Anglophone lawyers and teachers have announced a continuation of their strike action as talks between the Francophone government and the trade unions have failed to deliver any positive outcome. The December 6^th meeting ended in fiasco as the actors of the negotiations separated from each other. Cameroon Intelligence Report learnt that the disappointment was visible on the faces of the government mediators in the city of Bamenda.

The actions of Prime Minister Philemon Yang who started the 24-26 November talks have been shameful, disgusting and disgraceful. The teachers and the lawyers have blamed the Head of Government for politicizing the crisis by holding pro Francophone political rallies in Southern Cameroons.

After four hours of in camera work at a high-rise hotel in Bamenda, Wilfred Tassang, the national executive secretary of the Cameroon Teachers’ Trade Union (Cattu), had bitter words for the Yang Philemon emissaries “The strike continues, the Government wants to play with us”.

Obviously, the Francophone teleguided talks could not reach any meaningful agreement because the plaintiffs could not have the minimum of their claims. The trade unions have made it clear that negotiators should debate and highlight by order of priority and then resolve according to a chronologically agreed schedule.

For their part, Anglophone teachers say no compromise will be gotten so long as the government does not proceed without delay with the withdrawal of French-speaking teachers who teach pupils in poor English from Southern Cameroons territory. Our much respected teachers and lawyers have demanded that parents should keep their children at home for their safety.

Common law lawyers have also announced a boycott of the 31st annual international conference of the Bar Councils to be held in Yaoundé from the 7th to 9^th of December 2016.

By Chi Prudence Asong in Bamenda