Crisis in NW and SW:

NW Fons reaffirm “Cameroon is one and Indivisible Cameroon”

-Urge Biya to act fast in engaging frank dialogue with Anglophone leaders 

North Fons

Members of the North West Fons’ Union, NOWEFU have in a strongly worded Memorandum cabled to President Paul Biya, prescribed honest and frank dialogue as the only way out of the lingering Anglophone crisis.

                In the Memorandum issued Tuesday in Bamenda, NOWEFU members said they have been very worried and disturbed about the ongoing crisis in the North West and South West Regions of the country.

                The slow but sure destruction of the cultural identity of Anglophones as can be seen in the Education and Legal systems, NOWEFU said, was preoccupying and that the group could not be indifferent to such actions.

                They said they are confident that the birth of the All Anglophone Conference , AAC; the Southern Cameroon National Council, SCNC  and  other secessionist movements, including the yearly 1stOctober Syndrome are all born out of the frustrations Anglophones have been going through since joining French- Cameroon after a UN organized plebiscite.

                In the Tuesday Memorandum signed by the President General, the SG and the treasurer-general of NOWEFU, Senator FonTecheNjei, FonZofoaNdofoa III and FonTekouh Simon respectively, the custodians of NW tradition recounted that: “In an earlier Press Release signed by the Fons on November 2, 2016, we clearly opted for dialogue as the only way to solve problems, while also condemning all acts that undermine the unity of the State of Cameroon. We still believe, that the only way forward is to sit down and discuss honestly.”

                The Fons noted that: “It is unfortunate that several people, including top government officials and some journalists deny the existence of an Anglophone problem, refusing to understand that the word “Anglophone” as used in this context means “indigenes” from the North West and South West Regions and not someone who speaks English…. Some Ministers even pretend to understand the Anglophone problem as a demand for roads, electricity and water.”

                While applauding the creation of the Commission on Bilingualism and multiculturalism, the traditional rulers said it is their wish that those to be appointed into the commission be honest, God-fearing, patriotic and willing to see that “our people live in peace and demonstrate love for the fatherland.”

Amnesty for arrested Anglophones

                In proposing solutions that could lead to the immediate and full resumption of classes and court sessions in Anglophone Cameroon, the North West Fons said it is important for government to free persons arrested in the course of the current crisis.

                General amnesty, they pressed, should be granted to suspects while lawyers be given back their seized wigs and gowns.

                They also called for the immediate withdrawal of Anglophones magistrates from Francophone courts and Francophones from Anglophone courts, while also ensuring that Francophone teachers (those who do not master the English Language) are redeployed from Anglophone secondary schools and universities.

                Amongst other things, the Fons are demanding an equitable distribution of places (between Anglophones and Francophones) in all competitive Examinations (concours), the enactment of  a law on the use of English and French in all official business, the creation of translation services in all ministries  as well as the implementation of all the provisions of the 1996 constitution with specific reference to the Decentralisation of the Regions and the putting in place of the constitutional and Regional councils.

                “We the Fons of the North West firmly believe in a one and indivisible country made up of two cultural and linguistic groups and administratively managed through the ten Regions,” The NW Fons concluded.