CAMEROON: DEADLOCKED!!!

Dr Daniel YAGNYE TOM – 1960 is considered the « magical » year of the sun and dawn of independence when most of the states of sub-Saharan Africa acceded to « sovereignty ». Between January 1, 1960 and December 31, 1960, 17 countries, including 14 under French administration, gained their « independence ». Suddenly, the same France that had earlier ruled out any prospect of independence in Brazzaville in 1944, « changed » its strategy, as of this this period of the 60s, by granting autonomy instead of true independence: the historic Franco-African dispute (1) that created FrançAfrique had officially gone out the door, but insidiously yet, returned unofficially through the window! A lucid and dispassionate look at what is happening today in so-called « French-speaking » Africa shows that all these countries face the same problem; that of conquering their political sovereignty. From Mali to the Central African Republic, via Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Guinea Conakry and Cameroon etc…, the fight is the same, that of the liberation of the handcuffs by France and the conquest of true independence! Yes, Cameroon our country is not an exception, despite being the very first to obtain its « independence » on January 1, 1960. On the contrary, more and more, we are coming to discover a Cameroonian state built during all these decades in lies, violence and corruption, ignorance and a total opacity of its recent history as well as no reference whatsoever to the violence in which this state was born.

Why does Cameroon never commemorate its independence? Why does President Paul Biya, who religiously addresses the Cameroonian people every December 31 of each year, talk about everything without ever making the slightest hint on the independence of January 1, 1960? And yet, it is the only country in so-called « French-speaking » sub-Saharan Africa where France waged an atrocious war against the populations who only wanted their political independence. In this country and for all these these decades, we have lived with a country, France, who has been absolutely silent on this gloomy part of its history until July 3, 2015 when for the very first time in Yaoundé, the official France recognized, through the voice of its President François Hollande, the tragic episodes of the 50s and 60s, when the French army itself massacred thousands of upecists, and then framed the massacres of the young Cameroonian army. But what is even more surprising and troubling in our country is the deafening silence of the Cameroonian political class, who lost hundreds of thousands of its own daughters and sons in this quest for independence. How can this silence be interpreted? How can it be understood that more than six decades after this independence, the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (U.P.C), the main architect of independence, continues to struggle with neither freedom of organization nor normality in its functioning? Yes, how can it be explained today that the political reality is still one that forces some members of the UPC to still be condemned to living in political exile?

WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH SUCH A POISONOUS LEGACY OF INDEPENDENCE WHICH INITIALLY WAS EVEN DEAD ON ARRIVAL?

Actually, this is not even the time for recriminations or tears over the nature of the independence achieved on January 1, 1960. Despite its historical importance, finding the culprits as well as those responsible for the genocides will be a pretty much vain exercise at this time, given the fact that the overwhelming majority of the political and military actors concerned are no longer of this world. Other urgent priorities ought to take center stage. The urgency and the political priority of the moment should rather be an attempt to seek viable solutions which can actually solve the national historical dispute (2) of West Cameroon, abusively and falsely called « Anglophone crisis ». It’s about time real solutions were sought urgently for the burning problems of Cameroonians.

When we talk about the Movement of millions of northerners, the war in West Cameroon, the retrogressive nature of development of the East of the country, the discontent of the populations of the South and Center, when we talk about the problems facing the Bamileke and the Bassa people or about communal federalism, we are, in fact, at the very heart of searching for solutions to the national historical dispute.

If it no longer seems a priority to blame the BDC-UDC-UNC-RDPC today for the betrayal of its founding fathers on the nature of the independence received on January 1, 1960, it is, however, a patriotic duty for this party to remove the handcuffs it has placed on the UPC so it can be left to operate freely. Because it is absolutely absurd and even dangerous of a country that claims to be one of The Rule of Law, for its main political actors to accommodate the muzzling up of the UPC, it can be no longer acceptable that the ruling party as well as the so-called opposition parties all remain calm and serene in the face of the impossibility of the UPC to be an independent party.

Unfortunately, the particular and special interests of the parties prevail and are still privileged here, at a time when everywhere else in the so-called « French-speaking » Africa is prioritizing absolute political liberation from France! Priority that requires the unity of all patriotic forces of our country, that requires urgency in adopting an agenda which will encompass all appropriate and necessary general measures, one of the most important, in our opinion, being, of course, the boycott of « made in France » in Cameroon and Africa. The intolerable and ungrateful attitude of France is unacceptable, especially in view of all the atrocious multitudes of mishappenings that took place, starting from Douala, on August 27, 1940, and despite the crucial contribution of Africa to its liberation as well as that of Europe from German fascism.

THE SAME WAR, YESTERDAY IN EASTERN CAMEROON, TODAY IN WESTERN CAMEROON.

On the one hand, from the inalienable rights of a people to self-determination and, on the other, the legitimate right to safeguard the integrity of their territory, we find ourselves here in a country thus caught up in a whirlwind of violence. As was in the 50s and 60s in the so-called « French-speaking » Cameroon, the same horror has settled today in West Cameroon: barely thirteen months after the appalling massacre of seven students of the Mother Bilingual Academy of Kumba, here comes the despicable attack on the Bilingual High School of Ekondo Titi with the death of a female teacher and three students, with dozens wounded, several of whom left in very critical situation. The darkness of blind hatred and violence that has always been afraid of the light and truth acquired through teaching have all descended in schools, the hell of a dirty fratricidal war now prefers to gorge itself on the fresh blood of our young students and innocent teachers. Enough is enough! It is time to put an end to this prevailing scourge of deaths, especially since the armed gangs that sow this odious terror in this conflict are increasingly putting the Defense and Security Forces (DSF) in a situation of permanent stress that could cause inadvertent blunders at any time. The patriotic youth of the country sacrifice themselves with dedication in the various military fronts thus playing a leading role in social stability and the defense of the inviolability of the country’s borders. Very unequivocally, we should congratulate these young people and the DSF in general for their heroism in this struggle of defending the legitimate aspirations of our people in maintaining our territorial integrity. Also, as they become increasingly aware of their role in nation building, the DSF is improving their ability to understand the history of our country as well. They deserve a special word of encouragement for organizing the Second Military History Colloquium, certainly much still remains to be done but it is a significant step in the right direction towards national reconciliation, especially since they played a key role in the creation of this Cameroonian state which finds itself today tagged with the impasse of a prevailing historical dispute.

Dr Daniel el YAGNYE TOM

UPC Special Representative in Central and Southern Africa.

President of the Patriotic Alliance.

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

–  (French version:  https://histoirecamerounfrance.com/2022/09/23/cameroun-limpasse/ )