Anglophone Crisis

Bui is under attack and military is mostly responsible!   

  -Senator Kinyang George

Senator Barrister Kinyang George

Senator Barrister Kinyang George has declared that Bui Division is presently under a major attack and that the military is mostly responsible for the unprecedented destruction presently going on there. Barrister Kinyang George is Senator for the Northwest Constituency and is from Bui Division. He is therefore both a senator and a Lawyer practicing in Douala for the past eighteen years. He is also a member of the Committee of Constitutional Laws, Human Rights and Freedom, Justice Legislation, Standing Orders and Administration. He is equally a member of the Committee of National Defense and Security. He was interviewed at the weekend in his Douala office by Francis Ekongang Nzante and Fen Lenjo.  

As a Senator and one who represents the Northwest Region and Councils in Bui, what are your goals?

My goals as a senator are the goals of my party the Social Democratic Front. SDF has been standing for federalism and we believe that in a federal structure we can handle the problems that are plaguing this nation. Within that federal structure people are divided on the form it has to take. Some people talk about a two-state federation while some talk about a ten-state federation but as an individual, I believe that if we go back to the two-state federal system and re-structure it so that the two English Speaking regions constitute one state with absolute powers, this will solve the problems we are facing. SDF has a constitution and we have policies which we intend to put in place if we are voted into power. The SDF policies were highlighted by our Presidential Candidate Honourable Joshua Osih during the last Presidential Elections.

Senator Kinyang George and the people

What have been the major obstacles since you took up your seat in the Upper House?

As senators we follow the constitution of this country. Precisely, Section 20 says that senators represent the Regional and the Local Councils and when you talk about Regional and Local Councils then you are talking development. In Bui Division we have six councils namely Elak Oku Council, Nkor Noni Council, Nkum Council, Jakiri Council, Kumbo Council and Mbiame Council. These are the six councils that I am covering and we do not yet have the region but I am sure that this year, everything will be put in place. A senator’s duty is to work for the Region and the Local Councils for the development of that particular area. We have been looking forward to that but it has been very difficult. We have taken over powers as senators for the Northwest Region at a time of crisis and this has made it difficult for us to be able to work with the population and the councils to see how we can foster development in the Northwest and Bui Division in particular. In the last year’s budget, Northwest and Southwest Regions suffered a lot because the budget was not executed due to insecurity. The contractors were afraid to go and execute their contracts. It has been a very difficult issue and in the senate we’ve been raising it. We were told that money designated for the Northwest and Southwest was still available. With the corrupt system that we have in place we are wondering if the money will ever get to us. This has been a major setback in the execution of our duties as senators. 

 

The security situation in Bui has been very precarious for obvious reasons. Age old traditional structures are being destroyed. What is the way forward?

Bui is like championing the Anglophone Problem. Bui now is suffering a major attack. In Bui there is arson, killings, destruction, you name it. It is intensive in all the six councils. Most of the destruction is done by the military. As senators, when the military destroys we say it, when they kill we say they have killed and if it comes from the “Amba” boys we say it. Destruction in Bui is mostly from the military and we have evidence to that respect. We have our alternates and people on the ground who feed us with information. We have filed everything that is happening. We are going to the Senate next week and we will use the opportunity to seek for an audience to meet the President on this issue to convince him to change the approach because war will never solve this problem.

Is the situation completely hopeless?

Those who call the shots now in Bui unfortunately include “the boys” on the one hand and the regular army and the administration on the other hand. In the middle is the vulnerable population but the situation is not hopeless. I have been talking with leaders of the “Amba” Boys and they are from every indication ready for dialogue. They are not interested in living in the forest for ever and the only obstacle is the system. The system is not ready for dialogue and there is a lot of hypocrisy. President Paul Biya has been receiving the wrong signals, wrong information and wrong advice. There is lack of confidence. You cannot talk about dropping of arms when they feel that if they drop arms and come out they will be killed. Everybody has to drop arms so that we sit on the table and talk without any exclusion and limitation. We need to discuss as Cameroonians and come out with a solution. We will be fighting with the system to see that something is done.

 Elective exercises have been programmed to take place in Cameroon. Under the present dispensation do you think this can take place?

In the last NEC Meeting, we resolved that there would be no elections in Cameroon if the Anglophone problem was not taken care of. What happened during the Presidential Elections was a farce. The Anglophone community was excluded and knowing that our strong hold is the Northwest and Southwest Regions, we cannot accept that elections take place in Cameroon excluding these two regions.

Do you have any last message?   

The main problem is that of insecurity. Bui people should note that the senator represents the Local Councils and the Region. The senator is a Parliamentarian of the Upper House and of course there is the Parliamentarian of the Lower House who is voted by universal sufferage; the population. The senator is voted through an indirect universal sufferage. So the councillors and the region vote the senator. We concentrate only on these councils and the region. People are always confused over the functions of the senator. They think that the senator has to go down and start doing things that are supposed to be done by the parliamentarian. The parliamentarian works with the population because they are voted by the population while we work with the councils and the region. In the Senate, there is an allocation for the development of these councils and the region. Development allocations are given once a year; every March and we will be having it for the first time during this March Session. When this is made available, I will sit with my mayors and the regional councillors and come up with strategies for my Division. The concerned parties will meet and what is available will simply be distributed in a way deemed fair by each party. As senators we use the Law, international instruments, petitions and dialogue to fight in our own way. The population should therefore know that we are aware of what they are passing through but as senators we have our own way.

 LIMONA FOUNDATION DONATIONS OF 70 CARTONS OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO SENATOR BARRISTER KINYANG GEORGE, WITH BENEFICIARIES BEING THE NKOR-NONI DISTRICT HOSPITAL, AND THE NKUM DISTRICT HOSPITAL, ALL IN BUI DIVISION OF THE CRISIS PLAGUED NORTH WEST REGION OF CAMEROON.

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