A secessionist push in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions is on the brink of a full-blown revolt, threatening political stability in a country ruled by one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders. Following a crackdown on independence supporters who tried to raise flags on government buildings in the central African nation’s English-speaking regions in October, at least 16 members of the security forces have been killed in attacks the government blames on the activists. This month a mob of 200 men besieged a paramilitary police station, according to the government.

Vital Ports

Cameroon’s English-speaking minority, about a fifth of the population, has complained of marginalization for decades and many highly educated Anglophones have moved abroad. The country, whose roads and ports are vital for landlocked neighbors such as oil-producing Chad, was split after World War I into a French-run zone and a smaller, British-controlled area.

Radical factions of the protest movement in the Northwest and Southwest regions now refer to the area as Ambazonia and discuss armed struggle on social media. About 20 percent of the population in the affected regions is estimated to support secession, according to the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

The unrest comes as Cameroon’s army struggles to halt a spate of bombings and raids by the Islamist militant organization Boko Haram near the northern border with Nigeria. While Boko Haram forced thousands of Cameroonians to flee their homes last year, the secession campaign poses a much bigger threat to the government, Heungoup said by phone from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital.

“Even if Boko Haram killed a lot of people, it was clear from the onset that they would never threaten or capture the state,” he said. “But the Anglophone crisis calls the foundations of the Cameroonian state into question.”

Heavy-handed Response

President Paul Biya, who calls the secessionists criminals, is seeking to extend his 35-year rule in elections next year. Biya is the continent’s second-longest serving head of state, after Teodoro Obiang of neighboring Equatorial Guinea. Robert Mugabe, who ruled Zimbabwe since 1980, resigned in November.

Ambazonia now has a self-proclaimed president, a flag and an official government website. Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland spent five days in Cameroon this month in an attempt to defuse the crisis.

“When this crisis was in its beginning stages, the government thought it could kill a few protesters, arrest others and heavily militarize the North West and South regions for the crisis to be over,” said Shadrack Mbiwang, an activist who claims to be a member of the Ambazonia army. “This time around, we are ready to fight and fight till the restoration of our statehood.”

Culled from Bloomberg.com

With the year coming to an end, many Cameroonians are impatiently looking forward to the traditional end-of-year speech as they believe it could bear a special message of hope. The country has been wrapped up in conflict for over a year. There have been calls for inclusive dialogue, but the calls seem to have been falling on deaf ears as government extremists have opted for oppression and repression as the ideal tools for conflict resolution.

For more than a year, not even the country’s leader has addressed the nation. Many had hoped that in the face of such an escalating situation, the country’s authorities will instead tilt toward a strategy of winning hearts and minds, but their hard rethoric has always been accompanied by violent military action that has only made matters worse.

According to the International Crisis Group, more than sixty civilians have been killed, at least sixty government troops have also been killed and an indeterminate number of secessionist fighters have been sent to an early grave.

These statistics do not seem to convince the government that dialogue is the ideal way to stabilize the country. The Hawks in the regime are still beating their war drums even when the writing on the wall is visible and clearly indicates that the way forward must go through a negotiating table.

Though there are calls for inclusive dialogue, it must be acknowledged that it will be hard having the government and separatists around the same table. The anger is deep and the grievances are many and complex.

However, all hopes are not lost. While the above-mentioned groups could be diametrically opposed to each other and are even against dialogue, as their definitions of dialogue are different, there are third parties that have clearly indicated their willingness to act as mediators.

This is a conflict that will never have a clear winner. Even the government with its regular military has come to realize that declaring a war does not imply winning it. The numerous setbacks government troops have faced in Manyu Division clearly indicate that whenever there is war, the casualties will not only be on one side.

More than sixty army soldiers have been sent to an early grave and many more corpses are being picked up around the thick Manyu equatorial jungle. These lives could have been spared if dialogue had been engaged right from the beginning.

Yesterday, nine new military corpses were registered at the Mamfe Divisional mortuary and many more soldiers have been declared missing, with scores deserting for fear of death.

A young Manyu soldier’s corpse was taken to Limbe yesterday where his family lives. Though an Anglophone, he was killed by his own brothers in the jungle. He was considered an enemy just for wearing the military fatigue. A reminder that there are no brothers or sisters in situations of war.

Military authorities are clearly not giving a true picture of military casualties. Manyu Division has been a grave yard to these young and inexperience soldiers who do not understand the Manyu jungle.

This unfortunate situation should advise the government that it must pursue genuine and inclusive dialogue relentlessly. It is in the interest of all Cameroonians to work hard to ensure the government and Anglophones meet at the negotiating table to work out their differences.

But will this happen anytime soon? The end-of-year speech will be an occasion for the government to clearly articulate a message of hope and peace. Tricks have failed. Attrition has not worked. War has brought more pain and sorrows to both Anglophones and Francophones. A new strategy must be given a chance and that strategy must be predicated on peace.

However, in order not to be very disappointed, it’s better to expect nothing new. Cameroonians have seen lots of things go wrong in their country. The Anglophone crisis offers a clear manual on how a crisis should not be managed. The end-of-year speech may not bear the message many may want to hear. Expect less and the disappointment will be less.

By Dr. Joachim Arrey

The Manyu constituency indeed had enjoyed relative peace during the start of the Anglophone uprising in October 2016 following a simple boycott of the courts by Cameroon Common Law Lawyers. Throughout the months that follow,  while students and teachers respected the civil disobedience campaign launched by the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society and the  boycott of  schools throughout the entire Northwest and some parts  of the Southwest including Lebialem Division, educational establishments in  Manyu operated  till the end of  the first semester  of the academic year  2016/2017.

From January 2017, the Anglophone crisis took a dramatic u-turn in Manyu following intensive calls by the teacher’s trade union for a total boycott of schools and support for ghost towns operations which drained the courts and the business community. Manyu businessmen, civil society leaders and lawyers joined the struggle to enforce the disobedience strategies used by the leadership of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society to ensure that the objectives were met-  a measure which yielded 90 % success in all Southern Cameroons operations in Manyu and exposed the evil nature and greed of the Manyu political elites.

During this period, Manyu witnessed many killings, police brutality, the burning of schools and attacked on business premises. Things became even more intractable in the month of March 2017 following serious French Cameroun government threats via the administration headed by the then SDO for Manyu, Peter tieh  Ndeh. Consequently, the teachers of both Basic and Secondary Educational institutions started heading back to school while parents raised the issue of insecurity on pupils and students.

Several meetings were held grouping the administration, the clergy and the business community to convince parents to send their children to school. These actions all met with a stone wall erected by calls to release all Southern Cameroonians arrested by the Francophone dominated army and police agencies.

The change of administration in Manyu meant a change in approach in handling the already hydra-headed   ongoing crises.   Peter tieh Ndeh, the Senior Divisional Officer for Manyu at the start of the Southern Cameroons revolution was transferred and replaced by OUM I I Joseph and things started falling apart.  Many now believe Oum II’s approach has taken Manyu Division to the current state of the crisis.  There are reasons why many in Manyu hold this anti Oum II opinion:

1- His messages were not good for public consumption.  During  an installation  ceremony in Eyumojock,  he  made a mockery of Southern Cameroonians and warned of severe consequences  if Manyus  don’t stop  the strike  and ghost  towns.

2-He ordered the shutting down of businesses and collected huge amounts of money from traders who respected the ghost towns to reopen their shops.

3-He reportedly provoked the burning of schools by stopping the circulation of bike riders including goods and services on non ghost town days.

The22nd of September killings and the start of the resistance:

Prior to Friday the 22^nd of September 2017, some traders whose stores had been closed by the SDO,  Oum II Joseph  had booked an audience  to meet with the French Cameroun prefect .During deliberations, the SDO told the Manyu natives out rightly that their shops have been sealed forever and that they should go and do something else not business.

The business men and women joined the September 22^nd protest that was going on peacefully until Mr. SDO decided to shoot one of the protesters on the leg in front of his office. Two persons were injured by gun shots, one was killed and one drowned in the Badi River. More than 35 were arrested. And the aftermath of this excessive show of force was the burning down of the GTHS administrative block.  Schools in Manyu Division that had started gaining steam were all forced to close down.

The business men who had met the Francophone thug passing for a senior divisional officer however decided to embark on another peaceful protest against the action of OUM II Joseph. The business community protest by some strange happenstance attracted hundreds of Manyu citizens predominantly victims of the Biya Francophone regime’s onslaught on Mamfe town. The crackdown that followed saw the return of Odeshi.

The return of Odeshi:

Manyus had to demonstrate to President Biya and his gang of inexperience administrators that gun power is a thing of the past by invoking the Odeshi. Odeshi is not new in Manyu. To be sure, it’s as old as the founders of the Boki land but Manyu had abandoned it for Christianity.

The people of Manyu walked away from their traditional rulers many of whom are not the rightful owners of the chieftaincy stools , rallied some young men in the constituency and initiated them into the Odeshi and all of a sudden, the Francophone dominated army has become powerless and is currently directing its bullets and frustration on innocent civilians.

The Biya regime that thrives on native juju and ritual killings recruited some pigmies in the East region and ferried them to Manyu to destroy the power of Odeshi. What they failed to know is that God in his infinite image gave the Manyus the Obasinjom. No traditional medicine or charm from anywhere in the world can function in Manyu in the presence of the Obasinjom.

The action of the SDO and the Cameroon military against unarmed protesters has changed Southern Cameroons history forever.   Manyu will never go back to its pro Yaoundé policies.  It is now a battle ground for restoration forces and the government. Ambazonia will win

By Judith Fon in Mamfe