2019 Ambazonian leadership crisis

Last updated
Ambazonian leadership crisis
Part of the Anglophone Crisis
Date2 May 2019 –present
Caused byInfighting, alleged failures of the Sako-led cabinet
StatusInterim Government of Ambazonia divided, with Ayuk Tabe and Sako both claiming to be the legitimate President of Ambazonia
Parties to the civil conflict
Cabinet led by Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe ("Nera 10") [1]
Supported by:
Ambazonia Governing Council [2]
Cabinet led by Samuel Ikome Sako
Supported by:
Ambazonia Restoration Council [3]

The Ambazonian leadership crisis is an ongoing internal conflict within the Interim Government of Ambazonia. The crisis started on May 2, 2019, when a document signed by the first president of Ambazonia, Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, acting from detention in Yaounde and in contact with Cameroon interior ministry officials, declared the dissolution of the cabinet of interim president Samuel Ikome Sako and restored its predecessor [4] led by Ayuk himself. The move surprisingly sidelined the outcome of the election of interim president Sako in an expanded electoral college on 4 February 2018, combining the predecessor cabinet, country and regional representatives of Ambazonia.

Contents

Background

Following the arrest of the Ayuk Tabe cabinet in January 2018 in Nigeria, Samuel Ikome Sako was elected the acting president of the Interim Government. [5] His presidency saw attempts to unite the separatist camp under one roof (notably the creation of the Southern Cameroons Liberation Council in April 2019 [6] ), but faced criticism for alleged incompetence, divisiveness and misappropriation of funds. [7]

Leadership crisis

On May 2, 2019, Ayuk Tabe - still in prison - declared that the Sako-led cabinet had been dissolved, and that the cabinet led by himself had been restored. While the document recognized the Sako cabinet for its sincere efforts, it claimed that it was ultimately not fit to continue; [4]

Considering that despite all efforts by well-meaning Ambazonians responding to my appeals to keep the Interim Government afloat by accommodating the caretaker cabinet while these issues of infighting in the struggle involving grave improprieties both in the management of material and human resources are sorted out, the caretaker cabinet has lost the ability to reconcile our people and, in doing so, has imperiled the identity and mission of the interim government to complete the decolonization of Southern Cameroons through advancing our collective national interests.

It is incumbent on me as a servant-leadership fiduciary to bring redress to the Southern Cameroons-Ambazonians, to their struggle and their nation, from their slow descent into a footnote of our own history.

I hereby declare and direct that the caretaker cabinet is forthwith dissolved and that, the cabinet as was in office on January 5th 2018, when myself and parts of the leadership were abducted be reconstituted, restored and reactivated.

At some point after making this declaration, Ayuk Tabe reached out to former SDF parliamentarian Wirba Joseph, asking him to assume leadership of the revolution. Wirba declined the request, believing the Interim Government to be an "imaginary structure" and detrimental to the cause. [8]

However, the Sako-led cabinet did not recognize Ayuk Tabe's authority to dismiss the interim cabinet, and consequently refused to step down. In June 2019, the Ambazonia Restoration Council "impeached" Ayuk Tabe for "treasonous misconduct", and declared that he had lost his mandate to speak on behalf of Ambazonia. [3]

The leadership crisis complicated the already delicate allegiances among Ambazonian separatist movements. The Ambazonia Governing Council (AGovC), which traditionally has had a complicated relationship with the Interim Government, voiced support for Ayuk Tabe. [2] Wirba Joseph called the impeachment of Ayuk Tabe "absurd". [8] In November 2019, pro-separatist sources reported that Sako and his supporters had changed his title from Acting Interim President to President, aiming to permanently replace Ayuk Tabe even if the latter would ever be released. [9]

Consequences

The leadership conflict led to the seeming emergence of two governments, an elected leadership under president Sako in the Diaspora and a putative leadership under AyukTabe in Yaounde, each claiming legitimacy. This paradigm shift may have complicated and delayed the prospect of direct talks with the Cameroonian government. During the later half of 2019, Switzerland emerged as mediator for peace talks between Ambazonian nationalists and the Cameroonian government. [10] These talks in Switzerland were boycotted by the Ayuk Tabe faction which threatened to derail an initiative [11] supported by the United Nations, African Union and European Union except France. In July 2020, Cameroonian officials met with Ayuk Tabe to discuss a ceasefire absent any international mediator or guarantor. The Sako-led government responded to the meeting by declaring that prisoners cannot negotiate. The AGovC, which had supported Ayuk Tabe against Sako, took a similar stance. [12]

Ambazonian Coalition Team

On September 22, 2019, the interim government of Dr Sako brought together leaders and representatives of 10 Ambazonian nationalist movements to create the Ambazonia Coalition Team (ACT), or Team Ambazonia and a “joint platform for negotiations” with the Cameroon government. [13]

Attempts at resolution

On 13 October 2020, Ayuk Tabe called from prison in Yaounde to settle the dispute and cooperating against Cameroon. [1] President Ikome Sako reiterated his refusal to recognize Ayuk Tabe's cabinet, stating that "there is only one Interim Government". He further insisted that Ayuk Tabe declare the dissolution of his cabinet before any reconciliation could take place. [14] [15]

Later developments

The leadership crisis resurfaced in mid-2021, when pro-Auyk Tabe AGovC announced an alliance with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a Biafran independence movement. Sako denounced the alliance on grounds of the importance of goodwill from Nigeria, and argued that AGovC had put the hundreds of thousands of Anglophone refugees in Nigeria at danger. The Sako-led government preferred instead to repair relations between Ambazonia and Nigeria. [16] The AGovC fired back, stating that "those who liberated Rwanda came from refugee camps in Uganda" and that "Nigeria has shown itself not to be our friend". [17] IPOB also dencounced Sako's claim to the Ambazonian presidency, declaring him one of many "traitors and selfish fellows". [18]

Related Research Articles

Ambazonia Secessionist entity in West Africa declared in 2017

Ambazonia, officially the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, also referred to as Amba Land, is a self-declared state in West Africa constituting the Northwest Region and Southwest Region of Cameroon, part of the country historically known as the Southern Cameroons. No country has formally recognized Ambazonia's independence, and it is currently the site of an armed conflict between Ambazonian separatists and the Cameroonian military known as the Anglophone Crisis. Ambazonia is located in the west of Cameroon and southeast of Nigeria on the Gulf of Guinea.

Wirba Joseph Mbiydzenyuy, is a Cameroonian politician, humanitarian and social activist.

Ayaba Cho Lucas is an Ambazonian activist. He is the former Secretary General of the Southern Cameroons Youth League (SCYL) and is the current leader of Ambazonia Governing Council, a separatist organization in Southern Cameroons.
Ayaba was expelled from the University of Buea in 1993 because he had led a one-man demonstration against tuition increases; he has been in exile from Cameroon since then. He eventually ended up in Norway, where he studied human rights and development at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, and from where he has based his activism ever since. In January 2017, Ayaba was allegedly targeted for assassination in Brussels, Belgium.

Anglophone Crisis 2017–present separatist conflict in Cameroon

The Anglophone Crisis, also known as the Ambazonia War, or the Cameroonian Civil War, is an ongoing war in the Southern Cameroons regions of Cameroon, part of the long-standing Anglophone problem. Following the suppression of 2016–17 Cameroonian protests, Ambazonian separatists in the Anglophone territories of Northwest Region and Southwest Region launched a guerilla campaign against Cameroonian security forces, and later unilaterally proclaimed the restoration of independence. In November 2017, the government of Cameroon declared war on the separatists and sent its army into the Anglophone regions.

The Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF) are a military organization that fights for the independence of Ambazonia, a self-declared independent state in the Anglophone regions of Southern Cameroons, Cameroon. It was formally established by the Ambazonia Governing Council (AGovC) on 9 September 2017, the same day as the organization declared a war of independence.

Dr. Samuel Ikome Sako is the president of the internationally unrecognized proto-state of British Southern Cameroons Federal Republic of Ambazonia. He was elected president of the Interim Government a month after Julius Ayuk Tabe, the first president, was abducted in Nigeria and extradited illegally to Cameroon. He was unilaterally dismissed by Julius Ayuk Tabe in May 2019, a decision that was overwhelmingly rejected by the people of Ambazonia and annulled by the Restoration Council representing the legislature of Ambazonia. This triggered the Ambazonian leadership crisis.

Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe is an Ambazonian separatist leader, and the first president of the unrecognized Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

President of Ambazonia

The president of Ambazonia is the interim or provisional head of state of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, formerly British Southern Cameroons. The latter is a proto-state struggling for freedom from de facto recolonization by a Cameroon under control by France, following the collapse of the UN-coerced cold-war Cameroon federation of 1961. French Cameroon finally abandoned the federation in 1984 by decree to reconstitute the original 1960 French-speaking Republic of Cameroon but has since that time attempted to attach the English-speaking Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) state onto herself as mere regions.

This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2017.

This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2018.

This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2019.

International reactions to the Anglophone Crisis

From 2018, the Anglophone Crisis drew increasing international attention, and became a challenge to Cameroon's foreign relations. Triggered by a violent crackdown on the 2016–2017 Cameroonian protests, the conflict escalated from a low-scale insurgency to a civil war-like situation. While Cameroon enjoys support from African countries, no country has openly supported the Ambazonian independence movements. However, many countries have put pressure on Cameroon to talk to the separatists. In addition, the separatists enjoy support from officers in the Nigerian Army, who have helped arrange arms deals for them.

The Interim Government of Ambazonia is the provisional government in exile of the internationally unrecognized Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

The Ambazonia Governing Council (AGovC) is a Liberation movement within the Ambazonia Liberation cause. The Ambazonia Governing Council commonly referred to as AGovC is the vanguard organisation that has been fighting for the total liberation of Ambazonia since 2013 when it was founded.

The Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front (SCACUF) was a nonviolent movement seeking the independence of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. It was an umbrella organization, consisting of several indigenous and English-speaking nationalist movements.

July 2019 Cameroon prison riots

The Kondengui and Buea prison riots occurred on July 22 and 24, 2019, respectively. While the first riot started off as a protest against poor prison conditions and unjust detainment, the second riot was carried out in support of the former. Both riots were violently quelled by security forces, and hundreds of prisoners were transported to undisclosed locations. The fate of these prisoners and rumors of casualties during the crushing of the riots had political implications in the ongoing Anglophone Crisis, and brought international attention to the prison conditions. Following the riots, many suspected participants were subjected to torture, and were brought to court and sentenced without their lawyers present.

The Major National Dialogue is the official name of a dialogue between the Government of Cameroon and various opposition parties, aimed at resolving the Anglophone Crisis. The event took place between September 30 and October 4, 2019.

This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2020.

Operation Bamenda Clean Part of the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon

Operation Bamenda Clean is an ongoing Cameroonian special counter-insurgency operation in Bamenda, Northwest Region, aimed at preventing armed Ambazonian separatists from operating in the city. By January 2021, Cameroon was gradually achieving what a security analyst at the University of Yaoundé called "relative peace" in Bamenda, and the mayor of the city stated that the operation was succeeding. However, as of March 2021, separatist-imposed ghost towns remained widely respected by the local population, and separatists control most roads leading in and out of Bamenda.

This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2021.

References

  1. 1 2 Armed Conflict in NWSW Regions: Jailed Leader Calls For Unity, Cameroon News Agency, Oct 16, 2020. Accessed Oct 20, 2020.
  2. 1 2 Cameroon: Sepratist hardliners react after impechment of detained Ambazonia leader, Journal du Cameroun, Jun 12, 2019. Accessed Jun 12, 2019.
  3. 1 2 Cameroon: Confusion as detained Ambazonia leader impeached by peers, Journal du Cameroun, Jun 12, 2019. Accessed Jun 12, 2019.
  4. 1 2 Cameroon: Detained Ambazonia leader dissolves ‘Interim Government’, Journal du Cameroun, May 2, 2019. Accessed Jul 8, 2019.
  5. ↑ Just In-Dr Samuel Ikome Sako Is New Acting Interim President of The ‘Federal Republic of Ambazonia’, Cameroon News Agency, Feb 4, 2018. Accessed Apr 19, 2018.
  6. ↑ Federalists Meet Restorationists, Which Group Will Perform The Osmosis?, Cameroon News Agency, Mar 29, 2019. Accessed Apr 10, 2019.
  7. ↑ Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis: How to Get to Talks?, Crisis Group, May 2, 2019. Accessed May 2, 2019.
  8. 1 2 Crise anglophone : Un ancien député du SDF appelle les séparatistes à dire la vérité aux masses souffrantes, Le Bled Parle, Jul 4, 2019. Accessed Jul 4, 2019. (French)
  9. ↑ Dr. Sako sworn in as President of Ambazonia, Mimi Mefo Infos, Nov 30, 2019. Accessed Nov 30, 2019.
  10. ↑ Cameroon: Ambazonia leaders endorse Swiss-led dialogue to solve Anglophone crisis, Journal du Cameroun, Jun 28, 2019. Accessed Jun 28, 2019.
  11. ↑ , July 2019. Accessed February 2021.
  12. ↑ COVID-19 Ceasefire: The Big Four React, Cameroon News Agency, Jul 5, 2020. Accessed Jul 7, 2020.
  13. ↑ December 2019. Accessed February 2021.
  14. ↑ Ayuktabe’s Call For Collaboration: We Shall Reconcile Within Interim Gov’t, Not Collaborate – Dr Samuel Sako, Cameroon News Agency, Oct 19, 2020. Accessed Oct 20, 2020.
  15. ↑ Ayuktabe’s Call For Collaboration: Wilfred Tassang Preconditions Six Points, Cameroon News Agency, Oct 19, 2020. Accessed Oct 20, 2020.
  16. ↑ Sako: Our quest for Federal Republic of Ambazonia is of no threat to Nigeria, The Guardian Nigeria, Sep 18, 2021. Accessed Sep 18, 2021.
  17. ↑ Ayaba Fires Back As Sako Denies IPOB Union, Cameroon News Agency, Aug 8, 2021. Accessed Aug 8, 2021.
  18. ↑ Godwin Aliuna (10 August 2021). "Biafra: You're too insignificant to be consulted on our struggle – IPOB tells Ambazonia's Ekome". Daily Post. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
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