Parliament Adopts Contentious Bilingualism Bill Despite Resistance from Anglophone MPs

By Doh Bertrand Nua in Yaounde

Bidoung Kpwatt,

Parliament has finally adopted the controversial bill to promote the use of the two official languages of Cameroon despite resistance put forth by Members of Parliament from Anglophone Cameroon. The bill was forcefully adopted after a heated debate in parliament in a plenary session chaired by House Speaker, Cavaye Yeguié Djibril, and Tuesday December 10 2019.

                The heated debate cause the bill to be withdraw for close to two hours before the debate was re-launched for it to be forcefully adopted against the wish of lawmakers from Anglophone extraction. The bill had earlier been withdrawn from Parliament following for adjustments of its section 26 following an outcry and pressure that was mounted by Common Law Lawyers who threatened street protest and members of the civil society, politicians among others.

                The adopted bill had slight changes on section 26 (2) which states ‘Court decisions shall be rendered in any of the official languages, depending on the choice of the litigant and the understanding of all present in court.’

                Arts and Culture Minister, Bidoung Kpwatt, after the adoption reassured that it is a law that will help improve the promotion of bilingualism in public institutions, the private sector and civil society. The law he said is an embodiment of a strong resolution of the Great National Dialogue which guarantees not only the possibility for Cameroonians to further consolidate multiculturalism, but also to promote harmonious living together and national unity.

Section 1 (3) of the adopted text states that "the Republic of Cameroon shall adopt English and French as official languages of equal value".

                The law seeks to ensure the equal use of English and French in the public sphere and to encourage Cameroonians to express themselves in English and / or French with section 17 stating that press releases and other institutional communication documents must be produced and made available in both official languages.

                Common Law Lawyers however believed the bill will reduce to zero all the efforts Anglophones have made since 2016 to protect the Anglo-Saxon heritage from complete extinction in a French-dominant country.