THE SIX FACETS OF THE ANGLOPHONE PROBLEM
By DAVID ABOUEM A TCHOYI, Former Governor of North West and South West
Six facets come to mind:
1- Criticism of the centralized state.
2- The transfer of decision centers in Yaounde, far from the populations and their problems.
3- The non-respect of the commitments relating to the taking into account, in an equitable manner, the cultures and institutional, legal, administrative traditions inherited from the former administering powers.
4- The non-respect of the solemn promises made during the referendum campaign.
5- The change of the name of the State: replacement of "the United Republic of Cameroon" by "the Republic of Cameroon".
6- The non-respect of bilingualism in the public sector, although the Constitution makes French and English two official languages of equal value.
I will review, in a cursory way, these different facets.
1) Criticism of the centralized state
.For having been stripped of the important skills exercised, in complete autonomy, the State of Western Cameroon, many compatriots in this part of the territory have developed a deep sense of nostalgia, discomfort, frustration and discomfort. this feeling was accentuated over the years following the advent of the unitary state. This is not simply nostalgia for a dream time more or less past. it is the comparison between the quality of public governance practiced since 1972 and that which was held in the federated state of western Cameroon which leads, systematically, a large number of actors to slaughter the first and to regret the second, many of whom wishrecovery.
restoration
reinstatement
resettlement
recuperation
pickup
re-establishment
this feeling is real even for those who have not known the self-government of western Cameroon as a federated state.
The conclusions of the Foumban Conference of July 1961 can be glossed over ad infinitumit is fair to recognize that it has given very important powers to the federated states, on a list of matters as important as they were to manage autonomously.
the federated states had broad and exclusive competences on important subjects such as the Interior, the Penitentiary Administration, Decentralization, Rural and Community Development, Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Public Works, Cooperatives ,Primary and Nursery Education, Energy and Water, Domains and Cadastre, Natural Resource Management, Federated Finance, etc. each federated state had its public function which it managed sovereignly.that of Western Cameroon was managed with the help of the "Public Service Commission", a kind of senior council of the civil service, responsible for ensuring the objectivity of appointments and promotions and the respect of ethical principles in the management of public services. careers.
the management of natural resources by the future federated States was particularly sensitive in July 1961. In separate interviews, J.N. Foncha, S.T. Muna and A.NThey told me that it had been the subject of heated discussions with the delegation of the Republic of Cameroon in Foumban, and then separately with President Ahidjo. they did not want any agreements previously signed with France to be applicable to the federated state of western Cameroon. according to them, it is also in the context of sharing income from the exploitation of certain natural resources (mines and hydrocarbons in particular) that they demanded and obtained that the population figure of each federated state should be clearly mentioned in the text of the
Federal Constitution of 1 September 1961.
Cameroon has been regarded as a constitutional curiosity, with a strong and unbalanced presidential regime at the federal level, but a classical parliamentary system at the state level.
in East Cameroon, classical parliamentarism could not function despite the provisions of the Constitution of that State, because of the unification of political parties and the fact that President Ahidjo continued to exert a daily influence on the management public affairsin that part of the territory he was already ruling as President of the Republic before Reunification. One remembers the resignation of a former prime minister of eastern Cameroon, Vincent de Paul Ahanda, in which he suggested that President Ahidjo would not let him assume his responsibilities.
but in Western Cameroon, parliamentary democracy was exercised fully, in accordance with the Constitution of that State. the elections were organized by an independent electoral commission created by a federal law of November 1961, the first in a country with French in common. by its composition, the mode of designation of its members and its rules of operation, it was really independent of the Executive and the Legislative. Its President, Justice Asonganyi confirmed this to me during an interview in Bamenda.
the government had to be invested by parliament before it took office and it was accountable to it. The two-chamber parliament -House of Assembly and House of Chiefs- was jealous of its prerogatives. President Ahidjo himself, despite all the authority he had, realized several times, especially in 1966.
Following the parliamentary elections held this year, the Kndp had the largest number of deputies at the House of Assembly. But its President, J.NFoncha, hitherto Vice-President of the Federal Republic and Prime Minister of Western Cameroon, could no longer cumulate these two functions, by virtue of a recently passed law. President Ahidjo decided to replace him by Hon. S.Tmuna he considered more federalist than No. 2, Augustine Ngom Jua. But the parliament sent him a firm message that he would refuse to invest in a government led by a minority party. Ahidjo was forced to appoint Augustine Ngom Jua, vice-president of the Kndp, whose autonomist tendencies irritated him.
Incidents have not been slow. firstly between the Prime Minister and the Federal Inspector of Administration for the region of Western Cameroon - it would say today Governor - which he considered to be on its territory. then between the Police, a federated force placed under the authority of the Prime Minister, and the National Gendarmerie, a federal force, which nearly came to an armed confrontation! Actors and witnesses of these incidents are still alive.
frustrations
the fact that all this was suppressed without being replaced, at the managerial level, by something better or even so good, has generated the frustrations and demands of which we are still living today. for example, appointments in the higher administration and the parapublic sector no longer corresponded to a legible rationality, and the anglophones felt marginalized. while, until then, everything was done locally in Western Cameroon, it was now necessary to go to Yaoundé to "follow the files". our compatriots from this part of the national territory came with the conviction that civil servants serving were actually in the service of the users. they were bewildered by the reception given to them by public officials who, despite the bilingual character of the state, forced them to gossip about a scarcely intelligible Englishman, often in the midst of laughter and jeering.
2) The transfer of decision centers to Yaoundé.
the decision centers, once close to the people and their problems, have all been transferred far from these to be concentrated in Yaoundé. consequences: hyper centralization, exasperating delays, multiple inefficiencies in public management, lack of accountability of leaders vis-à-vis the populations they have mission to serve. Two examples will suffice to illustrate it.
the government has decided to centralize at the National Civil Engineering Equipment Park (PNMGC) in Yaoundé all the civil engineering material hitherto held by the subdivisions of public works, in the chief towns of the regions and certain chief towns of the departments . all the machines in good condition of the former Public Works Department (PWD) of Western Cameroon were thus transferred to Yaoundé, to be now rented by the PNMGC. PWD agents, who controlled the rhythm of the seasons, began road maintenance two or three rains before the arrival of the dry season, to consolidate the roadway. So they wanted to do the same thing, the year after that centralization. when they asked to rent gear in the PNMGC, including those owned by them free-standing a few months earlier, they were told that the gear was on other sites; that the tank carriers were broken down; that the "cardboard" confirming the commitment of theirexpenditure had not yet come out of the Ministry of Finance; or other reasons.In front of the deplorable State of the road network which was getting worse, the populations threatened to revolt noisily. It was necessary to go back to the President of the Republic, after having knocked on all the doors without success, so that a beginning of solution could be found to this problem which became explosive. centralization, when you hold us!
Second example: the transfer to the National Water Company of Cameroon (SNEC), the management of water supplies until then provided by some municipalities. This government decision was not even explained to the people. however, the water supply had been realized from their own funds by municipalities and village communities, with or without the support of certain external partners. come to manage it and without having invested any franc, the SNEC took, as one of its first decisions, to reduce the number of standpipes.
In the city of Kumbo, the revolt almost turned into riots. the city's UNC mayor explained that the pipelines had been financed by the beneficiary populations themselves, that they regularly paid their receipts to the commune, that it was dangerous for the health of the populations to deprive them of their rights. drinking water ... nothing helped. a slogan spread like wildfire: "Beware of the snake! It has come to bite and kill. Ironic word game from the word SNEC. These angry populations were accused of "rebellion against established authority". it was necessary to go back to the level of the government so that a solution could be found to a problem of standpipes in communities of the hinterland. Centralization, when you hold us!
Cases of this nature and other matters of discontent have multiplied. it was not, of course, a malicious will of the Central Power, but rather an opposition between two administrative cultures: one, with reflexes instinctively centralizing, and the other, functioning by nature on the principle from empowerment to differenthierarchical levels of organizations.It is interesting to note that the francophone populations, which suffered the same effects of this hypercentralization, did not have the same reactions. Still a cultural problem. indeed, and our anglophone brethren could understand it without difficulty, francophones pose many acts without even realizing that they indispose, and not at all by malice. I take the example of the names of our administrative districts.
when the regions were created in 1962, the administrative districts formerly known as the "Bamileke Region" and "Bamoun Region" were regrouped to form the Western Administrative Region. Rightly, because it was West of Eastern Cameroon. but west of the territory of the federal state was western Cameroon, rightly called West Cameroon. During the transformation of the regions into provinces in 1972, that of the West became the western province, while the eastern Cameroon had just disappeared! our country is the only one in the world where the Northwest and the Southwest are contiguous! Whereas, as our teachers have taught us, between the North West and the South West, extends the West.
To better understand how our English-speaking brothers feel, let's reverse the situation.
on 1 January 1960 Southern Cameroon became independent. He negotiates the conditions of reunification with French-speaking Cameroon. This reunification is carried out on October 1st, 1961.During the negotiations, French-speaking Cameroon obtains the guarantee that the federal form of the state is forever intangible. An article of the Federal Constitution of 1 September 1961 enshrines this guarantee. however, the federal state was terminated on May 20, 1972, and a unitary state was established. From Kribi to Ndikiniméki, from Batouri to Tibati, from Poli to Kousséri .... the populations are now obliged to go to Buéa to follow their files. They are required to speak English. in front of haughty and mocking public officials, who are quick to make fun of them, even those who have never learned English are forced to confuse a Cameroonian who is hard to understand ...
who could honestly say that francophones would have been satisfied with such a situation, to the point of indulging in it and keeping quiet?
3) The non-respect of the solemn promises made during the referendum campaign.
the promises made during the campaign for the "Yes" vote in the referendum and which had determined a large number of voters to vote in this direction on May 20, 1972, have barely been respected. this is particularly the case for the acceleration of development which, in these two regions, should result from the savings achieved by the abolition of the institutions and organizations of the federated States. the agents of the federal government and the party of the UNC had indeed promised the asphalting of the roads, the construction of dams, the urbanization of the cities, the development of the border zones, etc. I personally attended some of these speeches, having been part of the team of the Political Secretary of the UNC and Minister of the Federal Territorial Administration (I served then as director of the organization of the territory in this ministry).
4) The non-respect of the commitments relating to the equitable consideration of the institutional, legal and administrative cultures and traditions inherited from colonization.
Whether we like it or not, British colonization, like French colonization, has produced an institutional, political, administrative, managerial, and other culture and traditions. She has also fashioned ways of reasoning and living. it was therefore necessary to take into account, in a fair way, despite the end of the federal state, this double heritage of the Anglo-Saxon and French systems. The State of Cameroon was committed to it.
Thus, in the aftermath of the institution of the unitary state, the political discourse emphasized the bilingual and multicultural nature of the state. Emphatically, it was affirmed that taking into account the positive elements of our double colonial heritage would enrich the positive values of our centuries-old traditions, the invigorating sap of our progress towards progress. the National Council of Higher Education and Scientific Research, as well as the National Council of Cultural Affairs, organized in
1974, helped to define the profile of this new Cameroonian
It was also one of the strong commitments made by President AHIDJO to S.TmUNA and JN FONCHA, when he consulted them on the immediate institution of a unitary State before delivering his speech of 6 May 1972. These two former Vice-Presidents of the Republic told me so, during interviews in their homes.
in the eyes of some populations in the Northwest and Southwest, this commitment was not respected
.French-speaking compatriots often criticize their English-speaking brothers for their inclination to refer, almost obsessively, to the Anglo-Saxon colonial legacy, as if it was the colonial legacy that was to structure relations between communities long united by ofmultiple links, even before the beginning of colonization.at the same time, they relish with delight to "their" French colonial heritage.our Constitution, our institutions, our administrative organization, our system of decentralization, our financial system, the overwhelming majority of our legislative and regulatory texts ... come from the French colonial heritage. sometimes even, we engage in simple transpositions, some of which can go as far as photocopying, as when setting up the National Observatory of Elections (ONEL).
yet we could - and still can - capitalize on this multicultural heritage, to give our country more appropriate and better standards. Is our Code of Criminal Procedure not there to give an eloquent proof?
this penchant for institutional mimicry has prompted protest movements such as the "Cameroon Action Movement" to affirm that French-speaking Cameroon was proactively pursuing French colonization in western Cameroon. The movement, which originated in 1979 and was probably based abroad, circulated many leaflets in Cameroon, most of them mailed from Canada and the United States. these pamphlets denounced, pell-mell, the marginalization of English speakers, treated as second-class citizens; the Frenchization of Cameroon, in defiance of the equality of the two colonial legacies; the transformation of the National Assembly into a single registration chamber, contrary to whatwas happening in western Cameroon; excessive centralization; the multiplicity and complexity of procedures; the abandonment of development priorities that were those of western Cameroon before unification, with the consequence of slowing development in this partof the territory ; etc.Conscious of the impact of these messages whose media accumulated, President AHIDJO sent to Bamenda and Buea strong delegations made up of members of the government, the political bureau and the central committee of the UNC. their mission was to give back the facts in their truth, to give explanations to the populations, to warn them against the harmfulness of such messages, and to lower the tension. then he set up a high-level ad hoc committee to reflect on the Anglophone problem.
Only three of the members of this committee are still alive, by the grace of God: H.E.MPaul Biya, then Prime Minister; Mrs. Dorothy Limunga Njeuma, then Deputy Minister of National Education; myself, then Governor of the North-West Province. All the others have already preceded us. I will quote from memory: Solomon Tandeng Muna, President of the National Assembly, Chairman of the Committee; Ministers of State / Ministers Samuel Eboua; Sadou Daoudou; Victor Ayissi Mvodo; Emmanuel Egbé Tabi; Namata Elangwe; Christian Songwe Bongwa; Joseph Chongwain Awunti; the MP andAdministrative Secretary of UNC, Thomas Ebongalamé; the Permanent Secretary for National Defense, Samuel Kamé; the Director General of the DIRDOC, Jean Fochivé; the governor of the Southwest; Fon Fosi Yakum Ntaw ....
I was appointed rapporteur of this Committee. Professional secrecy prohibits me from disclosing here the findings, conclusions and recommendations contained in our report. however, out of respect for the historical truth, I must point out that none of the members of this committee have any doubt about the existence of an Anglophone problem in Cameroon.
The work lasted a whole week. After reading our report, the President of the Republic decided to receive, individually, each member of this committee. I remember that on this occasion, he gave me his point of view on the various contours of this question, before asking for concrete proposals on the specific aspects of my province.
recognized at the time as real by the highest authorities of the state, the English problem would have disappeared, as if by magic? Certainly not. Especially since some facts have been added to an already complex situation.
5) The change of the name of the State: replacement of "the United Republic of Cameroon" by "the Republic of Cameroon"
At its accession to independence, the former State under French tutelage had taken the name of "Republic of Cameroon". it was with the Republic of Cameroon that Southern Cameroon negotiated the conditions for reunification. at the advent of the latter, the Republic of Cameroon became the Federated State of Eastern Cameroon, and Southern Cameroon, the Federated State of Western Cameroon, within the Federal Republic.
the change of name of the State in 1984- abandonment of the United Republic of Cameroon and return to the Republic of Cameroon- was perceived in many circles as a simple phagocytosis of former West Cameroon by the former Eastern Cameroon. the most pessimistic have seen a clear desire to remove, even in terms of symbols, the contribution of the former West Cameroon to reunification and the building of a larger nation.
this change of name has also brought home to many compatriots in the north-west and south-west the feeling of constituting a "distinct entity". the one whose populations, supremely, had chosen to find brothers and sisters of another "entity" from which they had been separated, so that both live in harmony and equality. for the extremists, it was therefore necessary, not only to resist "this phagocytosis", but also to perpetuate this "entity" through a name that would recall the history of this part of the national territory. The name "Ambazonia" seemed to respond to this concern.
Where does this name come from ? before Portuguese explorers reached the Wouri and gave it the name of "Rio dos Cameroes," they had docked in Limbe Bay. The saint of the day was St. Ambrose, in the Julian calendar (we are in 1492). they gave this bay the name of "Ambass Bahia", Baie Ambroise. Under the influence of English, this name became "Ambass Bay". This is the origin of the dance whose spelling has been Frenchized to become "ambass-ae" or "ambassibé" or something else. but the name of Ambazonia was not unanimous. Hence the return to that of "Southern Cameroon".
For the sake of truth, it should be noted that the inspirers of this name change were in good faith: I discussed with some of them. brilliant academics freshly integrated into the strategic circles of decision at the top of the state, they were still little informed of some realities of deep Cameroon, and only developing the reflex to summon them when preparing the decisions of the authoritiesin order to guarantee a healthy reception by the different segments of the social body.at no time had it occurred to them to embarrass some of their compatriots. Their reasoning was rather the following.
National unity had been the credo of the public authorities under the federal state and the united republic. the election of President Biya at the end of December 1983 marked the entry of Cameroon into the era of National Renewal. the National Renewal postulating that it was necessary to go from national unity to its higher phase, national integration, this passage constituted a true mutation, which had to be reflected through the very name of the State. the United Republic of Cameroon should therefore "become" the Republic of Cameroon.
The bill introduced on the National Assembly Bureau was worded as follows: "From the date of promulgation of this law, the United Republic of Cameroon becomes the Republic of Cameroon". it is a parliamentary amendment that has resulted in the current formulation: "... the United Republic of Cameroon takes the name of the Republic of Cameroon"; formulation of the remainder incorrect, on the legalistic level. the inspectors of this project did not realize that instead of a transfer, it was rather a return in the name of the State of Cameroon under French supervision at its accession to independence , a quarter of a century ago.
the tabling of this bill caused a stir in many people in the North West and South West Provinces. .In Buea where I served then, I was personally questioned by dozens of people, including UNC officials, who were asking for the meaning, the opportunity and the justification for this return to the pre-Reunification situation. . In Yaoundé, the ministers from both English-speaking provinces were all upset. Many are alive and can testify to it.
Some North-West and South-West MPs even advocated an open sling, and recommended a negative vote. they were all around the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Right Honorable S.T. Muna.after long and animated exchanges, they rallied to the position of the President of the Assembly and other moderate deputies who found it untimely to raise a slinging wind, because of the circumstances of the moment. Their argument was both logical and patriotic. noting that the conflict between the former President of the Republic and his successor had reached worrying proportions, they felt that a wave of rebellion in the English-speaking provinces at that time would undoubtedly weaken the new President, and give arguments tothose who opposed him.April 6, 1984they gave up the sling, but instructed the President of the National Assembly to draw the attention of the President of the Republic to the state of mind of the people in their constituencies, and to ask him to find, with wisdom father of the Nation, a solutionsatisfactory for all.the concerns about this law only faded because of the occurrence, in this troubled period, of serious events: the death sentence of the former president of the republic, and the mutiny of the Republican Guard on 06 April 1984.everyone understood that at such times, the whole people had to stand before their leaders.
6) The non-respect of bilingualism in the public sector, although the Constitution makes French and English two official languages of equal value.
of the six facets of the English-speaking problem mentioned above, which would be insusceptible of solutions? Any ! Absolutely none. So what to do?
History has given Cameroonians a sublime challenge: to build, from the singular path of their country, a united state, capable of constituting a model of integration of the various colonial legacies and its traditional multisecular values. if it succeeds, it can serve as a model or reference for all English-speaking, French-speaking, Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa. It could thus constitute the epitome of African Unity. This challenge can be met. It must be.
however, this can only be done with humility, in dialogue, consultation and cordial understanding. Neither the power of numbers nor the military force can achieve this. Indeed, it is well known, "the opinions are like nails: the more one hits on them, the more one drives them".
no mistake !
Do not make the mistake of taking this problem high. We might have bitter awakenings; or it will be our children and grandchildren who will have it.
When I read the word Boko Haram for the first time in a newspaper, I was abroad. I then asked a Nigerian consultant colleague about this group. With a smirk, he replied, "you know, it's just an insignificant group of illuminated fanatics." in front of the thousands of dead, the hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced, the hundreds of billions of francs used to fight this nebula, or the suffering without name which it continues to impose, nobody could hold such a language today . What happened ? boko Haram has found support outside. Let's not wait for compatriots who are uncomfortable and who cry out their ill-being, who one day, in despair, come to seek support outside.
We talk well with criminals, to free hostages! Let us discuss with all compatriots who feel the need, to free Cameroon from threats to peace, stability and security.
In the 1960s in France, unitary state and millennium, the Liberation Front of Britain (FLB) denounced what he called the "French colonialism in Britain." trainee in a prefecture in western France, I saw some of its militants brandishing the flag of the FLB instead of the French flag. Today, only historians still talk about the FLB. it is not the result of a war; nor of an embellishment of all the protagonists of the FLB. It is the consequence of a political offer, the result of a republican dialogue.
A few years ago, I was talking to the Dr.ngwang Gumne, one of the main leaders of the secessionist movement, with whom we had served in Bamenda. By chance, we were in Sweden, happy to see each other again. After more than two hours of discussions, he had this sentence: "my brother, as no one wants to listen to us, everyone will eventually hear us". I pointed out to him that he always called me his brother, whereas during all our discussions I was arguing against secession. With a smile, he said: "It's you in Yaoundé who do not want to listen to us".
Let us listen to all the children of our country. without prejudices, as requested by the President of the Republic in his message to the Nation on December 31, 2016. Offer to all our compatriots frameworks for discussion and consultation, to address our problems without bias, and solve them with sincerity in the truth.
what is going on with lawyers and teachers is going in the right direction. But do not limit ourselves to the treatment of what constitutes only manifestations, even mere symptoms. In all its complexity and depth, let us talk about the Anglophone problem. With courage and determination, we must provide satisfactory and convincing solutions. All citizens of our country will benefit. For peace in justice. For the good of the nation. For the sake of the homeland.
David Abouèm in Tchoyi
Consultant
former governor of the Spthen of the North-West;
Former Minesup;
Former Sg / Pr
