What the departure of Boris Johnson and Shinzo Abe could mean for Cameroon, Africa
By Ngala Hansel
Two world leaders exited the stage in less than 24 hours of each other – one was forced to resign and the other was taken out by an assassin’s bullet.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned on Thursday, July 7, 2022, after more than 50 of his own ministers resigned, making it difficult and even impossible for him to govern. He grudgingly announced his resignation later on Thursday.
His resignation comes after members of his own Conservative Party called on Johnson to step down because they were unsatisfied with his handling of a sexual misconduct case involving a senior party member.
Johnson himself was recently embroiled in scandals of his own, including defying COVID-19 lockdown protocols, a luxury renovation of his official residence, and appointing a minister accused of groping (inappropriately touching) men.
His disgraceful exit, coming barely two weeks after the end of the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) Summit in Kigali, seems to be a pattern with recent British Prime Ministers going as far back as Tony Blair – who have all had to resign for various reasons.
Johnson, who came to power mainly on promises to pull the United Kingdom (UK) out of the European Union (EU), was also quite controversial in his policies towards Africa.
Apart from accusations that he had made racist remarks during his time as London mayor, he was also a firm supporter of the decision by his country that people arriving in the UK illegally be sent back to the East African country of Rwanda instead. He defended this decision during a press conference at CHOGM 2022.
Johnson’s resignation comes at a time when the UK along with several Western allies are banding together to fight against Russia as Vladimir Putin continues his bombardment of Ukraine.
In these tense and bleak economic times, Britain has a litany of its own domestic problems: inflation partly caused by the strain from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war but also from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Given his country’s controversial decision to ship off migrants back to Rwanda, there are fears that this could mean more stringent measures for African countries – even those that are members of the Commonwealth and which it would be expected would have closer ties with the UK.
The UK which colonized the Southern Cameroons (today’s North West and South West regions) has been largely silent on the unrest and quest for independnece. The UK’s represnetative in Cameroon was seen visiting the North West Regional Assembly. The Separaatosts said this was a silent message that the UK is with the Cameroon government. Cameroonian observers are yet to see whether the next Prime Minister will be more vocal about the situation in Anglophone Cameroon and actively work towards helping solve it with Cameroon’s central government.
On the other hand, Japan’s Prime Minister was shot on Friday while giving a speech in broad daylight on a street in the Japanese city of Nara, just east of Osaka.
Since the 1955 Bandung Conference and another similar conference in 2005 in Jakarta; Africa-Asia relations have been steadily growing. While Cameroon appears to have closer ties with China than Japan, the country is host to some 77 Japanese nationals according to Japan’s ministry of foreign affairs website. There are some 1000 Cameroonians in Japan as of 2021, the ministry states on its website.
While the slain Japanese Prime Minister had never personally visited Cameroon, his demise is a shock to Cameroon and Africa as it is to the rest of the world.
Cameroonians have been benefitting from scholarships offered by the Japanese government for them to study at Japanese schools and universities. This is not likely to change though since Abe was not a sitting prime minister. However, since Cameroon’s ties with Japan as not as strong as those with China, it is a bit early to make a diagnosis of what the situation for Cameroon-Japan relations could be.
