US Based, Cameroonian born Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh, Regional Director of a Non Governmental Organization known as National Democratic Institute, NDI, for Africa has made startling revelations recently on a Television interview that the ongoing Anglophone crisis has gone past the level at which decrees from a Government Minister can handle. According to him this crisis is more than one government can handle and drive it to its logical end. If the present situation continuous it would be terrible. When he Dr Fomunyoh looked at the list of men in uniform who have lost their lives it is telling not to talk of civilians overwhelming dead toll.
Focus now is on Presidential election and looking at the context with which the country is gagged between two major crisis thus Boko Haram in the North of Cameroon and the Anglophone crisis in the two English speaking regions, it necessitates that peace be ensured before any election. Dr Fomunyoh reiterated that the constitution makes provision for a delay in capital election in article 14 in case the country is caught in a grievous crisis. The said two crisis amount to enough reason to delay Presidential election by two or three months and have a peaceful environment good enough to ensure credible election. Some aspects of the constitution should not be revised only when personal interest is concern. Should those in charge push ahead and organize the election they risk two things either they win and would have a country to govern for lack peace or it would give credence to those clamoring for restoration to say election did not take place in their Regions which is prove that they are not part of the whole.
“Cameroonian people would judge each actor on the rule he or she played during this crisis. At the time I and others were proposing dialogue, the ears of the powers that be could only listen to the voices of those who opt for the use of brute force on the agitators.” He said. Looking at the role apportioned to the new MINAT Boss towards resolving the crisis rocking the two Regions. Dr. Fomunyoh retorted that Anglophones should not be mocked that it is the very person who at the onset of the crisis screamed at the top of his voice that there was no Anglophone problem and when he was appointed Minister of Territorial Administration, he sounded louder that Mr. Biya was too generous with Anglophones. Such persons who have lost credibility in the eyes of their people cannot be sent to go get the people back home.
The Senior Associate intimated that it is time people get to be more sincere and would not sit in their cozy offices calmly as if the country does not have a veritable crisis. He stated that living together is not a slogan and that living together is materialized in the acts that we pose on the people and the manner of talking to the people. They cannot want to bring back people to the house and at the same time giving instruction to go cause disorder and send troops to the field to brutalize more people to run away into the bushes. This total contradiction and that to him people have to re-examine themselves and assess whether the role they play is to bring back peace in the country. After the auto examination, they should create a platform where Cameroonians of goodwill can make their proposals on the way out of this crisis. Dr. Fomunyoh insisted that he cannot sit on television to spell out his ten points proposals because they are people out there who would attack the ten points without haven studied or mastered the document. To him there is need for a national dialogue and to say the Musonge Commission is already doing that, Dr. Fomunyoh lauded the job the commission and its members are doing in the field. That structure going by the articles of its creation was created to favour Bilingualism and hasn’t the vehicle to assemble the grievances of the people for possible solution. It is not its role and said if he has propositions to make so that the country should come out of the crisis, where should he table them? That is why he is insisting that there is need for a institution purposely for that and where Cameroonians of good will would forward proposals and be sure that their proposals are being integrated in a National reflection on a way out of this crisis. To him the decrees and orders coming from most authorities are not enough coupled with the fact that most of these authorities have lost legitimacy in the eyes of their people right in their villages. These are indicators that the country is going through a serious crisis which is claiming several human lives and warrants that serious and urgent measures be taken to ensure that people come out of this grievous crisis.
As it stands now in all the ten Regions of Cameroon each family must have lost a loved one in this crisis and some cases parents have buried their sons. What can a Minister tell an orphan whose father left in the morning in uniform and never came home? Many young people running away from the crisis get killed in high seas reasons why Cameroonians should reassemble and do something to resolve and come out of this situation if not the country would still be plunged in to more grievous situation that would be difficult to heal the hearts. Even if they stop shooting today there is a lot of work to reintegrate the people back to normal life.
Talking on those to be on the dialogue table, Dr. Fomunyoh did not blink to state it bluntly that those who were at the head at the time when the crisis started would be those to dialogue with. Head of Lawyers and the Teachers grievances and those who wrote severally to the Presidency on the same subject like the clergies what happened to them was most of them were arrested and locked up in Kondengui. The people turn to question whether one doesn’t have the right to ask for what are their rights are citizens in this country and out of fear of the unknown, most of them fled the country in to exile. When ManchoBibixy, the Journalist, led a manifestation in Bamenda, asking for amenities for better living condition for the people. He was asking for roads, water, electricity and proper management of the city. What did he get in return, he was rounded up and jailed which left many wondering as to what has become of their country where they no longer have a voice. Many of his followers escaped in to the Bushes. Sisiku Ayuk Julius Tabe and his group were moving from one country to the other in suit and tie talking on the Anglophone concerns and at the time Dr. Fomunyoh and others were concluding to begin talks with his group to pave the way for dialogue, they were whisked off to Yaounde and from then many youths were pushed in to radicalism and many deaths were registered. Before now these young people were doing it in hiding but today on social media girls like boy pose with their faces to the pubic calling on soldiers to come. With this situation to think that you sit in the office and sign decrees and send Musonge Commission to the field and the crisis would go away? That would be farfetched a wish.
Quizzed as to why he is not in a haste to yield to the people’s hope to run for President given his acumens on issues of governance. Dr. Fomunyoh said even if he were to run for the top job, it shouldn’t be on people’s blood reason why his stance is that there is need to put the Presidential election on hold and bring back peace before organizing any election. Were he to run with the present context it would be a total betrayal of the suffering masses and posterity to would judge him that he too was an accomplice to the mayhem that befell them.
By Ignatius Nji
Eden Newspaper
Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh
President
The Fomunyoh Foundation
christopher.fomunyoh@tffcam.org
www.tffcam.org
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