Anglophone Crisis:

SW Women Lament the Future of Their Kids

Decry rape perpetrated on women and girls

Advocate effective resumption of schools

By Boris Esono in Buea

SW women mobilize for back to school

Women from some 60 NGOs and women groups in the SW region have called for peace to return in the region and for schools to effectively come 3 September 2018..

            Gathered at the Bongo’s Square in Buea, on Wednesday 29 August 2018, under the umbrella of the SW/NW Women Task Force, SNWOT, the women in their numbers, wept openly, urging the security forces to stop the ‘unnecessary killings’ ongoing in the Anglophone regions.

            They marched with banners and placards calling for schools to be protected; for children and husbands to come back home and for an end to rape of women and young girls.

            The women, whose unannounced demonstration virtually took the administration and the population by surprise, said peace is inevitable for meaningful development. They called for a halt to gun battles and for dialogue to be given a chance.

Commentators have hailed the initiative of the women, saying it was expedient and well thought out.

            Rev. Perpetua Fonki, Coordinator for women and peace in Cameroon, applauded the women for their courage to have come out en masse to call for an end to the crisis.

            “There has been too much suffering in our communities lately. The killings, destruction of livelihoods, perturbation of schools and many other atrocities have to stop.”

            She added that the SW and NW Women Task Force stands for peace as women have always been a catalyst for peace and development.

           

Women sit on the ground calling for peace to return to the SW and 

NWRs in a lamentation campaign at the Buea Independence square

“We decided that we cannot stay silent in the midst of the situation in which we are living. Our communities have been wiped out. Reason why we say today enough is enough. We are calling on all to give peace a chance and to come out and dialogue and get a way forward so that the women should cry no more”.

            To the coordinator of the SW/NW Task Force, Njomo Esther Omam, both factions should use their heads to solve the crisis as conflicts start from the minds of men.

            “We want them to sit and reason together. Guns and weapons do not speak. Human beings have reason and when they have reason, they should be able to sit and talk. From the biblical perspective we thought that it is very important for the women to come out and wail first of all for the sins of the nation and secondly for our uncles, brothers and our husbands to lay down their weapons so that dialogue can begin”.

            She added: “things have been very difficult for everyone in the region. Some of us have had to leave our villages and come to Buea. We came to march and say the suffering is enough. Sometimes we are afraid when we see the security forces because of the way they are acting and pointing guns at people. But all we need is peace and a ceasefire.”

            In a 5 article declaration, the women amongst others advocated for peace and tranquility to be restored in the South West Region; that the rape of women and girls and other forms of gender based violence should be prevented. That meaningful access to education for children should be ensured.