REFLECTIONS ON THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE ANGLOPHONE CONFLICT
Summary of Historic realities of Southern Cameroons
It has been clearly established in history that La République Du Cameroun (LRC) was known as Kamerun under the German administration from 1884 to 1916 and constituted Southern Cameroons, LRC, Parts of Chad, Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville, and Nigeria.
The question here is, why is LRC nor claiming ownership of the other territories that made up German Kamerun but choses to annex and murder the people of Southern Cameroons over their heritage? It is deeply disappointing that LRC as a nation has no regard or respect for international laws and international boundaries.
At their defeat during World War 1, Germany lost Kamerun to Britain and France. At the Versailles Peace treaty in France (1919), article 22 of the League of Nations Convention confirmed the partition of German Kamerun into British Kamerun (Southern Cameroons) and French Kamerun as mandate territories with clearly defined boundaries. British Kamerun and French Kamerun therefore became United Nations Trust Territories under Britain and France respectively.
Eventually, on gaining its independence on the 1st of January 1960, French Kamerun became known as ‘La République Du Cameroun’ (LRC) with clearly established and defined boundaries. British Kamerun on the other hand was not part of this process. However, on the 1st of October 1961, British Kamerun obtained its own independence from Britain. To this date, there is no treaty nor historic record that extended the boarders of LRC to include that of Southern Cameroons
| Cameroon | Flag of Cameroon from 1961 – 1975 | Flag of Cameroon |
| From 1919-1961 Governed by Britain, Southern Cameroons emerged from the British League of Nations Mandate to the UN trusteeship as a gateway to independence which was attained on October 1st, 1961. | From 1961-1975 As a UN Trust Territory, subjecting us to ‘independence by joining’ and leaving out the option to consolidate our independence was a violation of international laws. We have the right to self-exist as a nation. Instead of federal unity of equal states, LRC annexed, absorbed, occupied, and colonised Southern Cameroons. | From 1975- present day The Federal Republic of Cameroon was established after the Foumban Conference, and amidst strong protests from Southern Cameroons the constitution was again amended to the Republic of Cameroon, repressively dissolving the government and parliament of Southern Cameroons. |
It deeply concerning that Southern Cameroonians are being accused of secession and killed by the government of LRC. Southern Cameroons obtained her independence separately from LRC and what we are seeking now is the restoration of that statehood which was lost through a hidden annexation agenda during the UN Plebiscite at Foumban whose proceedings were not in conformity with international laws in the context of decolonisation. The fact remains that we are claiming something that is rightfully ours and why should we as a nation be ravaged over our right to self-determination?
As a UN trust territory in the 1960’s we were autonomous with a prime minister as head of government, a parliament with ministers and a judiciary system from 1954 -1961. We wanted independence but were imposed a plebiscite that was reduced to two alternatives, which was to attain independence by either joining Nigeria or LRC.
Come to think of it, if Southern Cameroons was never an autonomous nation, how come we obtained independence from Britain? As a nation, we have endured over 50years of persistent marginalisation, discrimination, oppression, and repression from LRC and this conflict kicked off over our quest for the restoration of national sovereignty, legality, identity, truth and justice.
Southern Cameroons was misrepresented at the UN Plebiscite in Foumban which violated our rights to self-exist. The option ‘attain independence by joining’ was fought by our political elites who called for a thorough interpretation of the results but were flushed out and any form of resistance was suppressed. The resulting Federal Constitution from the Foumban conference was illegally imposed on Southern Cameroons just when the independence of 1st October 1961 was supposed to take effect. Cameroon then used this as access to dismantle and Francophonise the Anglo-Saxon system of Southern Cameroons.
The francophone civil law system will never become a replacement of the Anglo-Saxon system and that is why we are seeking for the restoration of our stolen patrimony. We firmly believe that the restoration of our statehood is the only just solution to end the anglophone crisis.
In 2016, teachers and lawyers went on a peaceful protest to denounce the professional constraints imposed on them by the Cameroun government, who rather than dialoguing with them responded with acute military brutality killing hundreds of unarmed civilians including women and children.
No end of the conflict is in sight with very little hope of any cooperation between Cameroon and the international community. As of now, several sources have recorded that more that 6,000 people have lost their lives with over 1 million internally displaced. Over 600,000 students have not had access to education since the onset of the armed conflict in 2016. Our leaders were abducted from Nigeria and unjustly sentenced to life imprisonment. Thousands have been executed and killed in abominable ways. Several thousands are languishing in prisons across LRC. Only an end to the conflict can ensure the security of the people of Southern Cameroons.
#endanglophonecrisis
Follow me on twitter for more updates.
Dorothy Arrey
