Reports reaching Cameroon Concord News Group indicate that Prof. Maurice Kamto who is on a tour of Europe and North America, has avoided meeting Ambazonians in the city of Toronto in Canada.

The winner of the 2018 presidential election in Cameroon had said he would meet with separatists if he became the president of Cameroon.

But his actions in Toronto, Canada, have clearly indicated that he is simply paying lip service to the idea of meeting with Southern Cameroonians with a view to gaining a better understanding of their perspective.

Kamto, who was jailed for 8 months in Yaoundé for holding that he was the rightful winner of the 2018 poll, had made many public statements that it would be better to understand Ambazonians although in his view, secession was not an option.

His action in Toronto equates him to Paul Biya, the country’s contested president, who holds that he will never sit and talk with secessionists.

Because of this action in Toronto, Ambazonians have decided to withdraw their support of Kamto, a man they thought could be an ally in the peaceful resolution of the crisis that is tearing the country apart, a source in Toronto said.

“Kamto, like most Francophones, can never be trusted. He has proven in Toronto that we should never trust him,” an angry Ambazonian in Toronto said.

“We will be severing all our ties with his party and we urge all Southern Cameroonians to dissociate themselves from this man who seems to be selling illusions,” the Ambazonian who elected anonymity said.

Kamto, who is scheduled to go to the United States, will surely not be welcomed by Southern Cameroonians who now know that he cannot be trusted.

“We have already raised the issue with our fellow Ambazonian citizens in the United States and many have already declared him persona non grata. He cannot be trusted and we won’t encourage any of our leaders in the United States to meet with him,” the frustrated Ambazonian stressed.

Prof. Kamto, who is accompanied by several of his party officials, has stirred a hornet’s nest and he will surely be facing huge challenges in the United States where more than a million Ambazonians live.

“He has a choice. He can clean up the mess he has created. He should get in touch with Ambazonian leaders in the USA to schedule a meeting with them if he wants to remain a national figure,” he stressed.

“If he does not take corrective action, then he would have clearly demonstrated that his party is a regional party made up of Bamilekes,” he concluded.

Prof. Kamto should have understood that Toronto, Canada’s largest city, is home to thousands of Ambazonians and much of the money that is flowing to the two English-speaking regions of the country to fund the war comes from the Greater Toronto Area.

Many Ambazonians are based in Brampton, Mississauga, Ajax and Oakville and they are making significant financial efforts to ensure that Ambazonia becomes independent. They have been victims of marginalization and they hold that a divorce from Yaoundé will be the best option.

“Kamto and his people will have to talk with us. We are private sector operators and our money will keep on causing sleepless nights to whoever is at the Unity Palace in Yaoundé. We have the potential to sow chaos in Cameroon and avoiding us only makes it hard for whoever is running the country. Kamto must address this very fast before he goes down in our estimation,” an upset Ambazonian said.

By Joachim Arrey in Toronto