The Cameroonian Unity

Reunification Monument

Cameroon is going through a turbulent period and this rough patch seemingly will last longer than expected. Since November 2016, the English speaking people of the country have been protesting against the regime and system of governance in what is popularly and erroneously called “The Anglophone Problem”. It all started with a memo addressed to the head of state by Common Law Lawyers from the former British Southern Cameroons in 2015 highlighting marginalisation, and assimilation of the people of Southern Cameroons. The response from the Government was orthodox (Silence-Arrogance-Disrespect). Cameroon is a bilingual country which is a product of the Former British Southern Cameroons and French Cameroon who came together through a constitutional Plebiscite of 1961 to form a Federal Republic. Cameroon was thus a country with a double heritage of its Culture, history, language, education and justice system. Given that the educational system was also affected by this marginalisation and assimilation, the teachers’ trade union of the Anglo-Saxon subsystem of education (Southern Cameroons) were also invited to down their pens, chalks and pencils. The response from the teaching community was sweeping and extraordinary across Southern Cameroons. All schools from Nursery to the Universities, private and denominational schools as well as public schools were all closed. This struggle rapidly gained legitimacy and support from all other sectors and quickly became the Southern Cameroon Struggle.

As written by Mwalimu George Ngwane in his article, “The Cameroonian Condition”, he asserts that, following the plebiscite in 1961, Cameroon subjected itself to an innovative model of governance by setting up a federal state. This brought together two nations that had carried from their colonial pasts the burden of divergent linguistic heritages. In Cameroon we can ask the question: “Why did the two Cameroons decide to reunite on 1 October 1961?” At the time President Ahmadou Ahidjo had this to say: “After more than forty years of separation, we are today reconstituting one family, one nation and one state. I express the wish that this reunification of the national territory should be the gauge and symbol of the unity of our hearts and minds.”

Reactions of the Government

In riposte to the strike action, government undertook some virtually inconsequential measures that were apparently aimed at solving the problems raised by the teachers and lawyers. But it was not just about teachers/Lawyers any longer as these trade unions had decided to come together under an umbrella civil society organisation (The Anglophone Civil Society Consortium). The government had to take some crucial decisions which started with;

          I.            The creation of an inter-ministerial ad hoc committee charged to look into the grievances of Teachers of the Anglophone subsystem of education. But it met its waterloo as the demands placed on the table had transcended into a peoples request-A return to a 2 state federation as it was before 1972. Unfortunately the ad hoc committee did not have the competency to address this request and the snail pace reaction thereafter from the regime only helped to push for more solidarity for southern Cameroons.

        II.      The next step ushered in by the regime was the indiscriminate, arbitrary arrest and kidnappings of consortium leaders (Agbor Balla, Dr Fontem Neba, Mancho Bibixy etc). Internet in Southern Cameroons completely shut down, the national communication council’s censorship on private media not to talk about Federalism. The most crooked of it all was the series of lies from CRTV and Issa Tchiroma, Arrogance from Laurent Esso and the diabolical gusto of Fame Ndongo. But this only went further to make the chronic divide in Cameroon deeper.

How United then are we?

The President and his cronies have always stated that Cameroon is one and indivisible. A declaration that hinges on the principles of unity in diversity as articulated in the CNU-CPDM manifesto and the constitution of Cameroon. If Cameroon was truly united as asserted by the proponents of the Indivisibility of Cameroon. How come that:

1. The Francophone community (east of the mungo) is yet to show solidarity to striking lawyers and teachers. It’s impossible to validate that a country that parades itself as the example of national unity would have one section of the country in peril while the other is celebrating. Teachers and lawyers east of the mungo would have shown their esprit de corps towards their peers;
2. Lawyers in Southern Cameroons had been out of court for quite some time. In spite of their momentous number in the Bar Council of Cameroon, there was little or no show of camaraderie from their mates of French Cameroon;
3. When Cameroon witnessed one of its bloodiest day in this struggle in Bamenda, the head of state was in Yaoundé celebrating with lionesses. While Bamenda was weeping, Yaoundé was in fanfare. In a supposed united and indivisible country;  
4. The series of arrest of civil society leaders of Anglophone extraction, including Justice Ayah Paul Abine has been without widespread condemnation. No one stood up for them, not even other civil societies, political parties, Magistrates etc east of the mungo. Not even the UPC party that prides itself as the cradle of the Re-unification of Cameroon.

Then came the most exacting and extraordinary action. A collective punishment was placed on the people of Southern Cameroon against all national and international laws. The decision to shut down the internet in this part of the country was repugnant to natural justice (Collective Punishment). But unfortunately, this is a country that preaches the promotion of a digital economy, where the president calls the youths “Génération Android” and uses youth slangs (dans la sauce), yet so far away from reality. Regrettably for the regime, Nji Collins, a product from the Silicon Mountain based in Buea, was this year’s winner of the Goggle Coding Challenge. He was the first African and at 17, he had to leave Bamenda to Mbouda to submit his bid. Since January 17^th, The Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon have been without internet. I am yet to see public denunciation from the people who are our brothers. We have seen how some French opinion holders have radicalised sentiments east of the mungo against the struggles of Southern Cameroons. But these individuals who flood TV panels to denigrate the struggle should remember that, Southern Cameroonians on their own voted to join them in 1961, fought for political plurality in Cameroon, pushed for freedom of speech and expression, unilaterally fought for an education board to which the BACC Exam board was a fallout.

My Take

With over 250 ethnicities and approximately 130 languages, Cameroon is known for its cultural and linguistic diversity. From the deep Equatorial rain forest of the south (with access to the Atlantic Ocean), through the grass field and savanna, to the northern arid regions (Open to the Sahara Desert), Cameroon is Africa in miniature. A country at the cross roads of Africa, sanctioned with Africa’s two most dominant cultures and languages (French and English). These cultures have been brought together in an uneasy and rather artificial unity under the umbrella of colonial styled administration for over a 56 years. One of the urgent needs of the country remains the establishment of the genuine unity which overrides the politically fragmented groups with their diverse languages and customs. But this unity doesn’t come through assimilation, but through the respect of diversities.

My observations from the 1996 constitutional law of decentralisation are wide and varied. If after 21 years since the law was promulgated, nothing tangible has been done is indicative of governments’ desire not to decentralise Cameroon.  Regional institutions still keep going back to the central government like in colonial days, when we had to wait on decisions from the centre in Paris or London. Secondly, the Law of 2004 completely makes nonsense of the question of decentralisation when it gives supervisory powers to Governors, SDO and DOs over regional/local elected officials. It’s more evident and palpable when you see the way the ruling CPDM is managed. This is a party that doesn’t believe that power is with the people. Otherwise, how can we explain the appointment of regional, divisional and sub divisional coordinators by the central committee to oversee locally elected section leaders?

 The minimum form of Governance that can guarantee the diversity of Cameroon and protect individual identities, values, specifications is a two state federation. As posited by Professor Verkijika Fanso, national unity in Cameroon is partially a reality and overwhelmingly a myth. He further states that, since unification, the interests of the Anglophone community concerning the country have generally been ignored. National unity can only be encouraged and promoted by taking into consideration the interests of the component parts. But when the views of one are imposed on the other in an effort to assimilate, resistance is certain and national unity becomes farfetched.