Dear ‘Anglophone Elites’ of the South West and North West regions of La République du Cameroun (LRC),
We read from Cameroon Tribune edition of January 4, 2017, your call for the ongoing strike actions and ghost towns taking place in West Cameroon to be called off. We are dismayed by your limited consideration of this very serious situation. Your action indicates that you do not appreciate these acts of resistance and peaceful civil disobedience as a legitimate expression of the frustrations with the government of LRC for the systemic and deliberate dismantling of the Anglo-Saxon heritage for over 55 years which has resulted in severe injustices and hardships for the peoples of West Cameroon – your own people.
We have witnessed the conduct of the LRC government in response to the crisis as follows;
• A complete and total failure to dialogue in good faith
• Ongoing arbitrary arrests, false incarcerations, beatings, torture and rape of innocent West Cameroonians
• Ordering the disconnection of internet and money remittance services to West Cameroon
• Many inhumane acts which have sadly resulted in the death of several innocent West Cameroonians.
We are sure that you ‘the elites’ cannot deny that these human rights abuses have taken place.
Perhaps you may be thinking that you are special and exempt from the Anglophone problem because you are part of the LRC system and playing along with the government that is oppressing your peoples. However, do not forget that no matter what you do or how high you serve in LRC, you’ll always be treated with suspicion by the LRC government. There are many examples of Anglophones, like yourself, who have been used and favoured by the government, and then disposed of when they were no longer serving its purpose. Some high-profile elites like yourselves are currently serving prison sentences at the notorious Kondengui maximum security prison, where many of our protesters are also currently being detained.
Please wake up from this delusional bubble!
We, the people of the West Cameroon, strongly urge you to side with us, your fellow disadvantaged and oppressed brethren as a matter of principle. This is also the right thing to do.
We request that you now stand up and be counted. Please speak out and;
• Demand a return to a 2-state federation that guarantees fraternity, liberty equality and justice for your people and future generations of West Cameroonians.
• Denounce the order to disconnect the Internet and money remittance services to West Cameroon.
• Demand an immediate restoration of the internet and money remittance services to West Cameroon by the government as these constitute serious human rights abuses.
• Denounce the arbitrary arrests, killings, rape, torture, and brutality meted on our University students, mothers, youths and leaders.
• Demand the release of the Consortium leaders (Barrister Agbor Balla and Dr Neba Fontem), the distinguished High Court Judge (Paul Ayah) and all our fellow brothers, sisters and children who have been unjustly arrested and transferred to jails in Yaoundé.
• Please note that the extra-judiciary killings, arbitrary arrests and abductions, infringe on the people’s human rights and show a blatant disregard for the rule of law and constitutional rights to peaceful protests by the government of LRC.
We appeal to you to show a sense of fair play, honesty and justice. These are inherent values (re-enforced by the British colonial system) which were brought by the former Southern Cameroonians to the reunification with LRC to curb and reject those excesses of inhumanity, such as corruption, brutality, oppression and suppression of freedoms and basic human rights. We urge you to play your part and contribute in formulating and building a better long term future for your people now and in generations to come.
May God be our guide and save us all.
Thank you.
The WCA is a collective of English-speaking Cameroonians based in Cameroon and the Diaspora.
God bless West Cameroon
The Secretariat,
The West Cameroon Association,
Email: secretariat[at]westcamassoc[dot]org
Weblink: http://www.westcamassoc.org/
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