The Southern Cameroons Struggles II: A Lesson From South Sudan

The birth of South Sudan as an independent country was celebrated with much fanfare in 2011. Images of people dancing for joy were beamed on many television screens around the world and the impression was given that a new day had dawn in the land of a hitherto oppressed people. That new day has however hardly materialized as the new country has now numbered itself among those that give Africa the bad name of being a warring continent.

The case of South Sudan is very similar to that of Southern Cameroons. Like South Sudan, the people of Southern Cameroons see themselves as a minority English-speaking people wronged by a majority French-speaking people. More precisely, Southern Cameroonians see themselves as a minority English-speaking people oppressed by a French majority government. For the most part, there is hardly a conflict between English-speaking and French-speaking Cameroonians, for they are often neighbors. The main problem is about how the majority French-speaking government is treating southern Cameroonians. While in South Sudan the conflict was cast in a religious light as a conflict between Christians in the South and Muslims in the North, especially through the influence of American Evangelicals, the situation in Cameroon appears to be linguistic and policy driven. However, the goal South Sudan has achieved appears to be the goal leaders of Southern Cameroons are seeking - independence from La Republique du Cameroun.

This goal is however something that needs to be rethought because it gives the impression that southern Cameroonians are united under the English-speaking banner. The impression was also given that South Sudan was united under Christianity. However, after independence, we started hearing of differences between the Dinka and the Nuer and how this has led to bloody conflict between them. Right now many are only talking about the language that unites Anglophone Cameroonians but less is being heard of the xenophobic tendencies that Bamenda people often experience in the South West Region. Politicians may fan the flames of this xenophobia in the event of independence and the Utopia which people seek may hardly be realized. This is the lesson from South Sudan and must be taken into account in the context of the present Anglophone struggles. It must be acknowledged that the situation is more nuanced than we sometimes make it to be.

The Southern Cameroons Struggles I: A Lesson From South Africa

Whenever human consciousness is awaken against injustice, many often think that such awakening would bring a speedy end to the injustice. That is however hardly the case, for the cause of justice often lingers rather than sprint. This is a lesson that is often learned the hard way but sometimes not learned at all. Failure to learn this lesson has often led to the death of many a worthy cause. Back in the 1990s when Cameroonians were awoken to the evils of a single party system and the rapacity of Paul Biya, they thought that the days of the single parties were numbered. People poured into the streets to demand a multi-party democracy and a society that is socially just. Protests and demonstrations were launched and the country was paralyzed for a while. When people saw that the change they sought was not materializing as quickly as they imagined, this quest for a just society fizzled, and was replaced by an even more rapacious society.

However, this quest for a just society has been resurrected in the recent Anglophone struggle. The Anglophone problem in Cameroon is as old as the country itself. However, it is only recently that the matter has garnered significant impetus from ordinary people. Protests that had gripped the country, leading to many deaths, is now fizzling out because some of its leaders have been chased out of the country and the people are tired of protests.

This is where the South African example comes in. The anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa was planned for the longue duree because its leaders understood, from experience, that the vision of the protests would not be achieved in one day. They thus instilled in the people what may be described as a protest imagination. A protest imagination is developed through constantly reminding the people that what they sought has not been achieved and that they must not lose sight of that goal. Within this framework, people may go back to work, children may go back to school, and life may return to "normal", so to speak. However, means need to be developed to constantly remind the people of the goal that is sought and the people also need to know that it may take generations for that goal to be realized. That is the lesson from South Africa. Apartheid in South Africa was not brought down in one day, one year, or one decade. It took at least five decades! During this time, children went to school, men went to the mines, and women worked as maids. But the struggle continued. It continues even to this day. It takes time for a just society to emerge but the struggle for such a society must not be abandoned.

Saints Kathy and Madiba, Pray for Us

Artist imagines the reunion of Kathy and Madiba

Culled from the BBC

Pope Francis, Is This Man A Christian?

Pope Francis has recently been telling us how Christian behavior should look like but it is not clear what he thinks of the Christian character of the Catholic dictator of Cameroon, Paul Biya. Just take a look at what  is doing to an otherwise affluent country, Cameroon. His government has arrested and is currently detaining many Cameroonians, especially from Anglophone Cameroon, without any due process. He has plundered the country for his own gain, spending much of his time in Europe rather than in the country. The Pope's silence about Paul Biya's rapacity in that country is deafening. Check out the bland press release from the Vatican after a recent meeting the Pope had with Paul Biya here.

From left to right - Paul Biya, Pope Francis, and Biya's wife, Chantal

Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Back!

1900 Days of Protesting Paul Biya's 34-Year Murderous Dictatorship In Cameroon

Cameroon is a very small country in West-Central Africa and it may be best known for football (soccer) rather than much else. But the country has very talented and hardworking people who, but for their tenacity, would have been completely broken. Their hard work has however not paid off in the postcolony because the country is lead by a rapacious dictator who has been at the helm of the country for over 34 years now - Paul Biya. Under his regime, the country not only bowed to severe economic crisis which has killed many poor people, but the infrastructure of the country has far diminished. Cameroon is the site of ghastly rail and road accidents that are due to the dilapidated nature of the transportation system. The morality and morale of many people in the country have been almost destroyed as many young people do not appear to see a future for themselves in the country. The healthcare system is so broken that many women continue to die in childbirth and many people continue to die from little, curable diseases. Meanwhile, Paul Biya himself spends much of his time in France and other European countries, especially when he is sick, as he often does, given that is a very old man now.

The flashpoint in the country now is the Cameroon Anglophone crisis which Paul Biya has totally ignored. Schools have closed in Anglophone regions but Paul Biya has been busy cutting the Internet there rather than seeing to it that children go to school. Spreading illiteracy in Anglophone Cameroon seems to be Paul Biya's primary goal now, as he continues to serve the interest of France rather than Cameroonians. His focus on serving France rather than Cameroon has led some to say that he is actually a Frenchman rather than a Cameroonian.

We here at FlourishingAfrica have been protesting this rapacity for 1900 hundred days since Paul Biya rigged the last election. We will continue to do so until he is no longer the dictator of Cameroon. Cameroonians deserve much better.