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| Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute campaigning for one and indivisible Cameroon in Limbe in May 2019 |
By
Christopher Ambe
Appointed Prime
Minister when the Anglophone Crisis was only escalating, Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute
and his government have, since assuming office, been fire-fighting, to ensure
that normalcy returns to the restive Northwest and Southwest regions, which
separatists are fighting for their independence from the rest of Cameroon.
Before his
appointment on January 4, 2019 as Cameroon’s Prime Minister and Head of
government, Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute was not known, at least publicly, to have
been nursing ambition for the post of Prime Minister.
Yet, he had in his
possession the credentials and leadership skills that make for a great leader;
his name was rarely cited in the media as a potential replacement of Prime
Minister Philemon Yang, who served in that position for a decade.
Having served as a
member of government for many years as Minister-Delegate in the Ministry of
External Relations in charge of Commonwealth, and then briefly ( from March
2018 to January 4, 2019) as Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency of the
Republic), Dr. Dion Ngute ,who will turn 66 in
March this year, knew his worth as a quiet unifier and did not bother to
lobby for the juicy but challenging position of premier. “Good wine”, it is
said, “needs no bush”
Dr.Dion Ngute, a
noted Southwest elite and traditional ruler of Bongongo in Ndian Division,
probably said to himself, “God’s time is the best.”
Diplomatic language
,humility and assiduity , pundits say, were some of the weapons he
used to accomplish whatever herculean task that was
within his competence-whether in his capacity as a Member of Government,
a CPDM politician or the traditional ruler that he is.
So when the Philemon
Yang-led government tried in vain to resolve the escalating Anglophone Crisis,
which erupted in late 2016, a seemingly shaken President Paul Biya decided to
appoint a new PM in the person of Dr.Joseph Dion Ngute, who even before
becoming a Member of Government, had served as the Director of ENAM Yaounde-the
state-owned school that trains Cameroonian civil servants such as administrators
and magistrates.
In search of a
peaceful solution to the Anglophone Crisis, Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute,
special envoy of President Biya, embarked on meet- the-people tours in the restive Northwest and Southwest regions
of Cameroon, during which he demonstrated humility, (which is a hallmark of
leadership) by meeting many micro and macro groups with the Head of State’s
urgent call for peace and dialogue.
During his tours, the
premier pleaded with separatist fighters to drop their guns, insisting that
guns don’t dialogue but people do; he collected piles of proposals on how to resolve
the Anglophone crisis, which he took to the Yaounde Establishment for serious
consideration.
Dr.Dion Ngute’s
humble style of attempting to help resolve the biting Anglophone Crisis was
generally appreciated by Anglophone communities. They wanted him to speak truth to power about
Anglophone grievances which included a
strong feeling of marginalization for
decades, in a union of two entities(
Southern Cameroons and La Republic du Cameroun),that was supposed to be based
on equality of status and mutual respect.
The new PM promised
to be faithful and swift in presenting
the problems and proposals to President Paul Biya, and he reportedly did.
The choice of Dr.
Dion Ngute as new PM, many believe, was largely informed by the fact that,
eventhough a bona fide Anglophone with sufficient knowledge about the
Anglophone problem, he was (in the words of Barrister Charles Taku) “the agent
representing La Republique du Cameroun at the hearing of the case brought on
behalf of the Southern Cameroons by Dr. Gwang Gumne and others in the African
Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights”
According to
Barrister Charles Taku,“ Judgement in the case was rendered in Banjul, the
Gambia during the 45th Ordinary Session that held from 13 - 27 May 2009
“ In the Judgment
that was subsequently endorsed by the General Assembly of African leaders
during the AU conference in Sirtre in Libya, the African Commission
unequivocally called for dialogue to resolve the[Anglophone] crisis and offered
its services.”
Barrister Taku would
regret that Cameroon “did not comply with that Judgment and did not respect the
decision relating to dialogue facilitated by the African Commission, even after
the expiration of the extended timeline it sought and obtained”
As PM, Dr. Dion Ngute
who hails from the oil-rich Ndian, one of the least developed divisions,
critical observers argue, has been given another opportunity to “fix things”
and bring happiness to Anglophones in general, who rightly or wrongly complain
of being treated as second class citizens by the Yaounde Establishment.
Married to a native
of the Northwest Region, Dr. Dion Ngute finds it easier interacting with the
people of both Southwest and Northwest Regions.
The Paramount
Chief-designate of Buea, Dr. Robert Esuka Endeley, in an interview with The
Horizon in May 2019, said this of the new PM:
“We in the Northwest
and Southwest regions are particularly happy because the style of leadership of
Prime Minster Dion Ngute was the style of leadership that my father Dr.EML
Endeley, practiced in politics in West
Cameroon: going down and talking to the common man on the street to know their
problems.”
On his
meet-the-people tours in Southwest and Northwest, the soft-spoken Premier Dion
Ngute assured his varied audiences that, President Biya was now ready to
dialogue- but that separation or secession would never be on the agenda.
To match words with
action, and amidst clarion calls for an immediate cease fire and meaningful
dialogue to resolve the crisis, President Biya on September 10, 2019 announced
the coming of the much-awaited dialogue, insisting that it must take place
within the Constitution of Cameroon, which country he added “remains one and
indivisible” .The President appointed Prime Minster Dion Ngute as the Chairman
of what would later be styled “Major National Dialogue” to resolve the
Anglophone crisis. And that Major National Dialogue held in Yaounde from
September 30 to October 4, 2019,with some Cameroonians in the Diaspora
participating, although separatist
leaders abroad stayed away, claiming
their security was not guaranteed.
President Biya ,
last December 31,in his 2019 End of Year
Message to the nation, said “the Major
National Dialogue has paved the way for
our country to resolutely embark on the path to peace, national unity and
progress, which are values that have always made our country great.”
The Head of State
appreciated all those who participated in the dialogue, and congratulated its
organizers, in particular the Prime Minister, Head of Government Dr.Joseph Dion Ngute.
The recommendations
of the Major national Dialogue have resulted in the enactment of a law on the promotion of bilingualism and
multiculturalism, which law provides for equal use of English and French in all
our public institutions, in order to strengthen Cameroon’s bilingual nature.
The Major National
Dialogue has also brought about a law on “Regional and Local Authorities” which
defines the status of local elected officials, the functioning of local
assemblies and the allocation of additional, substantial financial resources to
regions.
The much-talked about
Special Status for the North-West and South-West Regions has now been provided
by law taking into account the specificities of the Anglophone education
sub-system, Common Law and traditional authorities.
Although Anglophone
Separatists abroad have not recognized what the Dr. Dion Ngute-led government
has so far done to resolve the Anglophone Crisis, there is evidence that life
is gradually returning to normal especially in the urban centres in Anglophone
Cameroon.
In his 2019 End-of
-Year message to the nation, President Paul Biya appealed to the sense of
patriotism of all Cameroonians at home and in the Diaspora.
“Together, let us
make Cameroon a land of great opportunities for economic and social development
in peace and unity,” he said, concluding his speech.
One can therefore say
that during Prime minister Dion Ngute
‘s one year in office, he has achieved
much towards resolving the Anglophone Crisis, but more still has to be done since armed separatists
are still clashing with Cameroon’s
military and security forces, resulting in deaths.
[First Published in The Horizon
Newspaper,Cameroon,of January 6,2020]
