NW/SW brothers and sisters,
Corrupt world organizations and greedy foreign nations that do business with Mr. Biya now support his vacuous call for dialogue on the anglophone crisis. We need to use this national dialogue to prove that Mr. Biya’s government cannot guarantee the barest minimum of our demands, which must include a ten-state federation and his resignation. We can then justifiably push forward with the anglophone campaign for a change of govt and subsequent structured dialogue with the new president.
Mr. Biya and his French masters are fixated on their failed decentralized unitary state. Mr. Biya also denies marginalization claims. Anglophones must use effective strategies to defend their interests and seek justice for their traumatic experience in this civil war. As being pursued, anglophones are about to embarrass themselves with incoherent demands and continuous begging.
The minimum outcome of a dialogue must be a ten-state federation, development projects, compensation for damaged/stolen property by government forces during this senseless war, allowances for orphans, widows and widowers of civilians killed, and Mr. Biya’s resignation within a year for his past failures coupled with unconstitutional behavior. These are the minimum. Many more demands can be elaborated as in our previous work. Failure to obtain these minimum demands, anglophones must intensify the demand for the immediate resignation of Mr. Biya.
Let’s look at some of the issues at stake:
1. Marginalization – guilty as charged
a. Mr. Biya stole the presidential victory of our brother, Ni John Fru Ndi, in 1992. This was partly motivated by the view that anglophones are nothing in this country. Mr. Biya’s blatant election theft open the floodgates for illegal behavior at all levels of government. The worst victims of this new culture are anglophones. They are less than citizens, sometimes, inviting hatred from francophone colleagues because of their above average integrity.
b. Mr. Biya claims there is no marginalization because prime ministers since Mr. Achu have been anglophones. This is his method. He devalued the office of the prime minister so that the token anglophones only act as puppet. Mr. Ngoh Ngoh at the presidency condescending gives orders to the current prime minister who hardly meets with the almight god, Paul Biya. As if this devaluation is not enough, when francophones steal from the govt, the poor anglophone prime minister is also locked up like Chief Noni.
c. The atmosphere of lawlessness unleashed in 1992 cannot permit implementation of whatever solutions can be found in this dialogue. Mr. Biya must therefore resign for the seed of hope to grow.
2. Justice for errors of the past
a. Truth and reconciliation in NW/SW regions because of this war. We demand justice for victims and welfare provisions for orphans, widows and widowers of civilians killed
b. Major infrastructure in NW/SW, including rehabilitation and further development of airports as well as construction of a railway line from Douala to Bamenda and Mamfe. Limbe seaport is still awaited.
c. Correction of under-representation in many public and private sectors with slight over-representation before transition to equilibrium equitable opportunities
Observation: Given the dysfunctional, corrupt, incompetent and lawless government structure that Mr. Biya has set up, this rectification of past errors cannot be done in a timely and economic manner. The whole Biya system must be shaken up through resignation of Mr. Biya.
3. Institutional reform to guarantee welfare of anglophones in future
a. Ten-state federation as compromise between potentially separatist two-state federation and useless decentralized unitary state. Anglophones should stop saying “form of state should be on the table”; we are not begging or debating, we demand it as the least acceptable correction of the gross injustice of 1972. If Mr. Biya is not open to reform the constitution toward that end, we demand his resignation (many prevailing laws were dictated by him to his slavish parliament).
b. Presidential term reduction to five years and presidential term limits to two terms
c. Streamline bureaucracy at the seaport, streamline red tape that frustrates entrepreneurs, dual nationality to encourage investment, functional oversight of government to prevent embezzlement, increased automated payment methods into state coffers, etc.
d. Given the long-term nature of these reforms, all major opposition parties must participate. Mr. Kamto must be released and must take part in these reforms. There is a reasonable probability that he will be the third president of Cameroon.
e. BIR must be dismantled and absorbed into the regular army. This foreign-run unit is a medieval instrument of repression and barbarism. It is also a channel for disportionate channeling of money into greedy weapon market of Mr. Biya’s allies in crime.
Observation: Mr. Biya has neither the desire nor energy to carry out these institutional changes, himself being old and a usurper of power. Anglophones must therefore follow up this inability with a clear call for Mr. Biya to resign.
4. Protection of anglophone specificities:
a. Greater autonomy for anglophone universities; professors to be hired by universities, deans and department heads to be appointed as in other anglo saxon universities.
b. Expansion of educational institutions following the anglo saxon tradition anywhere in the national territory must acknowledge in certain way, the anglophone contribution to the development of this progressive educational culture
c. Common law courts in NW/SW and at least a bilegal court in every region with competent magistrate. Legal cultures around the world that mix common and civil law should be studied as template for interaction between the two (Scotland, South Africa, California, Texas, etc.)
d. No gendarmes in NW/SW; the mobile wing of the police can be re-established and trained in a humane manner.
e. Defamation charges should only be civil cases, not criminal in NW/SW regions
Observation: Mr. Biya is an expert in French colonial administration; he is not in a position to understand the logic of these demands let alone entertain their satisfaction. Anglophones must therefore present these demands and proceed to demand that Mr. Biya resign immediately.
5. Ayuk Tabe and co, other separatist leaders
a. We are aware of the sentencing of Ayuk Tabe and co. We want anglophones to bear in mind that their sentencing is much to be envied by those of us who have lost many innocent relatives in this senseless war jointly cooked up by ambazonians and the Biya regime. As for the judgment, by trying to establish their ambazonian nationality, we knew that their ambazonian activist lawyers had worsened the prospects of their acquittal. We will join voices to ask for a reduction of their prison terms to about 5 years as part of the dialogue outcome while we demand immediate release of non-violent detainees with no leadership positions.
b. We ask ambazonian leaders to tell us how the swiss dialogue went or is going
c. Separatists should realize that they have failed us and have no way forward. All international organizations and foreign nations now support the vacuous dialogue for internal resolution of the crisis within the framework of a united Kamerun.
d. We continue to warn against the ill-advised strategy of trying to defeat ambazonians. A recent study reported by Cardinal Tumi confirms that over 69% anglophones blindly support separation. This is in line with our earlier estimate of 70%. That means despite occasional violence from amba boys, the population supports them. The govt forces have prioritized killings over arrests and they venture into areas to intimidate the populations to renounce their support for ambazonia. From the announcement of the dialogue, we demand that all govt forces serving in an area where civilians are killed, be subject to investigation for complicity. All killers, govt or amba will be identified and punished.
Observation 1: Anglophone elite should stop confusing things; those in prison for separation and school boycott can benefit from clemency at the end of resolution of the crisis, not upfront. Some will be set free and others can best hope for a term reduction.
Observation 2: Mr. Biya surrendered the anglophone crisis to the military and his BIR mercernary. They got the message that they can do what they want, including war crimes. Now, Mr. Biya is afraid to bring these soldiers to justice for extra judicial killings, arson, etc. He will therefore deny us the most basic demand to cope with the trauma experienced by our people. We must articulate the demand for justice and compensation with the hope to get a rejection and then proceed to demand very strongly that Mr. Biya should therefore resign.
In summary, anglophones should stop saying x or y should be on the table; we should have clear demands with justification. We know that Mr. Biya will say no. We therefore only want justification for a more unified and amplified call for Mr. Biya to resign immediately. The constitution must be followed to seek the new president for further structured dialogue.
One Kamerun in Peace and Unity (without President Biya, without French colonial intrigues)
English Cameroon for a united Cameroon
sept 16, 2019
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