AN
OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CAMEROON GOVERNMENT
Today, Tuesday 22nd
November 2016 is the second day of the nationwide sit-down protest that was
called by teachers` unions in the wake of street demonstrations by Cameroon
Anglophone lawyers with a view to getting the Cameroon government to address
injustices to which Cameroon Anglophones have been subjected for decades. In
the case of the lawyers, they are making a case for the recognition of the common
law which is an Anglophone legacy and in that of the teachers` union, it has
been a determination to ensure that the Anglophone system of education in the
country is neither diluted nor completely swallowed up.
By all indications, the sit down
strike is effective because from personal observation, a large number of
pupils/students and teachers have hearkened to the call and stayed at home.
Even in cases where students and teachers have met on-campus and teachers have
insisted on teaching, attendance has still been timid. In some cases, the few
children who have turned up have simply been asked to return home. Catholic
schools in Buea like the one in Mile 16 have in a downright move put locks on
their doors with not a single pupil or teacher in sight.
This state of affairs has surely put
the government in an awkward situation because it does not now seem to know
what steps to take in order to defuse the situation. If one adds to that, the
fact that the Anglophone Lawyers` dispute remains largely unresolved and the
fact that there is a veritable general unease reigning in the country, then the
magnitude of the problem ought to be taken very seriously indeed.
One of the first moves the government
must make is to engage in dialogue during which the grieving peoples are
allowed to “tell it all” without fear of intimidation or retribution. The
government must also not deploy the armed forces to resort to brutal repression
on protesting Cameroonians who are making known their disenchantment without causing
damage to property or even loss of life. Such a line of action would only
contribute to escalating the situation. The government must equally refrain
from selecting just a few gullible participants and “buying” them with money in
order to get them to relent or change their language, or even toe the line.
But what is really the problem? It is
one of a group of people feeling cheated and disenfranchised. One glaring
injustice that the people decry is the dismantling of the federation that
guaranteed equality between the State of East Cameroon and the State of West
Cameroon as two equal States, superimposed by a Federal Republic in which if
the President came from one State, the Vice President would come from the other
State. In the course of that dispensation, West Cameroon successfully ran its
affairs like a tightly-managed business venture. There was duty consciousness
and accountability. Bribery and corruption were not only perceived as crimes,
but were largely viewed as “sins” and therefore repressed with impunity.
As things turned out, not only was the
tenable state structure dismantled, but the “identity” of the erstwhile English
speaking Cameroonians was assumed in the larger configuration known as the
“United Republic”. The formerly single State of West Cameroon was broken into
two provinces which together with the seven already existing regions of the
former Francophone State of East Cameroon, made up the new Republic that now
consisted of ten provinces. An immediate consequence was that the English
speakers who had constituted one linguistic block now became two distinct
entities that were (or were made to be) as much “rivals” to each other as they
were to the seven Francophone regions. Later, the post of Vice President of the
Republic which used to be held by an Anglophone was abolished and an
Anglophone, in the person of Solomon Tandeng Muna, was made President of the
National Assembly. But then, being president of the National Assembly was not
the same thing as being national Vice President. Furthermore, although according
to the constitution, the President of the National Assembly was next in command
after the President of the Republic, the then President of the Republic Ahmadou
Ahidjo, later changed all of that. He had the constitution amended so that the Prime
Minister (at the time, Paul Biya from the Francophone zone) instead of the
President of the National Assembly, now became the next important personality
of the state after the President of the Republic and the one to succeed him in
case there was a vacancy.
The sitting president of Cameroon,
could have stemmed the current rising tide of discontent if he had wanted to,
before things escalated to the point where they are today. One step he could
have taken would have been to address
the nation alternately in the French and English languages which are Cameroon`s
official languages. Instead, he has – in his record 34 years in power – only
spoken to the nation in French, the official language predominant in his own
zone, in total disregard of English, the other official language. Granted that
when he has visited either the predominantly English speaking regions, or when in
an English speaking country abroad, he has addressed Cameroonians in English.
But why not also do it within the country?
The national newspaper, Cameroon Tribune, which is said to be bilingual,
is on a daily basis dominated by the French language. The problem posed here is
not only a language one but also a commercial and business one because the
paper is the main carrier of offers of tender for public contracts advertized
by government ministries and services. Usually, it is very rarely that any
advertizing authority bothers to translate tenders so that they are published
in both languages. They are often rushed to the newspaper for publication only
in French. That means that contractors and business people of English
expression are by implication, excluded from bidding for the advertized
contracts.
The government has been reluctant, if
not actually unwilling to balance the equation. Although the President of the
Republic and the Prime Minister have in the past instructed government
officials to ensure that official documents they send out must be in the two
official languages, these instructions have been ignored; yet no sanctions have
been taken against the disobedient officials. Instead, the President of the Republic
and the Prime Minister have carried on as if there was nothing wrong.
Suggestions and recommendations have
been made to the president that he should restructure the manner in which
translation of official documents is carried out in the country, all in vain.
Right now, there are translation departments at the Presidency of the Republic,
the National Assembly, the Prime Minister`s Office, ministerial departments,
other public offices such as parastatals, and the regional governors` offices.
But that is about all, to the exclusion of other needy departments.
Similarly, suggestions that the
President of the Republic should set up a ministerial department to be
specifically in charge of translation and the promotion of national languages
have not been heeded. If this had happened, then all public services including
those at the regional, divisional and even sub divisional levels would have
regular translation services too. In addition, such a provision would ensure
that there is an ombudsman to keep an eye on the implementation of the
translation policy and official bilingualism which Cameroon is the only country
in Africa to enjoy.
Equity between the two peoples has
not been taken into account when it comes to appointments to public offices.
The prescribed quota that used to be half or fifty per cent for Anglophone
Cameroon ceased to be implemented since the demise of the Federal Republic in
1982. This has led to the incredible situation where at one point, the total
number of government members and other top ranking officials from the two
Anglophone regions, when put together, was not up to that of ministers from a
single Division such as Benoue (Former President Ahmadou Ahidjo`s Division of
origin in today`s North Region) and Dja and Lobo, which is President Paul
Biya`s Division of origin. People notice these things and grumble about them on
a daily basis.
Another source of pain and
humiliation for the country`s Anglophone people is the treatment being given to
Religious Studies as a subject on the secondary school curriculum. In the
Anglophone sub system of education, the subject is taught and examined at both
the Ordinary and Advanced Levels of the General Certificate of Education (GCE).
The Cameroon GCE Board which is actually a structure set up by government to
run the GCE is the one that examines candidates in the subjects and awards the
certificates. But shockingly, the government does not recognize a pass in the
subject either for employment or further education, when it mentions entry
qualifications. The usual hurtful phrase is “a pass in at least two GCE
Advanced Level subjects excluding Religious Studies”. No one has ever stepped
forward and explained convincingly the reason for this discrimination. Yet it
is all the more telling, when one considers that religious studies is a subject
on the curriculum only in the Anglophone sub system. So, who can blame
Anglophones for complaining of being specifically targeted?
Additionally, it is a paradox that at
a time when the government professes to be fighting corruption in the country
with a view to routing it out completely, the one subject – namely religion –
whose teaching lends itself more to moral rectitude and nearness to God than
any other curricular subject is instead the one that is downtrodden and derided.
Yet, in the country`s courts, the bible is still used by people who are called
up into the box, as proof that they will tell “the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth”. For how long shall we continue to deceive ourselves?
It is to be noted that one factor
that brought Anglophone lawyers out into the streets was that their offer of
the olive branch which the government could have accepted a long time ago and
sued for peace and dialogue was ignored. So it all left the lawyers in a situation
in which it looked to them as if they were talking to themselves instead of to
the intended interlocutor. It was faced with this brick wall that the lawyers took to the streets. Yet, as children of the
state, they had a right to be listened to and responded to. That was the least
that could have been done. Even when it was done, it was done more out of
pressure and consequently halfheartedly. The government really needs to
rethink its strategies to conflict resolution.
Whatever is the case, there is a saying
that there is time for everything, and this may be that time when these wrongs
can at last be righted. To solve the problem, it is necessary that the
government should invite for dialogue not just those who are striking but also
other national stake holders who can make a useful and meaningful contribution
to the talks. That is the only way in which this ugly stage in the life of the
nation can be turned into a thing of the past. A stitch in time saves nine.
