MAITRE Honore Ngam Writes to Biya

Open letter to H.E Paul Biya, newly re-elected President of Cameroun

Your Excellency,

I followed your inaugural address on the 6 November 2018 with keen attention and with particular focus on your plan to end the raging war in the North West Region and South West Region. 

Your Excellency, permit me to recall that the conflict in the North West Region and South West Region is the outcome of long standing acrimony within the Anglophones over the abrogation of the two states federation in 1972 and the subsequent marginalization and  assimilation of Anglophones. The strike action of lawyers and teachers that began in 2016 merely constituted a milestone in Anglophone resistance to marginalization and subjugation. This explains why the sectoral demands of the lawyers and teachers quickly morphed into a political, economic, social and humanitarian crisis that has been escalating by the day.

As a consequence of the conflict, it is estimated that over 1000 lives have been lost, hundreds of thousands internally displaced, over 30 000 refugees, villages torched, over 1000 persons incarcerated, disruptive school attendance, livelihoods destroyed as a consequence of the breakdown of law and order in most almost all the towns and villages of these regions. 

In the light of the preceding,  a call to lay down arms will yield fruit if it is accompanied by a comprehensive peace plan that addresses the root causes of the conflict with a view to providing a lasting solution to grievances that span decades.

This conflict is a political conflict requiring a political settlement and not the use of force which so far has proven to be counter productive. The result of the military option has actually been an escalation of the conflict. 

It therefore behooves Your Excellency to review your plan for the resolution of the conflict in the North West Region and South West Region and seriously consider seeking a lasting political solution to the conflict as soon as possible.

Thank you for your kind attention. 

Respectfully,

Senator. Honoré NGAM 

North West Constituency