Open Letter to the President of the Republic — Citizenship Front

In response to his speech of September 10, 2019

See below the full content of the letter from the Citizenship Front

Mr. President,

It is with keen attention that we listened to your speech to us as Cameroonians on September 10, 2019. Our country is currently facing multiple crises which threaten its very existence, we were intently focused on the solutions you as the President of the Republic would outline as paths toward the resolution of these crises.

As you are aware, our objective for Cameroon is that of Political Transition. In our analysis, after 37 years, the multiple, complex crises in which our country finds itself are directly attributable to your governance. The national dialogue that our country needs today is one to completely rebuild the nation. This cannot be led by the people who have brought the nation to where it is. Our stance for Cameroon has not changed.

We are however aware of the urgent and acute nature of some of the crises in which we find ourselves. Cameroonians are dying. There is no doubt that your Regime can address some of the urgent circumstances that are endangering the lives of Cameroonians daily. Through this prism that we listened carefully to your invitation to the Cameroonian People for a dialogue as the means through which a solution to the Anglophone Crisis could be found.

Your speech left out important details which have yet to be provided, before one can whether or not he could positively respond to your invitation to dialogue. That’s why, by the present open letter, we express key elements of concern about the proposed dialogue.

The Content of the Dialogue

On the Anglophone Crisis itself

Mr. President, there is no doubt that this crisis is of a magnitude and complexity which is straining the very fiber that weaves together our nation built on diversity. The Anglophone Crisis cannot therefore be treated partially or superficially. Doing so will either intensify the effects we see today or leave them to fester, continue to undermine our nation and wreak havoc on the Cameroonians living in these regions.

It is therefore important that during the dialogue we openly discuss:

· The Marginalization of Anglophones

Mr. President, during your speech you referred to a “purported marginalization of Anglophones”. This statement was both incorrect and insulting. To imagine that over 2000 Cameroonians have died; 560,000 are internally displaced; 600,000 children have their education jeopardized and over 50,000 are refugees over a “purported marginalization” is to show utter disdain for your fellow citizens and does not bode well for what is the central issue for dialogue.

Mr. President, Anglophones are marginalized in Cameroon. This is a fact. It is not speculation or imagination. If there is not acknowledgement of this fact, a national dialogue on the question is moot.

· The Nature and the Form of the State

The nature of the Cameroonian State, its inability to respect the rights of its citizens and deliver basic services to them, is at the heart of this crisis. The dialogue must give Cameroonians the opportunity to discuss the relationship between the citizen and the state. Consequentially, the discussion on the form of the state, must be a part of this dialogue.

You have in your speech mentioned the decentralization process somehow inferring it is a success. Mr. President, if we are in the crisis of today, it is because your Regime has been unable to implement the decentralization agreed upon during the Tripartite Meeting in 1991! We as a nation agreed to decentralize in 1991, you added the name decentralization to the Ministry of Territorial Administration in 2002, you have now separated the two ministries in March 2018. There is no decentralization on the ground!!! We must discuss the form of the state if we wish to find a solution to this crisis.

· The Atrocities Committed by the Army and Armed Groups

Mr. President, of all violence that the population has undergone, the atrocities committed by those bearing arms are the worst. Our people have been killed, raped, kidnapped and tortured by those bearing arms. There is ample proof to show that this has been carried out by both the Cameroonian Armed Forces and those who chose an armed fight for separation. Your speech made mention of the latter and glaringly omitted the former. No single factor threatens our national unity today more than these atrocities and the sense of injustice that they have provoked within the population. There will be no resolution to this crisis if these atrocities are not addressed bluntly and the long and difficult path to obtaining justice for victims defined. If you will not address the atrocities committed by both our national armed forces and the armed groups, kindly shut down the dialogue now. You will be wasting our resources as taxpayers.

· The Humanitarian Crisis

Mr. President, your government has systematically refused to count its dead and wounded. You have regularly questioned the statistics published by humanitarian and human rights organizations, yet you have failed to provide your own. Your speech was bizarrely devoid of figures and statistics, as if Cameroon is not undergoing a humanitarian crisis!

One of the key points of discussion during the dialogue must be the humanitarian situation and finding the solution to raising the funds and other resources required to take care of our citizens who need urgent assistance. If your government persists in hiding the humanitarian crisis we are facing and denying its existence, it will be unable to assist the most vulnerable of its citizens. There would then be no point in dialoguing.

On the Security Situation in the Country

Mr. President, the Anglophone Crisis is important and grave enough to warrant a dialogue which is dedicated to it. However, we cannot ignore the fact that huge numbers of Cameroonians in other parts of the country are also dying daily and suffering from the effects of violence and that the crises in these parts of the country began years before the Anglophone Crisis. It is therefore inconceivable in the interest of equity and national unity, that we dialogue on the Anglophone Crisis without discussing two other major crises in the country, even as the nature of these crises differs one from the other.

· The Boko Haram Crisis — Citizens in the Northern Regions, especially the Extreme North, have been suffering from the Boko Haram Crises for seven years to date. We have lost over 2000 people and still have 230,000 internally displaced due to this crisis. The Cameroonian armed forces committed major atrocities against the population while fighting Boko Haram. Though Boko Haram attacks have significantly decreased, the group remains active and thousands of Cameroonians are still under siege. In addition to the security implications, this crisis has human rights, political, social and economic ramifications. These have not been addressed in the last seven years, neither have the root causes. It is essential if we are to dialogue as Cameroonians, to create space for the dialogue on the Boko Haram crisis to take place and for solutions to be found to the challenges Cameroonians are facing due to this crisis.

· The Grand Banditry — Citizens in the North, Adamawa and East regions are facing severe attacks, kidnappings and cattle raids due to the spillover effects of insecurity in the Central African Republic. This has been ongoing for over five years! It has caused the displacement of thousands of citizens and hundreds have been kidnapped. It is necessary to create space to discuss this crisis and find solutions for the citizens who are impacted by it.

The Participation at the Dialogue

Mr. President, while you addressed an invitation to all Cameroonian citizens to which we are hereby responding, you also made it clear a select few would be at the actual dialogue event. In this regard, we have several questions.

• What are the criteria which will be used to select participants?
• Who will establish these criteria?
• Who will then identify and select participants?
• What is being done to ensure those who are the most affected by these crises and yet are systematically marginalized in Cameroon: Youth, Women, People Living with Disabilities, Ethnic minorities, etc. will be present and will have their voice heard?

Mr. President, you can see why we are embarrassed when we are asked the question “will you be attending the dialogue?” In your speech you have invited everyone, but you have also invited no one.

At this juncture we would like to remind you of groups that are essential to any dialogue on the security crises in our country and which were somehow omitted from your speech.

· The Consortium — Mr. President in your speech you mentioned that you had sent emissaries to dialogue at the start of the crisis with the teachers and lawyers. What you forgot to mention is that this crisis took a violent downward spiral when officials from your government decided in mid-dialogue to arrest the members of the Consortium. For this dialogue to be fruitful, the leaders of the Consortium are one of the key groups which must be at the table.

· Anglophones arrested during the non-violent phase of the conflict who remain in prison — Between January and September 2017, over 1000 Anglophones were arrested. At that time, there was no armed conflict and little violence. Some of these non-violent activists have been sentenced to 10 years or more. It is important to release these prisoners and stop all pursuits against them. They are essential to any dialogue on the Anglophone Crisis.

· Separatists — Mr. President, as you know, we do not believe in the separation of Cameroon. However, it is important to acknowledge that a significant number of our citizens today believe in separation as a solution to the Anglophone Crisis. If we do not invite the separatists to the dialogue table: those in prison, those in the country and those in the Diaspora, we will be sowing the seeds for the failure of any dialogue.

· Armed groups — Mr. President, while you mentioned the armed groups in your speech. It is important to note that there are various categories of armed groups:

• Those who are affiliated to specific separatist organizations
• Those who work quasi-independently on the ground
• Those who may be affiliated to person or organizations that are not separatists
• Those who are criminal organizations taking advantage of the chaos

Aside from those who are purely criminals, it is important to ensure that all of these categories are represented at the dialogue in order to ensure that they agree to the solutions arrived at and effectively lay down their arms.

· Boko Haram victims in prison — Many human rights violations were committed during the fight against Boko Haram. One that affected hundreds of people was illegal and arbitrary arrest. Some have been sentenced to hefty prison terms, others are still in detention after five years or more. It is essential that innocent people who were arrested during the fight against Boko Haram be released from prison and be invited to participate in the dialogue.

· Post-electoral crisis people in prison — Mr. President, during your speech you made no mention of the post-electoral crisis that has created tension in the country since October 2018. There over 100 persons still under arrest due to the post-electoral crisis. These are leaders of a major political party and major civil society organizations. It is inconceivable that a national dialogue would take place without them. It is therefore essential to release them from the political trial that they are facing at the military court.

Mr. President, please be informed that since your speech on September 10th we are witnessing a waltz of various CPDM delegations going to see the Prime Minister in the name of the dialogue. This hyper-focus on your party and its members to the detriment of other Cameroonians is one of the elements at the core of these crises. If you are going to dialogue, we are sincerely hoping it will not be with your friends and party members, which would almost be a monologue, but rather with Cameroonians writ large.

The Facilitation of the Dialogue

Mr. President, fundamental to any dialogue is a minimum amount of trust and good faith. A significant number of Cameroonians have lost all faith and have no trust in you and your government. In addition, your government is not only a protagonist in these crises, you have been a violent perpetrator. To name just a few, it is your government that:

• Committed violence on over five million Cameroonians in the North West and South West region by cutting off the internet for over three months.
• Has in the last 5 years arrested thousands of Cameroonians unjustly and arbitrarily
• Carried out extra judicial killings, some of which have been recorded on video
• Carried out the burning of entire villages

It is inconceivable that anyone from your government or even associated with your government could possibly be the facilitator or mediator in any credible dialogue. One of the most discouraging images since your speech on September 10th was that of the Prime Minister consulting with Anglophone members of government to organize the national dialogue. These are the very people who have mismanaged and aggravated these crises. Some of them are personally responsible for key actions that exacerbated the crisis and enabled it to take a violent turn. Cameroonians expect to be addressing these people during a crisis. We hope to be receiving answers from them on pointed questions. We do not see them as organizers or facilitators. If they are, the dialogue is compromised.

As has been suggested by numerous parties, it is necessary to have neutral parties mediate and facilitate a national dialogue. These include:

· Cameroonians with regard to whom there is consensus as to objectivity, integrity, patriotism and competence. There are several among religious groups and in the legal profession.

· Africans who correspond to the above criteria and who have conducted similar processes in other countries

· Persons and Institutions of other nationalities who correspond to the above criteria.

One of the key indicators of the credibility of any dialogue is the credibility of its mediators and facilitators.

The Mindset of the Dialogue

Mr. President, there is no need to spend the resources of the nation on a dialogue if there is no willingness to:

· Admit mistakes

· Analyze facts and the deep,complex causes that have contributed to the situation in which we find ourselves today

· Be open to ideas and solutions that are not your own

In this regard, Mr. President, your speech was deeply disappointing. You presented partial facts, omitted key elements and absolved your government of all wrongdoing. All this while reminding us repeatedly that you and only you have the mandate of the people. Mr. President, you cannot have it both ways. Either you are responsible for Cameroon and therefore these multiple crises in which we find ourselves are your direct responsibility; or you are not.

The mindset in which we enter dialogue is key to finding solutions and resolving crises. The mindset you conveyed during your speech does not augur well for the dialogue. It is important to establish one that corresponds to the above-mentioned criteria before the dialogue begins.

The Preparation of the Dialogue

Mr. President, you made reference several times to rule of law. In the past few years, in total violation of Cameroonian law, we have witnessed from your government extreme repression against our fundamental rights to assemble and to express ourselves politically. Meetings have been banned and leaders arrested because their political position and opinion differs from yours. To prepare for a dialogue, we must assemble. Even for groups such as ours who are still determining whether we will attend the dialogue or not, we must meet and consult with our members.

Mr. President kindly remind the Cameroonian armed forces, of which you are the Commander-in-Chief as well as your Ministry of Territorial Administration that they are not to arrest us illegally, they are not to use violence against us or torture us. They are not to intimidate us or ban our meetings. You have called for a dialogue of all Cameroonians. Leaders must consult and organize in order to bring ideas to a dialogue that represents the interest of the people.

We will not comprehend if our rights to assembly and to freedom of speech are violated as a result of this invitation to dialogue.

Guarantees for the Implementation of Decisions

Mr. President, as mentioned earlier, this is not the first time we are attempting a dialogue as a pathway out of crises in our history. In 1991 Cameroonians accepted to go to a Tripartite Dialogue with you as a way out of the political impasse of the moment. It would not be an exaggeration to say that many of us see this event as a great historical swindle of the Cameroonian people and their aspirations. In 1991 the Cameroonian people asked for a National Conference to ensure Political Transition for the country. You conceded to a Tripartite Conference. During that Tripartite Conference you and your government took many commitments which were enshrined into the Constitution, for example, these two:

· The limitation or presidential mandates to two terms of 5-years each

· Decentralization with a transfer of resources and responsibilities to the regions and local governments

Mr. President, 28 years later we have violent conflicts across the country, our national unity is threatened, Cameroonians are being killed by fellow Cameroonians daily and we are unable to provide basic services such as water and electricity to citizens. The national catastrophe in which we find ourselves today is in large part due to you and your Regime breaching the above promises to the Cameroonian people, as well as others which you took during that Tripartite Conference.

Mr. President, 28 years later you are inviting us to a new national dialogue. We have just a single question: What guarantee can you possibly give us to ensure that the decisions and conclusions arrived at during this new dialogue will be respected and implemented?

In conclusion Mr. President, you have extended to us an invitation to dialogue. As you can see from this response, we are legitimately doubtful, apprehensive and even suspicious of your invitation. This is due to our troubled history together. It is a history pregnant with violence, lies, betrayal and broken promises.

We will prepare for the dialogue Mr. President. We will consult our base, we will gather their ideas, preoccupations and proposals. However, we will not lead Cameroonians once again to platform where they will be betrayed. We will only attend your dialogue once you address the issues that have been specifically outlined in this response, not through your words, but through your actions.

We look forward to being able to work together with other Cameroonians to find solutions to our ongoing crises. The enactment of this possibility depends entirely on you.

Citizenship Front:

Civil Society

Me Alice Nkom, Avocate

Me Charlotte Tchakounte, Avocate, Association des Juristes pour l’Intégrité Sociale

Achille Kotto, Cocitel

Dr Etah Ewane, Coordonnateur, Cameroon Patriotic Diaspora

Philippe Nanga, Coordonnateur, Un Monde Avenir

Agbor Nkongho, Executive Director, CHRDA

Michael Takie, Chairperson, West Cameroon Movement for Change — UK

Elizabeth Nkwah, Mothers of the Nation

Youssouf Mefire, Stand Up For Cameroon

Thierry Njifen, Droit au Droit

Jean-Claude Fogno, Secrétaire, Exécutif Permanent, Mandela Center International

Moktar Njumoun, Cameroon Ô’ Bosso

Political Parties

Hiram Iyodi, Secrétaire Exécutif, Mouvement Patriotique pour la Prospérité du Peuple

Chumchoua Penda, Secrétaire Général, UPC-MANIDEM

Denis Njang, President, Popular Action Party

Franck Essi, Secrétaire Général, Cameroon People’s Party

Version française: Lettre ouverte au Président de la République

References:
- Source: Stand Up For Cameroon Facebook page
- Press Conference Video