days after the ruling.

He said some “patriotic” Anglophone Cameroonians resident in Canada had contributed jointly towards the non-refundable sum of US$10,000 required to appeal the tribunal’s decision. “I have sent this amount of money to a dedicated bank account of the government treasury in Yaoundé,” he confirmed.

He said as a sign of solidarity with the convicted academics, Anglophone lawyers in the country had unanimously agreed to go on strike for four days.

The six academics were arrested after a meeting in January 2018 at a hotel in Abuja, Nigeria, where they apparently gathered to discuss the humanitarian situation facing Anglophone Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria. They were among 47 other separatists also arrested at the same time.

Two major objections

Yong said the trial had not been open to the public and had gone ahead despite him raising two major objections.

“When the trial was to commence, I raised two fundamental objections. First, I objected to the fact the military tribunal was headed by Lieutenant Colonel Misse Njone Jacques Beaudoin and that five other high-ranking military officers were members of the presiding panel. I objected to the fact that those accused were civilians who did not participate in any military uprising.

“My second objection was to the fact of the trial being conducted in French. My clients are Anglophone Cameroonians. Therefore, the trial should be held in English.”

Yong said his two objections were rejected. “But the trial continued. My role was reduced to that of an observer,” he said.

According to Yong, the linguistic crisis had its roots in what he called the “naïve” marriage between elites of Anglophone Cameroon and Francophone Cameroon on 1 October 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. He said the bilingualism upon which the federal republic was founded had not prevailed for many years.

In March this year, two separate judgments handed down by the Federal High Court in Abuja found that the arrest and detention of the academics was unconstitutional and that their deportation from Nigeria to Cameroon was illegal.

Problematic judgment

Nigerian barrister Abdul Oroh, who represented the academics when they were still in Nigeria, told University World News the ruling was problematic on three grounds.

“First, a Nigerian High Court sitting in Abuja declared illegal the forceful abduction of these university teachers and said they should be returned from Cameroon to their respective universities in Nigeria where they were working.

“Second, the trial of civilians by a military court was challenged as an aberration in the Court of Law in Yaoundé. The military tribunal ignored this case and continued with its assignment.

“And third, the judgment of life imprisonment smacks of a travesty of justice,” he said.

Culled from University World News