Professor Jean Emmanuel Pondi, has recently been disparaging the Southern Cameroons quest for Independence with analogies that leave much to be desired. Using counterfactual arguments, Professor Pondi misrepresents the aspirations of Southern Cameroonians, and fails to acknowledge the incontrovertible fact that all English speaking countries in Africa are more democratic and more prosperous than those under the French neo-colonial yolk.

Jean Emmanuel Pondi, is the son of Ahidjo’s executioner and betrayer of the Bassa nationalist, Ruben Um Nyobe. With a father, whose job was to spy on the nationalist leader of the Cameroonian people, ending up in his assassination, by the French, Jean Emmanuel Pondi, is the fruit that does not fall far from the tree.

Professor Pondi’s father is the architect of the betrayal of the UPC nationalist movement, for which he was rewarded with numerous diplomatic appointments that took him to Congo, London and the United States, where Jean Emmanuel had the privilege of earning a PhD at the University of Pennsylvania.

Jean Emmanel Pondi, has been trained to walk in the shoes of his father. He is an ambitious Francophile whose advantage is that he is fluent in English and a connoisseur of American international relations.

Jean Emmanuel Pondi, would be the last person to put his knowledge at the service of truth. He is the quintessential careerist who uses his knowledge at the service of falsehood as his father did. After all, that is how he ended up in Washington to acquire the education that his cousins born in Ngog Mapoubi did not have the opportunity to acquire.

The son of a traitor, who grew in a tradition of betrayal, can only be a traitor.

NB Even his wife was gotten for him by has late father

We the Lawyers of the COMMON LAW ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHERN CAMEROON, want to thank our fellow brothers and sisters, wives and husbands, Chiefs ,Fons and elites for standing on our side in this period of strike. We think it’s our responsibility to fight for what belongs to us “the freedom and liberation of our people” We have been slaves to them for 50 years now and we risk being their slaves for forever if we don’t fight now, THEY USED OUR RESOURCES TO BUILD THEIR REGIONS AND MAKE THEMSELVES RICH while we suffer from poverty, rejection and marginalization.

We have met in different meetings to discuss the way forward and this is our conclusion:

1. We will continue the strike indefinitely, Common Law Lawyers of Southern Cameroons were badly beaten and humiliated in BUEA, our robs seized by their military, most of our colleagues are in the hospital still undergoing treatment. They have refused to look into the problems we have posed but are brutally harassing people and shooting and killing striking youths. We will not back off until we are granted our freedom.

Let every one of us be united in this fight, we are encourage by the strike that’s organized by our brothers and sisters of Southern Cameroonians living in: South Africa, Canada, USA, UK, Germany, Australia and even in the country and many more of others country have notify us of a protest in January 2017. Remember that Mr Biya has sent military battalion to Bamenda and they have arrested almost 150 people from Bamenda alone taken them to Yaoundé and we are having report that almost 75 of them have been beaten and shot death.

On December 9 we received report that the military entered Molyko in Buea at about 2am and break students’ rooms and arrested close to 50 students and most of them have been shot death already. They decided to come at night to hide from the media. These incidents provoke the refusal to sing the national anthem in Mamfe by the population complaining that the killings are too much. All these and more they are doing is to scare the people of Southern Cameroon not to protest and strike.

In January there is going to be more strike actions like we have never seen before. We prefer to die all of us and all our brothers killed and in prison will be revenge. This is the current situation going on. We are one people let’s stand as one during these trying moment.

NB: This document was sent to CIR by an anonymous source!! We are yet to confirm its validity!!

The Right Royal President Paul Biya is basically surrounded by Betis and he speaks of national unity and national integration. By some strange happenstance, our Anglophone lawyers and teachers still believe in a man who governs as a tribal chief.

— the Secretary General at the Presidency Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh is a Fang-Beti-Bulu from the East.

— the director of the Civil cabinet and his deputy, Belinga Eboutou and Joseph Le, are both Fang-Beti-Bulu.

— the Army Chief of Staff General Claude Meka is a Beti.

— the Minister of Defence, Beti Assomo is also a Fang-Beti-Bulu.

— the Director of Protocol, Simon Pierre Bikélé, a Beti.

— President Biya’s aide-de-camp, Joseph Fouda is a Beti,

— the Concierge of the Unity Palace, Foé Ndi is a Beti.

— Drivers and guards at the palace are all Betis

Even when President Biya appoints someone else, he makes sure he sprinkles the person with “Beti”; this is called duplicate tactics. Here is the proof:

— the Secretary general of the Senate and former Finance Minister, Michel Meva’a Meboutou is a Beti,

— the First Vice President of the National Assembly, Hilarion Etong, a Beti.

— the Secretary General at the Prime Minister’s office – Magloire Seraphin Fouda, a Beti.

— Speaking of Cameroonian ambassadors abroad, 7 out of 10 are Betis.

— Speaking of CEOs of public and parastatal enterprises 1 in 2 is Beti.

It is hard to tell how Anglophones have survive this regime in the last 34 years. It’s time for a Southern Cameroons state.

Paul Ngu Yong

JOINT COMMUNIQUE OF THE LEADERSHIP OF CAMEROON COMMON LAW LAWYERS’ ASSOCIATIONS

To,

The President of the Republic of Cameroon

Presidency of the Republic

Yaoundé, Cameroon

Through,  Alhadji Baba Danpullo

We, the Leaders of the Cameroon Common Law Lawyers’ Associations note and inform the President of the Republic of Cameroun, and the general public as follows:

i.)         The failure of government to respond to our complaints against the erosion  of the common law in Cameroon, which complaints began with the resolutions of the inaugural conference of the Common Law Lawyers’ Conference held on May 9, 2015 followed by the Declarations of the second conference of February 13, 2016, running through several communiqués up till when the initiative for dialogue was opened between Lawyers and Teachers on the one side, and the  Government, represented by the Prime Minister and Head of Government on the other side, which regrettably ended in a stalemate because the Prime Minister believes and acts over dialogue as a process for dictating to the opposing party government’s position  that must be swallowed hook, line, and sinker;

ii.)        The Attitude of government, through its various representatives, reveals insensitivity that feeds from a constructed culture of fear in the psyche of the governed which has in recent times witnessed a crack from the inspired, courageous, and executed disposition of Lawyers to throw off the glass ceiling of fear and assertion of their rights;

iii.)      The ice-breaking action of Lawyers and Teachers and the government’s unfortunate approach of down playing them, has led to several other groups raising their own issues leading to identification and pursuit of not just sectoral solutions but a holistic framework that assures sustainability of the solicited corrective measures. This has entailed a search back into the constitutional history that reveals the root of all the problems with which we are now confronted in the failure of a projected Two-State Federal Constitutional Foundation for the Union between “La Republiqué du Cameroun” and the United Nations-British Trust Territory of Southern Cameroons;

iv.)      Socio-political issues like the irresponsibility of government to complaints of the governed, fuels the growth of the problems horizontally and vertically. This is exactly how the problems that were initially restricted to Lawyers and Teachers have been neglected to grow rapidly and understandably to attract more persons with similar grievances from the wider society, and indeed factored into the solution of the same enabling  and sustaining constitutional frame work identified as a two-State Federation;

v.)       While silence on the part of government to issues raised by professional groupings was bad enough, it is worse that government security forces should have been unleashed and permitted to embark on killings and maiming of unarmed civilians in Buea, Bamenda, Kumba, and elsewhere, within the Regions of North West, and South West;

vi.)      We recall that CPDM Parliamentarians of the North West, and South West, Regions in an unprecedented manner took cognizance of the negative silence that had followed our complaints and which had pushed us to engage peaceful demonstration to attract a response and invited us to a dialogue session which began to opened the doors to concrete response by way of dialogue designed to resolve our issues, indeed ignited government’s action into dialogue which unfortunately was mismanaged by a talk down approached on us;

vii.)    The above points reveal that there is a grave systemic problem with the constitutional framework and governance reflexes which require urgent programmed attention wherein some issues need to be dealt with immediately while others can be subjects of discussions within a sincere and transparent dialogue process spread into the medium term and the long term.

Against the foregoing background and informed by the constructive dialogue to which our North West Elite, Alhadji Baba Danpullo invited our Leadership to as a private initiative to thaw the impasse created by the failed attempt at dialogue with some government officials, we present hereunder the responses expected of government for a focused and productive dialogue with an eye on the time lined framework that would assure sustenance of the results there from.

“Mr Speaker, in a nation that you call yours people can do what has been done to our children in West Cameroon? I call it west Cameroon because you will never take it out of our mouths again. Because that is a territory in which we believe in Freedom. To go out on the street and demonstrate is a basic right for us and that is why we are saying there are two Cameroons  that came together. If you are telling us, like a state minister stood here last year and told us that what happened in Cameroon is like dropping a few cubes of sugar into a basin of water, who is the sugar and who is the water? I’m asking the government bench of Cameroon – who is? That you rape our children. My brother’s daughter has been raped in BUEA. I swear to you, the government of this country, does the President of this country know that the governors and the DOs and all the Administrators Sent to West Cameroon are out there behaving exactly like an army of occupation? Our people have nowhere to go to. We have made all the efforts. Our  ancestors and our forefathers trusted you to go into a gentleman’s agreement that two people who considered themselves brothers could go to live together. And if this is what you show us after 55 years then those who are saying that we should break Cameroon are right, they are correct!

“The people of West Cameroon cannot be your slaves. The people of west Cameroon are not, you did not conquer them in war. If this is what you’re saying that we should live in, I say simply No! It will not work. How do you have an army that is supposed to protect children step out there, beat them and rape  some. It is not heard of in any country. This is the 21st century. And anybody who does that, I cannot be willing for it’s government to pay the price.  We will exact it on you, because you are making us believe that we went to the wrong place. What’s there to say? I want the world to know and to have it on record that we have made efforts. I have Sat with ministers and listened to them talk. The first one was the then Minister of justice. Amadou Ali, 10 years ago. And I took my time, drove from Kumbo to Yaounde to tell him ‘Something is growing out other. This thing that you people are sending Gendarms to beat people up and say all these things, there’s pain in West Cameroon and as Minister of Justice be very careful with what happens there’. And he turned around, looked at me and told me ‘Mr. Wirba, it is your people who choose to come here…’ He is alive, he told me.

“Last week, I went to see the minister of Higher Education, Professor  Fame Ndongo and I told him the problem in Cameroon, the problem in  West Cameroon is the problem that will bring down Cameroon. If you don’t handle it well, you will not know Cameroon  in a  few months or in a  few years. When people have had burnt up anger and pain and humiliations for over 50 years, when it bursts out you will never be able to control it and I told him!

Simply what he asked me was ‘Qu’est-ce  que vous allez faire?’

Because you have your army of occupation out in West Cameroon you believe that when the people will rise, even if you took the whole of the French army and added to yours you’ll never bring them down. And we have no need for that. We don’t have any need for that in the 21st Century.

I was one of the believers in a unified Cameroon and I want to tell this house that what has happened to those children in Buea University and in Bamenda has convinced me that the people who say that Cameroon should go in two parts are correct. And there are more and more of us out there who now believe that it is the ultimate end!

I listened the other night an offer of a thousand jobs, an offer of 2 Billion francs for lay schools and I laughed at myself. Are my people slaves that you now wound and maim, break their bones then throw a piece of meat for them to fight over? It has to end, It has to end! If we the people of West Cameroon have to continue what we are doing it is because we believe that the more is always the median. Here you have more people you have more chances of surviving in life. If the more people who are the people of East Cameroon have proved to us that our blood means nothing then it is time for us to say it will soon be over. I want to give you a quote here in this house that I borrowed from the American liberators;

“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes a duty”

The people of West Cameroon have a duty to resist your oppression. I call it oppression because of what I have seen in the field. Let me quote you another two instances. Three weeks ago there was an incident in Bangolan which is a neighboring village to Jakiri, where I come from and I don’t know what it was about and a Gendarme officer was killed.

And the forces of law and order under the instructions of the SDO of Ngoketungia moved into Bangolan, a neighboring village and took away a hundred men. Just beat them up, break their bones and them just left  them there. And I went o to that place where he took these people and told him. Mr. SDO you’re going to release my people. He sent soldiers to me and I said to him I am a representative of these people because I am a parliamentarian and the young man turned round and asked me:

“Et puis quoi? On n’est pas ici à  Yaoundé” and he drew a line, telling me “if you cross here you will see the consequences”. Unfortunately for him, I happen to be a descendant of the warriors of Nso. No one draws a line before me. I crossed and told him “Shoot me!”.

I told the SDO to release my people. Within 24 hours he released them. But some are still lying in the hospital. They beat and kicked a woman and she had a miscarriage, a pregnant woman and nobody can questions this. That is their mission in this master plan, to finish our culture and our people. You have chosen that every single administrator or every commander of the army is from East Cameroon. That is why they sit there and they can kill the people without remorse. This had to end!

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker I want to repeat this quote “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes a duty”.

The people of West Cameroon will resist you and if you wish to to take that territory by force, you will kill till the last man before you take it. And you can start from me, today, you can start from me. It has to end. Somebody has to know that this is not how they treat people, 50 years is too long. 50 years is a very very long time and we come here and sit just talking about the budget? You normalize murder, you normalize rape?

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry to tell you that this is part of the resistance. You will hear me till the end. When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes a duty. It is my duty to defend my people.

You will not stop me because of lack of time or if you want to, you can call your brutal Gendarmes to come and kill me here. I will not … I want you to hear this Mr. Speaker…

That my people are suffering and the cube of sugar that was defined in this house…

Are you just angry Mr. Speaker that the person considered your slave has risen in the master’s house and is asking a question?

I have… Mr. Speaker I am telling you this is part of the resistance and you will hear me till the end. Bring the brutal soldiers who raped our daughters to take me out of here. I will say it to my end. There’s nothing you can do to me. I am wondering whether H.E the President of the Republic knows that the governors and the DOs posted to West Cameroon  are behaving exactly as colonial masters? When they abuse people, insult them and do all what they have done, we have to RESIST and we have to tell you our people will not be brought down, because we came into this union as equal partners.

Yes Sir and I am done. I am done and we will RESIST and there’s nothing you can do to stop us because this is part of our culture that we inherited. You people who fear every administrator and every ruler, we will challenge our rulers and we take them  to task and that’s why they are accountable.

Thank you very much..

The indigenous people of Southern Cameroons should categorically conclude that a Southern Cameroons state can be achieved by civil disobedience and confrontational action contrary to statements made by National Assembly speaker, Cavaye Yeguie Djibril and the so-called President of the Senate, Marcel Njiat. The two Francophone personalities used their closing remarks in the Upper and Lower Houses of La Republique du Cameroun to make a mockery of the Anglophone problem.

National Assembly speaker noted that the SDF parliamentarians were not supposed to stage any public protest on the streets of Bamenda and Buea. Cavaye Djibril added that the said action was completely against the norms of being a honorable member of parliament. For his part, the Senate President painted the SDF Senators as not being patriotic. These two Francophone comedians did not condemn the killings and rapes that took place recently in Anglophone Cameroon orchestrated by security forces from La Republique du Cameroun.

Bearing in mind that Barack Obama is the president of the USA today is directly attributable to the civil disobedience of the days of Malcom-X and Martin Luther King Jr. Mindful of the fact that for 27 years, the blacks in South Africa never stopped carrying out civil disobedience until Nelson Mandela was released from prison. Considering the view that the Arab Spring started with civil disobedience and the outcome is there for all to see.

It is therefore preposterous and smirks of political illiteracy for some compromised people to make mockery of the well-organized and peaceful civil disobedience by our lawyers and teachers that has as objective the pressurizing of the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government to return to the 1961 federation or a Southern Cameroons state. Any saboteurs or political neophytes attempting to invoke the Francophone tactics of North West/South West divide should be ruthlessly crushed and severely dealt with.

The restoration of our Anglophone dignity is greater than any personal deals being cut with the regime in Yaoundé. The CPDM led government is currently under immense pressure to have a negotiation meeting with the objective of finding a way out of the impasse occasioned by widespread demonstrations by the indigenous citizens of British Southern Cameroons. No Anglophone, let alone those in the Diaspora should distinguish his/herself as a great saboteur.

By joining the Francophone leadership in making a mockery of those killed in Kumba, Bamenda, Buea and Kumbo by La Republique’s killer squads, you are by extrapolation insulting the memory of the dead Anglophones including the late S.A. George and the late Dr. Emmanuel Lifafe Endeley who died fighting for Southern Cameroons dignity. By mocking the dead bodies of innocent Southern Cameroonians from your luxurious villas in London, the people of Southern Cameroons including all lovers of freedom will never forgive you.

South West and North West politicians who prostitute themselves to Francophone men in return for political favours, should know that they present danger to the Southern Cameroons restoration process. Do not allow your family name to join the hall of infamy of Southern Cameroons saboteurs. Francophones dwell in a winner-takes-it-all political environment. Francophones know that if you don’t have the presidency; you are not going to make any impact. This makes Federalism not a palatable option.

From 1960 till date, Anglophone politicians from both the South West and the North West have consistently betrayed other Southern Cameroons men and women of honor and vision. Southern Cameroonians are therefore, placing all South West and North politicians on notice that we will no longer tolerate the sell-out of our people on the platter of the disgusting lucre from the decrepit La Republique politics. Enough is enough to these Anglophone saboteurs who see Southern Cameroons as a means of personal aggrandizements and cutting of deals with the Ahidjo-Biya oligarchy. The monetization of Anglophones in Cameroon politics must come to an end.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The Anglophone Diaspora has, over the last two decades, grown exponentially as many people from Southern Cameroons seek new ways of kissing goodbye to the humiliating poverty that has become the hallmark of their community. As the number of Anglophones living abroad increases, many development experts are still wondering why the territory is one of the most underdeveloped in Cameroon. The main roads leading to the many towns and cities of the two regions are really begging for an extreme makeover. During the rainy season, these roads are simply non-existence. This has affected Southern Cameroon’s trade with neighboring regions of La Republique du Cameroun and with the Federal Republic of Nigeria and farmers, in particular, are feeling the pinch as most of their produce decomposes in their homes as they cannot move it to other parts of the country which serve as a good markets for Anglophone produce. It is estimated that post-harvest losses in South West Region in Anglophone Cameroon alone stand at about 70% as the region is noted for its perishables such as oranges, mangoes, cassava, cocoa and coffee. But getting highly needed foodstuff such as beef, cabbage, maize from the Northwest region into the South West is proving to be very challenging as the main roads linking the two Southern Cameroons regions remain impracticable.

This unfortunate situation is causing food process to escalate, making life unbearable for citizens of Southern Cameroons. With regard to healthcare, Anglophone Cameroon has divisional hospitals some of which became operational in 1972. Over the years, less efficient doctors from La Republique du Cameroun have reduced the hospitals to consultation clinics with many Southern Cameroonians ending up in the mortuary for little health issues such as constipation and seasonal flus. The outdated equipment and lack of commitment on the part of staff have made Southern Cameroons hospitals a gruesome environment whose main role is the issuance of dead certificates. Also, as education in the area is unfortunately underfunded, the Anglophone region which is noted for its talented people has taken a huge blow to the liver. The educational infrastructure is suffering from acute ageing and most of it is crumbling with Southern Cameroonians looking helplessly. This, coupled with the grinding poverty, unemployment and despair is making many Anglophone citizens to simply bid farewell to formal education which was in the past, the region’s hallmark. However, many development experts remain hopeful, especially as the Anglophone Diaspora grows exponentially, with the majority of them living in North America. But what role can and will this growing Diaspora play in efforts at reshaping life and mentalities in a Southern Cameroons that is begging for meaningful economic and social investments?

Making the Diaspora part of the development process in many developing countries is an idea whose time has come, even in the Southern Cameroons. While Asian communities have been using their Diasporic communities since the 1970s to boost their development efforts, African countries have just recently embraced the idea and, in the Anglophone Cameroon, there has been some reluctance even among members of the Southern Cameroons Diaspora due to past experiences and mentality issues. However, there are efforts underway to help members of the Anglophone Diaspora to embrace this new idea. Members of the Anglophone Diaspora have to understand that there is power in numbers and that their little contributions could, if well managed, turn things around for their beloved nation. The Diaspora, it should be recalled, constitutes a huge treasure trove of development information, experience and investment resources.

Anglophone Cameroon is mired in abject poverty and the Southern Cameroons Diaspora can work towards rebuilding modern schools, upgrading hospitals and clinics in the territory. Their contributions could transform these clinics from glorified mortuaries into life-saving institutions. Southern Cameroonians living abroad have the means to help make their state an earthly paradise. This is, if they change their thinking and believe that working together is an idea whose time has come. They must understand that development ideas might not necessarily be theirs. They should rather look at the merits and good such projects will spin out to the people in the British Southern Cameroons such as a return to the 1961 federal status or an independent state of Southern Cameroons. They have to quit their old squabbling and bickering mentality in the name of North West/South West Divide to embrace collective effort which is a notion that is very much alive in their new countries. Little contributions of about US$50 a year from every member of the Anglophone Diaspora will go a long way in changing things in Southern Cameroons. This implies paying US$4 a month. This sounds small, but its impact will be marvelous. With such contributions, school infrastructure can be built, hospitals could be equipped, scholarships could awarded to smart kids on a yearly basis, programmes to transform mentalities could be launched, and Anglophone mayors in all major cities could be given an opportunity to travel abroad and learn from mayors in large Western cities. The Southern Cameroons Diaspora could work for twinning projects with cities in the West. Other Diasporic communities are already making the most of these opportunities.

Furthermore, the collective efforts of those living abroad can help transform the mentality of those back home. A bad mentality is a poverty generator. Our people are mired in poverty because their thinking has not evolved for decades. They still believe in having many kids and wives including a harem of mistresses!  This explains why they are ever ready to accept less influential nominations or appointments from Francophone political elites. The days when people were proud to have large families are long gone. Fighting poverty requires sharing information with those who are not lucky to have access to that information. With Anglophone Diasporic communities setting up many organizations abroad, they should understand that those organizations could be used as NGOs for the sensitization of those who have been caught in humiliating poverty back in Southern Cameroons.

With some tribal divisional organizations clearly playing significant roles in Anglophone development efforts, these organizations could be empowered to play an educational role in the whole of Southern Cameroons. Our people could be helped to understand that there are educational courses in life that can open more doors. Besides, the students could be made to realize that it is not just enough to have certificates. It is a lot better to have a certificate and be knowledgeable to defend the certificates we have. And this can only be achieved through continuous reading and research. If the Southern Cameroons Diaspora can build libraries in the territory, it will be able to make reading a culture and many poor kids in Anglophone Cameroon will have reliable places where they can conduct research and have access to information that can help transform their lives.

This does not apply that the Anglophone Diaspora is not doing a lot back home. There is much going on right now at the individual level, but most of these efforts are personal and the results are hardly visible. Currently, capital flows from Anglophone Diaspora are currently spent on education, hospital bills and the consumption of foreign-made goods such as TVs and clothes and not much has been channeled to the Anglophone struggle for self determination. However, if Southern Cameroons has to benefit from its large population abroad, the numerous Anglophone organizations abroad have to work hard to bring the Diaspora together. The leaders out there must embrace new ways which are predicated on reliability and transparency. Back home, the Diaspora must ensure that it has reliable partners to work with. Without reliable partners in Cameroon, the Diaspora’s efforts will only go that far.

All across Southern Cameroons, there are huge infrastructure gaps due to a kind of criminal neglect by La Republique du Cameroun which have made the territory less competitive when it comes to trading with neighboring regions and countries. Poor roads, unreliable energy systems and declining state-owned telecommunication systems clearly explain why the Anglophone Cameroonian cannot put its best foot forward against any region of the country. But some of these shortcomings can be reversed through the transparent management of Diaspora remittances and the Anglophone Diaspora must shake off old ways of thinking and embrace new ones. Consensus building is an idea whose time has come. South West and North West leaders – both at home and abroad – must ensure that they and their people are reading from the same script when it comes to federalism and the struggle for an independent state for Southern Cameroons including development projects.

If British Southern Cameroons has to develop, the Diaspora must understand that it has a significant role to play and living abroad comes with a huge price tag – that of reaching out to those who are unfortunate in life. That is where annual individual contributions come into play. The Anglophone has a chance to move forward as its people migrate. There is power in numbers, but the Anglophone has not yet seen those benefits. Its Diaspora must ensure that huge development opportunities do not pass the territory by. Other Diasporic communities such as South Sudan, Niger Delta and even Biafra are transforming the lives of their people. The Anglophone Diaspora has to wake up from its slumber and indifference if it has to be counted among the important Diasporic communities across Africa. It must be united and purposeful. Squabbling and bickering will not take anybody anywhere.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai 

Cameroon Concord News Group

What is President Biya’s Cameroon? It is indeed a country that has not defined itself in relation to the African Union, the European Union, the United Nations or its boundaries. Is Cameroon’s nationalism civic, ethnic or imperial from France? Is Cameroon in West or Sub Saharan Africa? Is it a democracy, a regime-state or a compound polity like Saudi Arabia? Or is it better described as a military state?

Although Cameroon has an official policy of bilingualism, it is in practice very much a Francophone country. This is not just because more than three-quarters of its 25 million people belong to the French-speaking regions, but especially because English is neither protected nor encouraged officially. Except in the South West and North West Regions, Anglophones must learn French to survive and succeed in their various occupations. In the public services and in major state-owned companies, the way up is totally barred from Anglophones who cannot speak French. Interestingly, Francophones feel at home and have no need to learn English because public affairs are conducted but in French. Since reunification on October 1 1961, Anglophones have suffered under this form of state terrorism and political genocide but Francophone rulers like President Paul Biya have refused to make a concession.

Whenever an international Anglo-Saxon personality like the former Commonwealth Secretary General Chief Emeka Anyaoku ,Kofi Annan or the great Nelson Mandela comes visiting, there is always a Cameroon government statement from the Chief Executive redefining the conduct of government and given impetus to bilingualism echoing that French and English were official languages of equal value and that bilingualism would be promoted throughout the country. Only God alone knows how Anglophone leaders have kept their faith in a president who himself has little regard for English because he has never throughout his 34 years in power addressed the nation in English.

President Biya has signed so many presidential decrees dishing-out special responsibility for the promotion of bilingualism yet it is still not obvious today in Cameroon to have sign posts in Douala, Yaoundé and other French-speaking towns in both languages as is the case in the North West and South West regions. Anglophones are still being turned away from public offices for making inquiries in English! Government ministers are still not obliged to deliver their speeches in English and French! Competence in both languages has till 2016 not become a necessary condition for promotion to senior public position! Presidential decrees and ministerial orders are still being published only in French!! There is still not a separate English radio and television channels for Anglophones to encourage the English Language and culture!

All these is happening under the watchful eyes of an Anglophone Prime Minister Yang Philemon who spent 25 years in Canada as Cameroon’s ambassador and who is suppose to be aware of the important lessons Canada’s bilingualism offers to the world. The Canadian federal government operates a code that defines the use of both English and French in such a way that officially both are of equal status. A national language board actually sees to it that the legal provisions for the equal use of the two languages are respected.

It is very disturbing that English which is the modern world’s language of science, technology, finance and business is been discouraged in a “Cameroun des grands ambition”. There are French speaking African countries such as Senegal that neither have Anglophones citizens nor have an official bilingual policy, but which have in response to globalization encouraged the use of English with remarkable results. The killing of innocent Southern Cameroonians will not bully us to submission. Change has come to Cameroon.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Editor-in-Chief 

Cameroon Concord News Group