CI-NEWS

Anglophone crisis: Tides turn as Tumi backs federal union; Separatists curse.

2019-08-12

No: 440

Anglophone crisis: Tides turn as Tumi backs federal union; Separatists curse.

Christian Cardinal Christian Tumi has called for a federal system to end the three-year-old Anglophone crisis and keep the country unified.

His “new stance” has provoked the ire of the separatists bent on settling for nothing other the “restoration of the independence of Southern Cameroons”, the entity that represented the North West and South West regions before the 11 February 1961 Plebiscite that led to Reunification.

Tumi, the emeritus Archbishop of Douala, said the re-introduction of a federal form of government can keep the country united.

“At reunification, I was 32 years old. I opted for federalism, and it’s in my blood,” Tumi told Crux, an online outlet devoted to news on the Catholic Church.

In 1960, the northern part of Cameroon administered by France gained its independence. The southern part administered by Britain as part of Nigeria was in 1961 subject to a plebiscite in which they were offered independence by reuniting with their francophone Cameroonian “brothers” or by remaining part of Nigeria.

The results showed an overwhelming desire by English-speaking Cameroonians to reunite with the French-speaking part of Cameroon.

The “marriage” was guaranteed by a Federal Constitution that was meant to preserve and protect the minority Anglophones and their colonial heritage. But in 1972 then-President Ahmadou Ahidjo organized a referendum that dissolved the federation in favour of a united republic, thereby removing the protections Anglophones enjoyed.

Ever since, relations between Anglophones and the Francophone-dominated government have been tense. In October 2016, strikes by lawyers and teachers over perceived attempts by the Francophone administration to assimilate the legal and educational systems practised in the two English-speaking regions turned violent, and morphed into rising demands by Anglophone Cameroonians for independence.

The 2016 demonstrations broke out after there were demands to use French in the common law courts and English-modeled schools used in the Anglophone regions.

The ensuing fighting between the separatists and government forces has led to the deaths of at least 2,000 people, and the displacement of a further 500,000.

Tumi said a return to a federal system will be the foundation for a more sustainable peace and stability in Cameroon.

“We are a people called to live with all our differences. In federalism, these differences are respected,” he told Crux.

“I don’t have the number of states I want,” Tumi said, alluding to several different federal proposals being presented by different parties.

“We can begin as we were at reunification –with two states; but with time, experience would instruct us on whether we need more. History is before us. Other countries like the USA did not start with the 50 states they have today. Neighbouring Nigeria did not start with the number of states they have today,” the cardinal explained.

Tumi is working with other religious leaders from other Christian denominations and the Muslim world to organize what he has called an “Anglophone General Conference.”

“The conference isn’t an end in itself,” the cardinal said. “What we want is to inform Cameroonians on what is happening in the English-speaking regions of the country.”

Tumi said many people, including President Paul Biya, “have no clue” about what is happening in the conflict zone.

“And since Anglophones are complaining, we want to give them a voice through a broad-based consultation so that they can tell us what they want and what they are proposing as a solution,” he said.

He added the conference will come up with a questionnaire that will enable Anglophones clearly to identify the problems they face and propose a solution.

“For instance, we will ask them: Between federalism and the unitary state, what form of government, in your opinion, could likely help us come out of this crisis?” Tumi said.

The Cardinal said the organizers will then try to meet with Biya to transmit the resolutions of the conference, and to implore the president to organize a national dialogue on the Anglophone crisis.

Although a date has not yet been fixed, organizers say it will likely take place in October.

Reacting to the recent interview by Tumi, pro-secessionists fell short of calling him a traitor.

John Mbah Akuroh, leader of the Consortium, one of the pro-independence pressure groups, declared in a video that the Cardinal had pack-pedaled on his previous stance. He referred to an interview granted The Guardian Post last year in which Cardinal Tumi said over 80 percent of Anglophones were for separation.

A frustrated Akuroh accused Tumi of being undemocratic in declaring for federalism. He challenged the Archbishop Emeritus to make public a survey carried by the AGC which showed 82 percent of Anglophones overwhelmingly in favour of separation.

The Consortium leader said Tumi had proved by his “new stance” that the holding of the AGC was no more necessary since it was now a tool in the hands of the Biya regime to propagate the Federalist agenda.

Tumi is not the first to call for federalism. Tibor Nagy, Trumps’s envoy to Africa, had last year recommended the same option as a solution to the Anglophone crisis. Just recently, the US Senate, in a resolution, advocated the same option.

The drift towards federalism is an indication that the tides are turning against the hardliners in the Anglophone struggle in favour of the moderates.

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Anglophone crisis: Tides turn as Tumi backs federal union; Separatists curse.