One, United and Indivisible Cameroon: Beyond Language -two different nations, two distinct histories

The ongoing genocide in Southern Cameroons has dealt a devastating blow to any claim by those

propagating the big, fat lie that Cameroon is one, united and indivisible.

By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai*

The regime in Yaoundé has totally lost the force of argument. Its blind use of the argument of force; the only option left for it, will fail because violence has never successfully prevented a people yearning for freedom from achieving it. It is important to remind French Cameroun politicians who hardly draw lessons from history that Cameroon was a union of two distinct nations involving two different peoples with two different histories and political culture, beyond French and English languages. Great efforts were made by East and West Cameroon to develop their resources and use same to better the lot of their people, as there was a sense of healthy competition among the two federating states. It is just enough to say that by unilaterally abrogating the federation in 1972, Ahidjo snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and Cameroon’s manifest rendezvous with glory was halted. This was probably the most wicked act ever perpetrated against Southern Cameroons and current efforts to defend this anomaly only gives a bad name to democracy as a government of the people; for the people and by the people.

After unification in 1961, French Cameroun and Southern Cameroons were developing at their own pace, under a federal system of government and the two nations were never one and indivisible. That French Cameroun lacked the main foundation of nationhood owing to the absence of a sense of belonging to one entity, as tribal loyalty competed with national cohesion, is a fact that contrasts markedly with the political maturity in Southern Cameroons. No one can dispute the abysmal level of understanding of French Cameroun politicians when it comes to the majesty of democracy. No one should be surprised, therefore, at their lack of sophistication in its practice. The French Cameroun political class has shown an impetuous proclivity to foster a recruitment process that allows the worst to access public offices. Politics in French Cameroun was so much debased that electoral competition was an odious rat race or an all-comers affair of tribal jingoists, political hangers-on and sundry jobbers, all lacking in the requisite knowledge for leadership and governance.

Unlike Southern Cameroon, primordial sentiments animated French Cameroun politics. In the 1956 elections into the French Cameroun parliament, Ahidjo’s UC party which won the majority was a loose amalgam of contending tribal interests comprising - Union de Diamare (Jean Akassou, Maigari Bello, Yaya Daicro, Kakiang Wappi, Mohamadou Ousmanou, Yerima Daicro, Ninine Jules and Guyard Joseph); Union de Bamoun, (Arouna Njoya and Seidou Njimoulouh Njoya); Union de Defense des Interests de la Benoue(Ahidjo, Babale Ousmanou, Buhari Bouba, Haman Aboubakari, Hadji Mohaman, Rene Tagrand); Defense des Interests de Logone et Chari (Garba Gueime, Sultan Marouf Youssouf); Union de L’Adamawa (Alfred Mandon, Nana Djafarou, Adamu Iyawa, Sekou Cheick); Defense des Interests de Margui-Wandala (Talba Malla, Haman Adama, Bobo Souaibo, Lamine Yerima, Andoulaye Yero, Amaoua Abdoulaye.

Andre-Marie Mbida’s party platform was basically a coalition of tribal groups which elected Gaston Medou & Ebo Ndoundoumou (Action Paysanne de Dja et Lobo); Marigoh Mboua, Ndibo Mbarsola (Defense des Interests de Lom et Kadei); Pierre Yinda, Yakana Jacques (Union Social pour la Lumiere, le Progres et Fraternite du Mbam); Jean-Baptiste Mabaya, Pierre Ninekam (Independante pour la Defense des Interests du Pays du Haut-Nkam). Also elected were Chief Djoumessi Mathias, Marcel Lagarde (Défense des Interests Bamiléké in Dschang ; Etienne Djuatio, Imatha Jean (Defense des Interests de Mbouda); Kamga Joseph, Pierre Ngayewang, Samuel Wanko (Union et Progress Bamileke in Bafoussam); Ekwabi Ewane, Gaston Behle (Auctotones des Moungo); Charles Assale, Francois Obam (Union Nationale in Ntem Valley) and Betote Akwa, Soppo Priso in Wouri. Needless to say there was no political party in Southern Cameroons, created to specifically articulate and defend tribal or sectional interests.

Besides, while French Camerounians were electing Frenchmen to represent them in parliament, the March 1957 elections into the SCHA produced a constellation of candidates representing the different political parties which served as platforms for nation-building ideas and a breeding ground for leadership and policy articulation. There was a robust opposition which was the motor-force of democracy. In Victoria Division, Dr. EML Endeley (KNC) and PM Motomby-Wolete (KPP) were elected. NN Mbile (KPP) and FN Ajebe Sone (KNC) were elected in Kumba; Ambrose Fonge (KNDP) and SA Arrey (KNC) emerged from Mamfe. In Bamenda Division, ST Muna (KNC), VT Lainjo (KNC) and JN Foncha (KNDP) were elected; in Wum, two KNDP stalwarts, AN Jua and P Mua were elected; in Nkambe, Ando-Seh (KNC) and P Nsakwa (KNDP) were elected. Five of the six elected NA members were KNC – JM Mukambi (Kba), TC Lekunze (Mfe), HD Tankoh Tah (Bda), JE Kum (Wum) and W Nformi (Nkambe). John Manga-Williams (Victoria) was an Independent. Power alternation was one of the cornerstones of Southern Cameroons democracy because of the presence of a strong opposition with a distinct ideology and policy to the governing party.

Such a vibrant opposition was nonexistent in French Cameroun. For example, in the April 1960 elections into ALCAM, there were no competitions for the 44 seats in the North where Ahidjo’s UC party held sway. Once Ahidjo with the support of Aujoulat took over the UC leadership from Ninine Jules, his strategy was to cripple the opposition. By 1963, Ahidjo had virtually stifled all political parties and there was just one party in French Cameroun. In a streak of authoritarian madness, Ahidjo then undertook an insidious lynching of West Cameroon democracy in 1966 when all political parties were disbanded to form the CNU. The Federal Republic of Cameroon officially became a one-party state. Going forward, power, money and vanity became instruments of statecraft in the hands of CNU barons.

In addition, the Southern Cameroons civil service was very apolitical. Cabinet Secretaries were career politicians but the bureaucracy was run by Permanent Secretaries, who were not allowed to participate in politics. This tradition was maintained after unification as PJ Alpress, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources was appointed Chief Electoral Officer for the first post-independence election under the federated state of West Cameroon in December 1961. The reverse was true in French Cameroon where at independence in I960, a civil servant, Ahmadou Ahidjo, was handpicked by the French to become head of state. The tribalism, impunity, nepotism, abusive patronage and notorious corruption that is the official currency of governance in Cameroon today had its roots deeply embedded in the political culture of French Cameroun, where political leaders drew their electoral strength from tribal associations like Ngondo (Soppo Priso); Kumze (Chief Djoumessi Mathias); Bassa Mpo’o (Mayi Matip); Efoula Meyong (Charles Assale) and Koupé (Ekwabi Ewane).

And unlike in East Cameroun where traditional rulers were appointed by the colonial government and forced to wear official uniforms with ranks on their epaulets, the West Cameroon House of Chiefs was an integral part of the governance architecture and served as a quasi-upper legislative chamber. It is trite to say that there can be no democracy without democrats. Southern Cameroons having entrenched the democratic culture and ethos, a man could leave office, but the institution stays.  In circumstances such as this, there is usually a predilection to invoke primordial sentiments that are inimical to nation-building. To the ordinary Francophone, government is a profit-making business and political power is a selfish tribal equation, where holders of high public office must cater to the tribe above all else. Southern Cameroonians see high public office as a call to service; whereas to Francophones, a cabinet appointment is an invitation to “come and chop.” It was normal for an incoming Minister in French Cameroun to replace all his top-ranking collaborators with his tribesmen because “it is their turn to chop.” In such situation, the stress to governance and efficient delivery of democracy dividends from sycophancy, indiscipline, corruption and mediocrity cannot be over-emphasized.

Despite the preachments of Francophone politicians about the imperative of a one, united and indivisible Cameroon, the ethnic reactionary politics of self-preservation still pervades their psyche. A very telling situation that was a national embarrassment was when President Biya publicly declared all-out war against Anglophone terrorists. That Biya would descend to such shameless demonization of Anglophones, especially amid the ongoing genocide when the nation is in mourning and sober soul-searching, is the height of insensitivity and sheer dishonor for the dead and brutalized. In the judgment of an average sense of decency, Biya’s action is a moral weakness of asinine proportion.

In conclusion, a nation can never outgrow the performance of its leader. Such is Cameroon’s tragedy at the moment. The failure of leadership by the President, who by authority is assumed to be the father of the nation, is highly disturbing. If the president views Anglophones with such hatred, does it therefore surprise anyone why some of the president’s henchmen have been beating the drums of war? Given his apathetic refusal to dialogue, Biya wittingly or unwittingly sent a message of disdain and unwelcome to all Anglophones, including those in his cabinet, that they are terrorists, instead of patriotic citizens with a different vision on how the nation should be governed. Biya’s depth of ill feeling towards Anglophones is unhealthy for a nation in distress. He must therefore be told in whatever language he understands that Southern Cameroons and French Cameroon are not one, united and indivisible; never were, and never will be one, united and indivisible! 

*Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai is a Public Intellectual and graduate of Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he was Managing Editor of the Harvard Journal of African-American Public Policy. A former Research Analyst for Freedom House, he is a Consultant and lives in Boston, USA. Talk back at ekinneh@yahoo.com

One, United and Indivisible Cameroon – When Independence is worse than Colonization

No other territory in history has been so exploited and left to gnash its teeth in psychological and

physical agony as Southern Cameroons following its recolonization by French Cameroun.

By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai*

From 1953, Southern Cameroons was, to all intents and purposes, a country of its own, with almost all the appurtenances of a nation state, including self-governance, its own police force, parliament, and a senate known as the House of Chiefs. Despite the one, united and indivisible Cameroon hoax, the fact is that French Cameroun was a different country which gained independence from France on January 1, 1960 (as Republic of Cameroun) with international borders that did not include Southern Cameroons; which gained independence after a UN referendum on February 11, 1961. Even after the independent Southern Cameroons state joined French Cameroun in a two-state federation to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon on October 1, 1961, no Union Treaty was registered with the UN General Assembly secretariat as mandated by Articles 102 and 103 of the UN Charter. Over the past 56 years, the international community has looked the other way while Southern Cameroonians have been denied their independence. Southern Cameroonians have been emasculated to concur in the despoliation of their land by their passive indifference and cold complicity in the face of reckless dissipation of their commonwealth by French Cameroun. For a people that already experienced such high level of self-government under colonial rule, this anomaly makes independence worse than colonialization.

The occupation, annexation and colonial rule of Southern Cameroons by French Cameroun violates Article 4(b) of the African Union Constitutive act. It also violates UN resolutions against colonialism and external domination of other people; and it contravenes Articles 19-24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right; and other principles of International Law. In short, it is recolonization, pure and simple. The unilateral abrogation of the two-state Federation by French Cameroun under the subterfuge of the May 20, 1972 referendum was a constitutional coup d’état, which violated Art 47 of the Federal Constitution. The plebiscite votes never made Cameroon one, united and indivisible; nor was it intended to. Even were Southern Cameroons to be an integral part of French Cameroun, any such referendum on abolishing the federation ought to have been an issue solely for the people of Southern Cameroons to decide, since they were the ones who voted to join French Cameroun, in the first instance.

The two Cameroons were never one, because post-German Kamerun, the two territories remained fundamentally different in terms of political evolution and governance. Southern Cameroons evolved a functional parliamentary democracy, whereas French Cameroun was administered as a French overseas territory, and remained tragically stuck as a French neo-colonial outpost even after independence in 1960. From 1953-1961, Southern Cameroons was a vibrant democracy with an electoral system based on direct adult universal suffrage with single-member constituencies. Elections into the Southern Cameroons House of Assembly featured only indigenous parties like KNC, KPP, CPNC and KNDP, which had broad appeal across the six divisions of Victoria, Kumba, Mamfe, Bamenda, Wum and Nkambe.

Unlike Southern Cameroons, the democratic framework in French Cameroun was aligned to France. French men contested elections in French Cameroun and French Cameroun politicians contested elections into the French National Assembly (Assemble de l’Union Francaise (AUF), and the Conseil de la Republique, the French Senate. British parties never contested elections in Southern Cameroons. The opposite was true in French Cameroun where, French political parties like Rassemblement de Gauches, Mouvement Républicain Populaire (MRP), and Section Française de l'Internationale Ouvrière, (SFIO) dominated electoral contests into the French Cameroun parliament – the Assemblée Representative du Cameroun (ARCAM), later transformed to Assemble Territoriale du Cameroun (ATCAM) in 1952.

Until the UPC was created, political parties in French Cameroun like Jeunesse Camerounaise Francaise (JEUCAFRA), Union des Camerounaise Francaise (UNICAFRA) and Association des Colons du Cameroun (ASOCAM) were administrative parties created to defend French interests and all espoused attachment to “Mother France.” When the UPC led by Mayi Matip was banned in 1955, the parties that contested the December 1956 elections in French Cameroun like Ahidjo’s Union Camerounaise (UC), Andre-Marie Mbida’s Partie de Democrates Camerounaise (DC) and Betote Akwa’s Action Nationale (MANC) were more or less satellite tribal groups. In Southern Cameroons, political parties were tribe neutral, but in French Cameroun, every ethnic group had a party. There was even one to defend the interests of Mollatoes; cross-breeds of Franco-Cameroun heritage led by an elected MP, Frenchman, Léon Foulétier.  

In matters of electoral politics, Southern Cameroons was a showroom of political pluralism in its day. Right from the first elections to the Southern Cameroons House of Assembly (SCHA) on October 26, 1953; Simon Enow Ncha, blazed the trail to run as an independent candidate, in Mamfe Division, defeating the two main political party candidates - Martin Forju (KPP) and Chief SA Arrey (KNC). SE Ncha inspired other independent candidates like Solomon Anyeghamoti Ndefru (SAN) Angwafor, now Fon Angwafor III, who defeated DA Nangah (KNDP) and Maximus Chibikom (OK) in the 1961 elections in Upper Ngemba. Ncha also inspired Bernard Tajoh Beja (BTB) Foretia, who ran as an independent and lost the 1961 elections in Mamfe East to the formidable KNDP baron PM Kemcha, whom he eventually replaced in the 1968 Muna government. In Southern Cameroons, nomination of candidates was by two voters in the candidate’s electoral district; people who knew the candidates at the grassroots. Fon Angwafor III was nominated by GP Tuma, a mechanic and David Che, a teacher.

Against this background could be appreciated the fact that in French Cameroun, French men contested elections into French Cameroun Assembly within a dual electoral college system, comprising a French college and a College of indigenes. In the March 1952 elections into ATCAM, the French College elected Emile Victor Albert, Henri Chamaulte, André Duret, PM Chalot, André-Albert Gerberon, André Duru, Antoine Giard, Arthur-Louise Gouelle, Jean Grassard, Joseph Guyard, Henri Paul Journiac, Marcel Lagarde, Pierre Laouilheau, Alfred Mandon, Brieuc Penanhot, Jean-Marie Poileux, Mohamed Koudjali and Pierre Rocaglea. Form the College of indigenes came: Louis-Paul Aujoulat, Ninine Jules, Ahmadou Ahidjo, Jean Akassou, Charles Assale, Abega Martin Atangana, André-Marie Mbida, Paul Soppo Priso, Gaston Medou, André Fouda Omgba, Jean Ekwabi Ewane, Mathias Djoumessi, Dissake Hans, Babale Oumarou, Njine Michel, Arouna Njoya, Seidou Njimoulouh Njoya, Abbe Joseph Antoine Melone, Paul Francois Martin, Jean-Baptiste Mabaya, Etonde Guillaume, Charles Mbakop, Rene Blaise Mindjo, Lara Zoua, Youssouf Marouf, Ahmadou Mahonde, Marcel Marigoh Mboua, Kotouo Pierre, Ousmanou Hamidou, Iyawa Adamou, Chedjou Joseph and Alphonse Woungly-Massaga.

It is interesting to note that French citizens like Louis-Paul Aujoulat contested elections in the college of indigenes. In the view of the average Southern Cameroonian, the presence of Frenchmen in the French Cameroun parliament was a political monstrosity that advertised to the entire world a certain definition of democracy that diminishes the ideal and mocks the primacy of the indigenous people in the process. This anomaly raises fundamental questions about the average Francophone’s definition and perception of public office and explains why they are so lacking in the vital attributes of democratic engagement. In Southern Cameroons, expatriate involvement in the political process was limited to logistics. For example, EL Cox and AJ Cordy served as Chief Electoral Officers in the 1957 and 1959 elections, while AB Westmacott, Resident for Special Duties in Bamenda demarcated the constituencies. In French Cameroun, the colonial administrators picked winners and losers and elections were run by the Interior Minister designated by France. The standing view is that, he who controls the electoral machinery (pays organisateur) determines the outcome. It is a sad commentary on the character of French Cameroun politics and politicians that rigging and other electoral malpractices are deeply embedded in their political culture.

It is a matter for regret, indeed shame that Francophones continue to hee-haw the one, united and indivisible Cameroon fallacy, even as the bonds that bind the two Cameroons appear tenuous, if not snapping. A review of UN General Assembly resolutions and other international legal principles regarding the right to self-determination shows incontrovertibly that Southern Cameroons became independent in 1961, but has since been recolonized and occupied by French Cameroun. The ongoing struggle to restore Southern Cameroons independence is therefore consistent with International Law, including the right to self-determination. The right to separate from French Cameroun is also laid out under Principles VII and VIII of UN General Assembly Resolution 1541 of December 15, 1960. Besides, the obligation imposed by the UN that Southern Cameroons should obtain “independence by joining” either Nigeria or Cameroon violated Article 76(b) of the UN Charter, and UNGA Resolution 1541; both of which reaffirm independence as the inherent and inalienable right of all colonies and Trust Territories.

It all stands to reason that Cameroon was never one, united and indivisible. French Cameroun, in violation of international law, has supplanted the 1961 federation of two equal nations with annexation of Southern Cameroons. The declaration of war on Anglophones removes any pretence that Biya views Southern Cameroons as a conquered and captured people. It is indeed a pity yet again that Biya misread public opinion and chose to stand on the wrong side of history. It is evident the president still doesn’t realize that force has never triumphed over ideology in all of history. A situation where the president declares war against a section of the country, and calls them terrorists, cannot be in the interest of national unity. Such executive lawlessness is a sad manifestation of the rule of force over the rule of law. The audacity of this impunity was a reminder to Southern Cameroonians, if any was needed, that the music has changed to a war song; all Anglophone terrorists must now sing and dance the new song.

 

*Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai is a Public Intellectual and graduate of Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he was Managing Editor of the Harvard Journal of African-American Public Policy. A former Research Analyst for Freedom House, he is a Consultant and lives in Boston, USA. Talk back at ekinneh@yahoo.com