MANIDEM Apologizes to Anglophone Community, Calls for Ceasefire and National Reconciliation
By André Momo | BaretaNews
The Movement for the Independence, Renaissance and Development of Cameroon (MANIDEM) has stirred political debate across the Cameroons after issuing an unprecedented apology to the Anglophone community and calling for a ceasefire ahead of the October 12 colonial presidential elections.
In a statement signed by party president Anicet Georges Ekane, MANIDEM — a member of the Union for Change 2025 coalition — admitted that past political actions may have contributed to the suffering of the people of the North West and South West regions, now recognized by Ambazonians as part of their sovereign homeland.
“On behalf of UPC 2025 and MANIDEM, we ask forgiveness from our brothers and sisters in the affected regions if our actions or words ever caused pain,” the statement read, adding that genuine reconciliation must begin with humility, truth, and justice.
The party urged politicians such as Issa Tchiroma Bakary and other regime loyalists to acknowledge their complicity in the ongoing war and seek forgiveness from the victims of state brutality. MANIDEM went further to describe the upcoming presidential vote as a “historic chance to end a colonial-imposed regime” that has ruled Cameroon with an iron fist for over four decades.
While the tone of apology has been welcomed by some analysts as a rare gesture from a Francophone political group, many Ambazonians view MANIDEM’s appeal as naïve and misplaced, coming at a time when Ambazonia’s resistance forces have firmly outlawed all forms of colonial elections in their territory.
“You cannot apologize for oppression on one hand and then ask the oppressed to participate in the system that continues to enslave them,” a Kumbo-based activist told BaretaNews. “If MANIDEM is sincere, let them first recognize Ambazonia’s right to self-determination.”
The party’s call for a ceasefire to allow citizens to “vote freely and peacefully” is being interpreted by observers as an attempt to re-legitimize Yaoundé’s collapsing political system, rather than address the root cause of the crisis — the forcible annexation of Southern Cameroons.
In the same statement, Ekane warned that boycotting the polls would “only strengthen the current regime and delay peace,” insisting that change through the ballot box is the first step toward national reconciliation. But critics argue that the colonial electoral framework itself is the problem — one that has denied justice, equality, and sovereignty to the people of Ambazonia since 1961.
For many on the ground, MANIDEM’s latest position highlights the deep political disconnect between Francophone opposition parties and the reality of the Ambazonian liberation struggle.
As one Bui resident summed it up,
“Reconciliation will not come through ballots cast under occupation. It will come when the occupier leaves and justice returns to the land.”
Until then, Ambazonia remains unbowed, and MANIDEM’s words — though unusually contrite — risk being lost amid the echo of a people still fighting for their freedom.
