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Fathi Bashagha

Rival Libyan prime minister says he plans to be in Tripoli in days

by Time Africa Magazine

A rival Libyan prime minister says he plans to be in the country’s capital and seat his government there in...

Chief Mrs Ebelechukwu, wife of Willie Obiano, former governor of Anambra state

NIGERIA: No, wife of Biafran warlord, Bianca Ojukwu lied – Ebele Obiano:

by Time Africa Magazine

The immediate past first lady of Anambra state, Ebelechukwu Obiano has spoken out following her fight with Bianca Ojukwu at...

Mali records highest cotton production

by Time Africa Magazine

Mali has recorded its largest cotton production of more than 760,000 tons for the 2021-2022 season. The President of the...

Solomon George

LIBERIA: Ruling party’s Representative Solomon George slams LEC management over poor electricity, calls for termination of contract

by Time Africa Magazine

Capitol Hill, Monrovia – The Liberia Electricity Corporation’s inability to supply its many customers electricity is not only annoying private...

Prof Barth Nnaji

NIGERIA – Barth Nnaji, former Power Minister: Identifies the problems with Nigeria’s electricity supply

by Time Africa Magazine

Nigerians have been experiencing poor electricity supply and development challenges because the country still needs to fix three major things...

Coach Aliou Ciss

World Cup play-offs: Senegal retain the majority of players who won the Nations Cup

by Time Africa Magazine

Coach Aliou Cisse has largely maintained the squad that helped Senegal clinch their maiden Nations Cup title for the 2022...

Everton boss Frank Lampard

Frank Lampard breaks hand celebrating Everton winner

by Time Africa Magazine

Everton boss Frank Lampard said he broke his hand celebrating his side's stoppage-time victory over Newcastle - but admitted he...

Alex Iwobi

Iwobi hits injury-time winner for Everton

by Time Africa Magazine

Alex Iwobi's 99th-minute goal earned Everton a massive victory in their fight against relegation as they held on to beat...

Senator Ike Ekweremadu

NIGERIA – Senator Ekweremadu: Rather than focus on zoning, it should be a question of who will do the job better, a question of capacity

by Time Africa Magazine

On the claim by some Enugu leaders of an existing zoning agreement I don't like talking down on my leaders,...

President Samia Suluhu Hassan

Tanzania is getting a political remake as President Hassan eyes the 2025 polls

by Time Africa Magazine

How did Hassan get to the helm? The constitution of Tanzania provides for power sharing between the mainland and Zanzibar....

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Print Since October 2017, Cameroon has been engulfed by a deadly conflict. The conflict is rooted in the colonisation of Cameroon by both the French and British governments – and the two languages that came with it, French and English. Today, the conflict is between Cameroon’s military and separatist forces from the two anglophone North-West and South-West regions. Between 1919 and 1961, these two regions were under British colonial administration and were known as British Southern Cameroons. Following a UN plebiscite, or vote, on 11 February 1961, inhabitants voted to “reunite” with French Cameroun on 1 October 1961. But all didn’t go well after the unification of the two regions. The two English-speaking regions, which make up about 20% of the population, have repeatedly complained of discrimination and exclusion. A year-long protest in Cameroon’s anglophone regions in 2016 descended into a civil war in 2017.
Get news that’s free, independent and based on evidence. Almost five years later, the conflict continues to rage on. By recent estimates, the conflict has already led to the death of over 4,000 civilians and more than 712,000 internally displaced persons from the Anglophone regions. More than 1.3 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. President Paul Biya, Cameroon’s leader since 1982, is fixated on pursuing a failed path of war against the separatist groups, whom he calls “terrorists”. Sadly, there is no clear and credible agenda for negotiations as yet – which makes peace and reconciliation elusive. What is clear is that anglophone grievances run deep and have remained unaddressed for a long time. As a political anthropologist who has studied the situation of Cameroonian anglophones at length, I see the way that elite and marginalised groups are defined by language as a driver of this conflict.
Anglophone grievances The immediate origins of the crisis can be traced to the government’s violent repression of protests by lawyer and teacher unions in 2016. In October 2016, anglophone teachers’ and lawyers’ unions launched peaceful protests against the “neglect” and “marginalisation” of the two English-speaking regions. Large groups of people took part in the year-long protests. They focused on the appointment of francophone teachers, prosecutors and judges in anglophone areas. The union leadership denounced these appointments as part of the government’s gradual but steady process of “francophonisation” of the state. In the francophone regions, such as Douala and Yaoundé, which host large communities of anglophones, French is often the only language that can be used to access vital public services. Disaffected anglophones are resentful of the chasm between the official claim that Cameroon is a bilingual state and the reality of anglophones’ de facto second-class citizenship. This is evidenced in the barriers they face due to language. Anglophone Cameroonians have long complained about the almost total domination of public life by the francophone Cameroonians. The elites in this group are believed to have used their power to marginalise anglophone regions when allocating resources for economic development. This historical marginalisation led to calls for a separatist movement.
Republic of Ambazonia The separatists describe themselves as a movement for the “restoration” of the “Republic of Ambazonia”. The name Ambazonia – derived from Ambas Bay, in the Gulf of Guinea – was coined in the mid-1980s by an anglophone dissident lawyer, Fon Gorji Dinka. A main reason for anglophone calls for separation is their resentment of the authoritarian rule by the country’s mostly francophone leadership. And, when anglophone Cameroonians protested, they were met with force. This happened first under Ahmadou Ahidjo’s administration (1960–1982) and then under Paul Biya (from 1982 onwards). Since 1990, protests in the anglophone regions have often been met with swift and deadly violence. The same happened in the 2016-2017 protests. Unarmed protesters were shot and killed by soldiers. Those detained also face abuse. Another important grievance of anglophone separatists is what they claim to be the “coloniality” of their union with the French Cameroon state. Anglophone nationalists question the UN-imposed plebiscite of 11 February 1961. They argue that by compelling British Cameroonians to choose between Nigeria and French Cameroon as the route to their independence, the UN’s implementation of its own provisions for decolonisation in Article 76 (b) – regarding the attainment of independence for former trust territories – was flawed. The choices offered by the UN to decide between French Cameroun and Nigeria ignored the people’s desire and wishes for self-rule, which contravenes the very fundamental provisions of the UN’s decolonisation framework. As a consequence, anglophone Cameroonians claim that the francophone majority views and treats the two anglophone regions as a colonial appendage. And that the region, and people who live there, are not an equal part of Cameroon.
Hard road to peace The road to peace will be a hard one. To achieve peace while maintaining unity in the country, some autonomists advocate a “return” to the initial 1961 agreement of a two-state federation. These federalists were in the majority among anglophones before the start of the 2016 conflict. However, after almost five years of violent fighting some of the federalists have become more alienated by the abuses of the regime’s forces in the war zones. Radical separatists – such as Chris Anu of the Ambazonian Interim Government and Ayaba Cho Lucas and Ivo Tapang of the Ambazonia Governing Council – are demanding outright and total independence. They believe it’s the only way for anglophone Cameroonians to free themselves from francophone domination and to avoid future crises. This split between federalists and separatists complicates possible dialogue and peaceful negotiations. This isn’t helped by the fact that Biya and his government have spurned discussions with Ambazonian separatists or federalists on changes that would imply a loss of power for the central government. In addition, the violent suppression of the anglophone protests in 2016–2017 has had two important consequences. It has made the mainstream or establishment anglophone elite fearful of speaking out. And it has further radicalised anglophone youth and rallied support from anglophone Cameroonians in the diaspora. I believe the only solution to the crisis is autonomy for the two Anglophone regions. The exact form of this autonomy would need a long and carefully negotiated settlement between the different forces at play. And, whatever the settlement, it would have to be subjected to the popular will of the people in these two regions of former Southern Cameroons. But getting this autonomy won’t be easy given the considerable reluctance from Francophone elites in Yaounde to concede a change to the form of the state. Moreover, the deepening authoritarian posture of the regime in place instils fear of violent crackdowns among dissident voices within the country and political institutions, like the parliament, have little or no capacity to drive measures towards a peaceful resolution of the conflict. For steps towards autonomy to be taken there would need to be pressure from outside. This includes pressure from the anglophone Cameroonian diaspora, international media, human rights organisations, and major Western powers such as the United States and the European Union. Language
Conflict
Cameroon
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Paul Biya
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Ambazonia

Cameroon: how language plunged a country into deadly conflict with no end in sight

by Time Africa Magazine

By Rogers Orock Since October 2017, Cameroon has been engulfed by a deadly conflict. The conflict is rooted in the...

Namibia President Hage Geingob

Namibia badly needs refurbishment after 32 years under the ruling party

by Time Africa Magazine

By Henning Melber Namibia has been a presidential democracy since independence from South Africa in 1990. Much executive power is...

Gold-miners-pan-for-gold-in-the-Eastern-Congo

CONGO – US Sanctions Uganda Gold Dealer, Citing Illicit Congo Origin

by Time Africa Magazine

ABELGIAN businessman sanctioned by the US over allegations of illicit gold trade in Congo said Friday the action undermines efforts...

EFCC nabs 13 suspects over internet fraud in Enugu State

by Time Africa Magazine

Operatives of the Enugu Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested 13 suspected internet fraud...

Manchester United forward, Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo Takes Decision On Leaving Man Utd

by Time Africa Magazine

Manchester United forward, Cristiano Ronaldo has decided to remain at the club for another season. According to Spanish newspaper AS,...

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