InAt a press briefing at Akwa Palace Hotel,Douala, last August 10 ,Chief A .S.Ngwana, the Chairman of the Cardinal Democratic Party, made public an open letter he has written to Cameroon President,Paul Biya ,calling on him to rescue the country from breaking up because of various crises. Following is the lengthy but important letter
President Paul Biya,
1/8/2012
The Presidency, Yaounde
Cameroon.
Your Excellency, Sir,
AN OPEN
LETTER TO PRESIDENT PAUL
BIYA.
Our last desperate appeal to you to stop Cameroon
breaking up.
Without a Federation, Mr.
President, Cameroon must breakup into two separate countries, La Republique Du Cameroun
and the Federal Republic of Southern Cameroon, unless you act quickly.
 |
| Chief A.S Ngwana addressing journalists about the letter |
1. I remember very well that it was after the morning
Holy Mass from the Soppo Cathedral that Mr.Jack Kisop, his wife Ada Kisob,
myself, my wife Elizabeth Ngwana and Mr. John Niba Ngu, on the 11th
February 1961, casted our votes in the plebiscite conducted by the UN to decide
whether we wanted to achieve independence by joining the Federal Republic of
Nigeria or by joining the Republic of Cameroon as a Federal State. At that
time, any British Cameroonian was either for unification with the Republication
of Cameroon or integration with the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Neutrality was
not part of the nomenclature.
The Student Unions in
Nigeria and Europe were fully committed to the cause of unification with
Cameroon and immediate independence. In 1959, I was the Secretary General of
the National Union of Cameroon Students of Great Britain and Ireland, Lawyer Gorji
Dinka was President. We organized a demonstration to 10 Downing Street and
gathered at Trafalgar Square where after an address by Professor Victor Anama Ngu,
we marched to 10 Downing Street where we presented our petition to the Prime
Minister, McMillan, calling for immediate independence and unification.
The result of the
plebiscite of 11th February 1961,
was an overwhelming vote in favor of unification with the Republic of
Cameroon, led by Dr. John Ngu Foncha, of the KNDP Party, against integration
with the Federal Republic of Nigeria, led by Dr.E.L.M.Enderly, of the CPNC
Party.
Mr. President, you
came back from Paris and was appointed by President Ahidjo to work with him in the
presidency in Yaounde. I came back from London and Dr. John Ngu Foncha asked me
to incorporate the Cameroon Bank Limited for his West Cameroon Government. The
rest is history which both of us know.
In 1982, President
Ahidjo suddenly resigned and appointed you president to succeed him. By 1983, I
had resigned from Cameroon Bank Limited and decided with some friends to launch
the Cameroon Democratic Party to challenge the oppressive one party system left
by your predecessor President Ahidjo.
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2. Official
notification on the formation of the Cameroon Democratic Party to the Government.
After launching the Party in Douala, on the 5th
of November, 1983 we wrote the following letter to President Paul Biya
informing him of the formation of a new political party in Cameroon and telling
him why a second political party was necessary
CAMEROON DEMOCRATIC PARTY
5TH November, 1983
His Excellency President Paul Biya,
United Republic of Cameroon,
Yaounde,
Cameroon
Your Excellency,
We have much pleasure in extending to your
Excellency on the occasion of the first anniversary of your ascension to power
as the Second Executive President of Cameroon, our warmest congratulations for
all your achievements this year and best wishes for the prosperity of our
Country. We hail your efforts to rid the nation of corruption, oppression,
suppression, victimization, discrimination, intimidation, favoritism,
tribalism, anarchy, and tyranny. We hail your promise to restore democracy. We
thank you for restoring freedom of expression and freedom of the press. You
have arrested the Nation from moral bankruptcy and spiritual decadence, and
given the Nation hope and a sense of direction. Your first year in office is a
success.
We thank your predecessor His Excellency Ahmadu
Ahidjo, who out of his magnanimity appointed you to succeed him. Today Cameroon
is one United Sovereign State enjoying its place in the comity of Nations and
the Nation will ever remain grateful to His Excellency Dr. John Ngu Foncha, the
father of Re-Unification, and to all Cameroonians who made re-unification
possible.
3. 1. THE
CAMEROON NATIONAL UNION (CNU).
In 1966 their Excellencies, Ahidjo, Foncha,
Enderly and Muna, leaders of the four political parties then in Cameroon,
dissolved their parties to form one political party called “The Cameroon
National Union (CNU). These four honorable men, the founding fathers of the CNU,
we are sure, were motivated by noble ideals, that the CNU would produce a democratic
government, aimed at producing free citizens, living in a free and democratic
country as enshrine in the 1961 Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Cameroon. Little did the founding fathers of the CNU suspect that they were giving
birth to a Monster which would terrify Cameroonians and destroy democracy. The
party became, as it were, an instrument of the Devil. It perpetrated the most
heinous crimes known to man. It produced a government seven times more wicked
than itself. Cameroonians who dared criticize it disappeared into underground
dungeons where it is alleged they died of torture or got blind. Thousands of
Cameroonians fled the country to Europe, America and other African countries
where they sought refuge from arrest. Corruption was institutionalized and
given an official stamp of approval. The most corrupt and efficient persons
were promoted and decorated with national honors. Efficient, hardworking and
honest persons were punished by being left stagnant in their positions for
years, while corrupt, grossly inefficient and incompetent civil servants were
appointed to head government corporations and parastatals. So that these institutions
through maladministration drained millions of francs of the country’s revenue
in loses and fraud. The banks were drained by CNU bosses and militants who
borrowed huge sums of money with no intention to repay. The very big
unscrupulous business men defrauded the government of milliards of francs in
customs duties and taxes, but were protected by the Monster. There are serious
allegations that more than half of the country’s revenue from the oil industry
was unaccounted for. The amount is so staggering that we shall demand an
official public inquiry into it.
Your Excellency Sir, we are happy with the
swift actions you have taken to correct this sad situation. You have set prisoners
free, recalled home the thousand of Cameroonians abroad, and disciplined some
of the corrupt ministers and civil servants. We support the actions you have taken
to stop evasion of custom duties and taxes, and all corrupt practices of the last
CNU regime.
4. 2. ELECTIONS
Article 2 section 1 & 3 of the 1972
Constitution of the United Republic of Cameroon states that “…National
Sovereignty shall be vested in the people of Cameroon…Nor may any section of
the people or any individual arrogate to itself or to himself the exercise
thereof..” Contrary to the above provisions of our Constitution, the CNU in
flagrant violation of the constitution, arrogated to itself National
Sovereignty. This Monster denied the people their sovereign power of freely
choosing and electing the people and government of their choice. Instead, the CNU hand-picked (in many cases
the most unpopular) persons and thrust them on the helpless masses for a “100
vote”
Mr. President Sir, this flagrant violation of
our Constitution is the greatest abuse of power by the CNU Monster and the most
detestable crime to our freedom and sovereignty. We have received with great
consolation, your promise to democratize the CNU, and restore democracy to
Cameroon. This is the beginning of real freedom
5. 3. THE
NATIONAL ASSEMBY (PARLIAMENT)
It is regrettable that our hand-picked
parliamentarians do not owe any allegiance to the people of Cameroon, but to
the CNU which selected them. Our Parliamentarians are mere robots to rubber
stamp the decisions of the CNU. Poor fellows, no one can blame them because
they can be sacked from parliament easier than one can sack a houseboy. The
Monster just has to sack them from the party and they are automatically sacked
from parliament. No wonder our parliament has never ever rejected a Bill before
it. Our parliament, the Supreme Law-making body of the Nation, has been reduced
to a department of the all powerful Monster, the CNU. This is preposterous.
6. 4. THE
JUDCIARY.
Despite attempts and pressures by the CNU to
create fear among members of the judiciary to demoralize them, to destroy the
neutrality and independence of the judiciary, we are happy that there are still
judges of character and integrity. There are still courageous men and women to
uphold the rule of law. There are still men and women who always strive to pass
judgments without fear or favor, so that the country can evolve a judiciary
that is truly independent, a judiciary that is honest and fair, a judiciary
that we trust and rely on, and judiciary that will set standards for future
generations to follow.
7. 5. FREEDOM
OF THE PRESS AND INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM
The preamble to the 1972 Constitution of the
United Republic of Cameroon declares among others things that, “ the human
being without distinguish as to race, religion, sex or belief possesses
inalienable and sacred rights.
-
Affirms its attachment to the fundamental
freedoms embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United
Nations Charter and particularly:
-
No one shall be harassed because of his origin,
opinions or beliefs in religious, philosophical or POLITICAL matters, subject
to respect for public order.
-
The freedom of EXPRESSION, the freedom of the
PRESS, the freedom of ASSEMBLY, the freedom of ASSOCIATION, and the freedom of
Trade Unions are guaranteed under the conditions fixed by law.
-
The State GUARANTEES to citizens of either sex
the rights and freedoms set out in the preamble of the Constitution.”
Contrary to these provisions of the
constitution and in flagrant violation of our fundamental human rights, the CNU
government abolished the freedom of the press and freedom of expression. We
once had many daily newspapers in Cameroon but now most of them have folded up.
Under the pressure of press censorship and the continuous harassment of
journalists, most papers could only safely publish sports news, as any other
news was fraught with danger. The news papers ceased to be interesting and lost
public support. Most of them liquidated and others became weekly, monthly or
year periodicals. Today there is only one newspaper in Cameroon - The Cameroon
Tribune, owned by the Government. Its functions are to sing CNU praises, Government
achievements and report football results. As if local press censorship were not
enough, foreign newspapers and printed materials that contain any criticism of
the CNU or government were seized and banned. Freedom of the press is of such
paramount importance that it is dreaded by dictators and feared by corrupt
governments. A free press is the protector and guarantor of human liberties.
Mr. President Sir, we consider the restoration
of Freedom of Expression and freedom of Pressas one of your greatest
achievements in office. Cameroonians today are free once more to write or say
what they like so long as it is not defamatory, seditious, obscene or
blasphemous. That is real freedom and the beginning of progress.
8. 6. THE
ONE PARTY SYSTEM
Our experience in Africa has proved that the
one party system breeds dictators, encourages corruption, deters economic
progress and encourages coup d’états. The One Party System is a cancer in the
democratic process. Much of Africa today is a political and economic disaster
area where corrupt and incompetent regimes mal-administer shrinking economies.
More than two thirds of Africa’s 50 independent States have experienced one
coup d’état in the past 20 years. The majority of African countries which have
adopted the one party system have fared very badly politically, economically, and
socially. The presidents of these countries are permanent heads of States. They
are either life presidents or are re-elected with monotonous regularity.
By our Constitution, Cameroon is a multiparty
State, but by intrigues and abuse of power, the CNU monster has for a long time
remained the only political party in Cameroon. Mr. President Sir, but for your
timely intervention, the CNU would have declared Cameroon a one party State and
plunged us forever into slavery and bondage. No man is wise enough or good
enough to be trusted with unlimited powers because power corrupts and absolute
power corrupts absolutely. The CNU in its grand wicked design to stop your
heroic efforts of reforming Cameroon, rushed and gave you absolute power, with
the certainty that sooner or later you would become absolutely corrupt and the
party would once more operate normally in corruption, oppression, suppression,
victimization, discrimination, intimidation, favouritism, tribalism, anarchy
and tyranny.
9. Your
Excellency Sir, we very much appreciate your efforts to reform the CNU monster
and rid it of these evils and we pray
that you should succeed, but we think that you are pouring new wine into an old
bottle. The old bottle cannot contain the new wine. The CNU is incorrigible,
intrinsically wicked and corrupt; it does not respect the constitution nor
believes in human rights. We shall not hazard our future in the hands of the
CNU again. We have lost faith in it. We are not born with the CNU tagged on us,
so we reject it.
Mr.
President Sir, you were by Divine providence sent to deliver us from bondage
and set us free. You have set us free and we shall not allow any person or
group of persons to take away our freedom again. We shall from now on, control
our own destiny.
10. 7.
THE CAMEROON DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Your Excellency Sir, we have the honour and the
overwhelming joy to inform you that, by
virtue of our fundamental human rights contained in the preamble of the 1972
Constitution of the United Republic of Cameroon and guaranteed by the State of
Cameroon, by virtue of Article 3 of the 1972
Constitution of the United Republic of Cameroon authorising the
formation of political parties in the United Republic of Cameroon, motivated by
burning love for Cameroon, service to
the Nation and our fellowmen, motivated by the desire to preserve democracy,
foster good government, promote unity, justice, peace and progress, we have
formed a new Political Party to be known by the name, “CAMEROON DEMOCRATIC
PARTY” (CDP) with its proposed Headquarters in Yaoundé.
The party is formed on the unshakable
principles of FREEDOM, JUSTICE, LOVE and PEACE. To promote and foster national
Unity, accelerate economic progress and ensure democracy and good government.
The CDP shall as a matter of urgency vigorously campaign for the amendment of
the constitution of the United Republic of Cameroon. Your Excellency Sir,
enclosed is a copy of the constitution of the CDP outlining our aims and
objectives together with a copy of the constitution of the United Republic of
Cameroon with our proposed amendments. Our legal advisers have been instructed
to complete the legal formalities of registration of the party.
We denounce all sorts of violence as a weapon
of achieving political objectives and we trust that the CNU will do same. We
shall win the parliamentary elections of 1988 and give the country a true taste
of democracy, freedom and economic prosperity. Cameroon shall enter the third
millennium as a model State, the pride of Africa and the World.
Your Excellency Sir, the CDP pledges its
support and co-operation to you and your government and wish you God’s
blessings in your difficult task of Government.
We have the honour to remain, Your Excellency,
Yours faithfully,
For: CAMEROON DEMOCRATIC PARTY,
A. S. NGWANA
National President
Cc: His Excellency, Ahidjo
“ “
Foncha
“ “ Endeley
“ “ Muna
All Provincial Governors
All Cameroonian Ambassadors
Enclosures:
Constitution of the Cameroon Democratic
Party (CDP)
Constitution of the United Republic of Cameroon
with proposed amendments.
P/S we regret the delay of this letter due to
delays by our printers in printing the enclosures.
The
English text is AUTHENTIC.
**********************************************************************************
11. AN
ADDRESS TO ALL CAMEROONIANS THANKING THEM FOR THE MASSIVE SUPPORT OF THE NEW
PARTY.
On the 21st of June, 1984, we
addressed the following letter to all Cameroonians thanking them for their
support. In it we outlined our political policies and programmes, aims and
objectives as contained in the Constitution of our party. We also outlined some
of the major Constitutional amendments to the Constitution of the United
Republic of Cameroon, we intended to make, to ensure greater Freedom, Unity,
Progress and Peace.
CAMEROON DEMOCRATIC PARTY
21st June, 1984
Fellow countrymen, we write to thank you for
the massive support and encouragement you have given our new party – the
CAMEROON DEMOCRATIC PARTY, which is just a few months old.
We love Cameroon and we must endeavour to make
Cameroon a good place to live in. It is therefore our onerous duty to lay down
sound political, economic and moral principles on which to build our Nation. We
must eradicate from Cameroon, ignorance, poverty, disease, corruption and all
social ills that have plagued our quality of life and blocked our efforts to
build a Cameroon we can be proud of. The Cameroon Democratic Party, formed on
the unshakable principle of Freedom, Justice, Love and Peace, is fully
committed to achieving these aims and objectives embodied in Article 4 of the
Constitution of the Party.
“Article 4: POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES; AIMS AND
OBJECTIVES
(1) The
policies and programmes of the party shall be in conformity with the provisions
of the Constitution of the United Republic of Cameroon and the fundamental
liberties embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African
Charter on Human and People’s Rights.
(2) Without
prejudice to the generality of subsection (I) of this article, the party shall
in particular vigorously and with a sense of urgency campaign for the amendment
of the Constitution of the United Republic of Cameroon.
(3) The
party shall promote and foster:
(a) The
Unity of Cameroon
(b) Personal
liberty and fundamental rights and freedom of citizens
(c) The
supremacy of the will of the people democratically expressed
(d) Social
justice and social welfare
(e) Equality
of opportunity for all citizens of Cameroon
(f) Self
respect and self reliance, and
(g) Love
of God, Neighbour and Country.
(4). To
this end the party shall have the following objectives:
(a) To
maintain and protect the unity and sovereignty of Cameroon as one indivisible
and indissoluble political entity.
(b) To
ensure the practice and maintenance of democracy, the Rule of Law and Social
Justice in Cameroon.
(c) To
provide free and compulsory education at primary and secondary levels; free
education at post-secondary and post-graduate levels and free adult education.
(d) To
ensure the teaching of Religion in all State Schools and Colleges.
(e) To
provide adequate food and shelter.
(f) To provide
a free National Health Service.
(g) To
promote mutual respect for and understanding of the religions, cultures,
traditions and heritage of the various communities of Cameroon.
(h) To
achieve and consolidate real political and economic independence and self respect
for Cameroon.
(i) To
build and sustain a strong modern economy under the control of Cameroonians.
(j) To
provide employment and secure for workers of all grades in Cameroon the full
fruits of their labour.
(k) To
protect the interests of farmers and peasants in Cameroon and to strive to
obtain for them the greatest possible returns for their labour.
(l) To
co-operate with Trade Union Organizations and Cooperative Movements in Cameroon
with a view to the development and maintenance of the economic progress of Cameroon.
(m) To
co-operate with all religious leaders in Cameroon with a view to enhance the
spiritual life of Cameroonians
(n) To
co-operate with any political or other organization whose aims and objectives
are in harmony with those of the party.
(o) To
co-operate with all members of the Organization of African Unity (O.A.U) and
United Nations Organization (UNO) and any regional groupings that should be in
the best interest of Cameroon and Africa and also help to find just and
peaceful settlement of international problems.
(p) To
foster and defend the freedom of the press.
(q) To
fight and eliminate corruption at all levels of the society.
(r) To
sponsor candidates for council, parliamentary and presidential elections.
(s) To
undertake other activities which in the opinion of the party are conducive to
the attainment of the aims and objectives of the party”.
12. OUR
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON.
It is a terrible tragedy that the majority of
Cameroonians do not know that Cameroon has a Constitution. The few Cameroonians
that have heard about it have never seen a copy. The majority believe that we
are ruled by decrees. Consequently when we announced the formation of the
Cameroon Democratic Party, the news came as a shock to many. Article 3 of the
1972 constitution of the United Republic of Cameroon authorizes the formation
of parties in Cameroon.
The constitution is supreme and its provisions
have binding force on all authorities and persons throughout the Republic of
Cameroon. That is, even the President of the Republic is bound by the
constitution. The present constitution (1972) of the Republic of Cameroon, has
so many loopholes that it has been abused and changed at the whims and caprices
of the past government and party. To avoid future abuses, and to promote and
foster National Unity, accelerate economic progress, and ensure democracy and
good government, the Cameroon Democratic Party has published amendments to the
present Constitution of Cameroon. As Stated in Article 4, subsection 2 of the
Constitution of the Party, CDP shall as a matter of urgency, vigorously
campaign for these amendments.
On the 5th of November, 1983 we
forwarded these amendments to President Paul Biya and the President of the
National Assembly Mr. S.T. Muna, for them to implement. Should the present CNU
government fail to do so; the CDP government will immediately implement them
when it wins the next elections. The new Constitution will safeguard our
individual freedoms and fundamental human rights which have been abused before,
ensure the rule of law, freedom of the press, independence of the judiciary,
the legislature and stop the executive from dictating to the judiciary and
legislature. It will restore the important role of our traditional rulers in
our culture, make public servants accountable for abuse of office and ill gotten goods, and
finally it will stop any person from becoming life president or permanent head
of State through regular manipulation of elections (maximum term of office 10
years for Presidents and Governors)
13. Here
are some of the proposed amendments:
Article 2:
(1) Cameroon
is one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign State to be known by the name,
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON.
(2) The
flag shall be of three equal vertical stripes of green, red and yellow, charged
with four
gold stars in the centre of the
red stripe.
(3)
Cameroon shall be a FEDERATION
consisting of States.
Article 3:
(1) There
shall be four States in Cameroon. That is to say, NORTH, SOUTH WESTERN, EAST
AND WEST.
(2) The
North State shall consist of the North, Far North and Adamawa Provinces, with
its capital at GAROUA. The South Western States shall consist of the West and
Coastal Provinces, with its capital at BAFOUSSAM. The East State shall consist
of South, Central and East Provinces, with its capital at BERTOUA. The West
State shall consist of the North West and South West Provinces with its capital
at BUEA. The capital of each state shall be the head quarters of the government
of the State.
(3) YAOUNDÉ
is the capital of the FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON and seat of the FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT OF CAMEROON.
(4) DOUALA
is the Economic Capital of the FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON
Article 43:
There shall be a National Assembly for the
FEDERATION which shall consist of a SENATE and a HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Article 84:
There
shall be a HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY for each of the States of the FEDERATION.
Article 122:
(1)There shall be for the Federation a
President.
(2) The President shall be the Head of State,
the Chief Executive of the FEDERATION and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed
Forces of the FEDERATION
Article 128:
(1) A
person shall not be qualified for election to the office of president if:
(a) He
does any act, acquires any status or suffers any disability which, if he were a
member of the Senate would have disqualified him from membership of the Senate;
or
(b) HE HAD
BEEN ELECTED TO SUCH OFFICE AT ANY TWO PREVIOUS ELECTIONS.
Article 130:
There shall be for the FEDERATION a VICE
PRESIDENT.
Article 162:
(1) There
shall be for each State of the Federation a Governor.
(2) The
Governor of a State shall be the Chief Executive of the State
Article 178:
(1) There
shall be established for each State of the FEDERATION the following bodies
namely:
(a) State
Civil Service Commission;
(b) State
Council of Chiefs;
(c) State
Electoral Commission; and
(d) State
Judicial Service Commission.
Article 200:
The Federation shall establish and maintain
adequate facilities for carrying into effect any Act of the National Assembly
providing for compulsory military training or military service for citizens of
Cameroons.
FOURTH
SCHEDULE PART 1 CODE OF CODUCT FOR PUBLIC OFFICERS, GENERAL
1. A
public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest
conflicts with his duties and responsibilities.
2. Without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing paragraph, a public officer shall not:-
(a) Receive
or be paid the emoluments of any public office at the same time as he receives
or is paid the emolument of any other public office; or
(b) Engage
or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession
or trade but nothing in this sub-paragraph shall apply to any public officer
who is not employed on full-time basis”.
14. Fellow
Cameroonians, all of us have a duty to build Cameroon into a great nation, and
we must therefore co-operate with President Paul Biya and his government to
find lasting solutions to our problems. Any person or group of persons, who
encourages hatred, violence, corruption, tribalism, nepotism, anarchy, tyranny,
or treats fellow Cameroonians as second-class citizens, or threatens the unity
of Cameroon as ONE INDIVISIBLE AND INDISSOLUBLE SOVREIGN STATE, is an ENEMY of
Cameroon and must be condemned.
Our new Party - the CAMEROON DOMOCRATIC PARTY
is our only hope for the future and requires all your support.
May God bless Cameroon.
Yours faithfully
For; CAMEROON DEMOCRATIC PARTY
A.S. Ngwana
National President
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15. BIYA
SECEDES EAST CAMEROON FROM WEST CAMEROON
On the 12th of December, 1985, we
addressed the following message to all Cameroonians pointing out the dangers in
the unilateral secession of East Cameroon from Federal Republic of Cameroon and
the annexation of West Cameroon. We called on Biya to renounce secession at
once and convene a Constitutional Conference in Buea before April 1986. Nothing
was done and the situation remains very explosive.
CAMEROON DEMOCRATIC PARTY
08/12/1985
Fellow Countrymen,
SECESSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON
FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON
AND ANNEXATION OF SOUTHERN CAMEROON
Southern
Cameroon (former British Cameroon - administratively part of Nigeria) on the 1st
of October 1961, after more than forty years of peaceful and cordial union with
Federal Republic of Nigeria, reunified with the Republic of Cameroon (formerly
French Cameroon), to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon.
The terms and conditions of the reunification
were contained in the Foumban Accord, which were incorporated in the 1961
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Cameroon. The important
conditionalities of this Accord were;
1. Unification
was based on Federalism and equality of status.
Each State was to submerge its identity. The
Republic of Cameroon became the State of East Cameroon and Southern Cameroon
became the State of West Cameroon.
2. Each
State was to submerge its identity. The Republic of Cameroon became the State
East Cameroon and Southern Cameroon became the State of West Cameroon.
3. Each
State has to maintain its cultural, political and social institutions.
4. “The
Constitution shared power:
(a) Territorially
i.e. between the States and the Centre.
(b) Institutionally
i.e. between the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature.
(c) Personality-wise
i.e. the Executive power was shared by the President and the State Prime
Ministers, while legislative was shared by the State Deputies and Federal
Deputies.”
5. The
President and Vice President must not come from the same State.
6. To stop the Republic of Cameroon using its
numerical strength to amend, modify or revise the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Cameroon, to the detriment of the State of Southern Cameroon,
Article 47 of that Constitution stipulated that in order for any amendment,
modification or revision of the Constitution to be valid, it must have been
introduced into the Federal National Assembly for debate and must have been
approved by a majority of the Federal Deputies from West Cameroon and a
majority of the Federal Deputies from East Cameroon. Thus the Federal Deputies from
West Cameroon could block any such Bill.
16. Fellow Cameroonians, this Accord has been
unilaterally abrogated by the Republic of Cameroon (Ahidjo and Biya). This is
not the time for rhetoric’s because most of us were eye witnesses to all the
events that took place before and after reunification. In August 1961, Dr. John
Ngu Foncha led the Southern Cameroon Delegation in good faith to Foumban to
sign with President Ahidjo from the Republic of Cameroon the Reunification
Treaty (although Dr. E.L.M Endeley and some Southern Cameroon politicians had
serious reservations). We are all eye witnesses to the treachery and betrayal
of the Southern Cameroonians by their brothers east of the Mungo (Republic of
Cameroon). Fon Gorji Dinka a legal luminary from Southern Cameroon, in his
address to the Bamenda CNU congress this year, ably exposed the illegalities of
the Ahidjo and Biya governments in abrogating the Foumban Accord and annexing
Southern Cameroon, (for which Gorji Dinka is languishing in the BMM dungeon).
The truth is that in 1972 President Ahidjo by
Proclamation DF72-270 of 2nd June 1972 unilaterally abrogated the
Foumban Accord and the 1961 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Cameroon,
abolishing:
i.
The Legislature and the Government of East
Cameroon
ii. The Legislature and
the Government of West Cameroon
iii. The House of
Chiefs of West Cameroon
iv. The Legislature and
Government of the Federal Republic of Cameroon and assumed power as a dictator.
17. President
Paul Biya by proclamation No 80-001 of 4th February, 1984
abolished the United Republic of Cameroon and revived the defunct Republic of
Cameroon, and automatically the defunct State of Southern Cameroon. Thus by
this law the Republic of Cameroon irretrievably seceded from Southern Cameroon.
The Southern Cameroon Elders, Foncha, Endeley, Muna etc pleaded privately and
publicly with Ahidjo and Biya not to break the Foumban Accord, all in Vain. The
Southern Cameroon intellectuals from the North West and South West Provinces
catalogued the grievances of Southern Cameroonians to Biya for redress and a
change of heart all in vain. The Southern Cameroonian youths (kids) from the
North West and South West Provinces of Cameroon cried out to Biya to stop the
inhuman treatment of Southern Cameroonians and return the country to a
democratic system of government as agreed in Foumban all in vain.
Now that Biya has completed the secession began
by Ahidjo in 1972, history has repeated itself and Southern Cameroon is now as
it was in the beginning, alone. On 1st of October, 1960 Southern
Cameroon seceded from Nigeria (when Nigeria became independent) and stayed on
its own alone for one year until 1st
October 1961when it re-united with the Republic of Cameroon to form the
Federal Republic of Cameroon. As in 1961, Southern Cameroonians have three
options:
1. To
stay alone and form their own government
2. To
return to Foumban and re-negotiate fresh terms of union with the Republic of
Cameroon
3. To negotiate
union with any of her neighbouring States.
18. The
first option, for Southern Cameroon to stay alone and form her own government,
is the most popular one at the moment in Southern Cameroon. The majority of
Southern Cameroonians believe that they have been betrayed by the Ahidjo and
Biya regimes (both from the Republic of Cameroon), reduced to 2nd
class citizens stripped of their fundamental human rights and liberties,
oppressed and discriminated against and now take pleasure in calling them “Biafrans”.
Their Natural Rulers, Fons and Paramount Chiefs have lost their dignity and
influence, the institution abused and ridiculed. Fons and chiefs graded like
cocoa into grade 1, 2, & 3 and the House of Chiefs itself abolished. The
diabolical effort to replace in Southern Cameroon, the English legal system,
with the French legal system, the English educational system with the French
system and eventually to abolish English as an official language, the
imposition of the one party system on Southern Cameroonians, the complete
neglect of Southern Cameroon in development plans (now there are some frantic
face saving efforts to tar Limbe, Kumba and Bamenda roads) and the obnoxious
introduction of press censorship and the arbitrary arrest of journalists, are very
hash reminders of the raw deal Southern Cameroonians got from the union with
the Republic of Cameroon. Today more than 95% of Southern Cameroonians prefer
to stay on their own and to have nothing to do with the Republic of Cameroon.
The second option, to return to Foumban, and
re-negotiate fresh terms of union with the Republic of Cameroon, is shared by a
majority of the people of the Republic of Cameroon, who are worried that should
Biya fail to annex Southern Cameroon, they would lose the immense mineral
wealth and natural resources in Southern Cameroon they are now exploiting.
The third option, to confederate with any other
neighbouring country, is the popular dream of elderly politicians and young
intellectuals who through some ethnic, cultural, economic or political links
with these countries have always desired some union with them.
19. Dear Countrymen, the situation is highly
charged and can explode any moment. The borders of Southern Cameroon are
internationally known and recognized and the borders of the Republic of
Cameroon are internationally known and recognized. Let us not deceive
ourselves, any attempt now by the Republic of Cameroon to annex and colonise
Southern Cameroon will be violently resisted, and any attempt by Southern
Cameroon to form her own government will be violently resisted by the
oppressive regime of the Republic of Cameroon. We are on the brink of war; let
no one make any mistake about it. Both States have international friends and
any war will be long and bitter with heavy casualties on both sides. Can we
afford it?
It is in this light that we, the Cameroon
Democratic Party, the only legal opposition party in Cameroon; (the UPC is
banned) whose motor is “ONE NATION, DEMOCRACY, LOVE, PROGRESS,” is seriously
concerned.
20. Having
reviewed carefully the grievances of the Southern Cameroonians and the actions
of the Ahidjo and Biya regimes, the Cameroon Democratic Party condemns the
unilateral abrogation of the Foumban Accord by Ahidjo and act of secession by
Biya and his collaborators, and their ambitions to annex and colonise Southern
Cameroon.
The Cameroon Democratic Party fully supports
the struggle by Southern Cameroonians to regain their inalienable fundamental
human rights and rid themselves of degradation, discrimination, oppression, and
annexation.
21.
The Cameroon Democratic Party fully supports the Southern Cameroonians
in their struggle to maintain their political, social and cultural heritage.
In the interest of National Unity and Peace, we
call on President Paul Biya to renounce secession at once and convene a
constitutional conference in Buea, before April 1986. The following shall be
members of the Constitutional Conference.
1. 10
representatives from the Cameroon Peoples Democratic movement and 10 representatives
from the Cameroon Democratic Party.
2. Elders
from Southern Cameroon, Foncha, Endeley, Muna and two others, 5 Elders from the
Republic of Cameroon
3. 5
Paramount Fons and Chiefs from Southern Cameroon and the same number from the
Republic of Cameroon
4. 5
representatives from Southern Cameroon intellectuals and the same number from
the Republic of Cameroon
5. 10
representatives from the Cameroon Bar Association, 5 from Southern Cameron and
5 from the Republic of Cameroon
6. 4
representatives from the Trade Unions, 2 from each State
7. 6
elders of religious bodies, 3 from each State
8. 6
representatives from the Armed Forces, 3 from each State
9. If the
UPC renounces violence, it should be represented by 2 persons.
Dear comrades, our party abhors violence and
has advised President Paul Biya on several occasions (our letters of 5th
November 1983, 17th March 1984, 25th January 1985, 25th
March 1985, 1st September 1985, etc) that the only permanent
solution to the Anglophone (Southern Cameroon) Francophone (Republic of
Cameroon) problem is to return to the Foumban Accord with the Federal system of
Government. We enjoy 75% support in the Southern Cameroon and 65% in the
Republic of Cameroon, so we know what we are talking about. This is our last
chance to avoid a blood bath. Southern Cameroonians know their rights and will
form their Government any moment from now if the impasse continues. Let us
return to the conference table before it is too late.
God Blessed Cameroon
For: CAMEROON DEMOCRATIC PARTY
A.S. NGWANA
National President
**********************************************************************************
22. ADRESS
IN LONDON ON BIYA’S AMBITION TO BE LIFE PRESIDENT AND THE ECONOMIC CRISIS IN
CAMEROON.
In 1987, after ignoring our advice on the
Cameroon economy, the economy collapsed and Biya declared an “Economic Crisis”.
Cameroonians at home understood the “crisis” because they felt the terrible
impact, but those abroad could not imagine Cameroon, one of the most viable and
credit worthy countries in Africa suddenly becoming broke. On the 3rd
of October 1987, I convened the Cameroonian population in London to explain to
them the causes of the economic crisis and Biya’s inordinate ambition to be
life president of Cameroon through an illegal One Party System.
CAMEROON DEMOCRATIC PARTY
London 3rd October,
1987
My dear fellow Cameroonians,
PRESIDENT PAUL BIYA’S AMBITION TO BE LIFE
PRESIDENT OF CAMEROON THROUGH AN ILLEGAL ONE PARTY SYSTEM MUST BE STOPPED.
We are lucky to be here in London where we can
discuss freely and without fear of arrest the political future of our country.
In1966 after the former dictator President Ahidjo had brutally eliminated all
the opposition parties in East Cameroon, he tricked their Excellences Foncha ,
Endeley, and Muna to dissolve their three political parties, KNDP, CPNC, CUC, and
form one political party with him – the CNU MONSTER.
The plausible arguments were that the one party
would bring together Cameroonians of all origins. That devoid of any tribal or
regional allegiances, they will mobilize human and material resources and
enhance economic prosperity. The one party would produce a democratic
Government aimed at producing free citizens, living in a free and democratic
country, as enshrined in the 1961constutition of the Federal Republic of
Cameroon.
We all know what happened after 1966 when all
the opposition parties disappeared, how Ahidjo proceeded systematically to make
himself dictator and life President.
First, he dismissed the “fire brand” Prime
Minister of West Cameroon, the late Hon. Augustin Ngom Jua, Foncha’s right hand
man, one of the few Cameroonian Ministers with guts who did not quiver before
Ahidjo. Hon. S.T. Muna, Cameroon’s most experienced Minister, (was in 1951
Minister of Transport in Nigeria, then Minister under Dr. E.L.M Endeley’s
Government, Minister of Finance under Foncha’s Government and Federal Minister
under President Ahidjo) who was sacked from Foncha’s KNDP party for betraying
the KNDP to Ahidjo was appointed Prime Minister by Ahidjo to succeed Jua.
23. By
now Ahidjo had neutralised and put into the cooler the once dynamic and
outspoken Dr. E.L.M Endeley, first Prime Minister (Leader of Government) of
West Cameroon (Southern Cameroons). Finally, Ahidjo made a ‘coup d’état’ on
Cameroon. He unconstitutionally and illegally sacked Dr. John Ngu Foncha, the
vice President of the Federal Republic of Cameroon, Father of Reunification and
Leader of West Cameroon. (Note that without Foncha’s KNDP and the OK/UPC
support, reunification would have been impossible). He unconstitutionally and
illegally abolished the 1961 Federal Constitution of Cameroon and the Foumban
Accord, the basis of reunification.
He unconstitutionally and illegally abolished
the Federation of Cameroon, the State of East Cameroon, and its organs and
institutions, the State of West Cameroon and its organs and institutions
including the House of Chiefs. Ahidjo then declared the UNITED REPUBLIC OF
CAMEROON, abolished the post of vice president, centralised power in himself
and became the most fear-some terror Cameroonians have ever known. Nobody could
dare challenge him. Ministers quivered and virtually crawled before him.
24. AHIDJO
BECOMES A PERMENENT HEAD OF STATE OR LIFE PRESIDENT
With the disappearance of political parties no person
could stand an election against Ahidjo or the CNU party. ‘Elections’ became
mere rituals with the president and his party scoring 100% against nobody. The
president was re-elected with monotonous regularity. He was now permanent Head
of State, and tyrant. Cameroonians who dared criticise him or his Government
disappeared in to underground dungeons where many died of torture or got blind.
Mr. Albert Mukong was one of the few lucky ones who survived 6years in the
dungeons. In the wave of these atrocities, thousand of Cameroonians fled the
country.
Ahidjo could not be removed democratically
through an election, nor constitutionally by impeachment because the handpicked
Parliamentarians were mere robots to rubber stamp Presidential Decrees. Nor
could he be removed illegally by a coup d’état. At last Ahidjo who had tricked
and betrayed others, was himself tricked and betrayed. He was fooled that he
had only a few weeks to live. In order to immortalise himself as a benevolent
dictator he immediately resigned, appointed Paul Biya a Francophone to succeed
him and ignored S.T. Muna, former Vice President, an Anglophone who had served
him faithfully and was expected to succeed him.
25. PRESIDENT
PAUL BIYA
The whole nation was hilarious in its welcome
of President Paul Biya in 1982. Biya, an efficient technocrat, was an unknown
quantity in Cameroon politics. On being sworn into office, he promised to
restore fundamental liberties and to democratize politics in Cameroon. In his
first year in office, Biya kept his promise, the country enjoyed freedom of
speech and freedom of press. On 5th November 1983, the Cameroon
Democratic Party sent him the following congratulations: “We have much pleasure
in extending to your Excellency on the occasion of the first anniversary of
ascension to power as the Second Executive President of Cameroon, our warmest
congratulations for all your achievements this year and best wishes for the
prosperity of our country. We hail your effort to rid the Nation of corruption,
oppression, suppression, victimization, discrimination, intimidation,
favouritism, tribalism, anarchy and tyranny. We hail your promise to restore
democracy. We thank you for restoring freedom of expression and freedom of the
press. You have arrested the Nation from moral bankruptcy and spiritual
decadence, and given the Nation hope and a sense of direction. Your first year
in office is a success”.
Yes, Biya’s first year was successful and on
the strength of this record, we decided to launch the Cameroon Democratic Party.
(See our letter of 5/11/83 to President Paul Biya informing him why a second
political party was necessary in Cameroon. We pledged our support to Biya and
his Government and looked forward to a bright future where Cameroonians would
enjoy democracy, freedom and economic prosperity. Then things changed suddenly.
26.
FREEDOM OF PRESS AND INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM
Press censorship was reintroduced and the
Cameroon Times journalists were arrested and detained without trial, followed
by the “Cameroon Report” journalists, the Tribune journalists and a host of
others. In fact more journalists have been arrested and detained without trial
under Paul Biya than under Ahidjo. This is because under Ahidjo people knew
where they stood, but under Biya things are confused. Today he says you are
free to criticize the next day, he locks you up for criticizing. Fon Gorji
Dinka was arrested and detained without trial for months for criticizing the
system. We insist that the press must be free because a free press is the protector
and guarantor of human liberties. It is dreaded by dictators and feared by
corrupt governments. Cameroonians must always be free to say or write what they
like so long as it is not defamatory, seditious, obscene, or blasphemous. Paul
Biya’s government is full of duplicity. Biya asked Cameroonians who fled the
country during Ahidjo’s persecution to return home in safety. When they
returned they were arrested and detained without trial, even an innocent man,
Mr. Isodore Nkiamboh, my personal secretary carrying our letters to Biya was
arrested and detained without trial; right now his whereabouts are not known.
The Cameroon constitution States that, “no one
shall be harassed because of his origin, opinions or beliefs in Religious,
philosophical or political matters, subject to respect for public order”, yet
examples abound in the flagrant violation of these basic rights of all
Cameroonians. Despite repeated appeals from the Cameroon Democratic Party to
Biya’s government to abolish EXIT VISAS, nothing has been done. Cameroonians
are in jail in their own country. No Cameroonian can leave the country if the
government does not authorize him/her. Political opponents and critics are
refused exit visas. Where is our freedom? Ahidjo left six torture chambers (BMM),
Biya has increased them to ten - one in each province. Our letters to Biya to
dismantle these inhuman dungeons with their torture equipments have been
ignored. No wonder some people say that Biya is worse than Ahidjo.
27.
THE ONE PARTY STATE
The One Party State in the African context
means a State with a life President or permanent Head of State. (In many cases
a totalitarian State). This is an incontestable fact in Africa. Zaire, Ivory
Coast, Togo, Malawi, Benin, Ethiopia, Libya, etc are but a few examples. The
President of a One Party State cannot be removed democratically by the Will of
the People through an election, because the President is always the only
candidate. He can only be removed by His Own Will – voluntary resignation, as
in the cases of Presidents Sengor, Ahidjo, Nyerere, and Siaka Stevens, or BY
FORCE OF ARMS – coup d’état, as in the cases of more than 60% of African States
today.
All African States at independence had
Multi-Party Constitutions, but the new Heads of States either ignored or
amended the Constitutions, abolished the Opposition Parties and declared One
Party States.
Thank God Ahidjo crudely abolished opposition
parties, illegally amended the Constitution, but did not declare a One Party
State. Many people are not aware of it, but Cameroon is still a Multi-Party
State by law. Article 3 of the Constitution of Cameroon allows for
multi-parties.
Biya, in his ambition to become a life
President of Cameroon, wanted to amend the Constitution and declare a One Party
State in 1985 at the Bamenda Congress of the CNU. We got wind of it and stopped
him through intensive and extensive campaigns. Biya still wants to be life
President, but he knows that he CANNOT win an election if we put a candidate
against him. So he decrees that a Presidential Candidate must be nominated by
500 people, 50 of whom must be members of Parliament. With this law, he
succeeded to be the only Presidential candidate in the last elections because
the handpicked CNU Parliamentarians could not nominate someone else. Now Biya
knows that the Cameroon Democratic Party will win the next Parliamentary
Elections and will therefore have Parliamentarians to nominate a Presidential
candidate against him. So, Biya now says that Cameroon is not ripe for
multi-parties and that he will not allow multi-parties. This means that Biya
wants to ignore the Constitution of Cameroon, declare himself a dictator, and
use force to stop the opposition parties from contesting the next general
elections. Ahidjo tricked our former leaders in to the ONE PARTY TRAP where he
liquidated them politically and became a dictator. We, the new leaders will NOT
allow Biya to liquidate us in the same one party trap. Cameroon must remain a
multiparty State. Cameroonians must be free to elect a Government of their
choice. There is no choice in a One Party System. We want a peaceful and
democratic change of Government through fair and just elections. Every
political party must be allowed to put up candidates for the Parliamentary and
Presidential elections.
29. Any
laws passed by Biya to ensure that only his party the CPDM can put up
candidates for the next Parliamentary and Presidential elections are unjust,
unconstitutional, null and void, and of no effect. Of course, Biya can continue
to use force and illegal means to stay in power, but we are under the
weightiest obligation to advise Biya that those who take up the sword will
perish by the sword. Where are the other dictators? Biya must drop this
ambition of becoming life President of Cameroon. The era of dictators and life
Presidents is gone and we shall not allow it again.
30.
THE ECONOMY
On the economic scene, the CNU/CPDM,
Ahidjo/Biya Governments have failed woefully. Biya stunned the Nation with his
announcement that the Government was broke. He declared austerity measures and
thousands of Cameroonians lost their jobs. These measures have come too late
and we doubt whether this Government is capable of implementing them. The same
Government and the people who have plunged the economy into a mess are asked to
salvage it. In other words we are trying to put new wine into old calabash.
What we need is a complete new set of ideology and direction. “Despite our
country’s immense economic potential, material comfort is still the prerogative
of a privileged minority, while poverty is the lot of the majority of
Cameroonians”. (President Paul Biya). We will add; ignorance and disease is the
lot of the majority of Cameroonians. Despite what the statistics show that
Cameroon has one of the healthiest economies in Africa, that we have good
balance of payment surpluses, we are broke.
Despite our ‘manna from heaven’ - the oil
bonanza, we are broke. Why? There are three reasons why the Government has gone
bust.
1. Institutionalized
corruption and embezzlement of public funds.
2. Gross
mismanagement of the economy.
3. Global
fall in prices of raw materials.
31.
CORRUPTION AND EMBEZZLEMENT OF PUBLIC FUNDS
At the height of Ahidjo’s reign, “corruption
was institutionalized and given an official stamp of approval. The most corrupt
and inefficient persons were promoted and decorated with National Honours.
Efficient, hardworking and honest persons were punished by demotion or left
stagnant in their positions for years. Corrupt, grossly inefficient and
incompetent civil servants were appointed to head Government corporations and
parastatals. So that these institutions through maladministration drained
milliards of francs of the country’s revenue in losses and fraud” (A.S.
Ngwana). When Ahidjo resigned it was alleged that half of the oil revenue was
misappropriated or unaccounted for. On the 5th November 1983, we
wrote to President Paul Biya that because the amounts involved were
staggeringly large, an official public inquiry should be instituted. But
nothing was done. Today, we know that one of Ahidjo’s secret accounts had one
billion U.S dollars. The balance is now only 400 million dollars. Where are the
600 million dollars? When will the balance of 400 million dollars be returned
to Cameroon?
Again after the Limbe refinery scandal where
millions of francs CFA were stolen, we demanded a public inquiry so that all
culprits of our oil money could be punished, and their ill-gotten assets be
confiscated as a deterrent against future fraud. But nothing was done. Our oil
revenue is a closely guarded secret in the Presidency. Detailed figures are not
published, nor do we know what the proceeds are or where they are kept. This
has given right to massive fraud and unbridled rumours. Right now it is alleged
that it is because President Paul Biya has also secretly transferred one and a
half billion U.S. Dollars in his own secret accounts, that we have the present
economic crisis. We believe in public accountability. Most Third-World
countries go bust because their Presidents embezzle all the money and nobody
can bring them back to book. This must not be so in Cameroon. We must have
strict public accountability. No person must be above the law.
32. MISMANAGEMENT
OF THE ECONOMY
Cameroon is extremely rich in natural resources
and very fertile soil. We produce plenty of cocoa, coffee, rubber, cotton,
cattle, timber etc. We have huge deposits of bauxite, uranium, iron-ore, coal,
gold and diamonds. We have mighty water falls for cheap hydro-electricity. We have some of the most beautiful beaches,
mountains, scenery, and wild life in the world for the tourist industry. What
else can we ask from God? Yet our people are poor.
Our people suffer from poverty, ignorance and
diseases because for 27 years the CNU/CPDM governments have mismanaged the economy.
They did not invest judiciously in Agriculture, infrastructure, and industries
nor did they build any reserves from which the country can now draw to meet the
present economic crisis. There are not enough roads, hospitals, (no drugs),
schools and industries. For 27 years, Cameroonians have been promised roads
between Kumba and Mamfe, Mamfe and Nfum, Mamfe and Bamenda, a ring road in
Bamenda, a road between Douala and Kribi etc. Millions of francs worth of crops
are lost every year because they cannot be evacuated to the cities. Cameroon’s
output of economic crops could triple if there were roads to the production
areas. It is unbelievable that Endeley and Foncha with very little money were
able to maintain the West Cameroon roads so that they were motorable all
season, better than Ahidjo and Biya with all the additional oil money at their
disposal. Today these roads are motorable only during the dry season. Cameroon
is among the countries with the worst roads in the world.
When will the Tiko and Limbe (Victoria) ports
be reopened again? Ports which handled goods from West Cameroon cheaply. Why
were they closed in the first place?
Britain left us with the Cameroon Development
Corporation on independence. For 27 years the CDC is still the only major mechanized
farm. If we had 10 of such farms, one in each province would we have the
unemployment in our hands today? Cameroon has pure sparkling drinking water in
all our rivers and streams yet pipe born water is priced beyond the reach of
most Cameroonians in the few towns in which it is supplied. Our numerous
water-falls should provide cheap hydro-electricity for domestic and industrial
consumption but SONEL charges are so high that they discourage industrial
development and have pushed the majority of our people back to the firewood
stove. Despite the fact that at Limbe we now refine our own petrol, the price
of fuel is three times dearer than in some neighboring countries. The high cost
of fuel deters economic and social activities.
Many countries which are less gifted in beauty
than Cameroon balance their budgets from the tourist industry. Our tourist
industry is not developed and the Government discourages its development.
Instead, we should encourage the whole world to come to Cameroon, ‘Africa in
Miniature’, a Paradise of beauty and splendor. It is sad to know that in this
economic crunch our poor farmers are bound to suffer more because they are
exploited by a ‘Marketing Board System’ which does not pay the fair price for
their produce. The Government should allow farmers to sell their produce to the
highest bidder.
33. GLOBAL
FALL IN PRICES OF RAW MATERIALS
This is a regular phenomenon. Prices of raw
materials are always fluctuating and in many cases always downwards; while
prices of their finished products are always rising. Therefore any wise
Government must allow for these fluctuations. To use the fall in prices of raw
materials as an excuse for the present economic mess shows lack of foresight
and poor planning on the part of this government. What the Government should
have done for the past 27 years is not to rely on exporting raw materials alone
but to transform them into finished products. Alas the Government is bust, and
we have no industries to transform our raw materials into finished products.
My dear fellow Cameroonians, the Ahidjo/Biya
Governments have failed politically and economically and driven Cameroon into
bankruptcy. Cameroonians have lost confidence in the Government and its
financial institutions. They no longer put their money in the Banks but keep
their money at home or in “Njangi” houses. Morally and spiritually the Country
is sliding into bankruptcy as well. This is evident in the alarming increase of
murder cases, robberies, prostitution, abortions, divorces and a host of new crime
hitherto unknown in Cameroon. The situation is very serious. We must act now to
avoid disaster.
34. Fellow
countrymen, I speak to you from the heart - out of the love we all have for our
dear Country - Cameroon. We have “stooged” and “feared” for 27 years. Yesterday
Ahidjo was a god. Today it is Biya. When shall we grow up? The fault is not in
our stars but in ourselves. We must not allow Biya and his gang to drive our
beloved country into complete chaos. We need a new Leadership and a new
Government. A Government democratically elected by our people. A Government
that is sensitive to the needs and aspirations of our people. A Government that
can provide us with hospitals and drugs, roads and schools, accommodation,
industries and employment. A Government that guarantees the independence of the
Judiciary, freedom of the press, freedom of expression and all our fundamental
liberties. A Government we can be proud of, in a country we are proud of.
Our Party - the CAMEROON DEMOCRATIC PARTY
enjoys massive support at home and will provide the Government we require. We
expect and count on your deserving support as well.
May God Bless Cameroon
Long Live CDP
Long
Live Cameroon
for:
Cameroon Democratic Party
A.S. Ngwana
National President
PS: For Further information contact:
The
secretary
CDP
20
Courtleigh Gardens
London
NW1L 9JX
**********************************************************************************
35. In
view of the importance of the Anglophone Problem, I will like to reproduce here
a detailed treatment of this problem and the solutions offered in the address
the Chairman of the CDP, gave to the AAC2 Conference in Bamenda, 29th
April 1994 to 3rd May 1994. Quote:
“Mr. Chairman, Your Royal Highnesses, Your
Eminence, Your Grace, Your Excellencies, Honorable Members, Chiefs,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is my pleasure, privilege and honor to
address this august gathering on a matter which is dearest to my heart and to
the hearts of all Anglophone Cameroonians, at home and in the Diaspora.
On behalf of my humble self, and on behalf of
all the sons and daughters of Anglophone Cameroon, I thank the ALL ANGLOPHONES
CONFERENCE (AAC) organizers for providing our people this cherished opportunity
to discuss open-hearted this matter that is of common interest to us
Anglophones.
We as a people with one blood and one destiny
salute the AAC standing Committee on this unique occasion of AAC2. We are
gathered again to re-visit the issue of the overdue constitutional reforms in
our Nation with the solemn determination to chart a solid and all-weather road
to our self-determination.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I was highly delighted to
read that the theme of AAC2 Conference is THE ROAD TO PEACEFUL
SELF-DETERMINATION, which dutifully presupposes that all of us here gathered on
behalf of our people are in search of that road that will guarantee them
peaceful self-determination which we have earlier agreed that it is a must. May
the wordings of the conference theme lead us to fruitful deliberations and
discussions.
36 OUR
POLITICAL PAST
Ladies
and Gentlemen permit me therefore to cast a few retrospective glances on our
journey towards peaceful self-determination.
Our political history is textbook case which
provides compelling reading to any interested persons. We of the CAMEROON
DEMOCRATIC PARTY (CDP), have gone into it at some considerable length in our
publications – The First Five Years 1983-1988, currently in circulation all
over the country.
We embarked on this publication, just as I am
now about to glance through our political journey towards peaceful
self-determination, to sensitize the Anglophones in particular and Cameroonians
at large, on our political past. This with a view to educate our people, our
Nation and the world on where we come from; our present political conditions,
aspirations and prospects for our future as a Nation.
My beloved countrymen and women, our African
adage postulates that an adult knows his friends but may require some other
person to tell him/her, his or her relations.
Before the invasion of Africa by the Europeans,
what today is known as Cameroon (Francophone/Anglophone) was one
interdependent, multicultural, mutually respecting, socially interacting, self-sustaining
people with one destiny.
North or South, East or West, Cameroonians saw
themselves as ONE, lived in peace as one, and no tribe tried to dominate the
others. All tribes were equal.
Then came the Europeans into the continent and
our people were subjugated and colonized. At the Berlin Conference of 1884, the
Europeans put paid to their savage and devious act –THE PARTITION OF AFRICA,
and Cameroon became a property of the Germans.
Our consent was not demanded nor was it of any
consequence.
On the defeat of the Germans in 1916, Cameroon
this time became the butt of another balkanization between two new masters –
the French and the British. Thus began the departure of ONE NATION, ONE DESTINY
for Cameroonian people.
Under this new tutelage our pathway to
independence was not even. The French Cameroon (Francophones) fought the French
and achieved their independence by violence and bloodshed. The British
Cameroonians (Anglophones) achieved their independence through dialogue and the
democratic process. NO BLOODSHED.
Ladies
and gentlemen, I purposefully took a ride into our political journey towards
peaceful self-determination to refresh our minds that we the Anglophones as a
people have an enviable political culture and heritage of non-violence, dialogue
and respect for the democratic process in our overriding quest for
self-determination.
We are, and have always been a peace-loving
people and we believe in peaceful solution to our problems, no matter the
nature. However, this by no means, does not give any mortal on this planet the
right to take our people, their interests, their political aspirations and
goals for granted. Our People have never failed the call for bravery, as our
historical past can bare testimony.
We love peace but we also love to defend our
inalienable and civic rights when they are trampled upon with unpardonable
disregard.
37. UNIFICATIOIN
Why did
we (Anglophone Cameroonians) become part of Francophone Cameroon, a territory
we had been cut off from for more than 40years, and not part of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, a territory we had been united with for more than 40years?
Southern Cameroon was administered as part of
Nigeria by the British Government. The democratic process was well developed in
Southern Cameroon and the Plebiscite Elections there were fair and free.
However this was not the case in British Northern Cameroons. Although the
British Government wanted very much that British Cameroon should become part of
Nigeria on independence, they succeeded in getting Northern Cameroon, (later
Sardauna Province) integrated into the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
38. Fellow brothers and sisters, why did we of
Southern Cameroons overwhelmingly vote to join the Republic of Cameroon on a
mere promise of Federation rather than remain with the devil we knew - the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, with which we shared a common political culture? I
crave your indulgence to refresh our memories with some of the reasons:
1. Southern
Cameroon enjoyed reasonable autonomy in the Nigerian Federation; it had its own
House of Assembly and a House Chiefs, like the other three regions of Nigeria.
It was well represented in the Federal house in Lagos and had Federal ministers
like Fon Mukete and Hon. S.T. Muna. However tribal politics between the
National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC) and the Action Group (AG) soon
alienated the Cameroons, leading to the famous declaration of “Neutrality in
Nigerian Politics” by our leaders.
2. The
Ibos and Yorubas, the two prominent tribes in Nigeria replaced the British in
all the important posts in the civil service and corporations in Southern
Cameroon. A situation which was inimical to the very economic survival of
Southern Cameroon.
3. Nigerians
dominated all business opportunities in Southern Cameroon, thereby causing a
lot of resentment among Southern Cameroonians.
4. Southern
Cameroon was quite small in the Federation of Nigeria, consequently there was
that fear of being “swamped by
Nigeria” after independence.
5. Southern
Cameroonians were Cameroonians and not Nigerians. The majority of Southern
Cameroonians did not speak or understand Nigerian languages. Although almost
all Southern Cameroon leaders were educated in Nigeria, they did not see
themselves as Nigerians.
6. Furthermore, Southern Cameroonians enjoyed
all democratic rights like Nigerians; they could own property and do all kinds
of business like Nigerians.
39. To put the historical record in its balanced
perspective, it is pertinent to highlight
Also that:
1. Southern
Cameroonians required visas and passports to travel to French Cameroon (TheRepublic
of Cameroon).
2. The
majority of Southern Cameroonians did not speak or understand French.
3. The
Legal, the political and educational systems of Southern Cameroons were
different from those of the Republic of Cameroon. Southern Cameroons operated a
Parliamentary system while the Republic of Cameroon was on the Presidential
system. The legal and educational systems were English on one part and French
on the other part.
4. Southern
Cameroon had about one-third the population of the Republic of Cameroon, so
there was no danger of being “swamped by the Republic of Cameroon” so the fear
of economic marginalization was more on the Nigerian side than on the Republic
of Cameroon side.
5. Although
the majority of Southern Cameroonians do not speak French, they speak some
ethnic languages as the people of the Republic of Cameroon. To be precise, the
Anglophone Bamilekes and the Francophone Bamilekes have a common language. The
Nsos and the Bamouns are of common origin, so also are the Ngembas of Santa and
Mbouda and Bafoussam. The Bangwas and Dschang, the Anglophones and the
Francophone Mbos, and the Bakweris and Doualas, who are of common stock.
This factor explains why our leaders like
Foncha , Muna, and Ntumazah were at home with their Bamelike counterparts
across the Mungo, while Endeley of blessed memories and Fon Mukete were at home
with the Doualas, Soppo Priso, Dr. Eyidi Bebe, to mention a few.
6. The
Government of the Republic of Cameroon was most undemocratic, oppressive and
brutal. Opposition parties were either banned or harassed out of existence or
forced to go underground. Human rights were non-existent. An indefinite State
of emergency was enforced on the population to prop up an autocratic regime.
40. Fellow Cameroonians, looking at the horrible
political situation in the Republic of Cameroon and the terrorism that raged
there at the time of the plebiscite, one could never have expected us to vote
for UNIFICATION.
Why then did we vote massively for unification?
Well, Southern Cameroonians are Cameroonians
and the people of the Republic of Cameroon are Cameroonians. We voted to join
OUR BROTHERS across the Mungo. It was just a question of “BLOOD IS THICKER THAN
WATER”. As brothers, as Cameroonians, we desired to live together with our kith
and kin. So fellow Countrymen and women, this puts to rest the unsubstantiated
far-fetched accusations of a sell-out by the uniformed new generation, levied
against our political sagacious Founding Fathers who accepted the option of
unification on higher motives than tribal or sectional interests.
OUR DISENCHANTMENT AND GRIEVANCES
41. After Thirty years of re-unification what
has changed?
1. The Federation, the basis of reunification
was unconstitutionally abolished.
2. The Cameroon National Union (CNU) government
of Ahidjo, and the Cameroon People Democratic Movement (CPDM) government of
Biya, have remained oppressive and corrupt as at the time of unification.
3. Southern Cameroonians, our own kith and kin
from the very inception of unification have held and still hold important
positions in the oppressive Governments even if only in symbolic terms.
4. What has not changed is the fact that we are
still Cameroonians. Francophones and Anglophones with a common destiny as
demonstrated by the 1992 presidential elections in which the Francophones sent
a clear message to the incumbent government by voting massively for John Fru
Ndi, an Anglophone to the bewilderment of President Paul Biya, a Francophone.
42. Ladies
and Gentlemen we must not confuse the actions of oppressive and corrupt
Governments, Governments composed of both Francophones and unfortunately
Anglophones, with the cordial relations between Anglophones and Francophones.
Our fight, our struggle is not against
Francophones but against the oppressive CNU/CPDM governments of Ahidjo/Biya,
which have denied us our fundamental rights and frustrated our political,
economic and social aspirations. Governments, which have reduced us to second
class citizens, and are hell-bent on keeping us there. We unified on the
understanding that we will operate a Federal Structure, in which we will live
in a mighty, united, economically strong Cameroon Nation; Guaranteeing all
citizens of every race and religion, inalienable and civic rights, equal
opportunities and respect for the by bicultural character of our people.
We voted for unification with our eyes wide
open. We knew the problems ahead and the difficulties involved and we were prepared
to face them, and determined to solve them. We were resolved to introduce
democracy and good government in Cameroon, to defend human rights and the rule
of law and insure economic prosperity for Cameroon. This we have not yet
achieved.
43. My dear Fellow Cameroonians, our task now
is to throw into the dustbin of history this undemocratic, corrupt and
spineless government and return to the basis of Unification, that is the
re-establishment of an Anglophone State.
OUR CURRENT POLITICAL TASK
44. Fellow
brothers and sisters, we all are committed to the rapid realization of this
Anglophone State of our dream and desire. Is there any one amongst us here,
today who is against an Anglophone State?
Yes I can see nobody. I thank God that today at
AAC2, we the good people of Southern Cameroon have resolved that we must demand
and have an Anglophone State of our dream.
There is no compromise on this political
destiny. It is our destiny that we be a State. It is ordained that we must have
one, and no human force can indefinitely prevent its realization rather it can
only delay it. The choice between us as a people today is whether this
Anglophone State is to be:
(1) A
Federal Anglophone State within a Cameroonian Nation,
or
(2) An
independent Sovereign Nation on its own.
45. Mr. Chairman, Your Royal Highness, Your Grace,
Your Excellencies, Honorable Members, Chiefs, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and
Gentlemen, this august assembly must
recognize that there exist two-schools of thought about this crucial choice
facing us as a people. The proponents of each alternate choice must be allowed
and protected to articulate, present and defend the realization of its avouched
choice. Our people at home, whom we represent, must know what we want them to
enter into and how they are to enter into it. They must be part of
decision-making process so that what-ever emerges as the choice will be
accepted as the peoples’ verdict.
Having said that I want to put on record that
my Party the Cameroon Democratic Party and my humble self endorse that AAC
devote all its energy to the realization of an Anglophone State that is within
the Federation of Cameroon: A Federated Anglophone State.
Although our stand is unequivocal, our Party is
not unmindful of the fact that no one of us can without Divine assistance,
prophetically nail down which of the options will eventually be the lot of our
people. The simple reason being that President Paul Biya and his oligarchy can
by their foolhardy omission or commission bring about one or the other. So too,
any student of political history can venture to predict that President Paul
Biya may learn a good lesson from President Frederich DeKlerk of South Africa
and call for abolition of the Unitary System.
THE ROAD TO OUR SELF DETERMINATION
46. Fellow Countrymen and women, we are all
gathered here today determined that Anglophone Cameroonians must cast away the
yoke of neo-colonial servitude, second class citizenship, oppression and
suppression and be a race with a political, social and economic future,
guaranteeing equal opportunity and civic and inalienable rights.
Yes it is well understood and the time is up
for us to stand up for our rights. We must do this now or never. But we must
also be matured, visionary, diplomatic, strategic in planning and opportunistic
in reading unfolding world events and the events within and around us as a
nation.
We must be patient with time; we must not burn
our fingers in our political rage, nor ruin the future by irrational, impulsive
amateurish behavior thereby jeopardizing our peoples’ lives and political
destiny. We have a mission to liberate our people but let us not in mad rush
end up enslaving them the more by making unpardonable mistakes as we are the
joint-captains for the people political Ship.
We must be prepared to learn, from history,
from the past successes and failures of others who have liberated or failed to
liberate their people. The world is a university and every one of us is a
student. The road to self-determination can be peaceful and non-violent. But it is always tortuous and sometimes
exasperating. It requires painstaking planning and meticulous execution. At the
end, the outcome is rewarding NO RUSH.
On the other hand it could be violent and
blood-letting. It could be quick by
proclamation like UDI (Unilateral Declaration of Independence) in Southern
Rhodesia now called Zimbabwe or in Biafra in Nigeria, and it does not out-live
time and does bring untold hardship.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted that the
wise organizers of AAC2 have chosen as the Conference theme - THE ROAD TO
PEACEFUL SELF-DETERMINATION. So our way to self-determination compellingly must
be peaceful and successful.
Now let us attempt to answer the questions
before us: Which of these two options as of today namely:
(1) Anglophone
State within a Federation of Cameroon Nation,
OR
(2) An
Independent Sovereign Anglophone State/Nation,
Will achieve the theme of AAC2 - The road to
peaceful self-determination.
47. The answer is obviously an Anglophone
State in a Unified Cameroon Federation. WHY
My beloved people, our Party – Cameroon
Democratic Party, of which by the grace of God, I am the Founder Chairman,
would not mind to reiterate once again the fact that a peaceful
self-determination for Southern Cameroon is in conformity with our KNOWN and
REVERED political culture and heritage of non-violence, dialogue and respect
for Democratic processes. Our Founding
Fathers gained on 1st October 1961 political independence for the
State of West Cameroon (formerly Southern Cameroon or British Cameroon) using
non-violent political strategy.
The African National Congress (ANC) of Dr.
Nelson Mandela in South Africa is about to gain independence from evil Minority
rule through dialogue as a major modus operandi. So, fellow compatriots, the
AAC must succeed also on non-violence stance. The advocacy of an Independent
Sovereign Anglophone Nation is call for secession. Every Nation, no matter how
weak or small, once sovereign, regards its sovereignty as sacrosanct and
defends it to the last drop of blood.
If Southern Cameroon attempts to secede, of
course, every right thinking mortal, will expect the incumbent President of the
country, Paul Biya to descend on Southern Cameroonians with the might of the
Cameroon army to crush mercilessly the political revolt.
Who amongst us here wants a pogrom for Southern
Cameroonians? What offence have our beloved countrymen or women, young and old,
committed that the political class gathered here should visit them with such
mayhem?
48. Ladies
and Gentlemen, a call for an Independent Sovereign Southern Cameroon is a call
for secession. A call for secession is a call for annihilation of Southern
Cameroon as a race, or at best to call for civil war in Cameroon. Are we as a
people prepared for such a sacrifice? As has been the case with the massacre in
Vietnam, Cambodia, Angola, Mozambique, Somalia, Liberia, Eritrea, Rwanda,
Burundi, Chad, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Yemen, Afghanistan, Chechnya to mention just
a few? Is such a bloodbath necessary now, for our political, economic and
social aspirations? To be a refugee in a strange land, or to be politically,
economically and socially marginalized in one’s country, which is more painful?
49.
Fellow Cameroonians, please put on your thinking caps for secession is
fire and no adult plays with blazing unnecessary fire. Fire burns if you play
with it! The world, modern historians will tell us, is now moving towards the
aggregation of independent sovereign states into large political unions like
the European Economic Community (EEC). Nationalism now gives way to amalgamated
regional political nationhood.
What is more, with the disintegration of the
former Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR and the Confederation of
Yugoslavia, and their attendant or resultant political problems, no Super or
Medium Power in Global Politics will be willing to preside or support the
dismemberment of any African Country. To secede without a strong foreign
support is tantamount to committing political, economic, social and human
suicide.
50. Proponents
of an Independent Sovereign Anglophone State should be magnanimous enough to
confide with us here, who their foreign backers are. They may come up with
stories of success of Bangladesh seceding from Parkistan Nation.
Have we deeply studied the military parameters
that gave rise to such success? Pakistan is on the western borders of India
while Bangladesh is to the East. India supported Bangladesh secession and this
confronted Pakistan with insurmountable military logistics thus leading to the
breakaway territory of Bangladesh success. But even at that, what was the cost
of this success to Bangladesh people? No war leaves the people as they were
before the war started. This is true for the Victor and the Vanquished
Now, what about those people who failed: South
Americans, Biafran Rebels of Nigeria, Katanga rebels in Zaire? Let us take a
close look at our neighbors in Nigeria, how they prepared and still they
failed. Before the secession, the mass killing and counter-killing created the
alienation of the Eastern-Nigerians, particularly the majority tribe - the Ibos.
The general sense of insecurity forced the Ibos
to flee from their various places of residence in Nigeria to their birthplace
in the East. By subtle act, the people asked that Non-Easterners, Nigerians
Soldiers and civilians leave their territory and that was done. Concomitantly
they asked that soldiers of Eastern origin be released to go back to the East
where they claimed their security was guaranteed. The Federal Government of Nigeria
granted the secessionists request and Biafra inadvertently had its own army.
Mr. Emeka Ojukwu - then Colonel, and leader of the secessionist Biafra - seized
Federal Assets and Revenue, and was able to sustain his dream nation by paying
workers’ wages and salaries and running the Biafran economy up to the time they
were able to print Biafran currency.
Now Ladies and Gentlemen, which of these
factors are on the ground now in Southern Cameroon? If you Anglophone men and
women in government and private sector in Francophone Cameroon are
patriotically summoned home never to return to Francophone Cameroon, will you
oblige? Have we an army? What do we do to the Cameroon troops in our midst in
Southern Cameroon. Let us stop kidding with fire. With such an elaborate
planning Biafra failed, what fate awaits unplanned secession by Southern
Cameroonians?
The qualities of good leaders compel and impel
us to lead our people with the truth and not with negative radicalism.
Charismatic leadership is a situational leadership that holds out such a leader
as thorough master of the political terrain. Our political situation does not
call for war yet but political dialogue bedded in astute diplomacy to achieve
the desired aspirations, and every other aspiration will follow suit. The road
to peaceful self-determination is the theme of this AAC2. We have ratified our
choice and resolved to pursue it with stern determination. Our choice is an
Anglophone State in a Cameroon Federal structure
.
51. Thank
goodness, Ladies and Gentlemen, the proponents of an Independent Sovereign
Anglophone State were bold enough to call it a “Zero Option”. A Zero-option, my
fellow brothers and sisters is arrived at in the history of a people when all
the existing potential political opportunities open to the people in question
in their political journey are exhausted and the court of world conscience
certifies so.
Can we say to the world’s conviction that all
political opportunities available to us as a people have been exhausted? No!
No! No! It is true that the bobby political opium, the open-ended political
debate on the National Conference and the Constitution is a time-killer and a
smoke screen that will give the Southern Cameroonians no-relief. We must be
politically matured enough to evolve other creative ways and means to force Mr.
Biya’s hand.
A Zero option is always an imposed option or
choice. We are a peace loving people but determined to up-hold the political
goals of our people and we have to do so by resisting playing into the wicked
hands of an authoritarian regime. The ball is on the court of President Paul
Biya. He has the opportunity like Mr. F.W. DeKlerk of South Africa, to write
his name in gold in the political history of our country by returning the
country once again to Federalism.
Only the return to a Federal Structure will
guarantee permanent peace in Cameroon.
But if he allows his political fumbling and
amateurism to impose a zero option on our people, then Ladies and Gentlemen,
our people’s bravery will be called to test (but God forbid). Then we, as a
people will cross that bridge when we are compelled to do so.
Now, Ladies and Gentlemen before I round up my
address I will plead, because I have taken up much of your time, to allow me
draw your attention to the political opportunity created by the Bakassi crisis
between our country and our long-time friendly neighbor - Nigeria.
Protagonists of peaceful self-determination
would want every Southern Cameroonian to believe that a political opportunity
for secession or zero option exists. This is far from the truth, Yes, a
political opportunity exists, as well as a political danger. We must not play
into the destructive hands of an oppressive regime which is prepared to do to
us what was done to the Native Americans or to Aborigines of Australia, because
of black gold.
52. Yes,
an opportunity truly exists but this opportunity does not call for secession
but for intensive pressure on Paul Biya’s regime for Southern Cameroon
Self-determination based on Foumban Accord – A Federated State of Southern
Cameroon.
Our urgent political task therefore, Ladies and
Gentlemen, is the rapid translation of the existing political opportunity into
an enabling environment compelling President Biya to dialogue with Southern
Cameroon leaders on our self-determination goal and that is the abolition of
the unitary system in favor of federalism.
We call on our brothers, the Francophones and
friends of Cameroon as well, to bring pressure to bear on Paul Biya to adopt a
Federal Constitution. Details of this constitution can be worked out in a
Constitutional Conference using the draft Federal Constitution submitted to the
Government in 1983, by the Cameroon Democratic Party and the AAC Standing
Committee in 1993 and any other proposals that could serve as a basis for
discussions.
53. We
expect a new FEDERAL CONSTITUTION to be out before the federal elections. The
New Federal Constitution need not be based on two States as in the 1961
Constitution but could be based on a Four States Structure. This was proposed
by the CDP in 1983 and confirmed by the Father of Unification Dr. J.N. Foncha
in his interview with Le Messager, Vol. IV No 013, Wednesday, 13
April 1994. “We are even ready to accept a ten State Federation if such a
proposal is viable and generally supported,”
The Cameroon Democratic Party is fully
committed to the unity of Cameroon on a Federal structure. We fully support the
aspirations of the Anglophones to live in harmony and peace with their
Francophone brothers in a Federal Republic. We condemn the Government of
President Biya for jeopardizing the unity of Cameroon by delaying the Federal
Constitution. We appeal to friends of Cameroon and all lovers of Democracy to
join us in this constitutional battle. The unity of Cameroon is at stake.
OUR MODUS OPERANDI
54. Distinguished
delegates and fellow brothers and sisters, how do we go about executing this
task, in the face of insensitive leaders that have persistently played deaf,
dumb and blind to the demands for political change? Sensationalism is not one
of our modus operandi.
The first condition for this operation is a
united front. We must Endeavour to speak with one voice once the common
political objective has been identified, and to that end let me proffer a few
suggestions.
CREATION OF A UNITED FRONT
55. A
need urgently exists to put in place a reputable United Front to serve as the
Voice of the Southern Cameroonians with clear mandate. It should not be modeled
after the Ancient Greek parliament where membership was automatic by place of
birth. Membership should be representative, grassroots oriented and should
represent all shades of interests, opinions, professions and must not be
schemed to radicalism or conservatism. The quality and calibre of its
membership should command respect within and without the country. It must
remain non-partisan and non-religious.
A unified and standardized document containing
details of Southern Cameroon’s case (grievances and political, economic,
social, cultural and religious goals) has to be produced for world-wide
circulation. The Anglophone Draft Constitution, should be vetted, and presented
to the United front and if adopted by 2/3 majority, becomes instantly the
Southern Cameroon version of the Constitution, and the bargaining mandate for
our leaders with the Government.
Having said this, Ladies and Gentlemen, my
Party, The Cameroon Democratic Party invites the AAC to make common cause with
us in realization of an Anglophone State within the Federation of Cameroon. An
Anglophone Constitutional Conference Delegation should be empanelled now and
kept on standby, for call at short notice.
MOBILISATION OF SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS
57. We
thankfully notice that the level of political awareness among our people has
risen significantly since the inception of AAC. But we must admit that this
level is grossly inadequate to produce rural and urban grassroots politically
conscious men and women ever able to stand-up against any political challenges,
ever able to defend their rights and political goals in any given
circumstances. Intensive and extensive propaganda aimed at indoctrinating the
citizens of Southern Cameroon is the sine-qua-non for the realization of our
political, economic and social aspirations.
Our people must know their political rights and
be prepared to defend them at all cost. A program of action to mobilize those
who in turn energize Southern Cameroon polity and political wisdom, wizardry
and total commitment to the political course must be put in place.
The United Front must as a matter of urgency,
mobilize support for FEDERALISM from all political parties in Cameroon. Any
political party or pressure group that does not support a Federal Constitution
must be considered an enemy of Anglophone aspirations and interests.
Accordingly, serious campaign must be mounted against
such political parties or pressure groups. Anglophones in such political
parties or groups should resign immediately. No Anglophone should be voted for
in any election if he/she does not support Federalism.
All traditional rulers and elder Statesmen
should be canvassed for their support. Educational institutions should be
mobilized and educated on the merits and importance of federalism. Trade,
tribal, and social unions should be co-opted and transformed into mobilization organs.
DIALOGUE WITH BIYA
58. Well
represented delegations consisting of Elder Statesmen, Fons, Chiefs and United
Front Delegates should make a representation to the President of the Republic
of Cameroon on the urgency of a Federal Constitution. The same delegation
should meet leaders of political parties, Elder Statesmen and pressure groups
in all the eight Francophone provinces, on our uncompromising stand on
Federalism
A time frame for the Constitutional Conference
must be obtained from President Biya’s regime now and rigidly kept to. Let us
pray that President Paul Biya will learn a lesson from Federich DeKlerk of
South Africa and call for abolition of the oppressive unitary system in
Cameroon.
WORLD SYMPATHY AND SUPPORT
59. Paid adverts should be inserted in the
Cameroon Radio, Television, and prominent newspapers. Where funds are
available, trips composing of the above mentioned delegations should be
sponsored abroad to important friends of Cameroon who can exert diplomatic and
economic pressure on President Paul Biya to adopt a Federal Constitution. These
friends should include France, Great Britain, USA, Nigeria, Canada, Germany
etc.
May God bless Cameroon and spare it form chaos,
anarchy and doom.
Long live AAC
Long live CDP
Long live Cameroon
A.S. NGWANA
National Chairman,”
Cameroon Democratic Party (CDP)
60. Mr. President, I delivered this address in
1994 nearly 19 years ago, and today we of the Cameroon Democratic
Party/Cardinal Democratic Party still hold the same view that a Federation is
the only quick and bloodless solution to the Anglophone Problem.
Mr. President, We
therefore plead with you to treat this open letter with the urgency it
requires.
We who actually
voted for Unification in 1961 have done everything in our power to try and maintain
Unification and encourage it, but you, who did not vote for Unification, have done
everything in your power to destroy, discourage and completely obliterate Unification.
Remember that without Unification there is no Federal Republic of Cameroon.
61. When
you seceded La Republique Du Cameroun from West Cameroon in 1984 by
proclamation No 80-001 of February 1984, We pleaded with you to rescind this
action and return the country to a Federation, You ignored our plea and continued
to rule Southern Cameroon as your annexed territory since 1984.
Your administration
seized my passport and kept me in exile for six years, but by law No. 90-43 of
19/12/90 your Government relaxed travel restrictions and abolished the Exit
Visa Laws. Since then, neither I myself,
nor my party have, ever contested any elections in Cameroon because the
election process is a waste of time, energy and money. When there was only one
party, you were the only candidate and always scored 99%, when we had multi-parties,
the Supreme Court always declared you the winner,(their hands were tied and are
still tied today). Elections are meaningless in Cameroon. You control the
Legislature, Judiciary, and the Executive, democracy does not exist in
Cameroon. It is stupid to waste time, energy and money to change the government
democratically here in Cameroon.
62. We the people of the former British
Southern Cameroon voted for unification on the basis of Federalism, if there is
no Federation, there is no Unification.
Mr. President, consider Plan A and Plan B and
choose which of them is suitable to you. We are ready for any.
------------------------------------------------------------------PLAN
A.--------------------------------------------------
63. The
Federal Republic of Cameroon shall consist of :
Two Equal States, The
State of West Cameroon and The State of East Cameroon. The State of West
Cameroon shall consist of the former British Southern Cameroon and the State of
East Cameroon shall consist of the former La
Republique Du Cameroun (the French speaking Cameroon).
1.
No law
will be enacted or passed by the Federal Government of Cameroon unless it has
been approved or passed by the Parliament of The State of West Cameroon or approved
or passed by the Parliament of The State of East Cameroon.
2.
Any law enacted or passed by the Federal
Government to abolish the Federal Character of Cameroon, shall be null and
void.
3.
The
Federal President of Cameroon shall hold office for five years. The office of
the Federal President of Cameroon shall not be held by anyone younger than 45
years or older than 70 years.
4.
The office of President of the Federal
Republic of Cameroon shall rotate between the State of West Cameroon and the
State of East Cameroon, every five years.
5.
President Paul Biya shall resign as president
of Cameroon to enable Presidential, Parliamentary and State Elections to be
conducted in October 2016.
6.
The first
President of the Federal Republic of Cameroon will be the person from the State
of West Cameroon who scored the highest votes in the Federal Elections in the
State of West of Cameroon, in October 2016.
7.
The Vice President of the Federal Republic of Cameroon
will be the person who scored the highest votes in East Cameroon in the Federal
Elections in the State of East Cameroon, in October 2016
8.
The
President and Vice President shall be sworn in, on January 2017.
9.
After the Federal Elections of October 2021,
the President shall step down and handover to the person who scored the highest
votes in the Federal Elections in the State of East Cameroon, he will be sworn
in as the President of the Federal Republic of Cameroon on January 2022.
10.
The person
from the State of West Cameroon who scored the highest votes in the Federal
Elections of October 2021, in the State of West Cameroon will become the Vice
President, on 2022.
11.
Again in 2027 the President will come from
West Cameroon and Vice President from East Cameroon.
This undemocratic excise will be repeated for
at least 50 years before it is reviewed.
63. Yaounde shall be the Federal Capital of
Cameroon and seat of the Federal Government.
The Federal
Republic of Cameroon Shall consist of two equal States namely:
The State of West
Cameroon and The State East Cameroon.
The State of West Cameroon
shall consist of an Elected Governor, an Elected Parliament, and Elected Counselors.
Buea shall be the
Capital of the State of West Cameroon and the seat of the State Government.
The State of East
Cameroon shall consist of an Elected Governor, an Elected Parliament, and
Elected Counselors.
Bertoua or Garoua
shall be the Capital of the State of East Cameroon and the seat of the State
Government.
Douala shall be the
economic capital of Cameroon.
Federal Government
in sharing Federal Revenue shall give, each State equal money, allowing 10% to
the area of production. Certain items shall be controlled by the Federal
Government such as, timber, gold, diamonds, crude oil, iron ore etc.
Certain Matters
shall be controlled by the Federal Government such as Currency, National Defense,
Foreign Affairs, Judiciary, Federal Civil Service etc., but the States will be
free to make laws which do not contradict Federal Laws. There will be State Universities and Federal
Universities.
All Federal Civil
Servants must be bilingual.
64. President Paul Biya shall start implementing
Plan A from January 2012 to December 2016 by
introducing a Bill
in Parliament for the establishment of the Federal Republic of Cameroon with a
rotating presidency as from January 2017.
In October 2016,
the first Presidential, Parliamentary (House of Representives and Senate),
Gubernatorial, and States Elections will be conducted on the same day.
President Paul Biya
shall hand over to the first Elected President of the Federal Republic of
Cameroon, from West Cameroon, who will be sworn in on the same day, on January
2017.
65. Mr. President, if you accept Plan A, then
we who voted for Unification on a Federal Basis, will join you to implore and beg,
the Liberation Movements to drop their separation plans. They have good legal, moral
and political reasons to separate from the Republic of Cameroon.
Therefore, their
acceptance of our pleas must not be taken for granted. We have to beg them,
plead with them, and convince them to drop their separation plans which are now
very advanced and popular in Southern Cameroon. Southern Cameroonians have been
pushed to the wall.
-----------------------------------------------PLAN
B----------------------------------------------------
66. Mr.
President, if you reject Plan A, then during your life time, you will see
Cameroon breakup into two Countries namely, La Republique du Cameroun and the
Federal Republic of Southern Cameroon. Then the Federal Republic of Southern
Cameroon will automatically come into existence.
The Federal
Republic of Southern Cameroon shall consist of :
Two States, The
State of North West Cameroon and The State of South West Cameroon.
Buea Shall be the
Federal Capital and seat of the Federal Government.
The President of
the Federal Republic of Southern Cameroon shall be elected for four years and
may be elected a second time. After which he is stopped by law to contest any
other elective positions.
No person may be
elected as President of the Federal Republic of Southern Cameroon who is less
than 45 years old or older than 70 years.
Presidential, Parliamentary, Senatorial, Gubernatorial
and State Elections will be held on the same day every four years.
Bamenda is the
Capital of the State of North West and the seat of the North West Government.
Limbe(Victoria) is
the Capital of the State of South West and the seat of the South West
Government.
Federal Revenue
shall be shared equally among the states allowing 10% to the State of
production. When politically expedient and financially possible more States may
be created.
67. As a matter of urgency and priority:
The Civil Service
Administration, Defense, Police, and Security Services will be re-established
immediately.
The Tiko and Limbe
sea ports and the Mamfe river port will be reopened.
The Tiko, Bessong
Abang, Bali, and Bamenda airports will be reopened.
The Limbe-Nkambe
road, the Limbe –Kumba-Mamfe-Ikok road shall be reopened. Powercam Station will
be reopened immediately to supply electricity.
A Federal Marketing
Board will be reopened.
A Central Bank of
Southern Cameroon will be established to issue and control the currency and
regulate the economy accordingly.
Diplomatic Missions
will be opened immediately with Southern Cameroon Friendly Countries.
----------------------------------------Implementing
Plan B--------------------------------------------------------------
68. In 1961 the British Government lied that the
British Cameroon was not viable to stay as an independent country on its own, and
said that “it would not give us the key to the Bank of England”, therefore it
recommended that we should join either The Federation of Nigeria or The
Republic of Cameroon. We know that this was a political lie to influence the
United Nations. The truth is that the British Southern Cameroon was quite
viable then as now, to be on its own. We have, Gold, iron ore, coal, Timber, crude
oil (in fact all Cameroon crude oil comes from southern Cameroon, but no Southern
Cameroonian has ever been appointed the General Manager of SONARA). We produce
high quality Cocoa and Coffee, we have abundant rain fall and beautiful tourist
attractions, name them all. If Southern Cameroon were to manage its own
resources, with the disciplined manpower with have, freed from the Yaounde
corruption and mismanagement, we will transform Southern Cameroon into a
Paradise on earth.
I first flew from Tiko to Lagos in 1956 to
attend a course for young bankers by Barclays DCO. At that time Lagos Island
and Lagos Mainland were separated from Ikeja by small villages, today Lagos has
grown to cover Ikeja as far Ota and has developed as far as Badagry. Today
Lagos is a City of sky-scrapers, and
three bridges linking the Lagos Island with the Mainland. (with a fourth bridge
contemplated). Today Douala is like Lagos in 1956.
It took 15 to 20
minutes to fly from Calabar to Tiko. Then, Tiko, Victoria(Limbe), and Mamfe
were equally developed as Calabar. Today,
Tiko, Limbe(Victoria) and Mamfe are ghost towns compared to Calabar.
While Nigeria has
developed by lips and bounds, West Cameroon(Southern Cameroon), in fact the
whole of Cameroon has had negative development. The one bridge which is being used
by trains and cars, built by the French in the fifties, is still the one bridge
linking Douala and Bonaberi. Nothing has changed. Cameroon has stood still for
nearly 50 years.
69. Mr. President Sir, if you reject Plan A,
we will automatically implement Plan B.
We have taken many
things into consideration in the hope that you will change and treat us as brothers.
We had very good reasons to join Nigeria, but rejected Nigeria because we
thought that “Blood is thicker than water”. You have betrayed us, your brothers, and
treated us as slaves, second class citizens, and made sure, that a Southern
Cameroonian will never be President of Cameroon, Minister of Defense, Minister
of Finance, Minister of Territorial Administration, etc.
You have flagrantly
annexed our territory, treated us as an enemy and want to keep us in bondage
forever.
Fifty years are enough for ZERO Change.
70. We who actually voted for Unification in
1961, are alive today, and will lead the campaign for Separation. We will lead
the campaign to breakup this unholy alliance, where, we, our children, our grandchildren
and great-grandchildren have been consigned to servitude, bondage and shame.
God knows that we have done all in our power to stop the breakup of this union,
but you insist on breaking it up.
We shall join and support
all the “Liberation Movements” in Southern Cameroon who are campaigning for
freedom and liberation, namely:
(1) The Federal Republic
of Southern Cameroon led by Chief Ayamba/Fon Fon,
(2) Ambasonia led
by Fon Gorjo Dinka,
(3) The Republic of
Southern Cameroon led by Justice Ebong
(4) Southern
Cameroon Restoration Government, led by Prof. Carlson Anangwe
(5) The Patriotic
Coalition Front (PCF), led by Mola
Litombe.
(6) The UN State of
Cameroon led by Dr. Arnold Youngbang/Professor Martin Chia Ateh.
71.
We will join them with all our material and spiritual strength to the
glory of God.
We shall no longer
talk of “the force of argument but argument of force”
We shall no longer
talk of peaceful change but violent change. (Since you have rejected peaceful
change.)
Every Southern
Cameroonian will be involved in this “Civil War of Survival” whether he/she
wants to remain in bondage forever or not.
The “Civil War of Freedom
and Survival” from La Republique du Cameroun will be bloody and costly on both
sides. No person must forget that many people may be killed on both sides, including
you Mr. President and myself, but Mr. President, their blood will be on your
head.
We have reached ZERO
Hour.
We shall meet fire
with fire, force with force, tanks with tanks, bombs with bombs, once
hostilities start.
At the end,
Southern Cameroon will be liberated.
The Secretary
General of the United Nations can come in now to dialogue with leaders of the
Liberation Movements and you Mr. President, before it is too late. (I am not one of the leaders, but will join
them if Plan A fails).
The United Nations
Peace-Keeping troops may come in immediately to reduce the blood bath, when
hostilities start.
72. Mr. President, I voted for unification,
in a Federal Cameroon, you did not vote. I will not die until I see this
situation corrected.
If you choose
Federalism, in Plan A, it will allow for a peaceful co-existence in The Federal
Republic of Cameroon, but if you choose, Plan B, the violent separation of
Southern Cameroon from this unholy-Union, Southern Cameroon will become an Independent
Country, in a Federal Republic of Southern Cameroon.
We are prepared for
any choice. We have reached “Zero Option.”
The choice is yours.
May the Almighty
God, save us from Chaos, Anarchy and Doom
Mr. President,
Please Accept my
best regards.
Chief A.S. Ngwana,
National Chairman,
Cardinal Democratic Party CDP,
(formerly Cameroon
Democratic Party CDP)
BP. 2401 Bonanjo,
Douala, Cameroon.
Tel. (237) 7775
7173, (237) 9638 8219, (237) 3343 1072
Copy:
1.
The
Secretary General of the United Nations.
2.
The
Secretary of the African Union.
3.
The
Secretary of the European Union
4.
The
British Prime Minister
5.
The
American President.
6.
The French
President
7.
The German
Chancellor
8.
The
Nigerian President
9.
The Prime Minister of Cameroon
10.
The Speaker
of the National Assembly
11.
All
Cameroon Opposition Leaders.
12.
All
Leaders of the Liberation Movements
