CI-NEWS

I am disappointed that Article 62 of constitution was raked up to blindfold Anglophones when they we

2019-10-08

No: 450

I am disappointed that Article 62 of constitution was raked up to blindfold Anglophones when they were campaigning for return to federalism.

Denis Nkemlemo, SDF communication secretary and delegate from Lebialem.

I am disappointed that Article 62 of constitution was raked up to blindfold Anglophones when they were campaigning for return to federalism. Why did we have to wait until three years after schools have been closed, thousands of lives lost, tens of thousands displaced before thinking of exploiting Section 62 of the constitution?

I am not satisfied with the outcome of this dialogue but I am glad we started something. I hope there will be another dialogue which will involve the contending parties – the fighters on the ground and the Diaspora accused of sponsoring them. We hope at that time it would be a dialogue in which the agenda is not prepared single-handedly by the government which is just one of the contenders. The SDF gave preconditions on how this dialogue can bring peace but we were ignored. We came, argued our position on the form of the state which we proposed as returning to a two-state federation of 1961 which set the basis for the two Cameroons to come together. Majority of the delegates on the decentralization committee were for the fact that the form of the state should be changed but telephone calls from high quarters blocked all of this debate. We only pray that some of these lapses will be closed for peace to return but I must insist that the return of peace in the NW and SW does not depend on these participants here. It depends on those who are fighting in the bushes and leaders of the Ambazonia Republic. So we may do our best to calm spirits but our best may not be good enough.

Do you not think the SDF was not hooked given that the party’s officials were given positions on the dialogue committees?

Not at all. As I told you, we have not left this dialogue empty-handed. Anglophones have left with a special status. The content may not yet have been decided but our responsibility is to press for content in that special status. The government did not prepare for that special status. It was obtained as a middle way to prevent the conference from tearing apart. If we had walked out as some people wanted, I don’t think we would have achieved this.

For the records, the resolutions of the commission on bilingualism and multiculturalism headed by Joshua Osih of the SDF will go a long way to solve the language frustrations of citizens of the NW and SW in Cameroon because we really insisted on instruments that would protect a language that is considered an endangered species. Looking at that report you would agree with me that if the Anglophone problem were only a language problem, I would have come back from the dialogue satisfied that it has been solved. Unfortunately, it goes beyond that. Let me seize this opportunity to congratulate our members on that committee for coming out with a blueprint to solve the language problem in Cameroon.

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

I am disappointed that Article 62 of constitution was raked up to blindfold Anglophones when they we