Southern Cameroons Citizen Levy
Fellow Southern Cameroons
Good evening. Today, I write to educate you why we have to register and pay the ” Citizen Levy”. It is now understood that majority of Southern Cameroonians accept and welcome the united front in the name of Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front-SCACUF. It is true that majority of Southern Cameroonians pushed for a united front. It is also true that SCACUF is not a group but a conglomeration of groups which means at any point in time it could dissolve and it is true that groups which came together to make up SCACUF cannot dissolve. This is why I think we should pay the citizen levy. However, before giving such an opinion, I think if Southern Cameroons are rooting for independence, we must be ready to fund our struggle. It is understandable that some of our people reject the idea of SCACUF and are not in support. The views of these persons must be respected. We must exhibit this tolerance and avoid insults.
I write now to address the thousands of Southern Cameroonians who support the unity front and want to see it succeed. This means that you must support it in all forms. There is no liberation movements without finances but first, this is my advise to SCACUF. Terminology and communication is very important and the choice of words matters. It must not come as an imposition on the people but a request or reasons why this or that should be done.
1. The citizen levy should be changed to a citizen tax. This tax should be for all Southern Cameroonians who pledge allegiance to the Unity Front. A campaign must be made to educate Southern Cameroonians why this tax is necessary. The words “All Southern Cameroonians MUST” pay the citizen levy may be offensive to those who do not belief in this independence dream or share the unity front ideas and may sound exclusive as if they are not citizens, as if SCACUF is trying to make them lesser Southern Cameroonians.A subtle way should be adopted.
2. All members or liberation groups who make up SCACUF should know how the fee is managed. There should be a monthly updates to groups as well as quarterly updates to all Southern Cameroonians who pay such a tax. In this way, those groups in SCACUF who focus on defence, civil disobedience, Law suits etc will benefits from the levy. Once, the various groups are comfortable with this arrangement, the trickle down effect will be positive. In turn, their own members will be supportive. There must be an open door policy of this fee management to all the constituents groups in SCACUF.
Now why, it is advisable to pay this fee.
If you are a Southern Cameroonian and you belief in the restoration of Southern Cameroons Independence, imagine thousands paying 20 Euro monthly, it will go a long way to help in the following:
1. The interim government is coming up. Its ministeries and management needs finances. If we cannot fund the interim government then please let us not ask for it.
2. Travelling and diplomacy takes a lot of finances. We need extensive lobbying and movements. The citizen fee will help greatly in this.
3. The management and payment of the Southern Cameroons Broadcasting Corporation TV needs a lot of monthly finances which if we need to maintain the TV and get a radio in the future then we must pay. I must make this known that Southern Cameroonians in South Africa had been paying this TV fee. This month has been hard on them. It took some countries in Europe and USA to supplement funds to South Africa to help pay the SCBC monthly charges after SCACUF requested. We all saw how Southern Cameroonians in Canada came to the rescue of SCACUF to ensure that the next SCACUF conclave holds.
4. If we agree that our people in Nigeria went on exile not on their own accord but for the struggle then we must be sincere that they need support because they are working for this struggle. These people have left their jobs, businesses and are on exile. Most of us abroad did run because of the struggle, we were already here enjoying. We already have a life that we can at least take care of ourselves. These people in Nigeria do not have. How else do we want them to live? Let us forget our differences in ideologies here or hatred and think about them too. This citizen levy will supplement them. However, SCACUF leadership council must set a quota on this for strict management.
5. The fee will also help to supplement teachers who apply for the adopt a teacher project. Not all have been adopted. The fee can help do that.
6. The fee as agreed by the council should also fund Self Defence and all legal issues.
7. Set up other ground actions as need arises.
There are a lot of things this citizen fee can do. Imagine thousands paying this monthly. It will take our struggle to another level. I want to plead with Southern Cameroonians that this fee is not a MUST and SCACUF must not make it obligatory by imposing. This could be obligatory as taxes when we regain our statehood.
For now, if you support the united front, if you belief in the ideas and visions of the united front then support and pay your citizen fee. If you do not support SCACUF, there is really no need trying to sabotage it. You can constructively critiqued it without being the devil advocate.
I am confident that with the set up of the Southern Cameroons interim government, and the transformation of the SCACUF leadership council into a senate as suggested by the interim government drafting committee roadmap, many Southern Cameroonians will fall on board to begin paying this citizen levy.
The only request Southern Cameroonians will need from SCACUF and/or the interim government will be to transparently as much as possible manage the citizen levy in such a way that Southern Cameroonians will be satisfactorily satisfied such that confidence building will increase for those in the fence to join the train in the next months.
Whether you pay or not, Southern Cameroons belong to us all with equal rights. We all look forward for a Southern Cameroons where we shall live happily as dignified human beings.
God bless Southern Cameroons
God bless you reading me
The struggle continues
Mark Bareta.
7 comments
Well Said, Mark.
Also, this is not the time for attitudes about minor lingo or wording.
There is a time to be decisive and a time to be democratic. This is a time to be decisive.
Personally, I don’t worry and whether they use May or Must, it will never change the fact that I continue to proudly pay my citizenship levy/tax.
Good idea.
If a church is a financial institution, then everything is, including struggles.
I think it is going tobe much more psychologically attractive if SCACUF create a situation where
the money it gets in, is not directly use to fond the struggle but instead blocked in some kind of
interest generating account and only the interest generated is used to fund the struggle until it’s
through.
After the struggle is over, that blocked money is then used as foreign reserve.
Even though it is for the good of us Amazonian, I personally believe most of us are reluctant
because psychologically all the see is the money going in and going out with no means of it generating any income.
I the money gets in, stays, generates income and then this income goes out, then this speaks a lot about the
financial mechanism in place.
600 Dollar * 1000000 is a lot of money to just let sit in some account. If people know that their
money is not just poured out as it is poured in, I think many will pay.
I don’t know is such a set up is possible.
Non the less with or without, we Ambazonian must pay for this struggle. Our Land must be taken back by any means.
Mark Bareta, this is the type of spirit we should expect from every Southern Cameroonian. Yes from time to time when I have time to follow some of the on-line discussion of our people, there are those who are so negative that it just leaves one feeling like one has been kicked in the groin. But then, thank God that there are people like you. Only time will tell, for I do hope to meet with you one day God willing so as to let you know what I think of you. This is because words cannot express how I feel about the time and effort you are putting in this struggle. You are really a source of inspiration and I believe that God’s grace will shine on you.
However, talking about SCACUF, we should let history serve as our guide.
Why are people talking about splinter groups, have we suddenly forgot that the aspirations of the people of South Africa were almost derailed because instead of fighting the racist in South Africa, the Buthelezi Inkatha freedom party (IFP) was fighting the ANC (Africans fighting Africans; in Angola Judas (Jonas) Savimbi with the UNITA guerrillas was not only fighting the MPLA which was the ruling party but had landmines planted all over Angola so that farmers could not go to farm (Africans Fighting Africans). In Zimbabwe Joshua Nkomo leader of the ZAPU party instead of working to build the country was bent on destroying Zimbabwe by starting a guerrilla war with ZANU which is the party of Robert Mugabe (Africans fighting Africans).
In Congo, Lumumba worked had for a united Congo. Because the Congolese politicians could not unit, Lumumba was killed by Europeans with the tacit complicity of Mobutu and other Congolese and to this day, there is no peace in that country with eastern Congo a virtual no-mans-land today.
I hope that all of us are thinking about the sufferings of our people today and should try to put aside personal ambitions and work towards a better Southern Cameroon. I know this is easier said especially as we have chameleons like Boh Herbert of MORISC. We just need to be vigilant.
Also in Mozambique, the RENAMO guerrilla movement of Afonso DHlakama wrecked havoc on the country because he refused to see eye-to-eye with FRELIMO of Samora Machel (Africans fighting Africans). In this struggle, history should serve as our guide for “Those who do not learn from history are doom to repeat it”.
I don’t think the idea to sponsor a lawyer or a teacher is a relevant intiative, considering that we are still fighting LRC “the ELEPHANT in our house”. All the resources that we have should be geared towards getting this elephant killed as our almost priority.
These complainers will always be there regardless of the choice of words used by SCACUF. If SCACUF used TAX instead of LEVY they will complain of something else. Trying to please this people can be preoccupying. As a PROUD SCian, I have made it a duty to pay my monthly LEVY. If you believe this struggle or a free SC is bigger than the choice of words used by SCACUF, pay your tax/levy
Let’s just stop all this semantics and analysis of choice of words as expressed on FB. We want freedom but we don’t want to pay for it. How do SCnians back home pay????