The former Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, and former personal physician Paul Biya writes an open letter to the latter who has just convened a "Grand National Dialogue" for solutions to the serious socio-political crisis that weakens the northern regions -West and Southwest. It is by recalling the great post-colonial historical events that Titus Edzoa comes to the conclusion of the major mistakes made by Cameroon.
Mister President,
At the moment when our Nation, slowly but fatally, is sliding towards a certain dereliction, shaken and fissured that it is in the very essence of its historical foundations, the spontaneity of my reckless pen challenges the patriotic citizen I am. To resist him would have been a manifest intellectual dishonesty to you, to my country, and even to a guilty denial of my own convictions. That is why, to all my different and previous media interventions, I respectfully enclose this open letter to you.
In prologue, allow me to offer you the visit of this brief quatrain of Nicolas de Lyre, which may give rise to some luminous reflections in the search for a definitive solution to the existential problem that is bothering us, namely the civil war in the northern zones. West and South-West of our country: "The letter teaches the facts The allegory what to believe The morality what to do The anagogy what to tend."
The rest of my reflection is structured around the following four components: A synoptic reminder of the historical facts; The outbreak of the crisis;
The results;
The proposal of solutions. Synoptic reminder of historical events In February 1916, at the height of the first world stage, Germany lost the Kamerun under the Franco-British assaults. A sharing agreement (the first non-consenting division of our country) is organized between France and Great Britain. The 4/5 of the territory go to France and the 1/5 to Great Britain divided in 2 parts, Northern Cameroon and Southern Cameroon. In 1922, by a mandate agreement of the League of Nations (SDN), France will govern the administration in the French-speaking zone and Great Britain in the English-speaking zone.
At the end of a second world war, confirming the German defeat, the UN will confirm this distribution. In conclusion, at the end of the 2 world wars, the German Kamerun will be divided into 3 states: the French-speaking Cameroon and the 2 English Cameroons: Northern and Southern Cameroons. a / From 1957 to 6 November 1982: President Ahmadou Ahidjo's regime On 1 January 1960, French-speaking Cameroon became independent under the name Republic of Cameroon.
On February 11 and 12, 1961, a plebiscite is organized in the two territories, Northern and Southern Cameroons by the British, under the aegis of the UN: the Northern will choose the union with Nigeria and the Southern, the union with the Republic of Cameroon. From 16 to 22 July 1961, the Foumban Conference allows the two remaining States to agree on the creation of a federal state: on 1 October 1961, a new nation was born: the Federal Republic of Cameroon. On May 20, 1972, President Ahmadou Ahidjo organized a referendum on the end of the current federal system and the reunification of the Eastern State with the Western State. The "Yes" prevails and the country becomes the United Republic of Cameroon.
The break with the unity work, remarkably accomplished by former President Ahmadou Ahidjo and the various political actors of the time, was an unspeakable mistake. b / Period of the regime of President Paul Biya, from November 6, 1982. A step to the less curious moves the ashes of the past by the law No. 84-1 of February 4, 1984, unilaterally changing the name of the country: the Republic United of Cameroon becomes the Republic of Cameroon. Error as political as historical, this semantic change will unfortunately be confirmed in the forceps during the revision of the Constitution of January 18, 1996, and will be felt by Cameroonians from the English-speaking area, as a snub, a humiliation.
An error that is paying a heavy price today, with dramatic consequences ... The outbreak of the crisis In October-November 2016: There are corporatist demands from Lawyers and Teachers in North West and South West, claims that are entirely legitimate and that, for other reasons, could be made in any region of our country. The system in place, by incompetence and a usual lightness, underestimates the foundations.
To this casualness, we must add the non-application of the Constitution for more than 20 years. In addition, the effective distribution of central power reveals a blatant and bewildering inequity at the State Summit: Francophones have occupied for a long time the major positions:
The President of the Republic is French-speaking; The Senate Speaker is French-speaking; The President The National Assembly is French-speaking; The President of the Economic and Social Council is French-speaking; The President of the Constitutional Council is French-speaking
Source: 237actu.com