Rescuing the Ambazonia Debacle in Cameroon

This short piece is intended to make two points:
1. Revolution requires a spirituality
2. A revolution does not mean war
I start with the second point first because I have read justifications for this aimless war that claim that we are in a revolutionary moment in Cameroon and a revolutionary moment means war. First, it is not clear that we are in any revolutionary moment because revolution is not so much about war as it is about a change of values. Noted figures who have created revolutionary conditions in the world hardly fought a war - Karl Marx, Jesus Christ, the Buddha, etc. A revolution is not a war even though a war has often been confused for a revolution. A revolution is more about changing people's values and imagination than it is about fighting a war. So we can legitimately ask if any values and imagination are being changed in Cameroon because of the ongoing senseless war in Cameroon. I must confess at this point that if there is any value being transformed in Cameroon it is one of increased suspicion between Anglophones and Francophones. Creating an atmosphere for people to hate each other may be revolutionary but it is hardly the kind of atmosphere we want to encourage.

This brings me to the first point above, which is that a revolution requires a spirituality. By this I do not mean that those who participate in a revolution need to believe in a god, gods, or spirits. Rather, what I mean is that those who participate in a revolution need to have higher values than immediate, material gain. Karl Marx had the value of a classless society, the Buddha sought to free people from the perennial problem of suffering, Jesus aimed at creating a loving and forgiving society. Each of these entail material benefit but these benefits were not the point of the formation around which each of these leaders organized their vision. Visions are often sabotaged because of the quest for immediate, material benefit. This has been the case with the Ambazonia debacle.

Those leading this war are seeking all kinds of immediate benefits than any clear vision for the people they claim to be fighting for. The corruption that now bedevils the whole process stinks to high heaven. And this should be not be surprising. The people leading this fight are people who have all been trained by Paul Biya and all the corrupt practices they imbibed working for Biya have now been transferred into the movement, including the murder not only of people they claim to be their enemies but also of other members of their group. The greed is manifested in the widespread embezzlement of funds. Ambazonia is not even a country yet but those fighting for it have already replicated all what they appear to be fighting against - including covert murders of aides, widespread corruption, etc. The fight for an Ambazonia now may be justly described as a hoax, as Biya's last election. It is only a way for some people to make money, beginning with the companies that sell arms and ending with those who are leading this war. Those hapless young people dying at the front lines and the general populace are just pawns in the process.

That is why we need a new leadership and a new purpose. By new leadership I am thinking of people like Kah Walla, Mancho Bibixy, and Agbor Balla. By new vision I mean the original vision of fighting against the marginalization of Anglophone Cameroonians and not the corrupt quest for a new country that replicates the very problems we are railing against the Biya junta for creating. That is my proposal, as we enter 2019. 

Rejecting Biya's Sham "Victory" in Cameroon

It was announced today that Paul Biya, Cameroon's dictator for the past 36 years, has "won" another sham election to impose himself on the people for the next seven years. His plunder of the country has gone from the rapacious to the demonic. Such blatant theft of the future of generations is strongly rejected and we join our voice to that of all those who are rejecting this sham "victory" and declaring this despot to be illegitimate.

2500 Days of Protesting Paul Biya's Murderous Dictatorship in Cameroon

Paul Biya of Cameroon (AFP)

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 35 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 been unable to address, with the country descending into civil war. 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 2499 days since Paul Biya rigged the last election. We will continue to do so until he is no longer the dictator of Cameroon. The man is now washed up and has no new ideas about how to move the country forward. Cameroonians deserve much better. Paul Biya has to go.

Sona Jobarteh for the Uninitiated - Magic

Southern Cameroons Crisis and the Coffin of Mancho Bibixy

When was the last time you heard the name Mancho Bibixy? That deafening silence you hear is the silence of forgetfulness created by the crisis of improvisation - making up things as we go - which is now the state of the crisis. But Mancho Bibixy is a name that is central to the uprising now rocking Anglophone Cameroon. He is now languishing in prison in Yaoundé, Cameroon, after his arrest in January 2017 and his sentencing to fifteen years in prison, in May 2018, for spearheading the call for a federal state in Cameroon. When Mr. Bibixy first came to the spotlight, he was standing in a coffin. He made his demand for the change of the status quo standing in a coffin, a powerful symbol that has been interpreted as representing the death of Southern Cameroons.

However, the coffin in which Mr. Bibixy stood says more than simply representing the death of Southern Cameroon. If Southern Cameroon were dead, Mr. Bibixy would not be standing, let alone standing in a coffin. Mr. Bibixy chose the coffin because it is the reality of many of those who dare to challenge the status quo in much of Africa. Those who have stood up against the machinery of power that wreaks havoc on the lives of many Africans, more often than not, end up in the coffin. Sometimes this coffin is a tight cell and other times it is placed in the ground. The coffin is a symbol of the overcoming of the fear that inhibits people's ability to stand up to the terror of the African state. It is a demonstration of the willingness to die for the cause, thus setting people free to rise up with abandon.

The coffin is also a more powerful symbol: it is the symbol of the person of peace. It may be surprising that a symbol of death may be a sign of peace but there is a long history of instruments of murder standing for peace, especially in the story of the cross of Jesus. Thus, when Mr. Bibixy stood in that coffin, he was not only announcing his willingness to die for the Southern Cameroons cause; he was also announcing his willing to die rather than take a life for the cause. And that is perhaps the main difference between Mr. Bibixy and the Ambazonia people who have taken up arms. But the difference is great. Killing for a cause debases the killer and jeopardizes the cause. Killing is the work of anger not fortitude, of revenge not determination. By standing in the coffin, Mr. Bibixy brings together fortitude and determination, doing more for the cause with less resources. His confinement today, even when it is rumored that there have been means for him to escape, is a powerful continuation of this willingness to lay down his life rather than take the life of others, even if his cause is just. Else, he could have escaped when the opportunity presented itself and join the ranks of those who have taken up arms with self-justifying righteousness, dancing the dance of death in Cameroon. Remember the name: Mancho Bibixy. He stood in the coffin and announced a new day. That new day belongs to people like him.

Factions of the Cameroon Anglophone Crisis

The brutal murders of Paul Biya's soldiers in Anglophone Cameroon and the Far North of the country and the murders, kidnappings, and wielding of weapons of the different factions of Ambazonia fighters seem to have given the impression that there are only two sides to the Cameroon Anglophone Crisis - the government and Ambazonia fighters. But nothing could be far from the truth. I will show below the different factions to the crisis and state where my sympathies lie, given that I have a dog in the fight and plan to continue to be part of any future to which this process may lead.

The first faction is of course the Biya junta which has been in the news recently for the war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by its soldiers in both the Anglophone region and the Far North of Cameroon. Its goal is to see the status quo maintained, come what may. This goal is of course not tenable. The Biya junta has to go! The current elections it is organizing is a sham and should be boycotted by all. Given that the thing has already been rigged, the Biya junta will continue to be illegitimate, serving the interests of its overseas partners instead of the people of Cameroon.

The second faction is the group that calls itself Ambazonia and its fighters. Their goal is to see Anglophone Cameroon become a new country which they are to lead. Their diagnosis of the problem in Anglophone Cameroon is that things are the way they are because of the machinations of the Francophone-dominated government. Only separation from the Francophone part of the country would bring the requisite transformation they seek. I oppose this group for several reasons, including its diagnosis of the problem, its use of violence and its lack of clarity about how to strategically do so, and its connection of the fate of its hoped-for country to Europe and the United States. First, its diagnosis of the Anglophone problem. It is true that Anglophones have been marginalized in many important ways that have been discussed elsewhere, but to claim, as some Ambazonia sources have done, that economic matters have no role to place in the current crisis, is to give a superficial reading of the situation. One does not have to be a Marxist to know that the base of any war like this one is economic. Second, their use of violence throws away any moral high ground Anglophones had over Biya in their struggle against marginalization. The strategies they have used have been all over the place, showing profound lack of careful deliberation on the matter. The fact that they have closed schools in the Anglophone regions is despicable. How can the lost time in the classroom ever be recovered? Finally, the fact that they are relying on foreign help to create this new country they hope for just shows that the new country is going to be a client state of America or another European country, just as Cameroon is now a client state of France. I therefore do not see any difference between their new state and the current Cameroon.

The third faction is made up of Anglophones who are working in French-speaking region of the country. Some of them work for the Biya junta and so support Biya's vision. There are some, who support Ambazionia's vision and others who clearly do not. Some of the people in this third group are vocal about their stance but most are not. Some have chosen to remain neutral for strategic reasons.

The fourth group is those Anglophones in the Anglophone region of the country who support the status quo. A good example of this is the notorious mayor of Buea, Patrick Ekema, and his followers. They are whipping up the latent xenophobia in the south west part of Anglophone Cameroon to challenge Ambazionia vision of a united Anglophone front.

There is a fifth group made up of those Anglophones living in both the Anglophone and Franco-phone regions who clearly do not support Ambazonia's vision and they have made that known. There are many ordinary people in this group but the group is led by politicians. Joshua Osih, the SDF (Social Democratic Front) Presidential candidate and Anglophones who support him belong to this group. Kah Walla, the President of the Cameroon People's Party and her supporters belong to this group also. A significant difference between Kah Walla and Joshua Osih, however, is that Kah Walla has called for Biya to go and has refused to participate in the upcoming Presidential election. She holds that the Biya junta must go before a better future for Cameroon can be reasonably discussed.  She clearly rejects the violence of Ambazonia, and, like Osih, she has a vision for Cameroon as a whole rather than just part of it.

My sympathy is with Kah Walla's position. First, I hold that Biya and his junta must go before there can be any meaningful discussion of the future of Cameroon. Second, I strongly reject the idea that the Anglophone region should be a new country because I hold that the problem of our marginalization will not be solved by a new country. I say this with somber knowledge of the many refugees this crisis has created, the horrible deaths and destruction of villages, imprisonment and torture, that have been visited on many. But the fact that Biya is doing the same thing in the Far North tells me that the problem is the Biya junta and creating a different country to address the foibles of the Biya junta is not radical enough. Also, there are latent forms of marginalization among Anglophone Cameroonians that will not be solved by a new country. Further, given that the central economic problems are not even acknowledged by leaders of Ambazonia, it is not clear how they would prioritize it. Finally, my vision is that the African continent should become one country. Breaking the continent into separate, little countries cause more harm than good to the people of the continent, as Kwame Nkrumah saw over fifty years ago.

Based on these considerations, my position is that Cameroon should become a genuine federal state. 

2400 Days of Protesting Paul Biya's Murderous Dictatorship in Cameroon

Paul Biya of Cameroon (AFP)

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 35 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 been unable to address, with the country descending into civil war. 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 2400 days since Paul Biya rigged the last election. We will continue to do so until he is no longer the dictator of Cameroon. The man is now washed up and has no new ideas about how to move the country forward. Cameroonians deserve much better. Paul Biya has to go.