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Cameroun - Crisis in English-speaking regions : YES to dialogue, NO to the deadly violence !

D 28 novembre 2016     H 12:12     A MANIDEM     C 0 messages


Kamerun has for a few weeks been agitated by demands made primarily by workers and peoples from the two English-speaking regions of the Northwest and Southwest. "Common Law" practitioners have taken to the media and the streets to voice their unwavering determination to protect this judicial system in these regions, in the face of many attempts at dismantling them as orchestrated by the government over the decades. Following suit, teacher unions called for a general strike in education for similar grievances : the destruction of the Anglo-Saxon oriented educational system for the benefit of the francophone system.

These strikes which have been massively followed have sparked popular support demonstrations where calls for secession or to federalism have been articulated. As usual, the neocolonial CPDM Government has turned a blind eye to these demands, only reacting with contempt, manipulation and ultimately using reckless and illegitimate violence, resulting in several people dead and many wounded amongst the population.

Demands laid out by the populations of the south-west and north-west regions are the legitimate expression of the frustrations caused by unfair governance in Kamerun. The Manidem unreservedly denounces and condemns the hypocritical attempts by former agents of this regime, seeking the advantage of this situation to push to the division of the country aligning on the borders inherited from colonization.

The Manidem recalls that the unity of our country is a profound and justified aspiration conquered through hard-fought battle since the colonial era through all regions of Kamerun and specifically in the areas then under British domination. The Manidem reiterates that the popular struggles against neo-colonial government that in yesteryears allowed for the dismantling of colonialism are the only means to resolve what is now called the Anglophone question.

Hence, the Manidem calls for the government to immediately initiate democratic discussion with all stakeholders so as to restore the foundations of a soothed and fair coexistence amongst all Kamerunian communities.
Finally, the Manidem reaffirms that the main solutions to settle community-based claims are among others :
 • The harmonization of our judicial system primarily based on our culture and our history, and in due course through an enrichment with foreign inputs ;
 • The harmonization of our educational system which would introduce four national languages and English as the sole language of communication with the outside world (beyond Africa) ;
 • A democratic management of Kamerun, materialised by decentralization across four geographically harmonious and economically viable regions ;
 • The National Convention ; a wider opportunity for debating on the recasting of our institutions and the social model that Kamerunians wish to have.

The MANIDEM hereby calls for a democratic debate on the problems of our nation.

The MANIDEM says what it is doing and does what it said.

Kamerun is our Fatherland and Africa is our future.

Done in Douala, November 22, 2016
On behalf of the Political Office
The President,