The Major National Dialogue (French : Grand dialogue national) 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. [1]
For decades, Anglophone Cameroonians in the area formerly known as Southern Cameroons had resented the central government for marginalizing them. [2] In October 2016, major protests broke out in cities in the Anglophone regions. The Cameroonian government responded by deploying soldiers to quell the protests. [3] Six weeks into the demonstrations, six demonstrators had been killed and more than 100 had been arrested. [4] In September 2017, Anglophone separatists began to take up arms against the Cameroonian government, and on October 1, the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front declared the independence of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. [5] The situation evolved into a military conflict including human rights violations called the Anglophone Crisis. [6]
On September 10, 2019, President of Cameroon Paul Biya announced in a televised speech that a "grand national dialogue" would take place before the end of the month. The dialogue would take place "within the context of the constitution", hence ruling out Ambazonian independence, and would include the Anglophone Cameroonian diaspora. [7] A government website was subsequently launched, where people could submit proposals ahead of the dialogue. [1]
The dialogue started with an opening ceremony, where former separatist fighters sang the Cameroonian national anthem. [8] Afterwards, Prime Minister Joseph Ngute challenged the attendants to "make history" and find solutions to "the problems that have separated us physically and intellectually in recent years". [9]
Debates started fully on the second day of the dialogue. Eight commissions had been named, each focusing on a particular issue; one for multiculturalism and bilingualism, one for the educational system, one for the judicial system, one for the question of refugees, one for reconstruction, one for disarmament, one for the diaspora and one for decentralization. [10]
At the end of the second day, Barrister Akere Muna of the "Now Movement" declared that he would withdraw from the dialogue unless the form of state would be discussed. [11]
The third day had the same focus as the second day. Barrister Felix Agbor Balla declared that the dialogue would be pointless unless the form of state was discussed, insisting that decentralization would be insufficient. [12]
On the fourth day, the commissions submitted their recommendations to the Prime Minister. [13] As the Major National Dialogue neared its conclusion, President Paul Biya issued a decree that discontinued the court cases against 333 Anglophone activists. [14]
Responding to the presence of separatist generals as the dialogue, the Ambazonia Self-Defence Council issued a statement claiming that these separatists were fake. [15]
On the fifth day, final resolutions were read. [16] The decentralization commission proposed a special status for the Anglophone regions, as well as more local autonomy. [17] Other recommendations included the construction of an airport and a seaport in the Anglophone regions, the renaming of the country to the "United Republic of Cameroon", measures against corruption, and an intensified effort to rehabilitate former separatist fighters. [18]
In December 2019, the National Assembly of Cameroon passed legislation, granting "special status" to the Northwest and Southwest regions giving them additional rights and responsibilities in relation to economic, health, social, educational, sports and cultural development. [19] [20] Under the special status the regions would each have a bicameral Regional Assembly, made up of a 20-member House of Chiefs composed of traditional leaders and a 70-member House of Regional Representatives nominated by municipal councils. The Regional Assembly would appoint a Regional Executive Council which is led by the President of the Regional Assembly and includes a vice president, three commissioners, two secretaries and a questor. Additional powers over health and education were also granted to municipalities in both regions. [21]
The ruling CPDM party welcomed the recommendations from the commissions. Some attendants criticized the structure of the dialogue, as well as the fact that separation was not debated as an alternative. Others characterized the five-day event as a sham. [33] The separatists reaffirmed their rejection of the dialogue, promising to step up the war. [18]
In December 2020, the United Nations urged the government of Cameroon to address the issues that had been brought up at the Major National Dialogue and to continue the dialogue process with all parties involved. François Loucemy Fall, Head of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa, stated that "the implementation of the recommendations from the major national dialogue, in addition to continued dialogue with all parties, remains crucial to building lasting peace and development". [34]
The day after the conclusion of the dialogue, President Biya ordered the dropping of the cases of some supporters of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, including its leader Maurice Kamto. [30] This move was directly linked to the Major National Dialogue. [35] On November 16, two government delegations started embarked on a mission in the Anglophone regions to win popular support for the conclusions of the Major National Dialogue. In particular, the delegations aimed to convince the populace that a "special status" for the Anglophone regions would address their grievances. [36] This resulted in the "General Code of Regional and Local Authorities", which was passed by the Cameroonian parliament on December 18, 2019. [37]
The war in the Anglophone regions intensified in the weeks following the dialogue. Maintaining its military approach to resolving the crisis, the Cameroonian government began to focus on creating local vigilante groups to fight the separatist guerilla. The separatists intensified their guerilla war against Cameroon, notably by assassinating a separatist general mere days after he had laid down his arms. [38]
Ambazonia, alternatively the Federal Republic of Ambazonia or State of Ambazonia, is a political entity proclaimed by Anglophone separatists who are seeking independence from Cameroon. The separatists claim that Ambazonia should consist of the Northwest Region and Southwest Region of Cameroon. Since 2017, Ambazonian rebels have engaged in armed conflict with the Cameroonian military, in what is known as the Anglophone Crisis, and have attempted to set up governments-in-exile, and supportive militias have exerted control over parts of the claimed territory. No country has recognized Ambazonia's existence as of 2024.
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 (AGovC), a separatist organization in Southern Cameroons that has an armed wing, the Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF).
Presidential elections were held in Cameroon on 7 October 2018.
The Anglophone Crisis, also known as the Ambazonia War, is an ongoing armed conflict in the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon, between the Cameroonian government and Ambazonian separatist groups, part of the long-standing Anglophone problem. Following the suppression of 2016–17 protests by Cameroonian authorities, separatists in the Anglophone regions launched a guerrilla campaign and later proclaimed independence. Within two months, the government of Cameroon declared war on the separatists and sent its army into the Anglophone regions.
Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe is an Ambazonian separatist leader from Ewelle village in Manyu division, and is the disputed first president of the unrecognized Federal Republic of Ambazonia. In January 2018 he was extradited from Nigeria to Cameroon, where he has been incarcerated ever since.
This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2018.
This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2019.
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 an Ambazonian independence movement, and claims to be the provisional government in exile of the internationally unrecognized state. Formed in the early days of the Anglophone Crisis, the movement has since splintered into four factions that claim to be the legitimate Interim Government.
Red Dragon is an Ambazonian separatist militia loyal to the Interim Government of Ambazonia, and is part of the Ambazonia Self-Defence Council. It was led by Lekeaka Oliver, and controlled most of Lebialem Division in the Southwest Region, driving away the traditional rulers and local administrators. The group was greatly weakened in 2022, with Oliver being killed.
Seven Karta is an Ambazonian separatist militia that is part of the Ambazonia Self-Defence Council.
The Southern Cameroons Liberation Council (SCLC) is an Ambazonian umbrella movement, aiming to unite all Anglophone groups on a common front. As of April 2019, it consists of seven movements.
John Fru Ndi, the leader of the Cameroonian Social Democratic Front was kidnapped twice during the Anglophone Crisis. The first incident was a brief and bloodless, with Fru Ndi being held by Ambazonian separatist fighters for a few hours and then released the same day. The second kidnapping was more dramatic, with gunmen breaking into his home, shooting his bodyguard in the leg and subjecting Fru Ndi to a rough treatment.
The Ambazonian leadership crisis is an ongoing internal conflict within the Interim Government of Ambazonia (IG). The crisis started on 2 May 2019, when a document signed by the first president of Ambazonia, Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, acting from detention in Yaoundé, declared the dissolution of the cabinet of interim president Samuel Ikome Sako and the restoration of Ayuk Tabe's cabinet. This effectively led to the existence of two interim governments, with neither recognizing the other.
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.
This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2020.
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 controlled most roads leading in and out of Bamenda.
The Kumba school massacre took place at Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy during the Anglophone Crisis, in Kumba, Cameroon, in October 2020.
This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2021.
Signs of compromise are scant. Separatist groups do not even have a common position among themselves, despite efforts by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Swiss NGO, to help them find one. For his part, President Riya in September raised hopes by announcing a "National Dialogue". Yet it was a sham. The meeting was not just about the crisis; it gave Cameroonian leaders from all regions a chance to air complaints (and collect per-diems). Many important Anglophones were either not invited or left in prison. "It was not a sincere effort," says Alice Nkom, a lawyer.
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