Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has issued a press release declaring a ghost town in West Cameroon to commence on Monday 9th January 2017. This declaration was made in a press release dated the 4th of January 2017. The decision was arrived based on the government’s lack of interest and negligence towards critical issues raised by West Cameroon Lawyers and Teachers which pertains to their existence and functioning. Worse still is the fact that, the government undermines the people’s plight and rather move around trying to get stakeholders of the North and South West Regions to dance to their rhyme by lobbying and bribing for the start of the school without taking appropriate steps to solve the problems raised.
These tactics used by the government only worsens the current situation. On this note, the Consortium calls on the general population of West Cameroon to stand up and form a uniting force and embark on a sit-in-strike on Monday the 9th of January 2017. They call on everyone to stand strong and see into it that the demands of Lawyers and Teachers, as well as the demands relating to the entire people of West Cameroon, are met satisfactorily. In this regards, the Consortium writes “ teachers, lawyers, taxi drivers, commercial bike riders, business operators, everyone must stay home on Monday, bearing deep in mind that the strike continues…”. They emphasized, “spread the word, tell your neighbor, no one must betray the people’s cause”. They further insisted that this struggle must continue until there is an end to Anglophone oppression, marginalization, and deprivation.
In addition, the Consortium agreed that schools, markets, or business centers will remain shut down as part of the resistance. “We can no longer be fooled, we need actions”, they lamented. They equally stressed on the fact that there will be no street demonstrations or marches, and no face to face confrontations with the police as a means to avoid violence. Meanwhile, the resistance will persist until all demands are taken into consideration through dialogue that will necessitate a consensus and eventual action to save West Cameroon.
BaretaNews adds that this is a good step taken by the Consortium, and it is coming at a time the SDF under the leadership of Fru Ndi issued an ultimatum to the government to respond to the Teachers’ and Lawyers’ worries on/ before the 7th of January. The struggle indeed is taking another phase and we must not despair, we must not relent our efforts, we must continue to strive until we get what is rightfully ours.
Akame Gerald
Analyst, BaretaNews
