By Christopher Ambe
The Minister-Delegate in the Ministry of Economy, Planning
and Regional Development, Paul Tasong and first ever native of Lebialem to
serve as Cabinet minister in President Paul Biya’s 36 -year old rulership, has
pleaded with natives of the Division to ignore calls from instigators (an
indirect reference to separatists fighting for the Independence of Southern Cameroons)
for the division of Cameroon.
Minister Tasong’s fervent appeal was made ,last Saturday at
Buea Mountain Hotel ,during a conclave with Lebialem elites , to examine the current
socio-political crisis (Anglophone Crisis)rocking the Southwest Region ,with
emphasis on Lebialem.
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| Minister Paul Tasong speaking to the press |
Lebialem is one of the most vocal localities for the
restoration of the independence of Anglophones. Persistent clashes between government’s forces
and armed separatists in Lebialem have resulted in several deaths, the burning
of houses including that of Minister Paul Tasong and the culturally-rich Azi Palace,
as well as kidnappings of government officials.
Minister Tasong told reporters after the meeting that they
met to strategize on how to defuse the tension in the Division, provoked by
self-determination rights activists.
He expressed “our wish to continue to extend the olive branch
to the actors of the other side (the separatists), to the youth of Lebialem who
in their vulnerability have decided to join the forces of backwardness.
“We are encouraging the people of our Division who still have
faith in the institutions of the republic, who still trust in Republican values
to continue in that line because this crisis, like any other, will come to and end.
And where shall we be when that day comes?”
The Minister disclosed that several other meetings will
regularly be held, all in a bid to cause life return to normal in Lebialem in
particular and Anglophone Cameroon as a whole.
“We have agreed to carry
out specific actions and we already have a roadmap which will guide our actions
to look for lasting solutions to the crisis”, the minister said.
The on-going Anglophone crisis, which now seems to be fast
turning into armed conflicts, started in 2016, when Common law lawyers’ and
Anglophone teachers’ trade unions were protesting against perceived
marginalization and the “Frenchification” of the English way of life.
What is today called the Northwest and Southwest Regions of
Cameroon, used to be UN -British Southern Cameroons, which would gain its independence on October 11961 by
Joining La Republique Du Cameroun, which had on January 1,1960 got its independence from France.
The union of the states was supposed to function on the basis
of equality of status.
(This report also appears in The Horizon Newspaper,Cameroon,of June 12,2018)
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