Abstract

This study examines the extent to which the Anglophone crisis has affected the people and the economy of Cameroon, taking the Southwest Region as a case study. It makes use of the survey method to get the opinion of inhabitants of Tiko, Ekona, Muyuka, Kumba, Konye, Mile 16 Bolifamba, Mile 14 Dibanda, Muea, Ikata, Yoke, Munyenge, Bafia, Mbonge and Kwakwa, towns and villages in Fako and Meme divisions in the Southwest regions of Cameroon.

Data was collected and analyzed using the SPSS. The findings of this work reveals that out of the 150 people sampled in this study, 88(58.7%) strongly agree and 48(32%) agree that the Anglophone crisis has affected Cameroon and its economy.

On the other hand 4(2.7%) disagree, 6(4%) strongly disagree and 4(2.7%) had no opinion that the Anglophone crisis has affected Cameroon and its economy. It is recommended that the Cameroon government should organize an inclusive dialogue as well as release all those arrested in connection to the ongoing crisis without pre-conditions. Also, there should return to a federal form of state as it was in 1961 and respect the Foumban constitution of 1972.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This chapter describes the background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, research questions, and hypotheses, significance of the study and justification, and scope and delimitation of the study. To add, the chapter brings forth the ethical consideration and ends with summary and conclusion

1.1 Background to the Study

The Anglophone crisis

The Anglophone area consists of two of the country’s ten regions, the northwest and the southwest. It covers 16,364sqkm of the country’s total area of 475,442sqkm and has about 5million of Cameroon’s 24million inhabitants.

The Anglophone crisis in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon started by common law lawyers and teachers of  the two English speaking regions. It later on escalated into an armed conflict that has precipitated a large influx of Cameroonian refugees into Nigeria and many internally displaced persons (IDPs) all over the country.

The effects of the crisis have caused many people to abandon their homes, farms, businesses, economic activities and offices in those areas hit by the crisis. Others were forced to move because their houses were either incinerated by the military or by the separatist fighters (Amba).

The crisis has brought a huge effect on the economic sector, the agricultural sector, business activities and the administrative sector which has led to a general hardship on the people of the two English speaking regions of the country. As stated above, it all started with the common law lawyers with a peaceful strike action after presenting their ethical problems to the government with no solution from the government.

On the 9thof May 2015, about 700 Anglophone lawyers met in Bamenda to address the common law lawyers’ issues. Among the issues raised was the point that the government was trying to erase the common law system through a process called harmonization. The transfer of civil law magistrates to work in the English speaking regions who are not groomed in the common law system and were not fluent in English language for the people to understand and also the translation of  some basic texts that existed in the French language to English.

This memorandum was copied to the government through the ministry of justice and other institutions like the senate, parliament and some embassies like the United States and British High Commissioner.

A year later after a complete silence from the government, the lawyers met again in Buea in February 2016. The meeting extended the memorandum for another six months, which still did not get any response from the government.

On October 6, 2016, all the common law lawyers embarked on a strike action. It should be noted that while the government was silent over the plight of the lawyers, the teachers’ trade union of the English-speaking regions also tabled a catalogue of problems they were facing. The non-response to the grievances of both trade unions saw the teachers joined the strike on November 21st 2016.

The strike turned into a crisis because other syndicates like the transporters, bike union and the civil society joined in and civil disobedience set in like the coffin revolution of Mancho Bibixy in Bamenda, the ghost towns, the boycott of national events like the 11 of February, 20th of May and the women’s day celebration and the non-functioning of schools.

The Diaspora started propagating information through the social media into the country. On the 22nd of September 2017, there was a general peace match with peace plants through the two English speaking regions in anticipation for their independence as propagated by the Diaspora. During this process, a lot of youths were massacred by the government forces.

Youths who picked up arms claimed they were pushed into an armed resistance by the way government forces massacred Anglophone youths protesting with peace plants, lawyers brutalized, students molested in the Universities of Buea and Bamenda, the arrest of the consortium leaders, placing a ban on all activities of the consortium, the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) and the internet shutdown for 93days in the two Anglophone regions.

From the start of this armed conflict, life has never been the same. Looting, destruction of public and private property, killings, road blockades, persistent ghost towns, burnings, kidnappings and lockdowns have become the order of the day.

It should be recalled that the crisis was triggered by corporate demands made by lawyers and teachers calling for the translation of the OHADA Uniform Acts into English and the preservation of the specificity of the Anglo-Saxon judicial and educational systems in the two regions. Though triggered by the lawyers and teachers, the Anglophone crisis resulted from what is known as the Anglophone problem in Cameroon.

What is the Anglophone problem?

The Anglophone problem is now truly a problem that touches the hearts of very many people in all villages, towns and cities of the Northwest and Southwest regions. It is no longer just a problem of a few disgruntled Anglophones at home and in the Diaspora as some people believe it to be. It is no longer just a problem of lawyers and teachers as it seemed to be when the strike started in 2016.

It is the failure of  the successive governments of Cameroon since 1961 to respect and implement some of the articles of the Constitution that uphold and safeguard what British Southern Cameroons brought along to the Union in 1961 in Foumban, the flagrant disregard for the Constitution, the dissolution of political parties and the formation of one political party in 1966, the sacking of Augustine Ngom Jua (Prime Minister of British Cameroon in the federal Republic of Cameroon) and the appointment of  Solomon Tandeng Muna in 1968 as the Prime Minister of West Cameroon, and other such acts judged by West Cameroonians to be unconstitutional and undemocratic. The cavalier management of the 1972 referendum which took out the foundational element (Federalism) of the 1961 constitution.

The 1984 Law amending the Constitution, which gave the country the original East Cameroon name (The Republic of Cameroon) and thereby erasing the identity of the West Cameroonians from the original union which West Cameroon had entered the union as an equal partner, effectively ceased to exist.

The deliberate and systematic erosion of the West Cameroon cultural identity which the 1961 Constitution sought to preserve and protect by providing for a bi-cultural federation in the area of administration, judiciary, legislative and education and recently, the harmonization process which was a way of eroding the values of the Anglophone sub-system of education for example and the common law in the Anglophone sub-system.

All the above mentioned points are some of the grievances that make up the Anglophone problem that has led to the current Anglophone crisis.

Aggrieved Anglophone lawyers and teachers started the strike almost simultaneously in 2016 that saw the manifestation of civil disobedience, destruction of public and private properties, molestation, brutality and loss of lives.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Despite the non-acknowledgement/denial of the Anglophone problem from the government leaders which has turned into an armed conflict, there exists a discontent by some Anglophones both young and old, as to how Anglophones are treated.

This discontent presents itself in calls for federation or separation with movements that are gathering strength which has degenerated to an armed conflict that has led to far reaching consequences, for instance, over 3000 dead, about 100,000 people as refugees, persistent ghost towns and lock downs, over 200,000 people internally displaced (IDPs), schools closed down, kidnappings, beheading and burnings.

The government of Cameroon’s efforts to address the Anglophone problem has been inadequate. Instead of addressing the root cause of the problem, the Cameroon government strongly believes in delaying tactics to end the crisis.

The overall research problem addressed in this study is that, despite the strengths of Cameroon government to address the Anglophone crisis little has been done for an inclusive dialogue and the call for a cease fire in the two Anglophone regions has not been announced by both parties which have continued to inflict negative effects.

1.3 Research Questions

From the foregoing, the following research questions will guide the study

1. What is the effect of the crisis on those who have fled their communities to other regions?
2. What is the effect of the crisis on the communities that is the towns and villages in the two divisions of the South west region?
3. What are the effects of the crisis on the agricultural sector, businesses and the revenue of the local authority of the people (councils and the state)?

1.4 Objectives of the study

1.4.1 The main objective of the study

The main objective of the study is to examine the extent to which the Anglophone crisis has affected the people, their living conditions and the economy of the two English speaking regions and Cameroon.

1.4.2 Specific objectives of the study

1. To assess the effects of the crisis on those who have fled their communities to other regions.
2. To investigate the effects of the crisis on the communities, that is the towns and villages of the two divisions (Fako and Meme).
3. To evaluate the effect of the crisis on the agricultural sector and the revenue of the local authority of the people.