The Anglophone crisis came to light in October 2016 when Anglophone lawyers and teachers led protests demanding the integrity of their professional institutions to be protected but government of La Republique du Cameroun responded by arresting, detaining and torturing protesters. 

In January 2017, denizens from the Southern and Northern Zones of Southern Cameroons, had intensified their fight against injustice because they were and are still treated like second class citizens in their country through discrimination, marginalization and annexation by our neighbours La Republique Du Cameroun since 1961.   The Southern and Northern zones of Southern Cameroons were indeed in a ghost era. The people of Southern Cameroons have had enough, Southern Cameroonians have made efforts for this union between La Republique du Cameroon and Southern Cameroons to work but to no avail, instead we were marginalized, our daughters, sisters and mothers raped, our villages burn, our farms destroyed, lawyers and teachers abducted, making us live in fear,  telling us that Cameroon is one and indivisible. But groups such as the Southern Cameroons National Council ( SCNC ) and Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium ( CACSC ) which are the voice of the people, the people’s guide and hope were big threat to the government of La Republique du Cameroun ( LRC ) as Southern Cameroonians start demanding for their independence to be restored, this put fear on the La Republique du Cameroun  , instead of solving the problems they acted by imposing a ban on SCNC AND CACSC on the 17th of January 2017.

January 2017,   Camerounese state broadcaster during its 5:00pm (17h:00) announced (in breaking news) that the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium (CACSC aka the Consortium) and Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) have been disbanded

According to the news presenter, the Ministry of Administration and Territorial Integration (MINADT), is ordering the cease-from-existence of the SCNC and The Consortium. The reasons attributed to the banning were that, the two groups are fuelling hate and terrorist tendencies in Southern Cameroons. 

Rene Emmanuel Sadi, The Former Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, Now minister of communication who issued the ban, noted in the Ban documents as follows ; 

1) The groups  SCNC and CACSC ( The Consortium ) “are declared null and void for their purpose and activities which are contrary to the Constitution and liable to jeopardize the security of the state, territorial integrity, national unity and national integration.”

2) All activities, meetings and demonstrations initiated or promoted by the SCNC and CACSC , any other related groups with similar objectives or by anyone partisan to these groups, are hereby prohibited all over the national territory

3) Defaulties of the prohibited order referred to in article 2 cited  above , shall be liable to legal proceedings in conformity with the law and regulations in force. 

4) The Regional Governors, Senior divisional officers and Sun divisional officers are responsible for the strict application of this order which shall be registered and published according to the procedure of urgency 

Everyone was talking about the breaking news. Social Media was at its highest peak regarding this Ban. 

Though it was a bitter pill to swallow, and another salt added to the injury of the already aggrieved Southern Cameroons population when news broke out that Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor Balla, Leader of the Consortium, alongside, Dr. Fontem Neba, Secretary General of the Consortium, have both been arrested. The battle line had been drawn. The La Republique du Cameroun government as an Oppressor instead of dialogues with Southern Cameroons leaders to look for a way forward they continue shooting and arresting our people, the worries of our teachers and lawyers were ignored and  the government of La Republique du Cameroun (LRC), ordered Internet shutdown in the two Anglophone regions

SCNC is a group advocating for self determination  aiming at obtaining independence for the former British Southern Cameroons. It is a non violent and a non political group of activists with its motto; ” The Force of Argument Not The Argument Of Force” 

The Cameroonian government has deemed the SCNC illegal. The “harassment” of SCNC members and indicates that they are denied the right to “freedom of association.  La Republique government refused to grant the SCNC permission to hold rallies and meetings thus meetings in both public and private properties are prohibited, since 2013 there have been constant disruption of SCNC meetings by La Republique authorities. However when organizations pressed La Republique government on complaints by SCNC members that they were constantly harassed, arrested, detained and prosecuted for holding meetings, the authorities responded that this was because the party was not legally constituted or recognized, how pathetic does that sound giving that La Republique were  refusing at first the harassment, arrests, detaining and prosecution of SCNC members

Amnesty International reports that, in its decision adopted during its 45th Ordinary Session held in Banjul, Gambia, in May 2009, the [African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights] found that the government of Cameroon had violated a number of the Articles of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights in the actions it took against SCNC’s members. The Commission found that the government of Cameroon had violated Article 2 (discrimination against people of Southern Cameroon), Article 4 (violation of the right to life during violent suppression of peaceful demonstrations), Article 5 (torture), Article 7 (right to a fair trial within reasonable time), Article 11 (right to assemble freely), Article 19 (right to equality of all people) and Article 26 (duty to guarantee the independence of the courts). The Commission also concluded that Cameroon had violated Article 1 of the ACHPR by failing to “adopt adequate measures to give effect to the provisions of the African Charter.” (Jan. 2013, 22)

Several sources report arrests and/or  mistreatment of SCNC members and activists

> On 8 August 2013, the SCNC reported the arrest and detention of 83 SCNC activists at a meeting, and indicated that the house in which the meeting was held was searched and “ransacked” (SCNC 8 Aug. 2013). 

>On 2 August 2013, over 70 SCNC members were arrested by gendarmes and police forces while attending a meeting in Kumbo, and were “detained and tortured”

>In February 2011, La Republique  authorities arrested Chief Ayamba Ette Otun and other SCNC members, they were arrested for “circulating tracts calling for the independence of Southern Cameroons and warning the government against the mistreatment of Southern Cameroonians”  

>On 1 October 2012, in Buea, SCNC leaders and activists were “brutalized” during a mass in a Catholic church and more than 100 SCNC members were arrested that day 

>Amnesty International (AI) reports “judicial harassment” of SCNC members (Jan. 2013, 23), including the trial of “several dozen” SCNC members “arrested in 2008 and charged with holding illegal meetings and failing to produce identity cards”  AI says that “the accused had appeared in court on more than 30 occasions but the trial was adjourned each time because of the failure of the prosecution to present witnesses or the absence of court officials, including presiding judges”.  

>In May 2007, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) advised that an individual could be served with a court summons, known in Cameroon as a Convocation, if found to be carrying a SCNC membership card. The DFAT report also States that it is likely that the La Republique government maintain a list of individuals wanted for arrest due to their SCNC membership as opposed to their position within the SCNC ( https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/scnc.htm)

>The US Department Of State on the Human Rights Practices 2008 – Cameroon reports that SCNC is illegal and that individuals found to be participating in SCNC meetings have been arrested. The report states that ” during the year security forces preemptively arrested approximately 40 leaders, members and supporters of SCNC to prevent them from participating in unauthorized political meetings “. ( https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/scnc.htm)

> Jacques Franquin , a representative of United Nation High Commission For Refugees ( UNHCR ) in Cameroon stated that in 2004 that SCNC members had faced harassment and inhuman treatment by the police. 

>Julius Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, was abducted in neighbouring Nigeria with the complicity of the Nigerian government and extradited to Cameroon in January 2018 along with 46 others and held incommunicado for months 

The La Republique govrnment of Cameroun has gone as far as threatening Cable TV providers. They have been told they will be sanctioned if they do not stop broadcasting the South Africa-based channel, Southern Cameroons Broadcasting Corporation (SCBC)

The SCNC, air programmes about the history and culture of the Anglophone region, as well as interviews with exiled lawyers and documentaries about human rights abuses in Cameroon.  The former communications Minister Issa Tchiroma accused the channel of broadcasting seditious and hateful programmes, adding that it is being used as propaganda tool for an outlawed political movement. The government of La Republique has tried and failed to persuade the South African authorities to stop SCBC broadcasts, unfortunately for  La Republique government,  South Africa is not like the corrupt government of President Buhari of Nigeria who expedited Southern Cameroons leaders who were asylum seekers unlawfully into La Republique du Cameroun where they were detained incommunicado for several months

We have battled the injustice force upon us by France and  LRC for 56 years, so if the international Community thinks we are now ready to let go at this juncture, it is mistaken. If the UN, EU, Commonwealth, AU and British governments want to stop a bloodbath in Southern Cameroon’s then THE TIME IS NOW, not tomorrow. Every one of us , 8 million Ambazonians will be killed before our territory will be made part of Cameroun again.

 This our Generation of Southern Cameroonians; We are ready to correct the mistake of our forefathers.  We are the Generation of “The Coffin Revolution” of Mancho Bibixy . We are the “Never Again Generation” ( Bullets versus Social Media) of Mark Bareta . We are the Generation of “The Wirba Force” (Honorable Wirba Joseph) 

 WE WILL “LIVE FREE OR DIE”

Written By SCNC Activist Siencheu Achille Lele

The former British Southern Cameroon known to the Republic of Cameroon as the southwest and the northwest regions or better still as AGLOPHONES, known to the Ambazonians as the northern and the southern zones was once an Independent state with a well defined boundaries,its parliament and everything that goes with statehood.with Buea as its capital.she was the first country to practice democracy in Africa.There was a smooth transition of power from E.N Endeley who was the first prime minister to John Ngu Forcha.What happened in 1961 that this freedom was taken away from us…….?

It was claimed that we obtained independence by ‘joining “the Republic of Cameroon on the 1st of October 1961.Wheras it was recolonization.Where is the legal documents binding these two countries together?What happened to the terms of the agreement.What we got out of this  relationship was  total assimilation.

Today we are completely assimilated by the Biya regime.Our judiciary and educational systems  destroyed.Our culture erased.Everything was based on falsehood.

Our identity today is that of Bribery and corruption, alcoholism ,liars ,laziness  dishonesty.Gros violation of human rights..we say no to this.

When we as a people decided to come out to say we have had enough of this go back to the gentleman agreement  you had we our parents what happened.?Mr Biya declared war on us in December 2017.And since then he has been killing our people destroying our properties  rapping our girls and with thousands of refugees in neighbouring Nigeria.Ghana and thousands Internally displaced with marjority of our people staying in the bushes with no access to health care

How then can we cohabit again with those who treat us as slaves.

Bearing in mind  that we are very much aware of who we are  we are resisting any form of oppression . humiliation.carnage from our colonial master the Republic of Cameroon.

I am determined  to be part of the people who must bring back our dignity and glory. Long live the people of Southern Cameroon.We must overcome.

A Cry for Help.
Help, Help ,Help.My house is on fire.PLease ,Please, don’t rape me.Stop,Stop i don’t want
anymore beatings.Mother i am hungry and cold.I want to go home! Neighbours,Neighbours
come ohhh my son has been killed! My husband has been shot ohhhh.Help me! This is what
La Republique government is subjecting the people of Southern Cameroon to.Now,tell me.
What would you do if something terrible were to happen to you,your family and your future?
Would you sit back and be destroyed,or,would you stand up and fight back with every
strength you have left in you? Well,i am a proud Ambazonian activist and i will fight for a
better tomorrow for our beloved Southern Cameroon.Fight till our beloved and blessed land
is free.Enough is enough.
People thing Cameroon is rich in raw materials.The truth is,this richness in raw materials is
from Ambaland.La Republique has nothing to offer.That is,by the way.
I come from the North west region of Cameroon precisely Ngungetunja in the Mezam
division of Cameroon.This area, is one of the two regions of Southern Cameroon.My people
have been killed and are still being killed in their homes,my fellow sisters are being raped
indiscriminately,homes of our poor mothers,grandmothers are being burnt.Houses that were
built from farm work,selling foodstuff in Ndop market and soya business. The corrupt
government of La Republique heartlessly burnt these houses to ashes.Oh,what did we,the
people of Southern Cameroon,these poor mothers do to deserve such cruelty?You left our
people and our families hopeless and homeless,our land not habitable.
The president of La Republic of Cameroon has made it his business to ensure that the
killings dont stop.To him,the people will give up the revolution.I can assure you
Mr.president,that, that will be a long wait.It is rather unfortunate that new families keep
weeping over their dead loved ones and nothing has still been done.People are meant to
feel safe in their homes and the contrary here is true.The streets are far from being safe,the
forests and bushes also.
My people have become prisoners on their own lands.The international bodies have
remained quiet to our cry.Their newsrooms have never mentioned none of the despicable
acts of inhumanity and barbarism that are happening in Southern Cameroon.Be mindful of
the fact that, Cameroon has English as its official language because Britain was one of its
colonial masters.We have carried out a series of protests asking the commonwealth to help
us, our people back home and to safeguard our land..All we get are just promises.WE have
written countless petitions to the UK government to intervene in our plight but again all we
got and still getting are just words on white sheets of paper.In England,such killings and
cruelty carried out on the people of Ambazonia are considered ‘ terrorists attacks ‘.
La Republique government is carrying out terrorist acts on the people of Southern
Cameroons.This because Southern Cameroonians have had enough from the government
of Cameroon.For years now,we have been marginalised,we go to the best universities yet
we need and have to bribe our way into government recruitments and white collar jobs.When
you walk into a government office in La Republique capital,you are compelled to speak
French Language.When you apply for a job,just from the name on your application, you are
being branded ’anglo-fou’ and that application of yours will be rejected instantly.People of
who succeed in getting good jobs or white collar jobs have either changed their names to
Atangana or Onana,or have a La republique godfather somewhere,or has sold their properties to afford to bribe for a job! How pathetic! Is that a system that one has to continue
live with? NO.Does La Republique government think that a people can be subjected to this
and live like this forever? I DO NOT THINK SO.We must fight as enough is enough.We
raised our voices to call for separation and independence from such a decay system,we are
being treated and branded terrorist,separationist.We are Ambazonians the new rising
Nation.We will fight till our statehood is restored. We have risen to fall no more.Our voices
will be and must be heard.Forward ever backward never.It is my right to fight against bad
oppression and discrimination and i will not stop exercising this right. The international
bodies are pretending that everything is under control.But i tell you,Southern Cameroon is in
chaos.We need to restore our statehood,build our ambaland with resources that La
republique is milking from our land.We need to get treaties signed,we need another
referandum.La republique has failed us so,it is very logical that we the Ambazonians want a
Divorce from them. Yes, our forefathers were cargouled and deceived into Unification back
in the 1960’s.But the truth is, that Union is not and has never worked. We want a divorce bill
and as a minority we need the international bodies to step up their games and let La
Republique grant us our Freedom.We will not stop the protest.Our voices will be heard. ‘A
child that says the mother will not sleep at night,he too will also not sleep!’ The struggle
continues.All for one,one for all.History will remember us freedom fighters of Ambazonia.
From the Ndop plain

Winih M T

The Cameroonian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release all arrested both in the north west and South West regions of Cameroon, not forgetting Mr Ayuk Tabe Julius and his entire cabinet who were also illegally adopted and deported from Nigeria earlier this year, and lift the ban imposed on SCNC ( Southen Cameroons National Council).

On 17 January the Minister of Territorial Administration banned the activities of the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) and the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium (CACSC). The president of the CACSC, Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor-Balla, and its Secretary General, Dr. Fontem Aforteka’a Neba, were arrested, sparking protests in the southwest city of Buea.

On the same day both Agbor-Balla and Dr. Fontem Neba had signed a statement calling for protest activities to be carried out without violence.

“These two men have been arrested solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression. This flagrant disregard for basic rights risks inflaming an already tense situation in the English-speaking region of the country and is clearly an attempt to muzzle dissent,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, Amnesty International Central Africa Researcher.

According to the Minister of Territorial Administration, “all activities, meetings and demonstrations initiated or promoted by the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC), the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium (CACSC), any other related groups with similar objectives or by anyone partisan to these groups, are hereby prohibited all over the national territory”.

The government has accused the two groups of supporting a series of demonstrations that began in late October 2016 across several cities in the English-speaking region of Cameroon. The protesters were calling, among other things, for an end to the use of French in courts and schools. These protest were met with fierce reactions from the brutal and dictatorial regime of President Paul Biya resulting to many deaths on the side of innoncent civilians.

“This worrying pattern of arbitrary arrests, detention and harassment of civil society members is entirely at odds with the international human rights law and standards that Cameroon has committed to uphold,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi.

We have on our part in the diaspora, taken upon ourselves to resist the brutal and dictatorial regime of President Paul Biya by protesting and carring out online petitions to call the attention of the inter National community to look for measures of bringing this war to an end and subsequently calling on the United nations to effect a referendum giving the people of Southern Cameroons the choice to decide their fate. Done by Comrade Winifred Nenkaa Ndomo

Cameroon’s governments under president Paul Biya is bearing down on separatist movement fighting for the rights of a minority English language region using as its weapon a sweeping new anti-terrorism law introduced in 2014.
The Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) which is demanding an independent southern Cameroons made up of Cameroon’s northwest and Southwest regions has been targeted under the new law, which forbids public meetings, street protests or any action that the government deem to be disturbing the peace.
The draft law also prescribes the death penalty for persons who carry out any activity which can lead to a general revolt of the population or disturb the normal functioning of a country.
The anti-terrorism law has sparked a wave of criticism and many political analyst sees this as a means to silent dissent most especially SCNC activists and opposition parties.
The 2014 anti-terrorism law has been enacted to terrorise the people of Cameroon especially SCNC activists and possibly killing their freedoms.
The law is also against the fundamental liberties and rights of the Cameroon people most important SCNC activists who are clamouring from a complete separation from French Cameroon and with the formation of a new nation now known as Ambazonia.
In effect, the 2014 anti-terrorism law has significant deficiencies .most importantly the offences that constitute ’’act of terrorism’’ are not clearly defined, there is no limitation that a person can be held in custody or its extension is required and no preliminary inquiry is required to submit a person to the military tribunal for trial. Also the offences provided for in this law shall fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of military tribunals.
However the case of barrister Agbor Balla, Dr fontem Neba, Bibixy Mancho, Ngalim felix and other Anglophone activists only serve to illustrate the negative impact of the lack of protection of human rights defenders and the exercise of military jurisdiction over civilian cases.
Over one thousand Anglophones especially SCNC activists are being incarcerated all over french Cameroon and the 2014 anti terrorism law applied on their cases. Many of them have been jailed for 13-17 years in prison using articles from this law. Examples of Anglophone Activists incarcerated using this law include Bibixy Mancho, Penn Terrence etc who have been jailed 15 years respectively by the military court in Yaoundé-Cameroon using the anti –terrorism law. Done by epie Brian Nzalle SCNC activist UK

Southern Cameroons (SC) by 1960 had a functioning government which was ready to drive the state into a bright future. When she asked for independence, the colonial power Britain refused to grant her the right to independence and self-governance instead gave her two terrible choices to either join the Federal Republic of Nigeria or the Republic of Cameroon (RC).

The SC took the perceived better option at the time which was to join Republic of Cameroon and be given a referendum after 30years to decide the fate of the ‘union’.

Joining Republic of Cameroon was not a union to form a single entity as it seems to exist today but to form a Federal state with each half almost autonomous. Hence the referendum after 30years to decide their fate.

Since joining RC, the SC have seen their infrastructures, political and physical eroded and destroyed gradually and progressively.

A union was forged and the country was renamed the RC from the Federal Republic of Cameroon as was on the 1^st October 1961 when both Cameroons came together. In a bid to rectify this fraudulent union, in 1993 there was an All Anglophone Conference one (AAC1) held in Buea and a declaration was made called the ‘Buea declaration’ in which the SC elites called on the government to restore and implement the 1961 constitution agreement which allows the SC to operate as an autonomous state. However, the government did not respond and a second All Anglophone Conference two (AAC2) was convened in Bamenda congress hall in 1994 where the anglophone elites agreed and made a declaration known as ‘Bamenda declaration’ that if the government does not restore the federal state of SC within a reasonable time, SC would declare its independence. After the AAC2, many movements such as Southern Cameroon Peoples Conference (SCPC) which was later changed to Southern Cameroons People Organisation (SCAPO) and Cameroon Anglophone Movement (CAM), Southern Cameroon Youth League (SCYL) were formed. In1995 SCNC was borne and was tasked with reporting the situation of SC to the necessary parties involved such as the UN, UK, AU.

SCNC delegation led by John Ngu Foncha in 1995 went to UN and presented a petition to the UN for them to intervene and resolve the crisis between SC and RC so that another Somalian crisis would not emerge. In 1999, SCNC members took over the radio Buea station and declared their independence read by late Justice Ebong Frederick Alobwede. SCNC has reported the plight of the SC to all the necessary parties that were involved in the union in 1961 which include the UK and the UN. So far little has been done to rectify this union hence reason why there is genocide in the Southern Cameroon today.

The fight for restoration as a result of systemic destruction and marginalisation has been ongoing. This escalated in late 2016 following protest of lawyers as a result of the abolition of common Law in the SC legal system. The protest was met with torture, arrest and imprisonment of the lawyers e.g. Barrister Agbor Balla, Dr Fontem Niba and others who spent over eight months in prison.

The educational system which has also been greatly affected with primarily French speaking instructors to head and teach in primarily English-speaking schools thereby leaving many SC teachers unemployed. The teachers also took to the streets to protest against this and were met with a similar fate as the lawyers.

The general public of SC decided that it was enough and took to the streets with peace plants in their hands. Their protests were met with brute force from the RC armed forces. They fired live bullets at protesters leaving many of them dead, many were tortured, raped, arrested and taken to unknown prison destinations within the country.

Early 2018 leaders of the interim government were arrested in Nigeria and were extradited to Cameroon where they have been imprisoned by the RC government and are languishing there. The killings are not limited to civilians but also extended to men of God such as Ghanaian pastor, catholic priest and a seminarian.

Villages were burnt down with current number of over 180 and in some cases, people were burnt inside especially the sick and elderly who could not escape example is the case of an 86year old woman burnt alive in her house in Kwa-Kwa (Mami Api). Most of the inhabitants who managed to escape the inferno ended up in the forest with the very lucky ones fleeing to neighbouring Nigeria where they are currently seeking refuge. This onslaught has continued until this day under the watchful eyes of the entire African countries, AU, UN, the entire world including the colonial power (UK) that pushed the SC to this tragedy and none has bothered to intervene and stop the genocide.

Despite the plea from those who are fortunate to escape the killings in SC, the international community has turned a blind eye to their plight. Also, many SC who have escaped with their lives to the colonial power that pushed them into the unfortunate situation in the first place, and cried for help are being forced back to face the slaughter, with their death to justify their claim

UK the colonial authority to SC is a strong advocate of human rights laws. The 2002 protocol 13 article 1 abolishes death penalty in all circumstances including crimes committed during a war or when the threat of war is imminent. UK is against the abuse of Article 2 (right to life) and Article 3 (prohibiting torture, inhumane or degrading treatment/ punishment) of the Human right acts of 1998.

Question

1) How many people have to be displaced, killed, refused basic rights of life and living before they are listened to?

2) How can a proof that your life is in danger be your death itself?

3) Are the displaced persons, innocent civilians killed and burnt in their homes on a daily basis high political profile?

4) Does the situation on ground in SC with heavy blood spill and mass graves everywhere not a call for concern and a need for protection of the people of SC?

The Anglophone crisis is a conflict in the Anglophone southern Cameroons region of Cameroon with separatists fighting against the government of Cameroon. It is a long standing Anglophone problem in Cameroon.

Before 1961, southern Cameroons were a British administered territory from Nigeria. They elected to join the republic of Cameroon by UN Plebiscite in 1961 around the time of decolonisation.

A power sharing agreement was reached; the executive branch of the government was meant to be shared by Anglophones and Francophones but the agreement has not been respected and over the years Anglophone political representation has been steadily eroded.

The crisis came to light in October 2016 when lawyers and teachers led protest in towns and cities demanding that the integrity of their professional institutions be protected and minority right be respected.

As a result of these protests, the Cameroon government responded with reprisals, arrest, torture and detention of these Anglophone protesters.

The Paul Biya regime accuses some Anglophones of wanting to secede to create a new state thus making themselves outlaws. All it takes is to look back at the history of Cameroon to understand that it is not a matter of secession. It is about reclaiming a right granted to them by the UN, 57 years ago.  Actually we can only talk of secession when the state we want to separate from was a single bloc at a time of its creation (Independence).

However in Cameroon, when the former east Cameroon under the French mandate acquired her independence on the 1^st of January 1960, the former west Cameroon under the British mandate was still fighting for her own independence. Thus on February 11^th 1961, the UN organised a referendum in the northern part of west Cameroon, which agreed to join Nigeria, and in the southern part (current Anglophone region of Cameroon) which chose to join the republic of Cameroon (former East Cameroon under the French mandate).

On April 21^st 1961, in resolution 1608, the 994^th General assembly of the United Nations, with respect to southern Cameroon stated that; the trusteeship agreement of December 13^th 1946 is terminated. This implies that southern Cameroon acquired her independence then.

Thereafter the government of southern Cameroons and the authorities of la Republique du Cameroun agreed on terms to come together. But ever since they came together, their living together has been that of mistrust as the then president of la republique du Cameroon Ahmadu Ahidjo manipulated over the federal constitution in violation of article 47 of the said constitution which prohibited any revision of the federal form of the state.

Furthermore, his successor Paul Biya modify the constitution and in January 1984 the united republic of Cameroon was changed to the republic of Cameroon .The change has resulted in the objectification of the Anglophones part of the country and the people’s feeling of being marginalised.

Therefore the  Anglophones believe that they are being neglected by the republic of Cameroon and wanted to go back to where they were on April 21 and before 1^st October 1961; An independent state.

The fight for the return of an independent southern Cameroon began in October 2016 before the dictatorial and barbaric regime of Paul Biya began suppressing and pushing the advocates of the Anglophone cause to react just as violently.

The government of Cameroon has been using brute force on these separatists resulting to uncountable deaths on both military and civilian population.

The Role Of The SCNC in The Anglophone Crisis

The Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) has played a vital role in fighting for the restoration of independence for the British southern Cameroon. The SCNC is a non violent organisation which does not believe on  violence in achieving its goal.

Because the SCNC advocates for separation from Cameroon, it has been declared an illegal organisation by the government of President Paul Biya. Security forces regularly interrupt SCNC meetings, arresting members and detaining them for several days, months or years before released. Some have even died in prison due to poor living conditions.

In 1995, the SCNC rose to political prominence with host of efforts to push for separation of the Anglophone southern Cameroons from the country of Cameroon. The government of Cameroon was finishing its application to join the Commonwealth of Nations and the SCNC organised a number of publicity activities to oppose this inclusion.

In august 1995, the SCNC Petitioned the UN to intervene and mediate between them and the government of Cameroon warning that a lack of intervention would create another Somalia.

Repression of this group increased significantly in 2001 when the organisation was declared illegal and clashes with police at a demonstration resulting in multiple deaths.

As a result of this, multiply branches of SCNC have been created in the Diaspora and a good example is the creation of SCNC UK which has been playing a great role in achieving the restoration of independence of southern Cameroons.

Several demonstrations have been organised by SCNC UK to internationalize its activities and to create awareness of the plight of the people of southern Cameroons.

  BY ROMARICE M TENE SCNC-UK Activist.

It’s been close to two years today that Southern Cameroons is experiencing the greatest form of sadistic murders and gross human rights violations where mass slaughter, torture, rape, arbitrary arrest of innocent civilians and burning of villages by the brutal Cameroon government forces have become institutionalized.

What shocks me most is the magnitude of silence by the UN in particular and International Community as a whole.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. Martin Luther King,Jr

It is devastating, frustrating and painful just to imagine how the International community has remained silent to the mass murder in Southern Cameroons.

     My interpretation of this silence:

*Silence is a form of emotional abuse employed on Southern Cameroonians (Ambazonians) by UN and International Community.

*Their silence is designed as a great weapon to empower the Biya’s regime in their genocidal acts on Southern Cameroons. It is more or less an act of intimidation on Southern Cameroons and empowerment to the Republic of Cameroon.

*Silence to the Anglophone crisis and showing solidarity to similar situations in other countries tells us Southern Cameroonians are an inferior people and our lives do not matter.

*Silence goes a long way to showcase that the UN/International Community value their relationship with French Cameroon over Southern Cameroons.

*Silence means denial.

As the days lace by the situation becomes more frightful leaving Southern Cameroonians with a mix feeling hoping and wandering when they will see light at the end of this darkest tunnel of their revolution.

International Community and UN you can do it.You have gone to sleep for too long.Wake up and condemn the war crimes perpetuated on Southern Cameroonians by the barbican Biya’s forces.it is your responsibility to protect and stamp out genocide in Southern Cameroons.

It is absolutely disgraceful that the International Community,UN and the world at large have turned their backs to such flagrant violation of human rights in Southern Cameroons. Your silence speaks volumes. Being mute or neutral in situations of justice tells us you have indirectly taken sides with the oppressor.

If the International Community/UN implement justice in both the English and French Cameroons there will be peace and there can be no peace without justice.

Winifred Nenkaa Ndomo. SCNC UK-Activist

The Foumban Constitutional Conference of 1961 was not properly coordinated because the Southern Cameroons delegation had no constitutional powers to adequately discuss about relations with a third party. At this time, the Southern Cameroons had a constitution passed by the British Parliament on 1^st October 1960 known as ‘Southern Cameroons Order-in-Council’ which was a British Colonial Law. This led to the creation of a Ministerial Government in Southern Cameroons with Capital in Buea and John Ngu Foncha as Prime Minister taking effect on the 1^st October 1960 which is a day Southern Cameroons consider as Independence Day. On this day the British also ceased to govern the territory through the British Governor General of Nigeria.

The 1960 ‘Southern Cameroon’s Order in Council’ could not continue to administer Southern Cameroons as it was no longer effective. Hence, powers were given back to the British Government in London who assigned an expatriate Colonial Officer known as Commissioner for Cameroons representing the British government in Buea. The British then governed Southern Cameroons as a Trust Territory until September 1961 when the British Trust mandate over the territory expired.

The Foumban Constitutional Conference of 1961 brought no gains to the people of Southern Cameroons. The conference failed to achieve its objectives which were to establish a unique Federation of two states equal in status on the continent of Africa and secondly to evolve a bicultural society in which the distinct heritage of each of the parties to the union would flourish. The Foumban Conference was therefore the beginning of the untold misery of the People of Southern Cameroons Ambazonia. In fact, instead of containing a unique federation in the two Cameroons, the Southern Cameroons has become a People with numerous problems. The destruction of the Federal system of 1961 in 1972 by the then President Amadou Ahidjo was a gross violation of the 1961 constitution.

The negotiations at the Foumban Conference were false and just for the benefit of one party present since there was no proper preparation for the discussions at the conference to have a positive effect on Southern Cameroons. Secondly British Southern Cameroons engaged in the discussions at the conference without any intention of reaching any agreement. But French Cameroon came in with an already prepared constitution for self-governance.

Perhaps, the British Southern Cameroons since the Foumban conference has been largely silenced by the power of the present Nation-state of Cameroon. As a result, there will always be conflict until Southern Cameroons gets its Independence restored as voted for in UNGA Resolution 1608 (XV) of 21^st April 1961. The symbolic restoration of the Independence of Southern Cameroons Ambazonia was announced on 1^st October 2017 by our interim President Ayuk Julius Tabe. It’s the duty of the UN to admit Ambazonia as its newest member and call on negotiations to begin between La Republique du Cameroun and Ambazonia for a peaceful separation. Ambazonia must be free.

By Anumboh Eveline Mafor

SCNC-UK ACTIVIST