The Government Of Cameroon Is Living In Denial

We can all recall a similar tragic and barbaric incident in Ngabouh, Nkambe in 2019 when government agents and orchestrated propaganda blamed the deadly arson on someone else.

Yet after weeks of lying the government was forced to admit that the atrocities were committed by government military forces!

We are back again to yet another atrocity and this time students were targeted and assassinated in plain view while studying for their future at Mother Franscisca International School in Kumba, South West Region of Cameroon This is just totally unacceptable and disturbing .

The Government of Cameroon is to blame for the fact that they deliberately allowed the crisis to go out of control. It is clear they have lost their grip over the territory of the minority English Speaking Cameroon.

The Major National Dialogue would have ended the war if they were sincere, honest ,truthful , responsible , reasonable and respectful enough to recognize the history and the dignity of the people of both regions.

Major National Dialogue is supposed to be one of the most powerful political instruments for peacebuilding and post- conflict reconstruction. It means to engage the citizens in a frank dialogue. In this light , the process will build national consensus leading to major constitutional changes as well as create new government policies for the commongood.

Therefore, to me fighting armed groups whose ring leaders are at large in Europe and North America is like chasing the wind. Nothing is more irresponsible than to dare deny the wisdom of the international bodies,which is what the Cameroon authorities did.

Today, they (the government of Cameroon) are crying foul and claiming that they want foreign governments hosting ambazonia warlords overseas to help them. That is a shallow appeal and comes across very naive.

Governments do not exist in a vacuum except they are living in space. Governments are established based on the consent of the governed ,referring to the citizens or what is fondly described as ” We the people.”Therefore, it means that there is a social contract between the people and the government per Jean Jacque Rousseau.

In the case of Cameroon , the authorities broke the social contract and by doing so have lost legitimate control, authority and power. They no longer have the ability to govern and more military crack down the more frustrated and desperate they have become.

The population growth of any country determines her GDP and by the same token the youthful population determines her population growth, the future wealth , prosperity and care for the ailing population.

Therefore, it is strange that Cameroon government would target the people of the North West and South Regions for 4 years now with such cruelty under the guise of fighting Ambazonia separatist!

One of the main reasons why I founded COPIC was because I hate what both the government and Ambazonia separatist are doing. Yet, the government failed to manage the crisis the way they should have because they saw the crisis as an opportunity to depopulate , confuse and disrupt the anglophone cultural identities in addition to gross exploitation of their natural resources.

In the end, whatever the government has done and is still doing is not working. Albert Einstein once said ” insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

The question I have for the Cameroon authorities is , do they truly want a different result other than what suits them?

Political power may protect and provide a safety net for the powerful but they must understand that without people they would have no power and authority over anyone. Human dignity comes first before power and authority.

Except they are babies in diapers, I think all of them need to make a U turn back to the Major National Dialogue and implement the international principles of National Dialogue proposed by COPIC to solve this problem.

In conclusion, I want those who are scared of COPIC to know that COPIC is a friend and not foe. COPIC already made their case a long time ago and we cannot recant the memos sent to the Cameroon authorities in September 2019 during the National Dialogue Consultations that I was part of . ( see photos in New York at the Cameroon Mission in New York in September 2019)

There is crisis or conflict management before conflict resolution. You cannot manage a conflict or crisis borne out of anger and deep seated grievances about justified injustice by the use of force and military crackdown. That is called insanity .

COPIC did not only propose a clear blueprint for the Major National Dialogue to help the Cameroon Authorities to solve this crisis . We also proposed ideas for post – conflict reconstruction of the war torn regions and expressed enthusiasm to be part of the solution.

The government acknowledged receipt and offered gratitude to me but immediately they went ahead and turned the MND into a CPDM political party assembly.

Even so Cameroonians remain patient hoping that they will come to their senses but they remain indifferent to the cries of the downtrodden.

It is sad how CPDM militants from the North West and South Regions have failed to represent their own brothers and sisters in Yaounde. How sad when they are the first people to encourage the President to continue with the military crack down on innocent people of both Regions.

The problem will never be solved by the use of military crack down and killings of innocent people if they continue to live in their deadly denial.

The memos written and presented to the Cameroon authorities are all enclosed.

Our position of neutrality still stands and we need Cameroon authorities to act like a good government for once .

Thank you for your consideration

Jonathan Awasom
Executive Servant leader of COPIC