The recent announcement by the attention-seeking Fai Yengo Francis that 18 Ambazonia fighters have surrender to Cameroon government forces not only failed to advance the sinister goals of the Biya French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé but laid bare deep divisions and dissensions in the entire Biya cabinet.

It was evident when Etoudi ordered the arrest of its spy chief Léopold Maxime Eko Eko over the Martinez Zogo affair prompting some of Eko Eko’s acolytes to abruptly abandoned the Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh’s camp.

Unfortunately, anti Southern Cameroons work within the Minister Ngoh Ngoh camp is not progressing well due to much pressure from very inexperienced cabinet ministers trying to impose their views on military affairs.

Mindful of the numerous unannounced and unceremonious departures from the Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh camp, disputes within this so-called “Chantal Biya Men” have reached worrying levels. Threatening messages and death threats are being exchanged between different factions deep within the Biya cabinet.

Harassment has not been limited to individuals around the 90-year-old President Biya. Those already detained at the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison in Yaoundé are also receiving threats if they dare make any startling revelations.   Ngoh Ngoh is reportedly the principal architect behind the threats and many within the security apparatus of the state have hinted this reporter that the Ngoh Ngoh’s primitive and cheap design is simply to gain notoriety.

It is precisely this battle to succeed President Biya within the French backed Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime that would justify Governor Fai Yengo Francis recent anti Southern Cameroons announcement. Unity among the Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh gang has not been possible mainly because his supporters have attacked other members of the Biya entourage, stating that Ngoh Ngoh should be recognized as the only possible Biya replacement given his special relationship with the Biya family.

Political analysts opine that another internal CPDM conflict that has erected a stone wall against the Southern Cameroons peace process is the confrontation between some Francophone nationalists headed by Ngoh Ngoh and the pro decentralization plans promoted by the former spy chief Léopold Maxime Eko Eko.

It seems there are several political visions within what is being dubbed as the race to succeed President Biya.  It is true we can find notable differences in the political views of members, but at the level of discourse, we find ourselves within the Francofools family resemblance idea. That is, despite serious differences, they all fall under the same political discourse. Agreements and disagreements within that diverse Beti Ewondo group are expressed in the same language, that of Francofools.

All members of the so-called Vice President Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh group view themselves through what many in Southern Cameroons called the “Francophone supremacists”. Similarly, all members of this Ngoh Ngoh group paint others like Eko Eko clamoring for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Southern Cameroons as black legs. The Ngoh Ngoh doctrine simplifies Cameroon into good and bad: Beti Ewondo political dominance and Anglophone barbarism. Minister Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh’s doctrine is presently being observed in all departments of government despite numerous and violent differences among its various members.

Despite glaring differences, all these stances can be understood within the same Francophone political discourse, whose goal is to destroy everything Anglo-Saxon and replace it with some new Made In Yaoundé political structure in which Southern Cameroons will no longer have political relevance.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai