The West Cameroon Association (WCA) calls for the cessation of violence in the Anglophone. Regions of Cameroon following President Paul Biya’s continuing escalation of the crisis.
The West Cameroon Association has observed with shocking horror, the escalation of violence in the English Speaking regions of Cameroon over the past several months. It is now abundantly clear that the military option will not resolve the current crisis as the situation has significantly worsened since President Biya’s statement at Nsimalen Airport in Yaoundé on Thursday November 30th, 2017, vowing to wage war against Anglophones, whom he referred to as ‘terrorists’ who had to be dealt with in order to restore peace throughout the national territory. On the contrary, evidence on the ground now clearly shows that insecurity amongst the citizens in the 2 regions has increased to alarming levels. WCA is extremely saddened and disappointed that the government has failed to provide security in the English Speaking regions to enable genuine participation by the electorate in those regions who are now being further disenfranchised from the electoral process because of the ongoing insecurity. WCA is extremely disappointed that the government of President Biya is still to make a concerted effort in its own humanitarian initiative for victims of the Anglophone crisis. With the Presidential elections just a few days away, WCA would like to strongly recommend the following measures to arrest the situation from further deterioration:
1. WCA calls on the regime of President Biya to guarantee the security of Cameroonians in the forthcoming elections on 07 October 2018.
2. WCA calls on ELECAM and all the political parties participating in the elections to ensure that the elections are free and transparent and to agree that the counts should be declared at each polling station so as to mitigate any irregularities.
3. WCA calls on the regime of President Biya and all the armed groups in the Anglophone regions to declare schools, places of worship and hospitals as ‘green zones’ where all violence is prohibited. We call on the international community to assist to enforce these green zones. This should enable children to return to school during this time when the socio political situation in the two English Speaking regions remains dangerously precarious.
4. WCA calls on President Biya to declare a unilateral cease fire and return his military to barracks and address the root causes that have fueled the increasingly deteriorating situation in the English Speaking regions.
5. Following a successful ceasefire, WCA calls on President Biya to immediately commence the implementation of the humanitarian assistance for refugees and internally displaced persons announced in June 2018.
6. WCA welcomes and applauds the initiative of Cardinal Tumi to bring together representatives from all the English Speaking regions in a conference to agree a common purpose to chart a way out of the current crisis.
Mr S Ndah-Mbi
On behalf of the West Cameroon Association
secretariat[at]westcamassoc[dot]org
www.westcamassoc.org
The WCA is a Think Tank and a collective of Anglophone Cameroonians in Cameroon and the Diaspora.