Dr.Amos Namanga Ngongi is a
former UN Undersecretary-General, Special Representative and Head of the UN
Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (2001-2003).
He sat down, last Friday
August 24, for an interview with The Horizon’s Contributing Editor Christopher
Ambe, *Vera Muyang Ngu and Ayuk Oru Mary Shevett
Dr. Ngongi, a native of
Fako, gave his views on the ongoing Anglophone Crisis, suggesting how it could
be solved.
Excerpts:
Dr. Ngongi, what is your take on the Anglophone Crisis which erupted
in 2016, and now has become armed conflict between Government and Separatists,
resulting in hundreds of deaths and vandalism?
Thank you for this
opportunity to express my views on the Anglophone problem.
As a Cameroonian I must
say it is a serious problem and as you mentioned hundreds of lives have been
lost; villages and communities have been disrupted; we have thousands of
refugees and internally displaced people. It is a bad situation that we should
all work to resolve. It is a serious but not impossible problem to solve. There
have been worse crises around the world and they have found solutions.
As long as there is a will
and humility on both sides to be able to approach issues as they are, I think,
we will be able to find a solution.
It is unacceptable that
you have a country which was the beacon of peace, security and development in
the sub region finding itself in this situation. I would say, we are all guilty
in that those who would have spoken before did not; those who would have taken
action did not and those who would have given early signal warning, probably,
did not also perform their duty, to ensure our country was saved from this
dishallowing situation we are going through. The elements of solution are
there; it is how to approach the problem, to be able to put the human being at
the Centre; forget about individual ideologies and positions, put Cameroonians
at the Centre. If you did that, approached the problem from a human perspective,
the solution would come.
Personally, do you believe there is an Anglophone problem?
Even the blind, dumb and
deaf know there is an Anglophone problem; this has been discussed for decades
now, so we cannot be pretending anymore that there is no such problem
And how would you define the problem?
Well, it is either the
reality or the feeling of marginalization in all its forms. It is that feeling
that people are not actually getting what they need to have. It is a
feeling-most of the time .it may not be reality. So the perception sometimes is
stronger than the reality. In this case, probably it is the reality and
perception by a group of the population that feels that it is not getting what
it desires. Or, that rules have been skewed against them…it is a complex issue
because it deals with feelings; it does not necessarily deal only with reality.
Everything must be done to
allay the fears of people so they live in hope that if they are not getting
what they desire today, then they will get it tomorrow.
In 2001 you were appointed the UN undersecretary-general,
Special Representative and Head of the UN Peace-keeping Mission in the war-torn
Democratic Republic of Congo. Are we right to say you helped restore peace and
harmony in that country?
You used the right word
“help” because there were many players for peace and against peace. My role was
to make sure things were not apart. When I got there, there were at least
four governments- three by rebel movements and one by the central government;
each controlling its territory and army. The first step was to get a ceasefire.
That was done before I got to Congo. Then, we were to have a peace agreement,
which was under the auspices of a neutral facilitator appointed jointly by the
UN and African Union .My task was to ensure make fighting between forces was
actually calmed down, to broker little truces and ceasefires round the country.
And being the resident person in the country, to advance the negotiators’
positions, proposals and ideas that I thought could contribute in bringing the
parties together; I was charged with making sure that once the peace agreement
was signed it was implemented. Of course, there are many parties in the crisis
who benefit from the crisis and don’t want that agreements are implemented. So
my business was to win over all those people who were resisting especially the
rebel movements, bring them out of the bushes to the capital to take part in
the transitional government.
The situation in Cameroon is kind of similar to that in DRC, with
conflicts here and there between Government and Separatists. What are you doing
or have done to help resolve the Anglophone crisis?
Our situation is not quite
the situation in DRC.The only comparison is that we are in process of getting
into a deepening crisis, which we should do our best to stop it at this stage
before we get to the stage of DRC in late 1990s
I have spoken on
different occasions, giving my views. Six years ago over CRTV in an open
discussion about the 30th anniversary of the head of state, I made it clear
that when the Anglophone crisis came in, it was really a matter of feeling;
people don’t feel trusted.
The most vexing thing for
people who feel marginalized is that the instruments that were created to bind
us –the constitution, was not being implemented or implemented in a very slow
manner. People felt the constitution was not being implemented to take care of
their preoccupations at that time.
Don’t you think the slow implementation was bad faith on the side of
Government?
I think if you are
approaching a problem for solutions don’t attribute bad faith on any party. If
you do that, then it will be very difficult to reach an agreement. Consider
that the other party is approaching the issue with the same trust and
seriousness as you are. If you give that benefit of the doubt it is possible to
find a solution. But if you have already concluded that the other party is
approaching the issues with bad faith, why would you do what you need to do to
have a solution?
Dr,Ngongi,whether in your capacity then as Deputy Director of
World Food program or UN Undersecretary-general, Special Representative and
head of UN Peace-keeping Mission in DRC,I understand you were advising
governments on how to resolve conflicts and crisis. What should be done to
resolve the Anglophone crisis?
I don’t have a magic
solution. What you need is an approach. It is a process because the problems
have been with us for quite some time and they are not going to disappear in a
day.
If it’s a process, let us
begin the process. The beginning of a process is meeting people to ask your
opponents “what are your issues?” Though, they have been publicized in the
media,we know but we have not had a face-to-face discussion of the key
holders on what are their real burning issues .If you have a 100
issues, all of them are not of the same degree of importance. Some are more
important than others. So there has to be a process of sieving the problems.
Which ones are the critical issues to be solved at the national level? Which
can be solved at the regional level? Even within the regions there are
differences. So there must be a mechanism put in place to be able to bring
those issues together. I know that the National Commission on Bilingualism and
Multiculturalism has been gone around and met people, but this is just a
commission that reports to the Head of State. It is not like a dialogue in
which we have constituted parties that bring issues on the table. The
Commission’s report can be used as a resource, a working document but you need
representatives from the different constituent parts of the debate or issue to
be able to agree on a program to resolve the issues facing us. With
classification of the issues, some need to be solved today, some tomorrow or
some in one, two or even three years. But the longer it takes the more
discouraged people are. But if you rush too you make mistakes.
It is important to set up
a mechanism that permits people meet regularly. It does not mean that the
process must start at the highest level. It can from the bottom.
I think some people have
mentioned already that we do need some persons or groups to be able to chaperon
the process.
When you have a crisis,
you have many stakeholders that you need somebody that seems to be somehow
neutral, to try to mediate for a solution. There are people who can forget
about their status and make themselves available to resolve a problem. A person
like former UN Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan (who died recently).He was an
epitome of a person whom you could look at and know he had no agenda of his own.
His agenda was to bring peace and security, justice and economic development
that could reduce poverty in marginalized societies. Virtually, in every community
there are people like him.
You were Mr. Annan’s close collaborator and trusted friend. Birds of
a feather flock together. Can you not suggest to the Cameroon Government that
you can broker a peace deal with regards to the Anglophone crisis?
Normally, it is not to fit
in the shoes of somebody. Kofi Annan was Kofi Annan just as Nelson Mandela was
Nelson Mandela. Each of them had their qualities, characters and backgrounds.it
is difficult trying to fit into the shoes of an individual. Normally, it is the
people who have the problem who can best identify who can help solve the
problem; it is not the individual who says he has a solution. There are many
people who can participate in a process but I don’t think that speaking with
you here I would be the one to propose to Government that I should
be involved in a process ; probably, they are many Cameroonians
better placed to do it than myself.
As earlier said it should
be a process where somebody in government can put together because government
is a player in the social life of a country. Where you have a civil society
functioning properly it can also propose a mechanism to bring about a solution
.We had the proposal from the clergy to start the process with the Anglophone
dialogue and you recall how much heat it generated. So it is not easy for a
private practitioner or a group to position itself as the one to provide a
solution because you have a lot of conflicts and need a system to identify a
person, a group or an institution to be able to carry out this process. You
have the United Nations with much experience with conflict management and if it
selected an individual it is difficult for other parties to reject the choice.
But you are considered by many as still part of the United nation…
I am not. I am retired
from the UN. The UN has conflict resolution mechanism; the African Union has
peace and security mechanisms; there is the Mandela institute and foundation,
you have the kofi Annan Foundation, Jimmy Carter Foundation. There are quite
many structures that can be approached. They can identify using different
criteria the institution that can carry out mediation.
There are people who hold that you could be very instrumental in seeking solution for the crisis, mindful of your international experience in
conflict management.Don't you agree with them?
That is their judgment.
And if it is so, then it is something they should put to the structures that
are going to consider such a scenario.
If the solution of the
crisis depended just on an individual we should have been, probably, out of it
by now. It should be a community process so that people have confidence that it
is going to lead to a better future. If you have it, no matter the difficulties
you have during that process many would support and get to the end.
Honestly speaking, do you appreciate the way the government has been
handling the Anglophone crisis?
I think the problem could
have been approached differently. Once you paint somebody black, it is
difficult but not impossible to go and talk with them. Let us at least remove
invectives. Senior Public officials speaking about the problem must be cautious
with their words, because just a few words can fix or spoil a process. I don’t
need to remind you that there are lot speeches that have been made in the media
that hurt. They can please a small segment of society but they just widen the
gap among the people who should be sitting round the same table.
Humility is said to be a hallmark of leadership. Would you say the
Biya government is humble in its approach to solving the crisis?
[Laughs].I do not know whether governments can be humble.Humilty
is a personal human quality, not an institutional one.
Let us not think that our
own government has been constituted by angels from Heaven.A government is a
government. Individuals in government and out of it should have the element of
humility to be able to say, when a wrong is done, that it should be accepted
and corrected. I hope that most people holding public offices should have
elements of humility, to be able to identify where they too have made mistakes
and work to correct the mistakes
Dr.Ngongi,you occupied high offices at the international level, what
motivated you to come low by becoming a councilor of Buea Council?
[Laughs].In real life they
say “Think globally, act locally” because most of the problems in life are
local. If people don’t have water to drink, is it an international problem? If
you don’t have streetlights, is it an international problem? If there are no
schools, or hospitals, is it an international problem?
I find that people who
have held high offices at the international level are struggling to become
presidents or ministers in their countries but are abandoning their
own communities. They only go there in coffins. I did not want that happen to
me.I have been a council for five years, contributing ideas to enhance
development. I have written projects that if funded, would bring hundreds of
millions to the Council. Is that not a contribution?
That is the reason for my
being a counselor of Buea Council.
*Vera Muyang Ngu and Ayuk
Oru Mary Shevett are University of Buea Journalism interns.
(This interview is published in The Horizon Newspaper,Cameroon,of August 28,2018)
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