Cameroon Anglophone crisis: Living with legacies of colonialism
Several scholars suggest that when the Europeans sat for the partitioning of Africa in Berlin between 1833 and 1914, the development of Africa was never in the picture, but exploitation of its resources was.
Therefore, the continent was not viewed as a place with real people who have lived for centuries with their unique culture, believes and civilization. The African continent was viewed merely as a geographical expression with abundant natural resources needed for the industrial revolution.
Consequently, the balkanization of Africa led to the division of families, kingdoms across borders and dissolution of ties among Africans, a situation considered to be a major cause of conflict in Africa today.
One country, different colonial masters
The Republic of Cameroon is one of the African countries that has continued to live with the consequences of the balkanization of Africa, with mixed civilization introduced by the Europeans.
With the colonization of Cameroonians by Germany, Britain and France, the bilingual country finds itself in a very peculiar situation, having a dual identity of an anglophone and francophone country all at the same time.
While the British Southern Cameroon remains an Englishspeaking region, the French speaking Cameroon remains the dominant region of the country.
But with two foreign official languages, different principles of law, different educational systems with each of the divides modelled after the practices of its colonial master, the polarization has resulted in an agitation for self-determination as the British Southern Cameroon (Ambazonia) continues to cry out for being marginalized.
How did it happen?
Following the Treaty of Versailles, the German territory of Cameroon was divided on June 28, 1919, between a French and a British League of Nations Mandate. While France took control of 80 per cent of the country, Britain took over 20 per cent of the then Kamerun.
When the League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946, most of the mandate territories were reclassified as UN trust territories, henceforth administered through the UN Trusteeship Council. The objective of trusteeship was to prepare the lands for eventual independence.
Then came the wave of Independence. When the British Cameroonians were asked in a referendum in 1961 to choose between joining French Cameroon or the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the option of being a sovereign nation was not on the table.
But since the British Southern Cameroonians have co-existed as a people with the French Cameroonians before the arrival of the colonial masters, it was never envisaged that the systems introduced by the Europeans would be a source of conflict in a Federal system, hence the British Southern Cameroon joined the French Cameroon while the Northern British Cameroon opted for Nigeria.
However, more than sixty years later, a marriage that was consented to, now feels like a forced marriage for many Southern Cameroonians.
What went wrong?
Featuring on Trust TVs Africa Update, Secretary General of the Popular Action Party and Human Rights Activist from Cameroon, Fabrice Lena, traced the political instability in the English Speaking Cameroon (Ambazonia) to the 1972 constitutional amendment under former President Ahmadou Ahidjo, changing the country from a Federal Republic which gave the different regions autonomous powers, to the United Republic of Cameroon which centralized political power.
Fabrice said “So many people were not comfortable with the fact of going to join people who already had a different colonial heritage and so many people asserted that this may not really go down well, given that the systems of administration at that time by the French colonial masters was hyper centralized as observed in so many other countries by then and that of the English colonial masters were relatively loose.”
The problem stems from the systemic domination, subjugation, absorption of the complete cultural, political, and way of life of the people of Southern Cameroon by the administration of the first President of Cameroon, Ahmadou Ahidjo, said Fabrice.
Speaking on the impact of colonialism on Cameroon, Fabrice said, “We would have been a consolidated country if we were existing in the typical African Empire without the influence and intoxication of Western powers.”
According to the politician, “the French and English colonial heritages of Cameroon is a great force of diversity, is a great force of opportunities, and there’s the feeling that Cameroonians have better prospects of succeeding as the best of diplomat, best of businessmen but in terms of the country’s development, this has been used negatively.”
“It has always been on the power, it has always been to maintain those who are in power till infinity, so it has not actually helped in the development of the county in any way, given that Cameroon should not be experiencing the kind of cost of living it is experiencing today, or the low level of infrastructure development it is having today, or the level of unemployment that young Cameroonians are having today.”
On the role of politicians in fostering inclusivity, Fabrice said due to the divisive nature of politics, politicians whose understanding of politics is for personal benefits will always use languages of divide and rule, putting people at logger heads so that they can strive to see how they could better divide the citizens to stay in power.
The Ambazonia separatist agitation
In the late 2016, protests led by lawyers and teachers in the Englishspeaking regions of Cameroon were heavily suppressed by government forces, igniting an ever-intensifying conflict between separatists and the national government, which culminated in the declaration of independence.
It’s been more than five years since Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front declared the Independent Republic of Ambazonia on 1st October, 2017.
The leader of the Interim Government of Southern Cameroon, Dr Samuel Sako, has repeatedly cried out to the United Nations to wade into the crises between the Southern Cameroon and the Republic of Cameroon.
The Anglophone crisis has led to the killing of about 5,000 and displacement of over 2 million people.
In 2019, a Major National Dialogue was organised and new decentralization policies gave Northwest and Southwest regions “special status.”
The government also created a national commission for bilingualism and multiculturalism, but observers deem these actions insufficient and superficial.
Fabrice Lena says “a lot of initiatives have been carried so far to bring unity in the country, but this is always corrupted by the desire to maintain power by the party in power.
“In 1994, a conference was held to address the anglophone marginalization and the minority right of Cameroon.
“That led to what was called the 1996 Constitution, and in this constitution, what in Cameroon is known as the appointed system of appointing governors, appointing those to be supervising the work of elected officials had to be abolished, to the favour of voted mayors, city mayors, parliamentarians, but these things have never been implemented.”
“The 1996 Constitution is 28 years old today, my brother, and it has never been implemented till date. That means conflict had to arise in 2016 for the government to start saying they are going to open the English-speaking law department in Enam in what they call in Cameroon, the School of Public Administration”
“We are going to open a commission for bilingualism and multiculturalism so that we could talk about our language diversity and maybe cultural diversity. So, all these things are coming because people have gone to the roots to protest. And you know, of course, sometimes when people get too angry, they would no longer want the little things that would have made them happy before they got angry,” Fabrice said.
Response to the Anglophone crisis
While Cameroon enjoys support from African countries, no country has openly supported the Ambazonian independence movements. However, many countries have put pressure on Cameroon to talk to the separatists.
Until 2019, the African Union remained largely silent on the Anglophone Crisis. On July 27, 2019, the AU welcomed the Swissmediated talks.
Also, in 2019, an informal discussion was held at the United Nations Security Council, a milestone after nearly two years of little international involvement.
But Fabrice Lena believes as a people, Cameroonians must take responsibility of bringing stability in the country.
“Why must we wait for AU and UN to come before leaders sit down to ask themselves what is happening in Cameroon? Why are people dying in Cameroon? You know, why are people dying in ECOWAS? You know, we should first of all look at these sub regions before we go to the multilateral level. Why? Because if the same subregion is not going to talk to the president about his own mistakes in his own country as a politician, the UN will not come to play a fair role.
Fabrice believes that dialogue not violence will bring stability in English Speaking Cameroon and civic engagement is critical in that regard.
“Only political participation and civic engagement of Cameroonian people will solve their problem. It’s not the international community coming to impose whatsoever on Cameroon.”
While the political disputes surrounding the Anglophone crisis are complex and difficult to resolve, many believe that violence, particularly against civilians, has caused grievances to increase and the conflict to deepen and intensify.
Therefore, if the suffering of the people of the English-speaking Cameroon (Ambazonia) is to end, the leaders on both sides must commit to choosing dialogue instead of, not in addition to, violence.