The dangerous situation in Southern Cameroons is not so much the violent conflict that is presently taking place there but the nature of this conflict. Brutal images that have surfaced on social media show how people are being killed on both the sides of the conflict - on the side of Cameroon's military and on the side of those dubbed "secessionists" or "terrorists". This is disturbing and dangerous enough. However, the dangerous situation being invoked here is the fact that those who are called "secessionists" or "terrorist" do not necessarily see eye to eye on issues of strategy and ultimate goal. Different groups pop up on social media, claiming to be fighting for independence, without any apparent connection to any other group in Southern Cameroons. There doesn't appear to be any central command. That is at the core of the danger. No one can call for an end to the violence right now. There is no single person in Southern Cameroons respected enough to call an end to the violence, even if the goal of independence is achieved or any other viable solution proposed. Those so-called leaders of Ambazonia do not know all the groups that are fighting and do not control them. Many of the groups are now acting on their own, often oblivious of what is happening in other places.
I recently saw a film of a group of ragtag fighters wearing amulets in a forest somewhere in the North West warning that there is another group which is in danger of being bribed so that it may abandon the cause of independence. It is not clear which group is being accused of this. Herein lies the danger - the violence that has been initiated into Cameroon has led to different fighting groups which apparently now seem to be in competition. The problem with this is that if the goal of independence is achieved, there will be different groups in the country with guns, demanding their own share of the spoils of war. Given that they won independence through violence they would now be even more convinced that violence is the way to get what one wants in life. Thus, instead of having political parties, as should be the case in a civilized democracy, we will have armed factions, as is the case in South Sudan today. From where things stand today, the most possible future of any independent Southern Cameroons is South Sudan.
The only issue now is how to prevent this from happening. The poisonous seed of violence which has been planted in the country will not go away any time soon. For this we have two groups to thank - the Biya junta and the people who call themselves Ambazonia.
I recently saw a film of a group of ragtag fighters wearing amulets in a forest somewhere in the North West warning that there is another group which is in danger of being bribed so that it may abandon the cause of independence. It is not clear which group is being accused of this. Herein lies the danger - the violence that has been initiated into Cameroon has led to different fighting groups which apparently now seem to be in competition. The problem with this is that if the goal of independence is achieved, there will be different groups in the country with guns, demanding their own share of the spoils of war. Given that they won independence through violence they would now be even more convinced that violence is the way to get what one wants in life. Thus, instead of having political parties, as should be the case in a civilized democracy, we will have armed factions, as is the case in South Sudan today. From where things stand today, the most possible future of any independent Southern Cameroons is South Sudan.
The only issue now is how to prevent this from happening. The poisonous seed of violence which has been planted in the country will not go away any time soon. For this we have two groups to thank - the Biya junta and the people who call themselves Ambazonia.
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