On this day 49 years ago, Cameroon’s English and French speaking areas were reunited under a republic by a successful referendum.

In 1972, the federal system was abolished in Cameroon following a referendum organized by Amadou Ahidjo, the first Cameroonian head of state.

The Central African nation has since been fraught with difficulties.

“The march towards reunification was an odyssey that was not without risks. It was a path fraught with trials, delicate negotiations for our young diplomacy, and sometimes internal opposition that had to be taken into account,” declared Paul Biya, Cameroon’s President, in his commemorative speech in 2014.

It is customary for him to give a speech on the occasion of Unity Day marked every year on May 20.

Last year’s festivities were dampened by the pandemic and measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The utility of the day has been questioned since Oct. 11, 2016 when a lawyers’ strike led to the Anglophone crisis.

They demanded the application of the common law, an Anglo-Saxon legal system based on jurisprudence, and not only Roman law, or written Napoleonic codes. They also demanded the rewriting the laws in English.

Clashes which followed the strike have paralyzed the English-speaking regions of the country, resulting in at least 3,000 deaths and 700,000 displaced persons, according to concordant sources. Leaders of the English-speaking population are calling for separatism and federalism because of the marginalization they say they are suffering.

Past frustrations

Several historical sources report that the feeling of marginalization hangs over 20% of the Cameroonian population which is based in the southwest and northwest regions.

Originally “at the crossroads of the British and French empires in Africa, Cameroonian reunification is simultaneously a cultural ideal” and “a political strategy, a pillar and a constraint of post-colonial nation-building,” noted Melanie Torrent, a researcher, in a paper published on the issue.

However, this reunification masked “great political and cultural marginalizations,” she wrote.

Another historian, Enoh Menyomesse said the reunification also caused “enormous problems of harmonization within the administration.”

In a column published in 2016, he recounted Amadou Ahidjo’s annoyance at taking exceptional measures to favor native Anglophones “harmed by reunification” and to satisfy John Ngu Foncha, the prime minister of British Cameroon, who pleaded on their behalf.

Cameroonian historian Emmanuel Tchumtchouaalso considers reunification to be “a political deception” when he recounted the colonial origins of the Anglophone crisis.

He explained that in 1972, when oil was discovered in Limbe in the Anglophone zone, the French asked Ahidjo to merge the two states so that they could control the oil.

The current conflict is between two political cultures, “a dictatorial French culture and a freer English culture. These two antipodal paradigms make it difficult for Anglophones and Francophones to be on the same page,” the historian said in an interview last year.

Bilingualism

Today, the promotion of bilingualism is something the Cameroonian authorities are using in the search for a way forward.

National unity is also strongly affected by tribalism among the more than 250 ethnic groups that make up this Central African country of more than 22 million inhabitants.

Yet “Cameroon has missed a decisive turning point in its history,” sociologist Tchakounte Kemayou told Anadolu Agency.

“This country has not evolved in the direction of national unity. Reunification would have allowed us to choose a national language that could be a foundation on which to build a nation. But currently, no language unites Cameroonians. The results of this reunification are mixed, not to say negative,” he said.

“Unity is challenged by the fundamental element that is language. It is normal that the English-speaking zone is distinguished from other regions by the colonial language. If the policy of a common language had been adopted from the beginning and that language was taught in schools, I don’t think there would be any denominations of Anglophone or Francophone regions,” the sociologist added.

He is convinced that a single language would not have given anyone any excuse to be left out.

According to him, the populations do not recognize themselves in the reunification.

“The English-speaking population has long claimed the first of October as the date of reunification, which shows that the population generally does not recognize itself,” he said.

Nevertheless, Cameroonians can still really be united through a single national language chosen from among the local languages.

“Language is the basis for honoring reunification, it can play a fundamental role. As long as we have not made this choice, there will always be a problem of the Anglophone-Francophone divide,” he concluded.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The seventh term of Cameroon’s president Paul Biya theoretically ends in 2025. By then, he will be in his 90s. Conversation has naturally turned to the question of who will succeed him. His 48-year-old son, Franck, is increasingly being linked with the role. His supporters of course deny there is a plan for him to take over, and the first family refuses to comment. But even if it is not they who are putting his name forward, someone is. Many someones. Enough someones that young Franck has become the topic du jour in local and social media.

After nearly four decades of rule by Biya senior and facing ongoing issues, such as the state’s violence towards the English-speaking south, the question of who will be Cameroon’s next president has become a hot topic.

Facebook Pages and groups like Mouvements des Frankistes, Franck Biya pour 2025 and Franck Biya For President, have been vocal in promoting him as the next president.

Some of the people behind these groups insist Franck himself is not driving any of this. Mohamed Rahim Noumeu, of the Citizens Movement in Support of Franck Biya for Peace and Unity in Cameroon, tells The Continent: “Contrary to rumours, no member of the government is with us, for the first time in Cameroon history, we have created a spontaneous movement of compatriots that is not submissive to elites or other policies – not even to Franck Biya.”

The movement has more than 50,000 members, with delegations across the 10 regions of Cameroon. Rahim says the group’s primary objective is to ensure a peaceful transition. “Some of the main causes of unrest in our young states and even in the West are poorly negotiated political transitions; we need to ensure that doesn’t happen here.”

Franck Biya, a Cameroonian businessman is also the son of President Paul Biya. Does this mean he will be president, too?

The movement’s secretary-general, Bega Gamaliel, says it isn’t unlawful for Franck to stand for president, so it would be up to voters to decide “through the ballot box”.

Walang Michael, director of the Madiba Leadership Centre, says it seems likely that the touting of the younger Biya for president is a way for politicians with existing power to protect themselves. “The Franck Biya leadership saga is a creation of powerful and influential political cowards who do not have the courage to pay for their crimes as many of their contemporaries have done – and are still doing – in Kondengui prison in Yaoundé.”

Michael says an electoral win for Franck would show that results were “highly rigged and falsified” as he does not have a political base.

Recent events in Chad, though, with Mahamat Idriss Déby taking power after his father’s sudden death, show that hereditary rule in ostensibly democratic countries is not unusual. Powerful families around the world have the connections and resources to retain dynastic power.

Something is clearly happening in Cameroon. As the Biya patriarch heads towards his 90th birthday, the stakes are high and the political class is manoeuvering to secure its future.

Biya Junior is keeping quiet. It might take the death of his father, or the 2025 elections, to give Cameroonians clarity on where he stands. For now, the campaigns in his name continue.

Source: Mail&Guardian

A tyrant is a cruel leader who is unrestrained by law. Tyrants often use oppressive means against their people and others to achieve their objectives. Following the deaths of Nfon Victor Mukete and Hon. Emilia Lifaka Monjowa, a tyrant has reared its ugly head in the Manyu CPDM political space-he is Victor Mengot the Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency.

 Mr. Victor Mengot Arrey Nkongho (to use his four names) has creatively imposed financial obligations on all Manyu folks who are either employed or contract their services to the ruling CPDM.

Minister Victor Mengot is no stranger to controversy. He has made a career of always being associated with calamity, dishonesty, and criminality. His meteoric rise to the top echelon of the CPDM crime syndicate tells it all. Since the death of Nfon Victor Mukete, he has taken his illicit tendency and nuisance level to overdrive by opening a WhatsApp forum to harass poor Manyu men and women into paying for the funeral of a man whose family does not need the money.

Victor Mengot as the moderator of the Manyu CPDM Chat Forum he created wrote, “After a close review of the above list it is evident that quite a number of our sons and daughters of Manyu, Comrades of our great Party the CPDM whose names don’t figure either negligence or unawareness. Quite a number of us have just recently been honoured by the establishment with political cum professional promotions and we need to take this opportunity to make ourselves known and amends. Dear Comrades if you know a brother or sister, who should be on the Manyu Fora and is not, then give them a helping hand and in-box the Administrator. Thanks for your understanding” Victor Mengot

Nfon Victor Mukete, Paramount Ruler of the Bafaws, is a man with exceedingly vast financial resources. Therefore, the idea that people who are struggling to put food on the table should contribute towards his funeral is preposterous nonsense. But Manyu politics under Victor Mengot has been consistently inconsistent!! To be sure, he is always making the same errors or falling into spectacular new ones! To Minister Mengot, politics is a game for self-aggrandizement and primitive material acquisition, not an opportunity to deliver best practice and leave a rich legacy.

As we reported earlier, cat calls have greeted Minister Victor Mengot’s diabolic harsh ploy with many Manyu CPDM barons already at daggers-drawn positions.  In a recent meeting, many wondered aloud if Victor Mengot Arrey Nkongho is now the Minister for Wakes and Fund-Drives. What is even more disturbing is the kind of silence of the lamb that he (Mengot) maintained when Chief Tabetarh the traditional ruler of his native Mbinjong died. Mengot issued a poorly worded statement which was ignored by the Tabetarh family.

Senior Manyu political elites are mistrustful of the motives behind this Mukete fund-drive and one of them (names withheld) was heard murmuring privately that Minister Mengot intends to use the Mukete Fund Drive to reconstruct his house in Mbinjong that was destroyed in 2018 by Southern Cameroons pro-independence forces after he blatantly refused to comply with directives from Ambazonian Revenue Officers.

A cross section of the so-called Yaoundé Manyu CPDM militants and elites consider the Victor Mengot Chief Mukete Fund Drive unwise and unacceptable and many in the nation’s capital are in shock with Minister Mengot’s astonishingly low sense of judgment.

On his Chart forum, Minister Mengot again wrote, “Good morning Comrades. Today is Friday May 07, and the deadline for closing of this condolence list is Sunday 09 May, 2021. We know that times are hard and do complement those who have so far honoured their Division. Going through the list of those who have already responded to the appeal, it is evident that many a top Manyu political elite: National as well as Regional Parliamentarians, Director Generals, Technical Advisers, Directors, Deans of faculties and other Heads of institutions, Sub directors, Chiefs of Service, Mayors, Principals, are yet to make the gesture or have simply decided to chip in much less than is expected of them. Victor Mengot.”

On Victor Mengot’s infamous list, Cameroon Concord News observed that veteran Southern Cameroons journalist Eno Chris Oben had donated CFA 10,000 FRS.  Five years ago, we met Mr. Chris Oben in Buea during the Mount Cameroon Race of Hope and he looked scruffy and desperately hungry.

Mr. Jerry Akomara, son of Late Chief Akomara of Kendem, donated CFA 25,000 FRS as the Kendem Diaspora aggressively solicits funds to bury his father. It was rumored in Yaoundé that his father’s remains were delayed before given a place in the mortuary for lack of financial resources. Somehow, he has managed to find money to pay for the funeral of Chief Mukete. Unfortunately, his donation has now shattered the hard work of the Kendem Diaspora, and he will now pay dearly for this lack of sound judgment.

Chief Micheal Oruh of Mkpot, a fugitive wanted by the Ambazonian Justice system for multiple crimes including murder and land-grabbing, paid CFA 30,000 FRS for the funeral of Chief Mukete.  The list includes donors who rely on handouts from their children or relations abroad but have complied for fear of being branded disloyal to the CPDM.

Recently, Victor Mengot opined that, “as the curtain gradually draws to the close of our financial efforts may I avail myself of this singular opportunity to congratulate the Eighty something Comrades who have so far stood up for Manyu Division. We are well over 5 Million Francs CFA and counting. There has never been any doubt of our strength in unity. To God be the glory as we seek to spread compassion within our community. Stay blessed and safe from the pandemic.”

Minister Mengot’s conduct has been shameful, disgusting and disgraceful! Never has Manyu been so disappointingly represented at the French Cameroun national level of politics. The days of political titans in the magnitude of SA George, SE Ncha, Hon WNO Effiom, Sessekou Enow Tanjong, Chief ET Egbe, and Michael Tabong Kima are indeed over. Today, the political bar in La Republique du Cameroun is so low that Manyu suffers the ignominy of being represented by a show Boy they call Victor Mengot.

However, considering the fact that the Whiteman who invented the airplane has until today not been able to create a garage for its repairs up in the air! It is a truism that everything that goes up must come down. No political life goes on forever. If it did, Chief Inoni Ephraim, Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o, Marafa Hamidou Yaya, Professor Gervais Mendo Ze, and many would still be parading the imposing CPDM corridors of power.

Victor Mengot must know that political life in the CPDM is perilous, and a wise political operator builds bridges with his people. But, as his style is arrogance, his fall will be greater than Humpty Dumpty. In Arrow of God, Chinua Achebe stated that no man, however great, can win judgment against his people and even if you win, your people would say you betrayed them. That is why we of the Concord Group think that the Manyu Mukete Fund Drive may as well be Victor Mengot’s last journey of many dangers.

By Isong Asu

London Bureau Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

There seem to be a mad rush in Yaoundé for those who still believe in the CPDM criminality. When you take a look at the number of people who have paid for the burial of the Senate Vice-President, Chief Mukete, and Member of Parliament, Emilia Lifaka Monjowa, who died a few days apart, you would think those pouring money into the account set up by the Minister in Charge of Special Duties at the Presidency, Victor Mengot Arrey Nkongho, are doing so happily.

On the surface, all is fine, but if you scratch beyond the surface, you will find out the truth. Like most Cameroonians, these CPDM civil servants are also struggling, but they cannot complain. The CPDM creed is that “thou shall not complain even when you are hurting.”

These miserable members of the crime syndicate have been caught between the rock and a hard place. He who eats, drinks and dances with the devil will always be miserable and this all too true with the fake members of the ruling CPDM.

Many are contributing against their will. Mengot’s surrogates are breathing down their throats and since all of them are hoping that their affiliation with the ruling CPDM could one day yield a small appointment, they are emptying their piggy banks just to please Mengot whom they think will one day recommend them.

Behind the scenes, the grumbling is getting louder. CPDM members in the Southwest region are sick and tired of their own party that is causing their blood pressure to be skyrocketing. They claim that money is hard to come by, but power-hungry elites like Victor Mengot are intimidating them into spending their last penny.

According to a CPDM member who contacted our London Bureau Chief, many of those contributing are doing so against their wish. She said that CPDM members were paying that money with lots of regrets, especially as they are facing huge challenges in paying their bills.

“Our people are paying in anger and under a cloud of intimidation. Mengot is clearly a bully. Why wasn’t there a drive when W.N.O Effiom died,” she asked.

“Chief Tabeta, Chief Akomara and others had nothing despite dying recently? Why should there be double standards in the contributions,” she added.

“Our people can’t pay for hospital consultations in Manyu and Mengot has never bothered.  All other Divisions are given CFAF 2 million without fund drives. Why must the people of Manyu be tasked to pay for people who are not even from Manyu Division,” our source asked angrily.

“Now Mengot intends to give small amounts as gestures to the families of our Chiefs who died recently. Why did he not think about that before they were buried? This is an insult,” she added.

“Will he present an account of the money at the end of the exercise,” our source quipped. 

Below is a list of those who have been bullied into paying for the burial of the two personalities who are supposed to receive allocations from the government.

Manyu Contribution towards funerals of Hon. Nfon V. MUKETE & Hon. Emilia LIFAKA                     

No          Name                                 Amount

1              H.E Victor Mengot           500,000

2              Sen. Nfor Tabetando      500,000

3              Pr. Echu George               200,000

4              Chief AKO TAKEM Chancel           200,000

5              Pr Gloria Some A.             50,000

6              Dr Nkengasu W. oben    30,000

7              Hon. Tanyi TEKU TEKU   150,000

8              H.E MBENG Martin          300,000

9              Mr Edward ABE ETAWO                20,000

10           Pr.ENOWOROCK George              30,000

11           Mr. MANOJI Benedict MUMA    30,000

12           Bar. ABANG TABI Andy  20,000

13           Pr. George ELAMBO NKENG       150,000

14           Hon. AKA Martin              150,000

15           Mr Enoh Peter AYUK      100,000

16           HRM Dr. ORUH Julius AGBOR      20,000

17           HRM MBI ORU Michael 20,000

18           Mr Tambi Joe     20,000

19           Mr AGBOR OBEN E.         25,000

20           Mr Manghe Donatus Asu             100,000

21           Mr Ojong Stephen Ayukogem   20,000

22           Dr Agbor Ambang            50,000

23           Mr OBEN James Agbor  20,000

24           Dr Eyere Mispa Tambe  50,000

25           Pr. MBU Robinson           150,000

26           Mr.AKO Harrison EKU    10,000

27           Dr Etah Collins Ayuk        100,000

28           Hon. Johana Agborntui.Ebangha               150,000

29           Mme NDIEP ASSAM MBIWAN   25,000

30           Pr Agborbechem Peter 30,000

31           Dr Carl Enow Ngachu      100,000

32           Dr EGBE Samuel                30,000

33           Mr Tanyitiku Enohachou Bayee 150,000

34           Mrs Ayuk Sera   30,000

35           Dr Tambi Sammy Ako     100,000

36           Mr Ekwalle Martin Ekwalle           50,000

37           Sir Eyong Echaw Nat       15,000

38           Mr AKAT Fidelis                50,000

39           Dr Etta Arreybessong AKO           25,000

40           Dr Etengene Johanes OJONG     20,000

41           Chief Pr AKO E. OBEN     100,000

42           Mrs EYA AYUK Scholastica            20,000

43           Mme Eteng Doris             25,000

44           Mr Moses ETA Enow      20,000

45           Mr simpson Tabe Ayuk  20,000

46           Mr Ayuk Raphael Arrey 10,000

47           Mrs Bessong Helen Eyere            30,000

48           Mr Godfred Betek Tabi 30,000

49           Mr AWUH Mbia Ekolok  10,000

50           Hon Walter Tarkang        50,000

51           Dr  Okie Tabi Philip           30,000

52           Mrs Ebai Pauline               25,000

53           Mrs Matilda Nkwo           20,000

54           Councillor  Nkaie Moses Eyong  20,000

55           Chief Orock John              15,000

56           Major Etchu Joseph Eyong           50,000

57           sisiko  Akwo Pius              30,000

58           mme AgborTambe Martina         30,000

59           Dr Etchu kinsley                25,000

60           Mrs Carine Ondatess Ochikwa.  30,000

61           Sen.chief Dr Anja Simon               150,000

62           Mr Eyong paul Ayukegbe             25,000

63           Pr Agbor Ntui Michael    25,000

64           Mr Teddy Tambeagbor Tabekwere          25,000

65           Mr ENO Chris OBEN        10,000

66           Bar Kenneth Odi Odi       30,000

67           Mme Bessem winifred Ayuk arrey           20,000

68           Mme Ayukegba Evelyn 50,000

69           Mme Orock Comfort Agbor         50,000

70           Mr ABEY Napoleon NTUI              10,000

71           Mayor Ashu Robertson Tabenchong       50,000

72           Pr Ndip Roland  50,000

73           pr Egbe Andrew               25,000

74           Mr Hastings Eta Ebua      10,000

75           Mrs Roseline Arongagbor 20,000

76           Mr Tanyitiku Bayee Arikia martin              30,000

77           HE.chief Clarson   Mbianyor OBEN       50,000

78           Chief TAMBE Adolf Tanchie         25,000

79           Mr Esua John      100,000

80           Mrs Egbe Sabina               10,000

81           H.E Pr. Sarah Agbor         200,000

82           Dr Ogork Ntui Bessong  150,000

83           Mr Adah Consoler Terkula           10,000

84           Chief Dr OBEN GODSON               30,000

85           Bar. Atem Anya Molotov              20,000

86           Mrs Ekwalle Emilia           25,000

87           Dr mrs Agbor Magdaline Tarkang              25,000

88           Mr Orock Thomas            30,000

89           HRM Ayamba Ita Jacques             50,000

90           Bar. Forchack Forchack Valentine             20,000

91           Pr. EBOT EBOT   150,000

92           Mr Tabot Martin               75,000

93           Mr Epey Samuel               30,000

94           Mr Anja Gilbert Tiku       20,000

95           Mr Agbor Sampson Eyong            30,000

96           ANNONYMOUS                150,000

97           Mr.NDIP Carolyn Ewube               15,000

98           Mr Julius Nkom 20,000

99           Mrs Arrey Magdaline Eneke        10,000

100         Mr. Akomara Jerry Eta   25,000

101         Dr Mrs Ojongnkot Comfort Beyang          15,000

102         Mr Enow Kenneth           75,000

103         Mrs Helen AGBOBESSONG          15,000

104         Mme Emilia Forngang    20,000

105         Pr Obinchemchi Egbe     20,000

106         Mme Valentina Tanyitiku Bessem            30,000

107         Mr Francis Manchang Oben        30,000

108         H.E Jerome Obi ETA        100,000

109         Hon. susan Okpu              20,000

110         Annonymous     100,000

111         Dr Enake Tanyitiku           20,000

112         Pr Maureen Tanyi            15,000

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Rita Akana in Yaounde

Cameroon’s Paul Ayah Abine, a former member of President Paul Biya’s CPDM, has experienced political pressure and prison. Officially retired from politics, he remains convinced that Anglophones and Francophones can live together peacefully in Cameroon.

In early May, at the foothills surrounding Mount Cameroon, Buea seems to have almost forgotten the four years of violence that pitted Anglophone separatist groups against Cameroon’s defence forces. In the capital of the south-west region, the shops of Great Soppo have reopened and are blasting Nigerian music to attract customers. Traffic jams are also once again clogging the Malingo Junction in the city centre.

71-year-old Paul Ayah Abine has been living within this secure enclave, in the heart of a region in crisis, since his release from prison on 30 August 2017.

He spent nearly eight months behind bars in Yaoundé for advocating federalism, before being released by a presidential decree. Glasses perched on a face marked by the weight of age and hardship, the former magistrate received us at the headquarters of Justice for All, a legal aid firm he opened in the Bomaka district, which is located in the eastern part of the city.

Paul Ayah Abine “will never leave”

While some of the leaders of the Anglophone movement preferred to go into exile amidst increasing pressure from Yaoundé, like politician Joseph Wirba and barrister John Fru Nsoh, Abine assured us that he “will never leave.”

Despite a stint in prison, which resulted in him going deaf in his right ear, he wants to continue to make the voice of this marginalised linguistic community heard, as it persists in denouncing the central government’s actions.

Culled from The Africa Report