Memorandum to his Excellency Paul Biya, Head of State of Cameroon, on the Southern Cameroons question

Excellency

Dr. Simon Munzu

 We the signatories of the present Memorandum, acting in our personal and individual capacities, but believing that we express the feelings of most Southern Cameroonians, have the honour to address this correspondence to you concerning the situation of the Southern Cameroons in the current state of our Nation, Cameroon.

                On 20 February 2014, in the historic Southern Cameroons town of Buea, you presided over ceremonies belatedly commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Reunification of the Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroun on 1 October 1961 which produced a new state in international law, the Federal Republic of Cameroon. That event is arguably the most significant of all events in the political history of our country, as it represented the reunion of two major components of our Fatherland that had, for over 40 years, evolved separately under two distinct colonial administrations, the British for Southern Cameroons and the French for La Republique du Cameroun. The momentous nature of the event becomes even greater when we remember that parts of our Fatherland, such as it existed under German rule from 1884 to 1961, have, through the vicissitudes of colonial history, been irretrievably lost and permanently absorbed into several neighbouring countries.

               

Mr. Azong-Wara Andre

Southern Cameroonians had hoped that, under Your Excellency’s guidance and leadership, the opportunity offered by the 50th Anniversary Commemoration would be taken to examine how our country has evlved since Reunification. They had hoped that such analysis of the situation would lead to the establishment of the urgently needed framework for correcting the multiple wrongs and injustices to which the Southern Cameroons and Southern Cameroonians have been subjected since 1961 and, especially, since the advent of the so-called ‘unitary state’ in our country in 1972. They were disappointed that this opportunity was not taken, considering that the past 42 years have witnessed the unmitigated and systematic dismantling of the Southern Cameroons heritage in all spheres political, administrative, economic, cultural and social.

                You are surely aware, Excellency, of the generalized feeling among Southern Cameroonians that their territory has methodically been dominated and annexed by La Republique du Cameroun over the past 42 years. Many of them, across generations, are beginning to talk of a ‘third colonisation’ of Southern Cameroons by La Republique du Cameroun, after colonisation by Germans (1884-1916) and the British (1916-1961). The Prime Minister and Head of Government as well as other members of the Government who attended the Colloquium organized at the University of Buea on 17 February 2014 as part of the 50th Anniversary Commemoration would tell you how palpable this feeling was among the audience at the University’s Amphitheatre 750 on that day. So, too, would Cameroonians and non-Cameroonians who listened to Southern Cameroonians express themselves on various public and private media radio, television and newspapers in the weeks before, during and after the 50th Anniversary Commemoration in Buea.

                To remove any doubt on this matter and to establish the facts relating thereto, we urge Your Excellency to set up a Technical Committee comprising Cameroonians of Southern Cameroons origin and those of La Republique du Cameroun origin to examine all aspects of the deliberate mismanagement of our country’s dual heritage that have resulted in the de facto annexation of the Southern Cameroons by La Republique du Cameroun and to submit to you a report of their findings within a month of the establishment of the Committee. We implore you, upon receiving the Committee’s report, to give it your full attention with a view to engaging dialogue with the Southern Cameroons and establishing mechanisms to address the specific issues that it will raise with regard to what has come to be known as ‘the Anglophone problem’, but which we prefer to call ‘the Southern Cameroons Question’, considering that what is at stake is the fate not of a language (English), nor of posts (Appointments). But of a territory (Southern Cameroons) and its people (Southern Cameroonians).

                Excellency, you will hear many Southern Cameroonian elites who hold positions in the Government, in the Administration, the Management of state institutions and in the ruling CPDM, to which you have appointed them, declare in public, contrary to what they whisper in private, that there is no ‘Anglophone problem,” no ‘Southern Cameroons Question’. We understand their attitude, dictated as it is by their narrow self-interest and the fear that they might loose their positions, privileges and benefits should they be heard to complain publicly about the domination and annexation of Southern Cameroons by La Republique du Cameroun.

                Their fear is also understandable because the tendency of state officials so far has been to label as ‘secessionists’ or ‘separatists’ all Southern Cameroonians who openly draw attention to the glaring reality of the domination and annexation of Southern Cameroons by La Republique du Cameroun. We want to make it clear that Southern Cameroonians who call for fair and equitable treatment for their territory within a united Cameroon are neither secessionists nor separatists. All they want is justice for Southern Cameroons and Southern Cameroonians, in keeping with the promise of equal treatment in a two-state federation that led the overwhelming majority of Southern Cameroonian voters to choose reunification with La Republique du Cameroun in the plebiscite of 11 February 1961. In this regard, we challenge those who deny that today, the vast majority of Southern Cameroonians decry their marginalization, domination and annexation by La Republique du Cameroun to conduct a fair and free referendum in the territory to ascertain their true feelings.

                In any event, we believe that it is your patriotic duty, as incumbent Head of State, to acknowledge the existence of the ‘Southern Cameroons Question’ and to address it, through dialogue and negotiation with Southern Cameroonians, in a way that guarantees lasting peace and unity in our country, considering that the price of durable peace and national unity is social justice for all.

                We thank Your Excellency for your kind attention.

Signed

Dr. Simon Munzu                             Mr. Azong-Wara Andrew

Tel: 71.89.26.81                                 Tel: 99.90.76.86

P. O. Box 528 Limbe                        P. O. Box 311 Buea

anyopeuh@yahoo.co.uk              azongwara@yahoo.com

Cc (For information only)

-His Excellency The Speaker of the Senate

- His Excellency The Speaker of the National Assembly

- His Excellency The Prime Minister

- His Excellency The President of the Supreme Court acting as the President of the Constitutional Council

- His Excellency The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the

United Nations and Head of the United Nations office for Central Africa, Libreville, Gabon