Gerald Acho revisits the history of the crisis in Cameroon and makes a plea for subsidiarity. Joining Father Lado and Dr. Cilas Kemedjio’s previous posts, Acho discusses the historical and political conditions which have contributed to “the Anglophone crisis.” Also, read CIHA’s previous posts by Dr. Kemedjio on Cameroon here and here on the crisis, and as always, feel free to share your comments below!
The Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon: What Went Wrong?
By: Gerald Acho
Cameroon, my beautiful country, once represented beauty and admiration to many African countries because of her loving people, beautiful culture, and most importantly peaceful coexistence between the Anglophones and Francophones that make up the country. Cameroon is situated between Central and West Africa making the country unique as it exhibits characteristics of West Africa and Central Africa. This dynamic and complex identity was celebrated by the people and was valued by outsiders. Many people remember Cameroon as the football giant of Africa, a country that had not entered into a civil war since independence.
Cameroon like many other African countries has been struggling with issues related to development, corruption, governance, and security. Though Cameroon has not been in a civil war, we cannot say the country has been peaceful. The country under the leadership of Paul Biya who has been in power for 36 years and is still planning on running for another seven years has ruled Cameroon with a heavy hand.
Today the one peaceful country in the region is approaching a dangerous civil war. This has pushed policy makers to propose different mechanisms to addressing the conflict and to propose way forward. In this paper we will be looking at where Cameroon as a country went wrong and how the country can get out of this imminent civil war that threatens its very existence.
Context of Emergence of the Anglophone Crisis
Towards the end of September 2016, Anglophone Common Law lawyers started a wave of protest against the government imposition of the Civil Law on the Anglophone people. They demanded for the withdrawal of civil law magistrates from the English speaking regions back to the French regions where civil law is practiced. This call of the common law lawyers will later lead to what is today known as the Anglophone problem.
This crisis can be traced to the colonial days. In 1884, Cameroon was initially colonized by the Germans, who called the country Kamerun. After the Germans were defeated in the First World War, Germans territories across the world were shared among the allied powers and Cameroon was shared between British and France as a Trusteeship under the League of Nations. During this period British Cameroon was administered as part of Nigeria and France ruled her part as French Cameroun. This separation lead to the cultivation of different cultures in terms of politics, education, and social relations. The British system of indirect rule which was used in British Southern Cameroon empowered the chiefs and kings to rule their peoples and the region flourished with respect for civil liberties (ICG, 2017, p. 2).
French Cameroun was ruled using the French policy of assimilation under the French legal system of Civil Law, which shaped the centralized system of government that is a common characteristic of French colonies today. People in French Cameroon experience fewer civil liberties than those in British Cameroon (ICG, 2017, p. 2).
The Anglophone problem as we know it today was solidified in 1961 when British Southern Cameroon decided to reunite with French Cameroon in a referendum (ICG, 2017, p. 2). During the Foumban Constitutional Conference, British Southern Cameroon and La Republic du Cameroun decided that they would unite in a Federal system of government, while maintaining their different institutions — Common Law for the English speaking Cameroons and Civil Law for French Cameron — and each party was also to maintain their different educational systems. These provisions in the reunification constitution were never implemented by President Amadou Ahidjo, and Paul Biya continued to follow Ahidjo’s example when he took over power in 1982 (ICG, 2017, p. 4). The disregard for the reunification agreements has put a lot of grievances in the minds of Anglophone Cameroonians.
The Anglophone problem began when federalism was abolished putting in place a system that was not representing the interests of the people. The Anglophones saw themselves as the losers of the union as their resources were being used to develop other regions. These perceptions or bias are visible in the poor representation of Anglophones in the political affairs of Cameroon. What is today known as the “Anglophone Problem” is an expression of the identity crisis which the Anglophones believe their identity is being taken or changed by the government through her different policies in the name of national unity (Morse, 2017).
These grievances exploded into a regional protest against the government as Anglophones expressed their dissatisfaction with the marginalization of the English speaking region. The Cameroon government at the beginning of the crisis refused that there is no such thing as the “Anglophone problem” and the government continues to deny even when the situation was getting worse. This denial is evident with Paul Biya’s speech at the UN which said nothing about the crisis which has put the economy of the country on the decline (Atabong, 2017). The government response to the crisis has been brutal with mass arrest of protesters and in January 2017 the government arrested the leaders of the civil society charging them with terrorism. The government went a step further with cutting the internet in the English speaking regions for three months (Morse, 2017).
Since September 2017, the Anglophone crisis has taken a different tend from a nonviolent struggle into a violent struggle that has led to the destruction of public properties and explosions that have killed security officials. The protests have taken a vociferous form. The crisis took on a new form on September 22 when citizens marched in their numbers demanding for separation form Republic of Cameroon to become the Republic of Ambazonia. These protests led to the demise of protesters and many were injured as police officers responded with teargas and live bullets. These protests came at an instance when the President (Paul Biya) was about to address the United Nation during the 2017 General Assembly Session. Anglophones in the diaspora rallied at the UN headquarters in protest against Biya autocratic and brutal rule in Cameroon (Atabong, 2017).
The Anglophone Crisis is Not about Language
From the above forgoing arguments, it is clear that the Anglophone crisis is not about language, or about Anglophones vs Francophones. There are many variables at play. The Anglophone crisis is more of marginalization and identity crisis than it is of language. Not discarding the role language has played in the conflict, it is important to reiterate that the root causes of the Anglophone crisis are not just language, but the violation of the reunification agreement, bad governance, marginalization, and under development of the English speaking regions.
There are many ways of addressing the Anglophone crisis without necessarily separating the country into two. These include “power sharing, minority rights regimes, and various kinds of autonomy in federal and nonfederal systems” (Powers, 2015, 73). The government needs to create an atmosphere where there will be participation and representation. Participation and representation will demonstrate both the Anglophones and Francophones are incorporated into the governance of the country. This can be archived through the government building structures that will allow for individuals to agree or disagree freely on political issues. The government must guarantee minority rights, in this case, the Anglophones who are seeking self-determination. The government structures should give equal opportunities for all Cameroonians so that everyone can effectively participate in the political process.
The government needs to revisit the Reunification agreements which brought the two people together. The centralized system of government as is being practiced in Cameroon is outdated and it’s not working anymore. The government must look for better alternatives that will better serve the people. It can either be federalism as agreed during the reunification, or it can be a county system of government where every region is more or less independent to deal with its issues without the meddling of the central movement. There is, therefore, the need for subsidiarity.