The new year comes with much enthusiasm towards the Southern Cameroons struggle. This is seen in the efforts individuals and stakeholders put forth to see that Southern Cameroons achieve the best results as far as this struggle is concerned. In an end of the year new year message to people of the Cameroons issued by the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Front, Fru Ndi calls for an All Party Constitutional Conference to draft a new Constitution for Cameroon. He directed this call towards the CPDM government under Biya’s leadership. Among other pressing issues, Fru Ndi writes:

“Our unity of purpose should not distract from our diversity. This diversity is strength and not weakness. An enlightened government would have devoted the last thirty-four years wielding this rich and bewildering diversity into a formidable national mosaic and not embark on the quixotic quest, as the CPDM government under Mr. Biya, to melt these linguistic and cultural differences into some undifferentiated blob in the name of national unity”. He continued lamenting “No, my Southern Cameroonians, national unity is not forced but nurtured; it is not achieved with the wave of a magic wand nor decreed into existence but built painstakingly over a protracted period of time, which the Biya regime has failed woefully in achieving”. Based on this, Fru Ndi insists on the convening of an All Party Constitutional Conference, one that is faithful to the aspiration of the people, he emphasized.

Fascinating about this letter is that fact that it was written immediately after Biya’s 31st December 2016 speech that left Southern Cameroonians all disappointed towards the regime’s indifferent attitude to the Anglophone plight. In this regard, Fru Ndi also call on the Biya government to immediately engage in meaningful and constructive dialogue with stakeholders that will necessitate change in governance and initiate the process of healing the nation. A national healing which will not come by playing time and bribing officials of Southern Cameroon, this to the Fru Ndi will only aggravate the current situation and will finally lead the country to the abyss of economic, social and political disintegration and an eventual collapse.

Finally, the he insists on the release of all those youths arrested in Bamenda and the demilitarization of major cities in Southern Cameroons which has demonstrated a show of shame through horrible acts of torture, rape and molestations by the military. These according to him will be a new year gesture by the Biya’s government.
BaretaNews notes that, this letter is coming in at a time when the struggle is taking another phase, a phase which is aimed at consolidating leadership via the consortium, as well as individual steadfastness towards the struggle. Further, the letter adds credit to the 2016 SDF ultimatum with some of the preconditions stated above, to be met by the Biya government before the 7th of January 2017. In this regard, we keep hoping for the best outcome for the Southern Cameroons people.

Akame Gerald
BaretaNews Analysts