3rd All Anglophones Conference, AAC III, planned for Buea

The recent move by Anglophone groupings to protest marginalization and the injustices being meted out on Cameroonians, who hail from the North West and South West regions may culminate into another All Anglophone Conference.

A key figure of one of the groups which recently tabled a memo to President Biya on the marginalization of Anglophones in Cameroon has disclosed to the Cameroon Journal that plans are in an advanced stage for a third All Anglophone Conference, AACIII, to be held in Buea.

He did not give a specific date for the conference but revealed that the plan is receiving lots of support from Anglophone Cameroonians and even elites in high government positions.

Asked to name the organizers of the conference, our informant who pleaded not to be named said the decision to keep his and their identity anonymous is to avoid what he qualified as intimidation or bribery by Yaoundé authorities. “You know too well that the Yaoundé authorities cannot allow such a conference hold if the identities of key organizers are made known. This is a regime that believes in intimidation and divide and rule,” he told the Journal.

Questioned on who would sponsor the conference, the source said top Anglophone businessmen, politicians, diplomats and even top civil servants contacted have promised to foot the bills of the gathering. He, however, added that those who have promised to support the conference have taken the commitment to do so only on condition that they would not be betrayed.

On what should be expected as outcome of a third AAC, our source hinted that they intend to come up with a strong statement to President Biya that draws his attention to the marginalization of Anglophones and the under developed state of the regions. Contacted to comment on the planned conference, SDF National Chairman, John Fru Ndi said Anglophones were not only marginalized but are being systematically subjugated in a country they call theirs. He was categorical that he would not hesitate to attend the Conference whenever it is summoned.

However, he quickly added: “…but if for one pressing reason or the other I cannot attend, I would send my support morally and financially…” Prof. Tazoacha Asonganyi said the conference will provide them the opportunity to put their worries in one package and forward them to Biya for immediate action.

He said should the conference hold, he would not only happily attend but will contribute hugely to its success. According to him, the conference would not only bring Anglophones together to speak with one voice but would provide them the golden opportunity to reiterate the Buea Declaration and the Bamenda Proclamation. Asonganyi insisted that Biya and only he alone will have himself to blame should an All Anglophone Conference hold and come out with resolutions he would not be comfortable with. “Things should not have gotten to this level had Mr. Biya not given a deaf ear to the Buea Declaration and the Bamenda Proclamation,” Asonganyi said.

SDF MP and auditor of the National Assembly Awudu Mbaya Cyprian, said though he was learning about the conference from the Journal, he would not hesitate to attend such a historic conference; invited or not invited. “Who is that Anglophone who will think twice before attending such a gathering? Besides, is there anything wrong should Anglophones decide to come together to have their worries addressed by the powers that be?” he questioned. The MP said there is glaring evidence of Anglophone marginalization and called on the Biya regime to make hay while the sun shines to avoid any unpleasant surprises from a people he said were being treated in their own land as strangers. Ayah Paul Abine, Chair of the People’s Action Party, PAP and Supreme Court Judge, said the coming of AACIII only now is long overdue. “If the Yaoundé authorities had listened to the worries of Anglophones since the holding of AACI in Buea and AACII in Bamenda, we would not have gotten to this level…”

Even though he will not say if he would attend or not, Elvis Ngolle Ngolle rather spent time lecturing our reporter how Cameroonians are free to hold any meeting; provided they are responsible and respect republican values, state institutions and the laws of the land. He does not think that such a gathering would solve the marginalization of Anglophones as he insisted that not only Anglophones have problems in Cameroon. “I don’t support marginalization like my party National Chairman, President Biya,” he said, refusing to comment further.

While acknowledging that Anglophones were being marginalized against in the areas of appointments, development and language wise, Nfon V.E Mukete warned that staging an All Anglophone Conference now is to him putting President Biya under too much pressure.

He recalled signing the South West Chiefs Conference’s stern memo to Biya on the ill-treatment of Anglophones as the body’s president and the recent Anglophone MPs and Senators’ memo to the head of state on the same subject matter and argued that the president be given time to look into the various memos from Anglophone pressure groups. “I have been reliably-informed that the president has given firm instructions that the problem of Anglophones be looked into…why not give him time? I am afraid any attempt to stage an All Anglophone Conference would jeopardise our case,” the Bafaw traditional ruler said. Barrister Nico Halle, President of the General Assembly of the Cameroon Bar Association first insisted to talk on the planned Conference only if he is told the organizers of the gathering.

He posited that anybody who refuses that Anglophones are not marginalized and greatly-discriminated against is dishonest, a bootlicker, and a sell-out and should never be trusted. Halle took time off to criticize not only the fact that Anglophones were discriminated against in terms of appointments and infrastructural development but also in the media.

He wondered why advertising jobs were given only to french language newspapers while English Language newspapers are never considered. He said he had for long been shouting from roof tops that Anglophones were poorly-treated. Halle said that if the planned conference is to make sure Anglophones are fairly-treated, then there is nothing wrong with it being staged in grand-style. He added that instead of christening those advocating better treatment of Anglophones as enemies of national unity, they should rather be hailed because: “If Anglophones are better treated, it will be good for the peace, unity and progress of our nation…I am not only concerned about Anglophones, all the country’s ten regions.”

“We are one and indivisible. We are all full Cameroonians, there is no half Cameroonian. A patriotic Cameroonian should make constructive suggestions in a peaceful way. I hate violence…”

It should be recalled that Anglophone groupings; irrespective of the political leanings of their members have within the last three months been very vocal on the ill-treatment of Anglophones in Cameroon and attempts by Yaounde to erase their cultural values,- the Anglo-Saxon system of education and the common law system.