Mama Mukake of Small Soppo Buea was incredulous. “You call Sako Ikome and Chris Anu leaders?” She asked. “I call them mafia pastors.”

For the 72 -year-old Ambazonian resident in the Fako County, the former Acting President Samuel Ikome and the disgraced former Secretary of Communications, Chris Anu have for 18 months headed a corrupt Southern Cameroons Interim Government that benefited only a  few in the United States of America.

“Sako and Chris Anu have enjoyed the best time in their lives with Ambazonia money, they have travelled all over the US paid for by Southern Cameroonians. They don’t care about people in Ground Zero.”

Mama Mukake is far from alone. According to a recent finding by the Cameroon Concord News Group, 99 percent of Southern Cameroonians are no longer interested in the activities of Dr Ikome Sako and Chris Anu including the members of the so called Restoration Council.

The leaked audio and the political and financial malpractice of Mr Sako and Chris Anu and their diabolic harsh ploy to neutralize President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe have severely eroded public’s trust in the Southern Cameroons Interim Government.

Ikome Sako and his gang neglected the Ambazonian people in Ground Zero and this is why trust plummeted making matters intractable for the newly appointed Vice President Dabney Yerima. The leaked audio two weeks ago following the so-called impeachment of the Ambazonian leader, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe has only confirmed this view for many Southern Cameroonians. Sako and Chris Anu’s latest moves are widely viewed as a means to further consolidate power in the hands of corrupt leaders who are only interested in Ambazonia financial donations.

Created in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Southern Cameroons Interim Government was intended to serve as a transitional governing body for the English speaking people of Cameroon until the establishment of a fully fledged Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Three years later, Southern Cameroonians are much closer to obtaining that state and Sako and Chris Anu have pushed the Ambazonia Interim Government to morph into a fake bureaucratic giant many now feel is more concerned with maintaining its relevance than advocating for the independence of Southern Cameroons.

Interim President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe appointed the first ever Ambazonian cabinet based on merit and commitment. But political corruption manifested itself under Sako’s leadership. This was followed by the creation of positions out of thin air and the appointment of officials based on loyalty or nepotism rather than merit.

The French Cameroun army enters, arrest, issue curfews, and so on in Southern Cameroons in a way that demonstrates the Ambazonia Interim Government doesn’t even have total control of the area that is called the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. But Sako and Chris are busy sharing audios of Southern Cameroonians addressing them as “His Excellency and Communications Secretary”.

After the appointment of Vice President Dabney Yerima and the spate of violence in Southern Cameroons, Sako and Chris Anu are under pressure to stay relevant. But the truth is both Sako and Chris Anu have no relevance in the Southern Cameroons struggle.

The continued military actions in Southern Cameroons and the imprisonment of hundreds of Southern Cameroonians by French Cameroun authorities have undermined the credibility and effectiveness of the Ambazonian Interim Government. This is the context in which Vice President Yerima is governing and it is a difficult situation.

Southern Cameroonians were busy with the war and turned a blind eye to corruption under Sako and Chris Anu. Now is the time for Southern Cameroonians to move forward with Vice President Dabney Yerima.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai and Besong Esther Agbor