A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: Undefined array key 0
Filename: views/newspaper.php
Line Number: 25
Backtrace:
File: /home1/checkam/news.checkam.info/application/views/newspaper.php
Line: 25
Function: _error_handler
File: /home1/checkam/news.checkam.info/application/controllers/Newspaper.php
Line: 614
Function: view
File: /home1/checkam/news.checkam.info/index.php
Line: 315
Function: require_once
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: Attempt to read property "name" on null
Filename: views/newspaper.php
Line Number: 25
Backtrace:
File: /home1/checkam/news.checkam.info/application/views/newspaper.php
Line: 25
Function: _error_handler
File: /home1/checkam/news.checkam.info/application/controllers/Newspaper.php
Line: 614
Function: view
File: /home1/checkam/news.checkam.info/index.php
Line: 315
Function: require_once
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: Undefined array key 0
Filename: views/newspaper.php
Line Number: 25
Backtrace:
File: /home1/checkam/news.checkam.info/application/views/newspaper.php
Line: 25
Function: _error_handler
File: /home1/checkam/news.checkam.info/application/controllers/Newspaper.php
Line: 614
Function: view
File: /home1/checkam/news.checkam.info/index.php
Line: 315
Function: require_once
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: Attempt to read property "name" on null
Filename: views/newspaper.php
Line Number: 25
Backtrace:
File: /home1/checkam/news.checkam.info/application/views/newspaper.php
Line: 25
Function: _error_handler
File: /home1/checkam/news.checkam.info/application/controllers/Newspaper.php
Line: 614
Function: view
File: /home1/checkam/news.checkam.info/index.php
Line: 315
Function: require_once
Lawan Bako salutes dialogue, but insists Anglophone marginalisation is real.
Lawan Bako salutes dialogue, but insists Anglophone marginalisation is real.
By Etoh Anzah George in Bamenda.
From the Horizon’s shelves, Issue 433, UDP party chairman Bochong Aku Elhadj Lawan Bako, in an outright statement,had reiterated dialogue as a means to end the upsurge of the Anglophone crisis. He had reiterated "such a medium will enable the aggrieved to table down their grievances in a bid to attain an indefinite solution". Down the pipelines, many took to shock at the dawn of an "august" speech from the head of state who before now had traditionally addressed Cameroonians only on 11 February and 31 December. The over 30-minute address was saluted by many amongst whom are politicians who hold divergent views. Reacting to this subject , Lawan Bako Chairman of the United Democratic Party (UDP), said: " I took home the point of dialogue as a priority...the crisis started as a problem of marginalisation ,we asked the head of state to convene a dialogue so that we can sit down and discuss what the people are talking. He stayed mute maybe because as he said many have asked the question dialogue with who? If he had called this dialogue 2 years ago, certainly the number of loved ones (children, civil society activists, military personnel) which we have lost wouldn’t have occurred. That not withstanding, it’s better late than never".
*Anglophone Marginalization*
The anti-climax in Biya’s address was the fact that he denied Anglophones were marginalised, citing the appointment of PMs from the North west and south West regions since 1992 as evidence. Lawan Bako who is a member of the Presidential Majority (his party has always supported Biya’s candidacy for the presidency) disagrees with his mentor in this respect. "The perception and the feeling of the Anglophone community is that they are marginalised. Two years ago I championed a crusade aimed at entreating the head of state to appoint Anglophones to manage either of the 3 mainline education ministries of the nation or that of vocational training but yet they couldn’t listen but later they did and indeed we could not understand how for more than 5 to 7 years no Anglophone was given such a daunting managerial task". He further insisted: "We have 2 legal systems in the nation that is common law and civil law for English and French-speaking Cameroonians but sad enough the minister of state minister of justice is a Francophone (Laurent Esso same as minister delegate at the ministry of justice, Jean de Dieu Momo). The lone Anglophone here is secretary of state at the ministry of justice in charge of the penitentiary administration Doh Jerome which has nothing to do with common or civil law".
Bako express regret that though "the national oil refinery-SONARA is based in one of the Anglophone regions, the directors general from inception have always been Francophones.” Furthermore, the minister of water and energy is still Francophone, he said.
The Biya ally is exasperated that the President’s advisers on the Anglophone problem have been lying to him. “Whoever told the head of state Anglophones are not marginalised gave him bad advice".
On the question of national defence, Lawan Bako quipped: "the defense and security ought not only to be handled by Francophones, because defense is for the entire country. The ministry of defense, the national gendarmerie, national security are all manned by Francophone. So in essence, Anglophones have been chased out of the managerial corps of the defense unit of the nation".
In a nutshell Elhadj Lawan Bako concluded: "All these are acts of marginalisation and I thus say he who advised the head of state to say Anglophones are not marginalised ill-advised (sic) him because he who wears the shoes knows where it pinches. Those who advised the head of state should stay away and give him a chance and a medium to handle the nation.”