Gaps in Kamerun’s Political Debate

Whether Cameroon was enjoying 50, 30 or 100 years of independence is an issue that has kept Yaounde authorities divided. That is why they have hung on to Unification and the Africa 21 summit as some achievements of half a century. Cameroonians do not need any special mind engineering to realize that the brouhaha about the Cinquantenaire (50 years anniversary) only provides a further alibi to a corrupt regime to justify its misappropriation and embezzlement. In the next couple of weeks we will be getting the scoops and rackets surrounding the whole farce and the billions embezzled by the Tonton Belingas (celebrated fine pilferers) and their cronies of the anniversary commission.
By Christopher Fon Achobang

As to an independence anniversary, I would like to submit that Kamerun’s colonial experience ended in 1916 with the end of World I in the German colony. After World War I the League of Nations had to supervise France and England to manage the destiny of the territory in two mandated territories. The question history and world politicians refuse to answer is why Kamerun was divided into two and not allowed to be managed by one country, England or France. In their mandates over Kamerun, the League of Nations cannot claim that the territory had been allowed to be colonized by France and England.

If the United Nations that succeeded the failed League of Nations was a community of independent nations, we may want to know whether it was compatible with its charter to condone the colonization of Kamerun. If not, as the British were virtually uninterested in meddling with the daily business in Southern Cameroons, why did the United Nations frame two options for the self determination of Southern Cameroons? These options; attain independence by joining the Federation of Nigeria or independence by joining la République du Cameroun. Answers to the above questions will help an appraisal of the self-interested roles played by the members of these august world bodies; League of Nations, United Nations, World Bank, IMF and their affiliates. It is always the will of one of the members that prevails over the common interests of the others pushed around like pawns on a chessboard.

Africa in general, Cameroon in particular has only been responding to the wishes of its imagined and imposed patrons. France was imposed on Cameroon and Cameroon has continued to behave as if it cannot survive without France. The pseudo leaders in Cameroon always have to return to France for advice on how to resolve basic matters concerning the country. I wonder where Rwanda has been going ever since the 1994 genocide. Rwanda has completely rejected everything French. They are now an Anglophone country and member of the Commonwealth by choice; they rejected all colonial vestiges and are not compelled by any agreements to deal with their former masters. They could even resort to the use of Kirwanda in official business, without reproach. This is a truly independent country.

For Cameroon, 1916 should mark the end of its colonial experience. When I visited Zimbabwe to explore the Shona stone sculpturing tradition, I observed what real colonialism can do to people. The country had been dependent on England for centuries, whereas Kamerun’s real colonial experience lasted only 30 years under Germany. Historically, German colonial reign over Cameroon covered 1884 to 1914. After that period, Kamerun was virtually free but became a mandated territory of the League of Nations. Cameroonians in their private ventures take initiative to do things, while government and those under a dependent colonial psychosis always wait for somebody from above or outside to make things happen for them.

There is a deliberate attempt to fabricate the history of Kamerun to suit the whims and caprices of some elite. To the minds of some, the name Ahidjo should be a taboo and banished. This is personal. The leadership tussle between two individuals at the helm should not push them to hijack the national debate to mean only what pleases their ears. The architect and person who declared the independence of la République du Cameroun is not even honoured on the Cameroonian soil. Ahidjo’s remains are still buried in foreign soils in Senegal. His only crime against Cameroun is to have preferred the present leader as his successor. His family is in exile also avoiding calling the names of those in power in Yaounde.

If the Cinquantennaire had to be celebrated with a view to history, then 1^st January should be the culmination of the celebrations. It should be the anniversary date. Or if the preference is for reunification then Cameroon is only 38 by 20 May 2010.

Beyond dates, what are Cameroonians doing to show that they have an independent mind? Culturally, predating the German Kamerun was a loose federation of chiefdoms coexisting in harmony and peace. From my native Widikum in the North West Region, my forebears used to travel to the coast through Mt Sabi in Manyu without any hostility. The traditional neighbours of the Widikum, the Bayang, Mbo, and Bangwa were not feuding. No tribal wars characterized these peoples. Right across to the Centre Region of Cameroun, anthropologists and linguists will confirm that there are some linguistic and cultural similarities between the Widikum and Beti. Recently, three Cameroonian ethnic groups scattered across three regions and two official languages converged in Yaounde to celebrate the Mandjara Festival. Mandjara is a festival of the Nso (Southern Cameroons), Bamoun (Ouest Region of la République du Cameroun) and Bambouthe (Centre Region of la République du Cameroun) who trace themselves to one common ancestor in northern Cameroon, around Ngaoundere. This highlights the fact that before the Germans came we were one people.

Even though the Nso are Anglophone, while the Bamoun are Francophone, they do not go to war just because of this linguistic and historical error of the League of Nations. It is an error of the League of Nations to have simply ruled a line across the territory separating brothers in this careless manner. If they did not choose to remember their history, the two brothers will be going to war to serve the whims of a colonial dispensation. What are we as independent Cameroonians doing to avoid the accentuation of these minor differences; colonial based linguistic disparity?

As recently as 1990, Cameroon embarked on a genocidal course as it went ahead to brand people as indigene and halogene; son of the soil and come no go; settler and indigene. Such debates and discourse in other countries like Cote d’Ivoire have led to serious conflict and bloodbath. These same Cameroonians, who oversaw the elaboration of this negative divide and rule schemes, are clamouring to be honoured as patriots with monuments on our streets. It is also sheer hypocrisy that somebody who had an epitaph engraved for him in the early 1990s as ‘The one who brought democracy to Cameroon’ will call Cameroonians mad men and amateur sorcerers for protesting against a corrupt election commission. It is interesting that all this negative characterization is happening at the culmination of the Cinquantennaire celebrations.

Today, as we are eager to have an identity, let us truly name ourselves. Are we Kamerunian, Camerounese, Cameroonian or Mungonian? Why not? Can the people found on both sides of the Mungo not be called Mungonians? As a nation, what is our history? What is our language and what are our common aspirations? As part of the debates during the bogus Cinquantennaire festivities, we would have been trying to give ourselves an indigenous identity. What is the vision we have for this beloved country or for this polity? By the time we would have answered some of these questions, we may just have started liberating our minds from the colonial ingrains.

Some of my Southern Cameroonian brothers may accuse me of vacillation. Deep on their minds they know that if we were not confronted with a formidable enemy who frowns at dialogue, we will not be at this zero option of secession. Our forebears, in the best interest of the peoples of Kamerun took a logical decision that brothers and sisters across the territory should not be subjected to colonial boundaries and lines. We also believe that if the discussions were not hijacked, this diverse country should have been a robust garden of diversity, variety and celestial beauty. Let us hope that the Cameroons find a common table to dialogue on the best route for its evolution. Let us talk to one another like brothers from the same womb only interested in protecting and fostering their common heritage. Maybe, just then will we be celebrating a genuine liberation and independence of the Mungonians, Kamerunians or Cameroonians.