Cameroon is often described as “Africa in miniature”for it’s geographical and human diversity. Cameroon’s diversity, which should be an asset has become the source of one of the most neglected crisis in the world.Cameroon is composed of two English speaking and eight French speaking regions.This double linguistic feature is a legacy of history until the end of the first world war the country was aGerman protectorate and subsequently administered underthe United Nations trusteeship by France and Great Britain.Understanding the country’s history is essential to better comprehend the situation and challenges currently being faced as she celebrates her golden jubilee of the unitary state. Cameroon history and politics are closely linked to France, which has had a significant impact on the imposition of a single party rule in the country,while Cameroon look to new partners, France continues to maintain a strong influence over the political elite of the regime, to such anextent that it can be seen as interventionism.President Ahmadou Ahidjo led the country from the independence of its French administered part in January 1960 and stayed in power until 1982,when he handed power over to Paul Biya his constitution heir who had been serving as Prime Minister.In addition to being head of state,Paul Biya also took thereign of the national union which he relabelled as Cameroon People’sDemocratic Movement (CPDM)in 1985.Since 1960 Cameroonians have been subject to two leaders and were never given the right to choose theirPresident. The imposition of a leader as well as an inadequate and fallacious electoral system led to a complete political lockdown.

The Challenges to the Unitary State

The challenges of the unitary state are enormous.The reunification of the two Cameroons (British Southern Cameroon and French Cameroon) ushered in a new constitution that paved the way for the creation of a Federal Republic of Cameroon on October 1961. It should be noted that five years later in 1966,Ahidjo transformed the party, Cameroon union (CU) into the Cameroon national union (CNU), the entity which evolved into the Cameroon People democratic movement (CPDM).Initially,the statutes and regulations establish made the (CU) as a party of the masses that intended to develop a national conscience when in reality it gradually suppressed free political expression.Subsequently the (CNU) claimed to be a unified party respecting the diversity of the country.However, in 1972 a referendum put an end to federalism and led to the creation of United Republic of Cameroon.

In April 1975President Ahmadou Ahidjo began a new four-year presidential term.In June of the same year, a constitutional referendum approved the creation of the Prime Minister’s position which was entrusted to Paul Biya.In April 1980 Ahmadou Ahidjo offered himself a fifth term which ended prematurely due to health reasons. President Ahidjo resigned and Paul Biya succeeded him on 6 November 1982, a date that represent the start of a 39-year reign-seven terms at the helm of the country

The Anglophone Conundrum

An Anglophone is a person speaking English especially where English is not the only spoken language. This definition include a Cameroonian whose first official language is French.As far as Cameroon is concerned,the territory and it’s indigenes have experience three colonial masters and ipso-facto,three distinct foreign languages.The grievances of the Anglophones may be classified under the political, economic and social domain, politically according tothe Buea declaration the problem of the Anglophone stems from the intolerant and hypocritical attitude of the francophones. The Anglophone accused the francophone of breaching a trust and “Lack of openness in matters of public interest” In the words of all Anglophones Conference (ACC) standing committee.Through maneuvers and manipulations.We Anglophone have been reduced from partners of equal status in the union (Cameroon Federation) to the status of subjugated people the AAC went on to Say; it was clear the majority in one state would not be allowed to impose it’s will onthe other state. In 1972, all this was disregarded… The 1972 the referendum was illegal so far as it was not in conformity with the procedure which the construction itself had laid down…the unconstitutionality of the referendum of 20 may 1972 attaches to and affects all enactments following there from.

Another deep rooted grievance of the Anglophone was in1984,when the Biya government changed the official designations of the country from the United Republic of Cameroon to the Republic of Cameroon.This was done amidst strong protest from the Anglophone because the appellation “Republic of Cameroon”was what French Cameroon adopted at in 1960.

Furthermore, the increasing monopolisation of strategic and politically sensitive posts by Francophone did notgo unnoticed by Anglophones. As at 1991 according to Joseph Takougang 37 of the 47 Senior Divisional Officers were Beti (Francophones),as were three quarters of the directors and general managers of parastatals and 22 of the 38 high ranking bureaucrats who had been appointed in the newly created offices of the Prime minister

Between April and June1991 the opposition called for anti-government protests that resulted in riots in several regions of the country.Civil disobedience operation called “dead cities” took place across the country.The strikes extended to August 1991,and dealt a severe blow to the country’s economy. The opposition was mobilized and gained support through demonstrations that left dozens of people dead.In the face of these events, president Biya held a national Tripartite Conference with the participation of delegations from the regime, the opposition, and civil society to negotiate a democratic transition. He supported a multiparty system by suppressing the “counter subversive” legislation put in place in by his predecessor, thereby reinstating the freedom of association and the freedom of press.This conference had a positive impact on president Biya’s popularity.Once the opposition compromised and the strike ended. President Biya failed to implement the conclusions of the tripartite conference.The democratization process was non-existent in practice, electoral fraud remained pervasive and the government has instrumentalized the judiciary and the police against the opposition.

The ongoing socio-political quagmire in the two Anglophone regions of Cameroon since November 21,2016 after lawyers and teachers embarked on indefinite strike to protest against marginalization, the court and schools were grounded as the crisis took a different twist that plunged the Anglophone into upheavals.In this regard,uptil date, it is estimated that about (80%) eighty percent of schools in Anglophone Cameroon are not functioning due to the crisis

Another impediment to national unity in the country is the Boko Haram insurgency in the Far North and refugees crisis emanating from central African Republic and Nigeria and of late, the ethnic clashes in the town of Kousseri,Logone and Chari Division between the herders and farmers over water resources that has become scarce as a result of the climate change. The violence has displaced more than 100000 people both inside Cameroon and across the borders into Chad according to United Nations high commission for refugees in Cameroon (UNHCR).

The amendment of the constitution in 2008 caused political tension in the country.The government initiated a bill number 819/PJL/AN in 2008 which extended the powers of the president and enable him to bere-elected without any restrictions.On 10 April 2008, the National Assembly largely dominated by the presidential majority voted, overwhelming in favour of the 1996 constitution paving the way for a new seven-year term for President. The previous constitution stated that the president shall be eligible for re-election once. whereas the new constitution states Article 6(2)(new) the president of the Republic shall be elected for a term of office of 7(seven) years.He shall be eligible for re-elections fifteen. Parliamentarians of the S.D.F left the hemicycle shortly before the vote in protest against what they called a “constitutional coup”.

The way forward to harness national unity and social cohesion

To move the country forward in it’s development strives, our leaders and political elites should moralised politics. morality is unique in a number of ways. it is morality that can help government to make policies capable of bringing development to the society.It is also on moral grounds that we can criticize bad government and policies.It’s morality that can prevent government from enacting arbitrary and socially iniquitous or inhumane laws that can deprive citizens of their fundamental rights.Morality promotes love, truth, harmony and social peace, stability in our beloved nation. A glaring example of political moralization is the case of Kenya where the incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta of the Jubilee Party has opted to support his longtime arch rival and former Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga of the opposition Orange Democratic Party for his bid in the upcoming presidential elections in August 2022. This is what political scientists described as politics of vision to move the country forward. This is an example to emulate from an Anglo-Saxon country enshrined with the virtues of the Westminster parliamentary democracy from her former colonial master Britain.  

To solve the socio-political conundrum in the two Anglophone regions, inclusive talks should have as ultimate objectives to write the wrongs of the 1961, that led to the annexation and colonial occupation of the British Southern Cameroon by “la Republic du Cameroun”.A key tool for peace building is open dialogue at the local and national levels on fundamental issues are either at the root of the conflicts or are the effects of the war.Key issues that needs to be at the heart of national dialogue include ethnicity, human rights, political representation and the rights of minorities (Anglophone in Cameroon) some of these issues have remained a taboo and therefore no systematic efforts have been under taken to understand their contours and resolve them unless those issues cited above are subjected to open honest and constructivedialogue, they will not be resolved.At the moment there are many independent adhoc organizations at the local level that drive initiatives to build peace by addressing specific issues like the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration in Bamenda andBuea (DDR) of the ex-combatants, capacity building and peace education etc. While these efforts are commendable their effectiveness is limited.A national peace building and development frame work is needed to leverage these local initiative to support the post conflict construction agenda.In this regard, the Republic of Cameroon can learn from successful experience in other countries in the continent, such as south Africa with the truth and reconciliation commission and Burundi, with the national debate on ethnic division organized in the late 1980s ,early 1990s that cemented peace.

Institutions and state building

It should be important to state here that two problems of state building need to be addressed, an economic problem regarding the management of fiscal decentralization and a political problem namely overcoming the legacy of exclusionary politics.The fiscal decentralization agenda must be designed and implemented in such a way that:

• It ensures gradual devolution of fiscal power to the local communities along with decentralization of responsibilities in the provision of public goods
• It minimizes imbalances across regions through redistribution of resources by the central state
• Build technical capacity at the local level in public finance management
• Establish and enforce mechanisms for transparency in public sector management.

On the other hand addressing the political problem of state building requires

• Institutional mechanisms that ensure adequate representation of demographic minorities in all branches of government and in the society system.
• Ensuring constitutional rules on elections and democratic representation of all segments of population.

Regional Integration as a “Development Bond”

          The peace building and post conflicts reconstruction agenda must leverage regional integration as a “development bond” to improve and consolidate the relations between Cameroon and its neighbours in the CEMAC region.

The focus should be on:

• Building and expanding the regional infrastructure network especially in power generation and transportation.
• Promoting regional trade integration through implementation of regional protocols on movement of goods, capital and people.
• Integrating projects with high potential for horizontal and vertical linkages.

Finally, the security sector reform strategy involves the reform of the judiciary system to equip it with the necessary technical and material capacity to systematically investigate and prosecute all violations of human rights and other forms of aggression against the public by members of the police and military forces. The justice system must send a clear message to the security forces and reassure the public that abuses against people’s right will not be tolerated and that no one is above the law. It is also critical to ensure political independence of the judiciary system, which requires amongst other things fair and equitable access to the profession by members of all regions and ethnic groups. 

Conclusion

There is no gain saying that political and economic stability can enhance positive development in Cameroon.However, if necessary, ideals or processes are not put in place to fight corruption, development cannot be achieved.To this end, the mindset factor which can be described as a set of ideas that shape one’s behavior and outlook and place the interest of the society far above that of the self is crucial.It include the shunning of corruption as well as acts of patriotism and support of the national identity.

Dr. TARH Humphrey NTANTANG

Department of Economic and Social History

University of Yaoundé I

Email: humphreytarhhum@mail.com