THE SOUTHERN CAMEROONS DECOLONISATION STRUGGLE.
(KNOW YOUR HISTORY)
1st January 1960 – The Republic of Cameroon gained its independence.
The direct implication of this was that those within its geographical boundary immediately acquired Cameroonian nationality. No one out of that geographical space under international law can be called a Cameroonian or acquire Cameroonian nationality until specific treaties were negotiated, the terms agreed on and signed.
On the 1st of October, 1960 The Federal Republic of Nigeria also obtained its independence.
It is worthy to note that Southern Cameroons the United Nations Trust Territory was not given independence.
What went wrong? Why is Southern Cameroon still colonized?
THE PLEBISCITE
1959-1961. The United Kingdom ensured that Southern Cameroon did not have its independence.
In February 1961 Southern Cameroons was forced to achieve independence by joining either Nigeria or French Cameroon in a plebiscite. The plebiscite question was phrased to achieve two things:
1. Independence in keeping with the United Nations Regulations 1514
2. Joining.
The unjust plebiscite took place and southern Cameroonians voted to have independence by joining French Cameroon on the 11th of February, 1961.
The United Nations on April 21 1961 voted on the issue of Southern Cameroons independence
64 voted yes and 23 voted No and 10 Abstained.
Based on the majority of the Yes votes (66%), the United Nations sets October 1, 1961, as the Independence Day of the Southern Cameroons.
But the process of joining does not take place. French Cameroon had secretly planned to recolonize Southern Cameroons. No real negotiations for Unity took place. There was no engagement or UNION TREATY signed. Thus Legally, joining did not happen.
The period between April and September was the time that was allocated for the joining terms to be negotiated between both countries.
THE FOUMBAN CONSTITUTIONAL TALKS.
The motive of the conference in 1961 was to establish a unique Federation on the continent of Africa and to evolve a bicultural society in which the distinct heritage of each of the parties to the Cameroon Union would flourish. These talks took place from the 17th to the 21st of July 1961.
We believe that such a lofty goal could be achieved. But we were deceived with fake independence.
The UNION JACK was lowered and the British left the Southern Cameroons after having prepared grounds for our recolonization. Instruments of power were illegally handed over to Ahmadou Ahidjo of French Cameroon on the eve of the 1st of October 1961.
On eve of the joining on September 30th, 1961, the Cameroon military got into the Southern Cameroons and officially became a reoccupied and recolonized people.
Southern Cameroons could not celebrate independence but was terrorized by an occupier.
THE PEOPLE’S INDEPENDENCE WAS STOLEN.
Over the period the French Cameroon government ensured.
1. The Southern Cameroons government was dissolved without the voice of the people.
2. The Southern Cameroons Parliament was dissolved.
3. The Southern Cameroons House of chiefs was dissolved.
4. Almost all of Southern Cameroons cooperate headquarters were moved to French Cameroon.
5. Southern Cameroon biggest corporations were forced to pay local taxes to French Cameroon municipalities.
All this happened under the banner of a fake federation.
As if this was not enough, the form of illegal union was banished completely. French Cameroon Unilaterally decided to change the federal nature of the state to a unitary state in violation of Section 47 of its constitution.
They changed the countries name from the United Republic of Cameroon. All these were done by the former head of state, the late Ahmadou Ahidjo.
On the 4th of February, 1984. Mr. Paul Biya, unilaterally changed the name of the country made up of two countries with two distinctive cultural backgrounds to the Republic of Cameroon. The name la République du Cameroun had at independence.
Southern Cameroons disappears, even the flag changed. We were effectively assimilated and erased from the map of Africa? The people were betrayed and subjugated.
Paul Biya, the President of Cameroon said it in his interview in France in 2019 to Mo Ibrahim, an African entrepreneur who supports good governance, “we have been trying to assimilate the Anglophone culture into ours but that has been difficult “
THE DECOLONISATION PROCESS 1984-1990.
The Southern Cameroons nationalist leaders stood up for independence. They were arrested, brutalized, jailed, tried in military tribunals and so many killed.
THE 1990’s The Southern Cameroon elites got together to advise the French Cameroon government to immediately return to the Federal nature of the state or risk seeing Southern Cameroons Unilaterally declare independence.
1993. The people of Southern Cameroon petitioned the United Nations.
ORGANISATION OF THE ALL ANGLOPHONE CONFERENCES
Two major conferences took place, organized by Southern Cameroon Elite.
April 2nd and 3rd 1993. AAC.1.
All Anglophone conferences took place at Mount Mary in Buea. This was a historic conference. The purpose was to adopt a common Anglophone stand on constitutional reform and to several matters related to their welfare and posterity, their territory, and country. This was published in a pamphlet for the information of the general public.
The Resolutions that were adopted and the Declaration that was issued from the AAC 1 was known as “The Buea Declaration”
of 1994.
April, 29th to the 1st of May. AAC 2 (All Anglophone Conference 2)
The Bamenda proclamation. This conference was held to consider the implications for Anglophone Cameroon of the BIYA Government arbitrary suspension for nearly one year of the constitutional reform process initiated in November 1992 to evaluate the execution by the Anglophone standing Committee of the mandate it received from the All Anglophone Conference at Buea in April 1993 and to examine other issues concerning the people and the Territory of Southern Cameroons. Regarding the implications for Anglophone Cameroon of the lack of progress in the constitutional reform process which the BIYA Government had abandoned since June 1993. The All Anglophone Conference noted with deep regret that one year since the Anglophone constitutional proposals were officially submitted nothing was done by the BIYA Government, so the council was dissolved and replaced by an Anglophone council. This conference recalled the following;
1. That it held its first session at Buea in April 1993 for the proposed inter-alia, of preparing Anglophone participation in the National Debate on Constitutional Reforms which the BIYA Government had undertaken to organize in May 1993.
2. That accordingly, it formally declared the preparedness of Anglophones to participate in constitutional talks.
3. That, to this end, it ( i )created a committee for the final drafting of the All Anglophone constitutional proposals in accordance with the general guidelines which it adopted at Buea.
( ii ) It directed that the Anglophone Delegation at the constitutional talks should conduct negotiations in close observance of the terms of the Anglophone Draft Constitution tabled at the talks and should, in any case, be bound by the return of Cameroon to the federal form of government.
The All Anglophone conference further recalled that since its first session at Buea in April 1993.
1. Its standing Committee officially submitted Anglophone Constitutional proposals in the form of a Draft Federal Constitution to the Government in May 1993 and released the said Draft for general public discussion in July 1993
2. Its standing Committee published an official French translation of the Draft Federal Constitution in July 1993 to make the Anglophone proposals accessible and more easily comprehensible to Francophone government officials and the Francophones generally.
3. Its officials have striven to educate, in French, Francophone government officials and Francophone public in general on the content, spirit, and purpose of Anglophone Constitutional Proposals, notably through the appearance of its spokesman on the television program “Actualite Hebdo” in May 1993.
4. It addressed several memoranda and resolutions to the government on the subject of Constitutional reform and in December 1993 a formal request for the audience with the President to obtain the Government’s official reaction to the Anglophone constitutional proposal.
5. It has, knowing the influence that the French Government appears to have on BIYA Government to engage in dialogue with All Anglophone Conference concerning reform.
They came up with the Bamenda proclamation. Which states as follows:
1. That one year since the Anglophone Constitutional proposals were officially submitted, the All Anglophone Conference in 1993 is hereby dissolved and replaced by an Anglophone Council.
2. The Anglophone Council shall take over and perform all tasks, responsibilities, and their duties and exercise all powers previously assigned to the defunct Standing Committee by the First All Anglophone Conference.
3. Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraphs (2) of this Proclamation the Anglophone Council shall seek and secure Constitutional talks between Anglophone Cameroon and Francophone Cameroon and the basis of the Draft Federal Constitution which was submitted by the Anglophone Standing Committee in May 1993, as subsequently amended by the Standing Committee.
4. In its negotiations with Francophone Cameroon and the Anglophone delegation at the constitutional talks shall not accept any arrangement which does not envisage the restoration of an Anglophone Federated state within the Federal Republic of Cameroon in the recognition of the bicultural nature of Cameroon and under which citizens shall be protected as envisaged in the Draft Federal Constitution against such violations and abuse as cataloged in the Buea Declaration.
5. The All Anglophone Conference hereby reiterates the resolution taken at its first session in April 1993 that:
(a) There shall be a single and indivisible Anglophone Delegation at any future constitutional talks.
(b) That the members of the Anglophone Delegation to the Constitutional talks shall be those who at the opportune moments, and in the spirit of the conference shall have been mandated as such by the Standing Committee (now the Anglophone Council) appointed at the conference.
(c) That Anglophone Cameroon shall not be bound by any undertakings given or commitments made at the constitutional talks by any Anglophone not mandated to attend the talks as a member of the Anglophone Delegation.
6. Should the Government either persist in its refusal to engage in meaningful Constitutional talks or fail to engage in such talks within a reasonable time, the Anglophone Council shall so inform the Anglophone people by all suitable means. It shall thereupon, proclaim the revival of the Independence Sovereignty of the Anglophone Territory.
7. Following the Proclamation of the Revival of Independence and Sovereignty of Southern Cameroons as provided above, the Anglophone Council shall, without having to convene another session of the All Anglophone Conference, transform itself into Southern Cameroon Constituent Assembly for the purpose of drafting and adopting a Constitution for the Independent and Sovereign State of Southern Cameroons.
8. For the purposes of paragraph (7) above, the Anglophone Council shall enlarge itself to such organs or individuals as shall appear expedient, beneficial, or necessary and in the interests of Southern Cameroon.
9 In the event of the situation contemplated in paragraph (7) above, the independent and sovereign Southern Cameroons and the Sovereign Republic of Cameroon shall negotiate their peaceful separation on the basis of the Buea Peace Initiative and on such other terms as shall be mutually beneficial.
The Chairman of these conferences was Sam EKONTANG ELAD.
God bless Anglophone Cameroon.
THE BIRTH OF SOUTHERN CAMEROON-NATIONAL COUNCIL (SCNC).
The Cameroon government gave no regards to the Bamenda Proclamation, so the SCNC was born to continue the fight against our assimilation by French Cameroon through the Force of Argument and not the Argument of force with the ideology of Separation to maintain our identity as a people and to create this awareness to other Southern Cameroonians who didn’t know the trend of events.
In 2002, The Nigerian High Court sitting in Abuja ordered the Federal Government of Nigeria to place the self-determination case of the Southern Cameroon people before the United Nations General Assembly.
In 2003, the people of Southern Cameroons petitioned the African Commission on Human and people’s rights. Note ACHR verdict in 2009
I remember being an SCNC member on the eve of 1st of October we will go to all government institutions in Mamfe at midnight and hoist the SCNC flags so that before the police are sent out in the morning of the 1st we had done our job. It was an accomplished mission. To us, it was our way of celebrating our denied independence and raising awareness. At that time most of the Southern Cameroons were looking at us as trouble makers because they were denied these truths by deliberately not teaching our history in our schools. I am happy today because the SCNC has succeeded with its ideas. I am proud to be part of this wind of change.
WHERE THINGS WENT WRONG.
During October – November 2016 – Common law Lawyers of Anglophone Cameroons and teachers went on strike. They had written a letter to the government over the use of French in courtrooms and in classrooms to protect the English culture. Enough with the assimilation. Give us a Federation or we will declare our Independence.
The Lawyers and the Teachers formed what was known as the Consortium. This was not only a problem of lawyers and teachers but all Southern Cameroons who had been living like slaves in a land they call their own. The Consortium had the support of the people. Honorable WIRBA made it clear in the National Assembly Session, “Mr. President Something is brewing out there”.
CAMEROON government branded these leaders as terrorist and ban the consortium and the Southern Cameroon National Council and other Trade Unions.
In January, 16th – 19th of 2017, key leaders were arrested. PEN TERENCE KHAN. BARISTER AGBOR BALLA, DR FONTEM NEBA, MANCHO BIBIXY (popularly known as the leader of the coffin revolution).
So many of our people were arrested, several leaders escaped the country about 240 Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) known activists escaped into exile of which I Electa Shalo Manyimuchua was amongst.
With French Cameroon out rightly refusing to dialogue with the people to address the root causes of our recolonisation quest, the people of Southern Cameroons prepare the restoration of their independence.
On September 22nd people went out with peace plants to demonstrate their zeal for their freedom, they were ruthlessly killed in their numbers
On the 1st of October, 2017 .HE Sisiku Ayuk Tabe with the mass of our people declared the restoration of independence of the Southern Cameroons and rename the Country the Federal Republic of AMBAZONIA.
Then the Diaspora follow suit for a call to free Southern Cameroons.
Then BIYA declared war on us in on the 4th of December 2017. Ever since then our people are been massacred on a daily basis with the most recent, the Mbonge massacre. Women and pregnant women murdered in cold blood.
The Southern Cameroons have known nothing during the 32 years of been together with French Cameroon than subjugation, terror, torture, maiming, injustices and above all the ongoing genocide to erase us as a people .The Southern Cameroon problem is clearly that of incomplete decolonization process and not that of cessation as the French Cameroon government has made the world to believe.
My concern is that the International community know this truth but we have been neglected.
Ambazonians know your history, know who you are as a people and stand up as one man one people and fight.
Fight for your freedom Say No to NEO COLONIALISM.
Article written by
Electa Shalo Manyimuchua. Assistant Secretary, SCNC UK
