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But Biya’s ‘magnanimity’ seen as joker in the pack;

Reactions from Cameroon government, Barrister Charles Taku, Kah Walla’s CPP, Defence Counsel for condemned Ambazonian leaders.

The skies of Cameroon further darkened last Tuesday morning following the slamming of a life-jail sentence on the detained leaders of the Anglophone cause.

The Yaounde Military Court ignored pleas for the examination of motions filed by the defence Counsel challenging its competence and went ahead to condemn Sissiku Ayuk Tabe and nine others to life imprisonment after 16 hours of deliberations.

The verdict was immediately condemned as a parody of justice by lawyers for the accused. Other voices have predicted a bleak future for a return to normalcy in the North west and South West regions and a collapse of the back-to-school campaign already hijacked by politicians.

As expected hardliners have gone on the rampage in the two regions, declaring a shutdown which led to at least one person killed in Bamenda on Wednesday.

In addition, the vestige of the Interim Government, led by Dr Samuel Sako, has declared an 18-day lockdown in the Anglophone regions beginning August 26th.

All is, however, not lost for normalcy to return to the Anglophone regions. The momentum towards school resumption appears irreversible after Christian Cardinal Tumi and Jean Jacques Ekindi entered the fray. At a press conference in Douala, Cardinal Tumi insisted that children be given a chance to go to school so that Cameroonians investing in education too can have a means of sustenance. He said for this to happen, Cameroonians should shun hypocrisy and match words with action concerning the back-to-school campaign. An interdenominational crusade for peace will be organised in the coming days in Douala to soften the ground for dialogue.

But while Cameroonians of goodwill are clamouring for an end to violence, the onus remains on President Paul Biya to defuse the tension. The former minister of communication, Issa Tchiroma, always referred to his ‘magnanimity’ every time the president made a gesture like releasing some Anglophone detainees. This is the most opportune moment for him to re-enact that gesture and save Cameroon from implosion. A presidential pardon like the one he made in 2014 during the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Reunification of Cameroon appears to be the joker in the pack. At that time Titus Edzoa and Thierry Atangana were beneficiaries. The one now clamoured for by Cameroonians is likely to extend to the Ambazonian leaders; his political adversary, Prof. Maurice Kamto, and his detained MRC supporters. Their own trial is expected to commence in September.