The life sentence of Ayuk Tabe is an incredible political mistake. The Anglophone crisis, which is rooted in the irresponsible and totally colonialist management of the State of Cameroon, has produced, for three long years, a deep rift in our Nation.
The repression of all actors in an inclusive dialogue such as the members of the Consortium currently in prison (while the power claims that they are supposedly in custody), and many others thrown into prison without any motive like Paul Aya Abime former magistrate of the Supreme Court, and a moral authority of the dimension of Cardinal Christian. This totally outlawed management of a state that proclaims its status of rule of law, while violating the fundamental law according to its desires, leads Cameroon to drift.
The government has deliberately refused to comply with the provisions of the constitution advocating decentralization, more than two decades after the proclamation of this constitution. Biya knowingly provoked a political and social impasse with tragic consequences.
While the unbearable expectation of an announced dialogue to get the country out of a serious crisis dragged on, we were surprised by the verdict of the Yaoundé military court that comes to tease the political atmosphere instead of relaxing it.The whole country is waiting for an inclusive dialogue to get the country out of the crisis. This is the moment that power chooses to condemn Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his companions for life.
This is a very bad sign sent to our people who were entitled to consider starting the inclusive dialogue to finally see the outcome of this serious conflict. But Paul Biya laughs at the sufferings of his people and thinks he is safe sheltered by all the armed forces of his country who owe him allegiance, and by himself, and not to the Republic. The crisis and growing chaos now confined to the two English-speaking provinces could someday, set the country ablaze. But Paul Biya seems completely indifferent to the fate of his country and its inhabitants.
And finally, one can not refrain from interpellating the magistrates whether they are military or civil: the judicial power is independent of the executive power and it can judge or not in principle in all freedom and deliver justice in his soul and conscience. Does the harsh judgment these magistrates have rendered against AyukTabe and his companions help to calm the atmosphere or to compromise peace by reinforcing the tension? The day after the conviction of Ayuk Tabe and his companions, the powder spoke in Bamenda.
In this regard we can recall the bravery of the magistrate Christophe Bobiokono, who refused in 1962 to judge and condemn political leaders thrown into prison: André-Marie Mbida, Charles Okala, Theodore Mayi Matip, and Marcel Eyidi Bebbey. His career was mistreated, but he held out, because these men were free to express their political opinion according to the Constitution. Bobiokono firmly rejected the presidential decree of March 1962 on subversion while the multiparty system was still in force.
Closer to home, the military judge who sentenced Ernest Ouandié to death, expressed his deep regret twenty years later in the official press. Why did the magistrates who judged Ayouk Tabe not be inspired by these eloquent examples of magistrates who knew how to take their responsibilities and that the remorse led to recognize the serious mistakes they made to publicly ask for forgiveness?
Are there still women and men of honor in this country?
Reporter: Henriette EKWE