Following persistent appeals from the clergy, civil society, political elite and the international community, it is incumbent on President Paul Biya to convene a frank, inclusive and national dialogue to end the Anglophone crisis. One of the latest calls has come from French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian.
While responding to concerns raised by a French MP recently, Minister Le Drian urged the Biya government to convene an inclusive dialogue that would bring separatist leaders, the government and other stakeholders to the negotiating table. His call followed a similar one from Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who visited Cameroon recently.
If the Biya government heeds these calls for inclusive dialogue, it won’t be reinventing the wheel, for, every conflict ends with an inclusive dialogue for peace.
After close to five years of artillery gun fire in the North West and SouthWest regions, the belligerents, the civilian population and the entire country have continued to count their dead !
This is indicative that not only the belligerents are losers in this senseless war. Even those feeding fat on the war cannot be called winners. The Biya government has insisted it will win the war militarily, but experts have warned that the Anglophone crisis is not a winnable war. Given its asymmetric, ideological and political character, only an inclusive dialogue can end the war and restore the muchneeded peace.
Ignoring calls for an inclusive dialogue, which will bring separatists to the negotiating table with the government, will further push Cameroon down the abyss of chaos. This would be unfortunate because Cameroon that was an envy of the world in the past and was seen as an oasis of peace in a turbulent Central African sub region will now be ranked as a wartorn nation.
What is unfortunate is that some conservatives and “war mercenaries” in the Yaoundé establishment have continued to claim that everything will be settled by “blood and iron”. This is preposterous, mindful that these are the very people who are responsible for getting Cameroon out of this predicament through a genuine dialogue. They argue that President Biya already organized a major national dialogue in 2019 that assembled hundreds of delegates in Yaounde for five days.
But what are the results of that come together? The guns are still talking and even louder as Cameroonians continue to count their dead. Destruction of property, arson, killings, kidnappings and barbarism have become rampant in the two crisis-infested regions. This suggests that the 2019 national dialogue was half-baked and could not lead to a peaceful solution of the crisis.
However, the fact that President BIya organized the national dialogue is laudable and is a glaring acknowledgement of the Anglophone problem, which some of his ministers had denied its existence. It beefed up hope that “talking-talk and stopping from warring-war” in the words of Winston Churchill, is the only way out of this war
But many pundits hold that the meeting was a bungled opportunity and a miscarriage of a genuine presidential initiative. They say it was not frank and inclusive, as expected. How did anyone expect the crisis to end when those who called the shots during the gathering were the very think-same and act-same zealots of the establishment? Their dialogue held without separatist leaders like Ayuk Tabe who are in prison. The occasion looked more like a hoax. The very regime officials who publicly denied the existence of the Anglophone problem, were those chosen to lead the commissions and propose.
Such people used the opportunity to, once more, rig the aspirations of the people, by unilaterally imposing decentralization on the agenda and insisting that “Cameroon is one and indivisible”. Federalism was a taboo subject and those who muttered the courage to propose it for consideration were tagged “enemies of the republic”.
It may be safe to say the October 2019 MND looked like an incestuous relationship, which could only give birth to a bastard of falsehood, inciting more violence in the wartorn regions.
After failing to achieve an inclusive major national dialogue, it is time for the Biya government to make a sincere effort towards resolving the Anglophone crisis, so as to bring back peace and stability to Cameroon.
The time to turn over a new page and organize a frank and inclusive major national dialogue is now. This on-going crisis in the Northwest and Southwest regions has shattered Cameroon’s economy and badly damaged its image. Africa Excellence is convinced that a frank and inclusive national dialogue will re-activate the spirit of patriotism in all Cameroonians.
