The restoration of internet services in Southern Cameroons by the government of La Republique after almost 100 days of internet blackout is like installing a ventilation pipe in an airtight septic tank that is almost full of mixed shit. It is funny to hear La Republic’s propaganda minister says the internet has been restored because things are gradually coming back to normal. Far from it. Like someone who was on ground for these horrible 93 days and felt the pain with the people, I can tell you that Southern Cameroonians see this internet come back as an opportunity to pour out the accumulated anger of 93 days of no communication, business losses, lost international opportunities, intimidation, brutality and extortion from the forces of La Republique among many other arching cases of abuse of their inalienable human rights.

For instance, even though my bible tells me as a Christian to count it all Joy when challenges come my way, I am still to calm down and recover from the highest disappointment of my life within this 95 days – when the embassy of La Republic’s mother refused me a visa to travel for my World Bank Job Interview (with all expenses paid, including a mouthwatering displacement allowance upon my return)on the flimsy grounds that they are not certain of my willingness to return home considering the present crisis in Southern Cameroons. So, La Republic expects us to gradually return to normalcy after all these losses? Who will pay for them?
I have decided to share with you some of the arching and interesting experiences we went through while the internet was away in Southern Cameroon.

1. #whileinternetwasaway, manipulating your phone on the streets of Southern Cameroons was a crime to the forces of la republic. Many were arrested and only freed after paying at least 200.000 CFA. For those who could not afford the money,Yaoundé was their destination.
2. #whileinternetwasaway,picking up a flyer on the streets of Southern Cameroons titled “ghost town on Monday” was a serious crime. Many Southern Cameroonians were arrested and taken to Yaounde for picking and reading ghost town flyers on the streets.
3. #whileinternetwasaway Southern Cameroonians became deaf and dumb while in taxis because La Republic agents were moving in taxis and raising debates on the issue just to implicate citizens, take them to nearby police stations and then extort monies from them.
4. #whileinternetwasaway, professors and lecturers from Southern Cameroons frequently spent 5000 francs as transport to Mbouda or Douala just to buy and use internet data for 500francs
5. #whileinternetwasaway before Southern Cameroonians could come out of churches on sundays, the church compounds were miraculously littered with ghost town flyers (even with the presence of la republic forces) and they could be seen struggling to prevent Christians from picking and reading their contents.
6. #whileinternetwasaway, Schools always resumed in Southern Cameroons on CRTV News scripts every Monday but remained closed on the ground
7. #whileinternetwasaway it was a serious offence as a trader in Buea (especially occupants of council shops) not to open your shop on Mondays. The mayor’s boys either forced it open in your absence or you got a quit notice from the mayor.
8. #whileinternetwasaway, the mayor of Buea and the colonial governor organized a “peace match” dominated by chiefs and masquerades. According to the mayor, the masquerades were out to cleanse the town of evil spirits causing insecurity.
9. #whileinternetwasaway, BaretaNews became a trusted brand of information source as any text message that ended with Mark Bareta was taken very seriously & it spread like wild fire

Thank God internet is back and La republic has failed to achieve her objective of taking it away but has instead succeeded in radicalizing the Southern Cameroons masses. On whether the internet reinstatement has come to stay or not, we don’t care because we are already experts in texting. With all what we have lost during this period in terms of money and opportunities, our demands have instead increased. We cannot not just give up now. Our leaders and people are still in jail and on the run. The FEDERATION has not yet come. The RESTORATION of our statehood has not yet come. That is why RESISTANCE is still our duty until victory comes. Those who fight and run away, live to fight another day.

To be continued

Emmanuel S. Ngwa
Researcher & Policy Analyst
For BaretaNews as requested by the CEO