Cracks appear within Anglophone Ranks in Cameroon

-As killings, Economic hardships hit the Ceiling!

Some accusing fingers point at blind obedience of injunctions from manipulators in Diaspora while others hint at possible manipulations to beef up tribal sentiments!

The unprecedented unity seen among Cameroonians of the Northwest and Southwest Regions since the onset of what has come to be referred to as the “Anglophone Crisis” is slowly giving way under the pressures of increasing casualties, economic hardships and other outside pressures and possible manipulations.

The first major crack has been seen in the strong criticism by some home based English Speaking Cameroonians of utterances or voices from the Diaspora consistently posting propaganda that simply encourages war and at the same time throwing a blind eye to the security situation of the vulnerable families on the ground. Some of these posts have warned that the “Ambazonian War of Independence” will be taken to Douala and Yaounde.

According to critics of these posts on social media from the Diaspora, Anglophones will find themselves in an awkward confrontational position against French speaking Cameroonians who outnumber them in unimaginable proportions. According to this line of thought, this will be tantamount to walking along an open boulevard towards genocide or to put it lightly massacre. 

Mark Bareta increasingly considered controversial by some anglophones.

In the same vein a group of Cameroonians in the Diaspora who call themselves “The Abakwa Boys Club” have described some Anglophone Cameroonians living in the Diaspora as a disgrace. This group through an audio message calls on Cameroonians to listen to nobody from the Diaspora including them. “Most of us in the Diaspora have an agenda, I know our agenda. So back home you have to make that conscious decision on what is good or bad for you. Don’t take any injunctions from anybody claiming to be taking instructions from a group of people. It is a lie. It doesn’t work that way. You cannot rule a people by proxy. Please, don’t get me wrong. I understand what you people are going through back home and I understand how tyranic Mr Biya’s regime is and some of us in the Diaspora have just copied the same mindset as that of the President and are pasting it on you because we think that we are no longer in harm’s way. Please I am talking today so that we should put an end to this double standard. Anybody who is taking injunctions from the Diaspora or from a group is doing so at their own risk.”

 This gentleman who identified himself as Paddy of the London Branch of the “Abakwa Boys Club” further said people in the Diaspora send money home to boys in their areas of origin to create militia groups who in turn kidnap people to get money from them. “It is a scheme to kidnap and burgle business people and nobody has the right to tell somebody not to sell whatsoever.” This spokesperson of the Abakwa Boys Club said it was the Diaspora that was responsible for the abduction of the chiefs in Fako. “They simple arrest them under duress and force declarations out of them. We of the Abakwa Boys Club cannot condone that. Last week we had a meeting and we are going to tell you what we have in our agenda. Take your destiny in your hands and don’t listen to anybody in the Diaspora. You have your Quarter Heads, elites, Chiefs and other people that you look up to around you. Go to them and seek for advice and they will tell you exactly what to do.” Many reactions have however dismissed these declarations from the London Branch of the Abakwa Boys Club as part of a larger manipulation scheme.

Other cracks that have been revealed in the Anglophone community in Cameroon are purely on tribal and ethnic lines or to be more precise, on considerations based on Regions of origin. This was seen in “South West Wakeup call” circulated on Social Media by a group that calls itself the South West Prosperity Foundation SWPF which it titled “Declaration on the protection of our peace and prosperity.” The hate speech and divisive nature of the document is seen in the aims of the publication which we take the liberty to present the first two here.  

“The aim of this declaration is as follows: -open the eyes of South Westerners to the diabolic plans of our tribalistic brothers from the NW. –Make it known to all SW and all members of other tribes of Cameroon that the North West is the enemy of peace and progress in Cameroon as a whole and in the SW in particular.” Many people who stumbled on this document reacted in various ways but dominantly found the document unpleasant, out of place, “very disgraceful” and untrue.”

While Economic hardships and pressures caused by the endless ghost towns have been making these divisions and divergent views more open, many feel that there are certainly other outside factors and manipulations that are coming into play.

As casualties increase, emotional outbursts have also been having its tool resulting into a lot of fissures within the Cameroon Anglophone fabric. While casualties have been plenty on both sides, the shooting and killing of Reverend Father Alexander Sob Nougi, erstwhile Catholic Education Secretary for the Buea Diocese has been a very trying case.

A publication on the whatsApp forum “Edev News” by Professor Ernest Molua runs thus; “His Killers are well known! And they include you! Here lies a martyr for our children. May God receive him. Since the former Catholic Education Secretary Father Alexander Sop Nougi, in his precipitous decision to recall students of Examination classes in Roman Catholic Colleges back to campus in Spring of 2017 to sit and write their GCE exams, he had never been forgiven by his bosses and their agents who are clearly the spiritual Masters of the devilish experiment that has gripped our beloved country.” Professor Ernest Molua in his emotional outburst states that the Rev Father died for “our children in Sasse College etc., daring to ensure they write the GCE Exams of 2017.” In his outburst he brings in tribal sentiments calling the late padre by his tribe of origin, “the Bassa man of God.” The fissures appearing on the Cameroon Anglophone fabric are feared to be beefing up sentiments that can result into a much more deadly situation. 

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Mortal Limbe landslides recall memories of 24 lives lost in June 2001

Limbe I residents are recovering from devastating floods and landslides that hit the town on Tuesday July 24 leaving many homeless and at least five dead. These floods which came following torrential rains affected the lowlying parts of the Limbe I Municipality notably  Church Street, Clerks Quarters, Down Beach and Mbonjo area where the landslides occured. The Limbe rains have been on rendezvous on annual bases but when accompanied by destructive landslides it becomes a call for concern. 

The heavy rains continued into Wednesday July 25th pushing the South West Governor Benard Okalia Bilai to visit the town and see the degree of distructions for himself. The landslides and three deads and the rains that pushed into the second day have sent a shiver down the spines of many as they recall the ordeal of June 2001 during which 24 lives were lost.

The most destructive floods accompanied by landslides that took human lifes in Limbe was on June 27, 2001. According to the publication of June 2004 on Journal of African Science titled « The June 27, 2001 Landslide on volcanic cones in Limbe, Mount Cameroon, West Africa » authored by Ayonghe S.N., Ntasin E.B., Samalang P. and Suh C.E. affiliated to the Department of Geology and Environmental Science at the University of Buea and the Soil Science Laboratory, Institute of Agricultural Research for Development, Ekona, PMB Buea, Cameroon, the following report was made on the situation of landslides and floods in Limbe.

« On 27 June 2001, between 12:00 and 14:00 hours GMT, the worst ever recorded landslides and floods in the history of Cameroon occurred on volcanic cones in Limbe, killing 24 people. This brisk event, which from eyewitness reports, lasted for about 30 min, produced more than 43 landslide scars, several tension cracks, destroyed 120 houses and rendered over 2800 people homeless. Field studies indicated the alignment of the landslide scars along a northwest-southeast zone antithetic to the Mabeta fault previously identified by a linear pattern of earthquake epicentres along its length, although volcanic rocks cover this fault. The landslides occurred on slopes with dips ranging from 35° to 80°. The regolith from the slide surfaces destroyed trees and houses, and blocked gutters producing floods along the low-lying coastal parts of Limbe. The mechanism of sliding ranged from planar sliding or mud flows on impermeable surfaces of basaltic flows and/or compacted clayey volcanic tuff, to rotational sliding, or toppling failure on the steeper slopes. Intensive rainfall which preceded the event for two days as well as human intervention on slopes in the form of farming and terracing to build houses, were important contributory factors. On the basis of these findings, measures aimed at reducing the impact of future landslides on the population in the area are proposed. »

Note worthy is the fact that 17 years after the root causes of the floods and landslides were identified around the Mabeta New Layout area and urgent measures proposed to reduce the impact of future landslides on the population in the area the area is still a risk zone with people constructing there. As seen in the report, a huge National project is needed in that part of town to protect the lives of Cameroonians living in Mabeta New Layout.

However, with the present developments in Mbonjo, Limbe’s risk zones seem to be more than just Mabeta New Layout. Limbe needs a deeper and larger study to guarantee the safety of its populations in years to come. The Government should as such consider it as an emergency considering the detailed reports that already exist showing the area as a risk zone.

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2018 Presidential Elections in Cameroon:

Group of 20 Political Parties Beef up Biya’s chances to retain grip on Presidency!

With the count down to the 7^th October 2018 Presidential Elections, repositioning of political parties is entering high gear with the various political outfits completing formalities for the registration of their respective Presidential candidates. The last major move in this direction has been the decision by some 20 opposition political parties in Cameroon to throw their weight behind the candidacy of President Paul Biya. This event took place at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel on Friday July 20 with all 20 political parties present.

These 20 Political parties include the following; Unions des Populations du Cameroun , UPC represented by honourable Bapooh Lipot, Secretary General of the party. Action pour la Meritocratie et l’Egalite des Chances AMEC represented by its National President Tabi Owono. Movement des Ecologistes represented by its National President Fritz Ngo Pierre. Mouvement pour l’Emergence et le Reveil du Citoyen(MERCI) represented by Isaac Fezeu. Union pour la Bienveillance du Cameroun UBC represented by Essomba Benoit Olivier. Union Camerounaise pour la Democratie UCD represented by Ombiono Brice. Front Patriotic de Liberation represented by Mendeng Ebanda Guy Roland. Les Patriotes Democrates Pour le Developpement du Cameroun PADDEC represented by its National President Jean de Dieu Momo. Parti Vert pour la Democratie au Cameroun, PVDC represented by Fogoum Justin Aime. Revolution Camerounaise du Peuple Uni RCPU represented by Mme Abba Marie Gisele. Front des Forces Republicaines, FFR represented by Doka Narke Jean. Alliance National pour le Progres du Cameroun ANPC represented by its National President Hamadou Haminou. Nouveau Mouvement Populaire, NMP represented by its National President Banda Kani. Union pour la Republique, la Democratie et la Solidarite, URDS represented by Mohamadou Oumarou. Cameroon Peoples Party, CPP represented by Tita Fon Samuel. Cameroon Democratic Party, CDP represented by its National President Benz Enow Bate. Parti pour la Dynamique du Cameroun et ses Valeurs Institutionnelles, PADY CAMVALINS represented by Bobo Abega Juste Martin. Mouvement pour la Reconciliation et l’Unite des Camerounais MRUC represented by Nzesseu Tchiengang Mathieu.

 Parti Ouvrier du Cameroun Unifie, POUC represented by Nkou Essomba Maguerite Flore and Alliance Plus pour l’Emmergence, APPEC represented by Ngoumou Jean Paul.

In a four page declaration jointly made by these Political Parties, they explain why they took this move to throw their weight behind incumbent, His Excellency President Paul Biya. The complete declaration is published here.

Declaration of a Group of 20 Political Parties to Support the Candidature of the Head of State, H.E Paul Biya, in the 7 October 2018 Presidential Election.

Every citizen who has decided to create a political party has as ambition, the supreme magistracy of his country. Since the reintroduction of multi party politics in 1991, Cameroon has recorded more than 250 political parties. In democracy, the opposition plays the role of checks and balance thereby ensuring a certain level of stability in the running of State institutions. Leading a political party is not synonymous to a systematic opposition of all government initiatives neither does it confer on its leader national stewardship as it is considered in Cameroon and in most African Countries.

Since the Presidential election of 2011, some members of our group requested the putting in place of a dynamic framework for change to take place in the political arena in Cameroon. To this effect, three (3) preconditions were suggested as follows:

a)   A single  candidate for the opposition parties for the 2018 presidential election;

b)   The implantation of branches  of our group in the 360 subdivisions of Cameroon;

c)     Create a platform to work in collaboration with Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) in order to obtain a massive registration of citizens of voting age on the electoral roll;

It is evident that the opposition in Cameroon cannot succeed to win a presidential election by presenting multiple candidates. This way, their votes would be divided leading to mediocre results. As such, the candidate for the CPDM being the only political party well represented in the 360 subdivisions will always have an urge on the opposition.

Our proposals for a single opposition candidate met resistance from those who think that they are strong and can win the presidential election single-handedly.

Since 2011, the CPDM elite has been carrying out sensitization on the field  to encourage their  militants to register on the electoral roll, unlike the opposition which only woke up from slumber on the eve of the poll .

How can you think of winning a presidential election without any important electoral base? Most opposition leaders are contented with the “ONE MAN SHOW” syndrome characterized by frequent appearances on television channels and social media, forgetting that elections are won on the field.

Due to this lack of organization of opposition political parties, the egoism of some of its  leaders, the inflated ego of some pretenders to the presidential seat who are all in the logic of “ME Or NO BODY, “  the lack of a credible manifesto, and lack of means, the opposition can only dream of change.

We the leaders, of the opposition parties united under the “Group of 20,” have decided to give our total and unconditional support to the candidature of the H.E. President Paul Biya for the 7 October, 2018 presidential election. In our opinion, the Head of State possesses the qualities and wherewithal necessary for the maintenance of peace, stability, national unity, economic progress and the respect of Cameroon in the international community.

We are neither CPDM militants nor its sympathizers but after a thorough analysis of the economic and political challenges, as well as those in the domain of sports, we think that the candidature of President Paul Biya merits the support of all Cameroonians of goodwill and those having love for country and the future of our children.

Notwithstanding, our support for the candidature of H.E Paul Biya is not without conditions. We are requesting that after his brilliant re-election, he should look into the preoccupations of our militants and those of Cameroonians in general. These include:

1.       The acceleration of the Decentralization process and the provision of the necessary means to the new Ministry of Decentralization and Local Development to carryout concrete projects  on the field;

2.     Speeding up construction works on infrastructure for the CAN 2019, so that all the major projects (Construction of stadia, hotels and hospitals etc.) should be ready before the D-day as promised by the Head of State. Our credibility is at stake;

3.      Proceed with the revision of the contract between the State of Cameroon and ENEO, so that the quality of their services to the population, especially those in the East, North West, Adamawa and the Far North Regions is  improved;

4.     Harmonize retirement age at 60 for all State agents: We think that there is no reason to allow a certain category of State agents to retire at 55 when they are still useful to our country.

Our position on the situation in the North West and the South West Regions is unambiguous. Unity, peace and social cohesion must be preserved so that Cameroon remains that nation admired in Africa. The Government addressed all the grievances raised by teachers and lawyers which caused the crisis in November 2016. Available facts indicate that the Head of State even went beyond the demands of the striking lawyers and teachers. 

Nothing can, therefore, justify the attitude of a minority who wants to take hostage the two Regions of our country, causing pain and desolation to families. Cameroon, the cradle of our ancestors, does not deserve this image in the 21^st century.

Taking into consideration the above,

a.     We reiterate our position for a Cameroon that is neither Anglophone nor Francophone,  but a united and indivisible Cameroon  in its  linguistic and cultural diversity;

b.     Request for government to maintain a firm attitude of no tolerance towards our compatriots who have taken the risk to undermine national unity;

c.      Request government to hasten the trial of persons arrested for violence and crimes carried out in the North West and South West Regions. The guilty should be punished while the innocent are freed;

d.     Reject all appeal for amnesty for terrorists  arrested in fragrant delito  of rape of our children, destruction of public and private property, burning of schools hospitals and health centers, cowardly murder of elements of our defense and security forces in the North West and South West Regions;

e.     Request the government to take appropriate measures to track down terrorists who recruit, drug and enlist children aged between 11 and 16 years in their militia and living in  makeshift camps and bushes causing terror in certain localities in the North West and South West Regions;

f.       Exhort some of our naïve compatriots in the North West and South West Regions following the terrorists in their senseless quest to create an imaginary state to drop their arms and return within the Republic for disorder doesn’t benefit any one for Cameroon being a country of freedom offers legal framework where grievances can be expressed without violence, racketeering, organized crime, intimidation and blackmail.

g.      Thank the Head of State for putting in place the Emergency Humanitarian Plan for the North West and South West Regions, hoping that this plan will bring the necessary assistance to all the Internally Displaced Persons and Cameroon refugees in Nigeria.

Convinced that the Head of State is the custodian of our constitution,

We the “Group of 20” opposition political parties, through our declaration of this day make our modest contribution to nation building. This justifies our support for the re-election of the Head of State for the 7 October 2018 Presidential election. /- 

                                              Done in Yaounde, this Friday 20 July 2018

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