Mr Tchiroma,

In order to please your boss, you are spilling out falsehood reminiscent of poisonous fumes on CRTV about our struggle and we shall not stay silent. Many are speaking out, others are singing but I chose to write and keep on writing to educate and inform the world about our struggle.You lied as usual about your abusive decision to take away the only tool ( the internet) of communication in the NW/SW, the only tool at our disposal left to expose your lies after shutting down some radio stations. How can you claim that the internet is being used as a medium by the extremists to promote hatred like “Radio Mille Colins” was used in Rwanda?

You, like the others in your clique, know how to cite the law and constitution only when it plays to your interest which is keeping southern Cameroonians oppressed.Your abuse of power knows no bounds and tampering with our right to free expression is done under the guise of fighting hatred and public order.

Yet, the spin doctor you are, remain mute when the demons of hate such as Musonge and co attack dogs of the regime are sent to divide us. Such tactics are up to no good? this time no one believes anything that comes out of the deplorable outfit called crtv. Neither are we gonna get hoodwinked by your lies and machinations. We are focused on the goal this time and know exactly what we want and how to get it. Scheming for division and engineering ethnic cleansing will not work.

You panic because you didn’t believe a handful of youths could challenge government authority to this level.Probably you thought our leaders were clowns now you realise it is no longer business as usual.If you doubt the power of the internet and social media,i am happy to remind you how sit tight despots like Ben Ali (Tunisia), Mubarak(Egypt), Blaise Camproare (Burkina Faso) and Yaya Jamey et got toppled.That’s the real fear pushing you to shut down internet in the NW/SW is the fear of a domino effect.The fear of a revolution which you proclaimed dead from the onset. That is the fear pushing you to activate the engine of oppression. Yet you have the gots to take to the air waves claiming you had invited our leaders for dialogue.

I have a few questions for you sir,how can you dialogue with people who have been branded as terrorists? How can you dialogue with people who have been abducted and thrown in jail for trumped up charges? How can you dialogue with any patriotic force when the only language you know is using dictates and bribery to corrupt the legitimate leaders? We were told you reached an agreement with some trade unions and the strike was called off, really? If so, why is the civil disobidience campaign still very effective in the affected zones? Where is the line between terrorism which is a crime and political activism which is a universal right? How can you do selective dialogue when the legitimate leaders are framed by the government? etc.

You have quickly forgotten that it was because of protest marches in the 90s by forces you now work against that forced the regime to release you from prison where you had been locked up as a putchist.A regime you have now committed to shamelessly defend. Of course we knew all along that you were fighting for no one but yourself and family. The opportunist you have always been.you went straight to create a political party with Hamadou Mustapha and in a few months you were in bed with the same regime you used to condemn.

I am sorry to tell you ,Fam Ndongo, Goghumo,Atanga Nji,Musonge ,Achidi and the others that our children are not being held hostage. The moment you quit living in your parallel universe, you will see what we see.We are the parents of those children,we suffered and studied for more than 25 years in your rotten system that doesn’t reward meritocracy.In the end, frustration drove many to seek livelihood in the house of exile and still we are the ones sending money to sponsor children back home.

Unfortunately,we can not keep on fooling ourselves,for education is not only to learn how to read and write. That is exactly what your system of education offers to the children. We can no longer entertain the burden of worthless degrees for them like ours. If you care about the future of southern Cameroonians so much I will refer you to every list that has been published for the public concours.How many names from Southern Cameroons do you find on such lists? If the regime cares about the future of our children so much,how come ill-equiped teachers trained to teach in a different sub-system are sent to unteach them? Why do graduates from the two provinces find recruitment into certain agencies of the public service such an impossibility? That leaves them only two choices,the route to exile or join the army.

Even joining the army is diffcult and when they do (through mostly underhand means) , many are sent to their deaths in Bakassi or to fight Bokoharam, We have no idea how many of such deaths are inside jobs for many of our families have lost their brethren in the army under very very suspicious circumstances, myself included.

The strike is working because we no longer believe in an education system designed to frustrate our children and make them not competitive at home and abroad. Many end up with unemployment through no fault of theirs,but that of a system which is rigged against them in every way. It is my decision for my child to stay home because the message of the CONSORTIUM resonates with my experience like millions of others with no other alternative but to join this struggle.

That means no one is taking them hostage as you claim. My colleagues both home and abroad who suffer the same and see no future for their children in that rotten corrupt system have done the same.Trying to cajole a few francophone teachers and students to school to make believe that the strike is a joke is of no consequence for the days when crtv could pull that off are long gone.

Your claim that our leaders hold other children hostage while they and their children are abroad in Washington,New York,London and Berlin etc is of no consequence what so ever. After disregarding many letters written by our leaders for a pacific remedy of the situation ,after humiliating our lawyers, after brutally repressing our protest marches we are left with no other instrument than to sit in homes and keep them away from a school system that has no hope. Instead, we know that the future of our children mean nothing to you because the children of the barons of the regime are being educated outside in the country in world class establishments.

This is therefore, a legitimate response of an oppressed people against a very oppressive system. We are on the move and there is no turning back.We do not care how long it takes,victory is around the corner. We Know this because of our conviction and determination.Our conviction that good always wins in battle over evil, our conviction that truth trounces lies, our conviction that all the people cannot be fooled all the time. We are convinced by our determination that there comes a time when a people have to rise as one man, that enough is enough! We are determined because we know freedom is never given,it is siezed,it must be fought for and a price paid.We are ready to pay any price for freedom. The freedom to express our opinions without fear,the freedom to move and the freedom to question the union that has failed us.

Mr minister,if you have nothing to say please stay mute, everyone knows what you guys are up to running the country aground.You and your mates rush abroad for treatment when you are sick, while hospital infrastracture and the human resources in the NW/SW is a sham and infact, the only reason you guys sit back here and pretend to respond to our desperate cries to continue this horrible kleptocracy that has made La Republique the laughing stock among the concert of nations in the world.

Some years ago a baron of the regime (Mbombo Njoya) mocked freedom fighters as “Biafrans”, and even asked them to go to hell if they were not happy with status quo. We were mocked as enemies in the house,often ridiculed as “anglofools” . This time we are telling you as one man, that it is time for us to part ways for we are tired of being second class citizens,tired of being called enemies in the house,tired of being looked upon and treated as undesirables,tired of being ridiculed even in our own homeland,yes we are tired,tired of being part of an agreement that the other party respects only when it suits him and we are on the move now.

Our desperation is not against francophones as a people,we have many who sympathise and empathise with us.Needless to say they suffer like us in their vast majority.

I tell you this today,no intimidation will scare us,no media blackout will stop us,the raping of our girls will not derail us,the brutalisation of our mothers and brothers will not hamper us,the sowing of the seeds of discord between NW/SW will not find fertile ground,we will not be intimidated by the abduction and jailing of our leaders only. We have put our faith in God and we know in the end the battle between every oppressed people and any regime ends in victory for the people .For each leader taken thousands volunteer and close the gap at once. This is a fight we are not going to loose.not this time. Release our leaders Justice Ayah, Maitre Balla,Dr Neba ,Mancho and the thousands who are now being harrassed in your jails for trumped up charges.

Now you can shut down the telephone in the southern Cameroons as well but we will reach our people through other means even the wind ,until we get what we demand.The revolution cannot be stopped by your efforts to manipulate via deception, our generation is sacrificed and we have nothing to loose.Instead we know we have everything to gain and we will not allow that of our children or their children to be sacrificed as well. May i advise you sir, before you shut down telephone in the Southern Cameroons please better shut CRTV first because that deplorable out fit has no audience in our homeland. We are not in 1966,nor are we in 1972 or 1996.This is 2017 and this is the age of citizen media, we will outsmart and out match CRTV,your only mouthpiece on every turf.
Long live the struggle,long live our leaders,Long live Southern Cameroons.

Retired Police Officer
Peterson Ayuk Mbu