Cameroon: Internal crisis disrupting lives

For close to three years now, the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon have been going through a crisis that not only jeopardises the country’s safety but also the well-being of the population.

It should be recalled that the crisis was triggered by corporate demands made by lawyers and teachers calling for the translation of the Ohada Uniform Acts into English and the preservation of the specificity of the Anglo-Saxon judicial and educational systems in the two regions.

However, President Paul Biya on September 10, this year issued a speech saying the government had taken appropriate measures beyond the initial demands and include: the translation into English of the Ohada instruments which are now available in the two official languages; the creation of a Common Law Section at the Supreme Court to handle appeals filed against the decisions of lower courts in Common Law matters; regarding the training of judicial and legal officers, to mention but a few.

“I would like to avail myself of this opportunity to once again extend my heartfelt condolences and those of the entire Nation to those who have lost loved ones in the crisis. I also wish to send a message of comfort to the wounded and all those affected in one way or the other. I want to assure them that they can count on the solidarity of the Government of the Republic and the Nation as a whole,” said President Biya.

The president further said despite the efforts made by the government, radical movements, mainly inspired from abroad, have exploited and distorted the corporate demands, noting that they have thus hatched a secessionist plan to partition the country.

“In this regard, they have formed and financed armed groups that have caused untold harm to the population of the North-West and South-West regions,” said Biya.

Furthermore, he said the atrocities committed by armed groups have forced thousands of his compatriots to seek refuge in other regions of the country and, for some, in neighbouring countries where they have been reduced to living under precarious conditions.

The latest report titled ‘Cameroon’s Unfolding Catastrophe’ published on June 3, 2019, by Cameroon’s Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA) indicates that more than 200 villages have been partly or completely destroyed, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee.

The rate of attacks on villages has increased steadily, usually causing significant damage. The report focuses on events from October 2016 to May 2019.

The report further states that between 450,000 and 550,000 people have been displaced as a result of the crisis, representing about 10 per cent of the regions’ population.

An additional 30,000 to 35,000 people have sought asylum in neighbouring countries.

There is evidence that much of the violence is intentional and planned, including retaliation attacks on villages by government security forces, often followed by indiscriminate shooting into crowds of civilians, invasions of private homes and murder of their inhabitants, and the rounding up and shooting of villagers.

Violence against women have been widely reported, according to the report.

This report also demonstrates that non-state actors, including local armed groups, also bear much responsibility for the violence. Separatist militias are battling government forces, while two organizations have been directing separatists from outside Cameroon to fight not only against country’s security forces, but also against government “self-defence” groups. Meanwhile, criminal gangs terrorise locals, wreaking havoc.

To end the on-going crisis in the two regions, the country’s President Biya during his recent speech had instructed the holding of dialogue between the government and trade unions in line with the country’s Constitution, to seek appropriate solutions to the demands and to seek ways and means of uniting the people of the North-West and South-West Regions. The dialogue was scheduled for 30 September – 4 October 2019.

Mr Namkwahe is a correspondent of The Citizen

“I have decided to convene, from the end of this month, a major national dialogue that will, in line with our constitution, enable us to seek ways and means of meeting the high aspirations of the people of the North-West and South-West regions, but also of all the other components of our nation,” said the President in September.

The dialogue focused on issues of national interest such as national unity, national integration and living together.

However, the reports suggest that key rebel leaders refused to participate in the dialogue because according to them their security was not guaranteed. Most of them live abroad.