By
David Abouem A Tchoyi, Former governor of SW, then of the NW, and former SG
Presidency
 |
| David Abouem A Tchoyi |
Interviewed on a television set on the
evening of 31 December 2016 on the "Anglophone question", I realized
that this problem was blurred by many misconceptions. So I felt I had to write
an article to restore my share of truth, in all humility, without any
pretension to exhaustiveness, let alone the monopoly of truth. It is from
abroad that I followed, not without sadness, the events which have for some
time shaken the regions of the North West and South-West. It was not possible
for me to access the various information and official reactions to these sad
events. But I have a direct and intimate knowledge of the problems of these two
regions, to which I am bound by strong and tender ties: I spent ten years in my
administrative career in these regions.
Is
there an Anglophone problem in Cameroon? Yes, certainly. At least if the term
"anglophone" is understood to mean people from the northwest and
southwest: Those who live there or who have lived there, whether they speak
English or not, whether indigenous or not, whether installed or not. This is
how most Cameroonians perceive the "Anglophone" in Cameroon. Even
those who say "anglophone" speakers of the English language refer
only to nationals of the northwest and south-west who, when called upon to
refute certain claims, come to enumerate positions occupied by anglophones. Yet
if all the members of the present government are fluent in English, would they
all be anglophones? For the sake of simplification, I will use the word
"francophone" to refer to Cameroonians from the former
French-speaking state.
Eruptions
One
can remain deaf to calls, close one's eyes to evidence, clash in denial, or
even think like the first Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Cameroon
who, answering this question in 1964, made this memorable phrase: "there
is no anglophone problem; Allanglophones learn French very quickly ". But
it is all of us who, very quickly, will be able to be caught up by the
realities.
"It
is also not a problem to live together, but is it not this region that welcomed
thousands of Cameroonians fleeing indigenous and forced labor? To many
unconcessionists trapped by the colonial forces, and thousands of men and women
from African countries live and prosper there in harmony ".
So,
what's the problem? How does it arise? Why these recurring eruptions in these
two regions, sometimes on the basis of innocuous facts, as if the fire were
smoldering under the ashes, waiting only for the opportunity to explode with
fury? Because there is, obviously, an anglophone problem in Cameroon. This is
not a problem between anglophones and francophones: there has never been a
conflict between compatriots on both shores of the Mungo, on the basis of
linguistic differences.
It
is not the rejection of what comes from Francophone Cameroon: no community in
the north-west or south-west has ever opposed the practice in its territory of
Bassa, Beti, Bamileke, Peuhl, Sawa ... or other communities of the former East
Cameroon.
It
is not, on the part of our compatriots in these two regions, an obsessional
mania and a morbid desire to exalt the Anglo-Saxon colonial heritage, or to
cling to it in order to demand its taking into account. It is not, and it is
very important, a desire to undermine national unity, apart from the extremist
manifestations to which I shall return, such as those calling for secession. At
the time of the federal state, Cameroon was no less united than today. The
national feeling was even stronger at that time, perhaps because we had just
regained our freedom.
What is the problem?
Six facets come to mind:
1- Criticism of the centralized state.
2- The transfer of the decision-making
centers of Yaoundé, far from the populations and their problems.
3- Failure to respect commitments to
equitably take into account the institutional, legal and administrative
cultures and traditions inherited from the former administering Powers.
4- Non-compliance with the solemn promises
made during the referendum campaign.
5- The change of the name of the State:
replacement of "the United Republic of Cameroon" by "the
Republic of Cameroon".
6- Non-respect of bilingualism in the
public sector, although the Constitution makes French and English two official
languages of equal value.
I will go over, in a cursive way, these
different faces
1. Critique of the Centralized State
To have been stripped of the important
skills that the State of Western Cameroon exercised autonomously, many
compatriots of this part of the territory developed a deep sense of nostalgia,
discomfort, frustration and discomfort. This feeling was accentuated in the
years following the advent of the Unitarian State. It is not the mere nostalgia
of an era of dreams more or less gone. It is the comparison between the quality
of public governance practiced since 1972 and that which was honored in the
federated state of western Cameroon which systematically leads a large number
of actors to defend the former and to regret the second, Many of whom are in
favor of recovery. This feeling is real even among those who have not
experienced the self-government of western Cameroon as a federated state.
The conclusions of the Foumban Conference
of July 1961 can be glimpsed endlessly. It is fair to acknowledge that it gave
very important powers to the federated states on a list of just as important
subjects as they were called To be managed independently.
Federated
States had broad and exclusive powers over important matters such as the
Interior, Penitentiary Administration, Decentralization, Rural and Community
Development, Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Public Works, Cooperatives ,
Primary and Maternal Education, Energy and Water, Domains and Cadastre, Natural
Resource Management, Federated Finance, etc. Each federated state had its
public function which it administered sovereignly. That of West Cameroon was
managed with the help of the Public Service Commission, a sort of Supreme
Council of the Civil Service, responsible for ensuring the objectivity of
appointments and promotions and respect for ethical principles in the
management of Careers.
The
management of natural resources by the future Federated States was of
particular sensitivity in July 1961. In separate interviews, JN Foncha, ST Muna
and AN Jua assured me that it had been the subject of hard discussions with The
delegation of the Republic of Cameroon to Foumban, and then aside with
President Ahidjo. They did not want any agreements previously signed with
France to apply to the federated state of western Cameroon. According to them,
it is also in the perspective of the sharing of income from the exploitation of
certain natural resources (mines and hydrocarbons in particular) that they demanded
and obtained that the figure of the population of each state is clearly
mentioned in The text of the
Federal Constitution of 1 September 1961
Cameroon
was considered a constitutional curiosity, with a strong presidential regime
and no counterweight at the federal level, but a classic parliamentary regime
at the state level.
In
eastern Cameroon, classical parliamentarism was not able to function despite
the provisions of the Constitution of that State because of the unification of
political parties and the fact that President Ahidjo continued to exert a daily
influence on the management Of public affairs in that part of the territory
which he already directed as President of the Republic before the
Reunification. One recalls the letter of resignation of a former Prime Minister
of Eastern Cameroon, Vincent de Paul Ahanda, in which he implied that President
Ahidjo did not allow him to assume his responsibilities.
But
in Western Cameroon, parliamentary democracy was fully exercised, respecting
the Constitution of that State. The elections were organized by an independent
electoral commission created by a federal law of November 1961, the first in a
country with French as its share. By its composition, the mode of designation
of its members and its rules of operation, it was truly independent of the
Executive and the Legislative. Its President, Justice Asonganyi confirmed this
to me during an interview in Bamenda.
The
government had to be invested by Parliament before it took office and was accountable
to it. The parliament, consisting of two chambers -House of Assembly and House
of Chiefs-was jealous of its prerogatives. President Ahidjo himself, despite
all the authority he had, has realized this on several occasions, notably in
1966.
Following
the parliamentary elections held this year, the Kndp had the largest number of
deputies in the House of Assembly. But its President, J.N. Foncha, until then
Vice-President of the Federal Republic and Prime Minister of Western Cameroon,
could no longer cumulate these two functions under a recently passed law.
President Ahidjo decided to replace him with the Honorable S.T. Muna, whom he
considered more federalist than No. 2, Augustine NgomJua. But the parliament
sent a firm message to him that it would refuse the investiture to a government
headed by a minority party. Ahidjo was forced to appoint the Honorable
Augustine NgomJua as vice-president of the Kndp, whose autonomist inclinations
irritated him.
Incidents
were not long in coming. First between the Prime Minister and the Federal
Inspector of Administration for the region of Occidental Cameroon - it would
now say Governor - that he considered as being in its territory. Then between
the police, a federated force under the authority of the Prime Minister, and
the national gendarmerie, a federal force, who nearly came to an armed
confrontation! Actors and witnesses of these incidents are still alive.
Frustrations
The
fact that all this has been suppressed without being replaced at the managerial
level by something better or even as good has generated the frustrations and
demands that we are still experiencing today. Appointments in senior
administration and the parapublic sector, for example, no longer responded to a
legible rationality, and anglophones felt marginalized. Whereas, until then,
everything was done on the spot in Western Cameroon, it was now necessary to go
to Yaounde to "follow the files". Our compatriots from this part of
the national territory came with the conviction that civil servants-servants-were
actually serving the users. They were astonished at the reception given to them
by the public officials who, despite the bilingual character of the State,
obliged them to mumble a barely intelligible French, often amid laughter and
jeers.
2) Transfer of decision centers to Yaoundé.
The
decision-making centers, formerly close to the populations and their problems,
were all transferred away from them and concentrated in Yaoundé. Consequences:
hyper-centralization, exasperating delays, multiple inefficiencies in public
management, lack of accountability of leaders vis-à-vis the populations they
serve to serve. Two examples will suffice to illustrate it.
The
government has decided to centralize at the National Park of Civil Engineering
Equipment (PNMGC) in Yaoundé all the civil engineering equipment hitherto held
by the subdivisions of public works, in the chiefs of the regions and certain
county headquarters . All the gear in good condition of the former Public Works
Department (PWD) of West Cameroon was thus transferred to Yaoundé, to be hired
by the PNMGC. However, PWD agents, who mastered the rhythm of the seasons,
began two or three rains of road maintenance before the arrival of the dry
season to consolidate the roadway. So they wanted to do the same thing the year
after that centralization. When they asked to lease gear at the PNMGC,
including those belonging to them in full ownership a few months earlier, they
were told that the craft were on other sites; That the tanks were broken; That
the "cardboard" confirming the commitment of their expenses had not
yet left the Ministry of Finance; Or other reasons.
Faced
with the deplorable state of the road network that was worsening, the
populations threatened to revolt noisily. It was necessary to go back to the
President of the Republic, after having knocked all the doors unsuccessfully,
so that a solution could be found to this problem which was becoming explosive.
Centralization, when you hold us!
Second
example: the transfer to the National Water Corporation of Cameroon (SNEC) of
the management of water supply hitherto provided by certain municipalities.
This government decision was not even explained to the people. Water supplies
had been made on their own funds by municipalities and village communities,
with or without the support of certain external partners. The SNEC, as one of
its first decisions, came to manage it and without having invested the smallest
franc in it, to reduce the number of standpipes.
In
the city of Kumbo, the revolt almost turned into riots. The UNC mayor of the
city did explain that the pipelines had been financed by the beneficiary
populations themselves, that the latter regularly paid their receipts to the
commune, that it was dangerous for the health of the population to deprive them
of a " Drinking water, ... nothing did. A slogan spread like a train of
powder: "Beware of the snake! It has come to bite and kill. " Play
word ironic from the word SNEC. These angry populations were accused of
"rebellion against established authority". It has been necessary to
go back to the level of government to find a solution to a problem of
standpipes in communities in the hinterland. Centralization, when you hold us!
Cases
of this nature and other subjects of discontent have multiplied. It was not, of
course, a malicious will of the central government, but rather an opposition
between two administrative cultures: one with instinctively centralizing
reflexes and the other, functioning by nature on the principle Accountability
at different hierarchical levels of organizations.
It
is interesting to note that Francophone populations, which suffered the same
effects of this hypercentralization, did not have the same reactions. Another
cultural problem. Indeed, and our anglophone brothers could understand it
without difficulty, Francophones do many acts without even realizing that they
are indisposed, and not at all by malice. I take the example of the names of
our constituencies.
When the regions were created in 1962, the
administrative districts formerly known as the "Bamiléké region" and
the "Bamoun region" were grouped together to form the Western
administrative region. Rightly, because it was western Cameroon Oriental. But
West of the territory of the federal state was West Cameroon, rightly called
West Cameroon. During the transformation of the regions into provinces in 1972,
that of the west became the western province, while Eastern Cameroon had just
disappeared! Our country is thus the only one in the world where the Northwest
and the Southwest are contiguous! Whereas, as our teachers have taught us,
between the north-west and the south-west lies the west.
3) Non-respect of the solemn promises made
during the referendum campaign.
The
promises made during the "Yes" campaign in the referendum, which had
determined a large number of voters to vote in this way on May 20, 1972, were
scarcely respected. This is particularly the case for the acceleration of
development in these two regions, which should result from the savings made by the
abolition of the institutions and organizations of the federated states. The
proxies of the federal government and the UNC party had indeed promised road
asphalting, dam construction, urbanization of cities, development of border
areas, and so on. I personally attended some of these speeches, having been
part of the team of the UNC Political Secretary and Minister of Territorial
Administration (I was then serving as head of the organization of the territory
in this ministry).
4) Failure to respect commitments to
equitably take into account the institutional, legal and administrative
cultures and traditions inherited from colonization.
Whether
we like it or not, British colonization, like French colonization, has produced
an institutional, political, administrative, managerial and other culture and
traditions. She has also shaped ways of reasoning and living. It was therefore
necessary to take into account, equitably, in spite of the end of the federal
state, this double legacy of the Anglo-Saxon and French systems. The State of
Cameroon had undertaken to do so.
Thus,
in the aftermath of the institution of the unitary state, political discourse
emphasized the bilingual and pluricultural character of the State. It was
emphatically affirmed that taking into account the positive elements of our
colonial heritage would enrich the positive values of our centuries-old
traditions, an invigorating sap of our progress towards progress. The National
Council of Higher Education and Scientific Research, as well as the National
Council of Cultural Affairs, organized in
1974, helped define the profile of this new
Cameroonian
It
was also one of the strong commitments made by President AHIDJO to ST MUNA and
JN FONCHA when he consulted them on the immediate establishment of a unitary
State before delivering his speech of 6 May 1972. These two Former
Vice-Presidents of the Republic, told me during interviews in their residences.
In the eyes of some populations in the
northwest and south-west, this commitment was not respected
Francophone
compatriots often blame their English-speaking brothers for their obsessive
references to the Anglo-Saxon colonial heritage, as if it were the colonial
heritage that was to structure relations between communities that had long been
united by Of multiple links, even before the beginning of colonization. At the
same time, they resorted with delight to "their" French colonial
heritage. Our constitution, our institutions, our administrative organization,
our system of decentralization, our financial system, the overwhelming majority
of our legislative and regulatory texts ... come from the French colonial
heritage. Sometimes we even carry out simple transpositions, some of which can
go as far as photocopying, such as the establishment of the National Election
Observatory (ONEL).
Yet,
we could - and still can - capitalize on this multicultural heritage, to give
our country better and better standards. Is our Code of Criminal Procedure not
there to give an eloquent proof of it?
This
penchant for institutional mimicry prompted protest movements such as the
Cameroon Action Movement to assert that Francophone Cameroon was prosecuting
French colonization in western Cameroon. Originally born in 1979, and probably
based abroad, this movement circulated numerous leaflets in Cameroon, most of
them posted from Canada and the United States. These pamphlets denounced the
marginalization of Anglophones treated as second-class citizens; The
francization of Cameroon, in defiance of the equality of the two colonial
heritages; The transformation of the National Assembly into a single chamber of
registration, contrary to what was happening in western Cameroon; Excessive
centralization; The multiplicity and complexity of procedures; The abandonment
of the development priorities which were those of West Cameroon before
unification, with the consequent slowing of development in this part of the
territory; Etc.
Aware
of the impact of these mounting messages, President AHIDJO sent strong
delegations from Bamenda and Buea, comprising members of the government, the
political bureau and the UNC central committee. Their mission was to restore
the facts in their truth, to explain to the people, to warn them against the
harmfulness of such messages, and to reduce the tension. He then set up a
high-level ad hoc committee to reflect on the English-language problem.
Only
three of the members of this committee are still alive, by the grace of God: HE
Mr. Paul Biya, then Prime Minister; Mrs. Dorothy LimungaNjeuma, then Deputy
Minister of National Education; Myself, then Governor of the North-West
Province. All the others have already preceded us. I would like to quote from
memory: Solomon TandengMuna, President of the National Assembly, Chairman of
the Committee; Ministers of State / Ministers Samuel Eboua; SadouDaoudou;
Victor AyissiMvodo; Emmanuel EgbéTabi; NamataElangwe; Christian SongweBongwa;
Joseph ChongwainAwunti; UNC Deputy and Administrative Secretary Thomas
Ebongalamé; The Permanent Secretary of National Defense, Samuel Kamé; The
Director General of the DIRDOC, Jean Fochivé; The governor of the south-west;
FonFosiYakumNtaw ....
I
was appointed Rapporteur of this Committee. Professional secrecy prohibits me
from disclosing the findings, conclusions and recommendations contained in our
report. However, out of respect for historical truth, I must point out that
none of the members of this committee expressed any doubt about the existence
of an Anglophone problem in Cameroon.
The work lasted a whole week. After reading
our report, the President of the Republic decided to receive, individually,
each member of this committee. I recall that on this occasion he gave me his
views on the different aspects of this question, before soliciting concrete
proposals on specific aspects of my province.
Recognized
at the time as real by the highest authorities of the State, would the English
problem have disappeared, as if by magic? Certainly not. All the more so since
certain facts have been added to an already complex situation.
(5) The change of the name of the State:
replacement of "United Republic of Cameroon" by "Republic of
Cameroon"
On
its accession to independence, the former French-controlled State had assumed
the name "Republic of Cameroon". It was with the Republic of Cameroon
that Southern Cameroon negotiated the conditions for reunification. At the
advent of the latter, the Republic of Cameroon became the Federated State of
Eastern Cameroon, and Southern Cameroon, the Federated State of Western
Cameroon, within the Federal Republic.
The
change of name of the State in 1984 - abandonment of the United Republic of
Cameroon and return to the Republic of Cameroon - was perceived in many circles
as a simple phagocytosis of the former Cameroon Occidental by the former
Cameroon Oriental. The most pessimistic have seen a clear desire to eradicate,
even in terms of symbols, the contribution of the former West Cameroon to the
Reunification and the construction of a larger nation.
This
change of name has also resurrected the feeling of being a "distinct
entity" in many North-West and Southwestern compatriots. That of which the
populations, sovereignly, had chosen to find brothers and sisters of another
"entity" from which they had been separated, so that the two live in
harmony and in equality. For the extremists, it was therefore necessary not
only to resist "this phagocytosis", but also to perpetuate this
"entity" through a name that would recall the history of this part of
the national territory. The name "Ambazonia" seemed to respond to
this concern.
Where
does this name come from ? Before Portuguese explorers reached the Wouri and
gave it the name of "Rio dos Cameroes," they had landed in the bay of
Limbe. The saint of the day was Saint Ambrose, in the Julian calendar (we are
in 1492). They gave the bay the name "Ambass Bahia", Ambrose Bay.
Under the influence of English, this name became "Ambass Bay". It is
the origin of the dance whose spelling has been francised to become
"ambass-bé" or "ambassibé" or something else. But the name
Ambazonia was not unanimous. Hence the return to "Southern Cameroon".
For
the sake of truth, it should be noted that the instigators of this change of
name were in good faith: I discussed it with some of them. Brilliant academics
freshly integrated into strategic decision-making circles at the top of the
state, they were still little informed about certain realities of deep
Cameroon, and only developing the reflex to convene them when preparing
decisions of public authorities, In order to guarantee a healthy reception by
the different segments of the social body. At no time had it occurred to them
to put some of their compatriots at ease. Their reasoning was rather the
following.
National
unity had been the credo of the Public Powers under the Federal State and the
United Republic. The election of President Biya at the end of December 1983
marked the entry of Cameroon into the era of the National Renewal. The National
Renewal postulating that it was necessary to move from national unity to its
higher stage, national integration, this passage constituted a real mutation,
which had to be reflected through the very name of the State. The United
Republic of Cameroon should therefore "become" the Republic of
Cameroon.
The
draft law tabled on the Bureau of the National Assembly read as follows:
"From the date of promulgation of this law, the United Republic of
Cameroon becomes the Republic of Cameroon". It was a parliamentary
amendment that resulted in the current wording: "... the United Republic
of Cameroon shall be known as the Republic of Cameroon"; Formulation of
the remainder, legitimately. The instigators of this project had not realized
that instead of a mutation, it was rather a return in the name of the State of
Cameroon under French tutelage to its accession to independence , A quarter of
a century ago.
The
tabling of this bill stirred up many people in the northwest and southwest
provinces. In Buéa, where I served at the time, I was personally arrested by
dozens of people, including UNC officials, who asked for the meaning, the
opportunity and the justification for this return to the situation before the
Reunification . In Yaounde, ministers from both anglophone provinces were all
upset. Many are alive and can testify.
Some
MPs from the Northwest and Southwest have even advocated an open sling, and
recommended a negative vote. They all gathered around the President of the
National Assembly, the Right Honorable S. T. Muna. After long and lively
exchanges, they rallied to the position of the President of the Assembly and
other moderate deputies who found it undesirable to raise a sling wind, owing
to the circumstances of the moment. Their argument was both logical and
patriotic. Observing that the conflict between the former President of the
Republic and his successor had reached worrying proportions, they felt that a
sling-wind in the English-speaking provinces at this moment would undoubtedly
weaken the new President and give rise to Arguments to those who opposed him.
6
April 1984
They
renounced the sling but charged the President of the National Assembly to draw
the attention of the President of the Republic to the state of mind of the
people in their electoral districts and to ask him to find, with wisdom Father
of the Nation, a satisfactory solution for all. Concerns about this law were
blurred only by the occurrence, in this troubled period, of serious events: the
death sentence of the former president of the republic, and the mutiny of the
Republican Guard on 06 April 1984. Everyone realized that in such times the
entire people had to face their leaders.
6) Non-respect of bilingualism in the
public sector, although the Constitution makes French and English two official
languages of equal value.
Of
the six facets of the English problem recalled above, which would be
insusceptible of solutions? Any !Absolutely none. So what to do?
History
has given Cameroonians a sublime challenge: to build a united state, based on
the singular course of their country, capable of constituting a model for the
integration of the various colonial heritages and its traditional centuries-old
values. If it succeeds, it can serve as a model, even a reference for all
Anglophone, Francophone, Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries in
Africa. It could thus constitute the epitome of African Unity. This challenge
can be met. It must be.
This can, however, only be done with
humility, in dialogue, consultation and cordial understanding. Neither the
power of numbers nor the military force can achieve it. Indeed, it is well
known, "opinions are like nails: the more you hit on them, the more you
push them."
No mistake !
Let
us not make the mistake of taking this problem. We would risk having bitter
awakenings; Or it will be our children and grandchildren.
When I read the word Boko Haram for the
first time in a newspaper, I was abroad. I then asked a Nigerian consultant
colleague for information on this group. With a smirk, he replied: "You
know, it's only an insignificant group of illuminated fanatics." In the
face of the thousands of deaths, the hundreds of thousands of refugees and
displaced people, the hundreds of billions of francs used to fight this nebula,
or the unnamed sufferings it continues to inflict, no one could hold such
language today . What happened ?Boko Haram found support on the outside. Let us
not wait for uncomfortable compatriots who shout their evil being, come one
day, out of desperation, to seek support outside.
We
discuss with criminals, to release hostages! Let us discuss with all the
compatriots who feel the need, to free Cameroon from the threats to peace, its
stability and its security.
In
the 1960s in France, a unitary and millennial state, the Front de Liberation de
la Bretagne (FLB) denounced what it called "French colonialism in
Brittany". Trainee in a prefecture in the west of France, I saw some of
his militants brandishing the flag of the FLB in place of the French flag.
Today, only historians still speak of the FLB. It is not the result of war; Nor
an embalming of all the protagonists of the FLB. It is the consequence of a
political offer, the result of a republican dialogue.
A
few years ago, I was discussing with Dr. NgwangGumne, one of the main leaders
of the secessionist current, with whom we had served in Bamenda. By chance, we
found ourselves in Sweden, happy to see you again. After more than two hours of
discussion, he had this sentence: "my brother, as no one wants to listen
to us, everyone will eventually hear us." I pointed out to him that he
always called me his brother, whereas during all our discussions I argued
against secession. With a smile he said: "It is you in Yaounde who do not
want to listen to us."
Let
us listen to all the children of the fatherland. Without prejudice, as
requested by the President of the Republic in his message to the Nation on
December 31, 2016. We offer all our countrymen frameworks of discussion and
consultation, to approach our problems without prejudice and resolve them with
sincerity , In truth.
What
is going on with lawyers and teachers is going in the right direction. But let
us not limit ourselves to the treatment of what are only manifestations, even
mere symptoms. Let us address, in all its complexity and depth, the Anglophone
problem. With courage and determination, let us bring satisfying and convincing
solutions. All citizens of our country will benefit. For peace in justice.For
the good of the nation.For the salvation of the fatherland.
By David Abouèm in Tchoyi
Consultant
Former governor of the South-West, then of
the North-West;
Former Minesup;
Former Sg / Pr.
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