CI-NEWS

Cameroonian women urged to boycott 8th March celebrations.

2020-02-24

No: 473

Cameroonian women urged to boycott 8th March celebrations.

Mourning in black will replace the usual march past and festivities that characterise Women’s day in Cameroon this year should a boycott call by a group of four calling themselves “Mothers of the Nation” be heeded.

In a statement titled*MESSAGE FROM THE MOTHERS OF THE NATION TO THE WOMEN OF CAMEROON* issued in Douala on 21 Febuary 2020, the quarto: Me Alice Nkom, Me Michele Ndoki, Me Charlotte Tchakounte and Mme Kah Walla urged Cameroonian women to stand up and take action against a regime that has no regard for them. They said in protest against the killings in the North West, South West and the Far North, they should reject the women’s day loin this year and instead turn up in black on 8th March to “say NO! to the death and destruction in our country and to say YES! to life. Our lives and the lives of our children. “

“ We must come out to say we deserve safety, security and well-being in this country which belongs to us. We must stand and make our voices heard”, they said. Following is the statement in its entirety:

*MESSAGE FROM THE MOTHERS OF THE NATION TO THE WOMEN OF CAMEROON*

*Women of Cameroon – Let Us Stand UP!*

Mothers, Sisters, Daughters!

A week ago, on Friday, February 14, 2020, once again and once too often, Cameroonians died in the most horrible way. As Cameroonian women, this drama concerns us directly.

We come from a long history of women who have always stood when things went wrong in the country. Our mothers of Anlu fought the British colonizer, while our sisters of UDEFEC (Union Démocratique des Femmes Camerounaises): Gertrude Omog, Marthe Moumie, Marthe Ouandie and many others fought the French colonizer.

Our mothers used Mevengu, Ko’o and Takumbeng to right the wrongs of society. We cannot sit today and do nothing as the society falls apart.

Our children are dying. 4,000 or more in the Extreme North, 3000 and more in the North West and South West regions. Our children are out of school. 600 000 in the Anglophone regions, but surely over 1 million if we add in the parts of the country where there are no schools, where there are no teachers or where parents can simply not afford to pay fees.

We as women are paying the ultimate price for the decisions of a Regime that has absolutely no regard for us.

· We are burying the dead

· We are being raped and violated

· We are using every possible means and yet we still cannot make enough money to feed our children

· We are raising children only for this Regime, who cannot create jobs for them, to transform them into soldiers, armed groups, bandits. People who kill and who are killed.

IT IS ENOUGH.

Women of Cameroon, we have come together today to ask you to stand up. We can no longer sit and complain, sit and talk, sit and cry. We must stand up and take action.

The 8th of March 2020 is fast approaching. This 8th of March we must come out as Cameroonian women to say NO! to the death and destruction in our country and to say YES! to life. Our lives and the lives of our children. We must come out to say we deserve safety, security and well-being in this country which belongs to us. We must stand and make our voices heard.

As women of Cameroon we ask that you do the following:

*1. Do not buy or wear the official Women’s Day cloth.* We will be standing in strength and in defiance. We will be standing in mourning for the thousands who have died. We will be standing to demand life. On the 8th of March we will stand in black to demand the restoration of our nation.

*2. Do not participate in any of the official ceremonies, parties and parades. This Regime cannot kill us and then celebrate with us.* They cannot refuse our children jobs, food, water, electricity, healthcare and education, then come to have a parade with us.

*3. Come together in your associations, groups, development organizations. Come together as we have done here.* It is in unity that we are strong. It is unity that we can plan and act. It is in unity that our voices will be heard. Join us, join other women. Let us come together and make our voices heard on the 8th of March 2020. It is time to plan action

*4. Call us at 656 607 414.* We will send information. We will visit your association. We will discuss together, we will plan and organize.

We have come together here today as Mothers of this Nation.

We have come together here today as your sisters and your daughters.

We have come together here today to call you to join us from North to South and East to West, Christian, Muslim and Traditional Religions, ALL of the women of Cameroon.

We have come together here today to ask you to join us.

Let us stand.

Let us shout.

Let us act.

Until we obtain a better Cameroon for ourselves and our children.

Women of Cameroon, the country awaits us.

We must stand.

Mothers of the Nation

1- Me Alice Nkom

2- Me Michele Ndoki

3- Me Charlotte Tchakounte

4- Mme Kah Walla

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Cameroonian women urged to boycott 8th March celebrations.