Anglophone Uprising:

Thousands of protesters storm Nso, Mankon & Nkwen Palaces

Thousands of Southern Cameroons protesters Friday, marched on the palaces of the Fons and Chiefs urging the occupants to demand for independence and the unconditional release of Anglophones in detention.

                The protesters defied an intimidating presence of security forces and the arrest and detention of Anglophone secessionists.

                The protests began in the Southwest with social media inundated with images showing mammoth crowds demonstrating on the streets in towns like Muyuka and Ekona.

                The thousands of protesters marched along the streets carrying tree branches and chanting liberation songs and asking for the release of all persons detained in connection to the Anglophone uprising.

                Images later came in from Limbe, Ndu, Kumba,Kumbo, Jakiri and many villages including Kembong, Ewelle, Tinto, Ossing, Njeke, Djottin and Weh.

                In the NW the protests took the crowds to the palaces of Fons who under the auspices of NOWEFU have since called on Preisdent Paul Biya to run again in next year’s polls.

                Thousands stormed the palaces of Nso, Mankon and Nkwen as was the case in other villages and cities with some MPs notably Hon.Mbah Ndam of the SDF and the MP of Belo stepping out to join the protesters.

                At about 10am in Bamenda, which is said to be the epicenter of the Anglophone struggle, the protests gained in intensity and popularity.                               Thousands of protesters blew whistles, honked motorbikes and chanted songs of freedom as they moved down the streets.

                From Finance Junction, they marched up to Station Hill that was briefly blocked by soldiers in full combat gear. The protesters could be heard chanting “No to violence, No to violence, no to violence” and “how many people Paul Biya go kill ooo.”

                Another group diverted from Finance Junction and went to Commercial Avenue with women and girls at the forefront.

                The crowd that marched to Station Hill came back and hoisted the Ambazonia flag as the huge crowds cheered. The flag fluttered for almost an hour before gendarmes pulled it down.

                Reports reaching us said one person was killed in Santa.  But we could not immediately confirm the circumstances under which this happened.

                Four persons were reported to have been rushed to hospitals in Kumbo after they incurred wounds from gunshots.

                But the protests were largely peaceful and very few were hurt.

The incident that led to shooting in Kumbo came after a soldier fired teargas canisters at a peaceful crowd and a youth picked it and threw it back at the soldiers and it exploded.

                The Southern Cameroons Ambazonia United Front (SCACUF) called for protests on September 22 as President Paul Biya was due to address the 72nd UN General Assembly.

                Since Anglophone protests began late last year, there have not been any street demonstrations with such massive and widespread participation.

                Expectations are high among Anglophone secessionists as to what will happen on 1st October, the day the British Southern Cameroons is said to have gained its independence from Britain.

                Anglophone frustrations have been brewing ever since the former West Cameroon and East Cameroon came together in a two-state Federation. For over 50 years the former has continually felt dominated and marginalized by the latter. The situation is compounded by the fact that the two parts have two different cultures, legal systems and educational systems, with West Cameroon practicing English Common Law and East Cameroon the Civil Law.

                Anglophone lawyers began a strike on 21 October 2016 to protest among other grievances the appointment of Francophone magistrates with no Common Law background to West Cameroon courts.

                Anglophones also complain of poor representation in the government with just a handful of them in government and none holding any senior position.

                There are also complains that even the Anglophone Prime Minister (the highest ranking West Cameroonian) is only an “errands boy” in the government, reason why even when the PM went to Bamenda to seek solutions to the grievances of striking teachers and lawyers, the Higher Education Minister Fame Ndongo was granting an interview to France 24 saying there was no Anglophone problem in Cameroon.