Southern Cameroonians for a while now have finally found their voice. Thanks to social media, CRTV, and the State can no longer control the narratives and/or information flows.

The power now rests in the hands of Southern Cameroonians on which information to share and which to believe and you all have shown that you trust the Social media.

I want to be thankful to all English-Speaking journalists who work in the private media. They have been tremendously good. I see all the good graduates from UB doing so well and your voice to this struggle has not gone unnoticed.

Let us be aware that the fight has not started. We are still at the nascent stage and we have seen how unity pays. As the days go by, we see how our coordination keeps getting better. As the regime tries to penetrate the social media by bringing in individuals who try to drain our voices, we have shown that our collective voices are stronger than anything else. We must not give up

Together, we succeeded in boycotting AFCON in Victoria, we sent the authorities panicking. They hired buses, they offered free tickets etc, but we still got them beaten. We also responded to Mayor Ekema’s rally call at Bongo Square Buea, though coming late, we succeeded in hugely reducing the turnout- the meeting ended on a noisy note with no action.

We have also succeeded in getting Southern Cameroonians in the Diaspora protesting at various embassies. The momentum keeps building. We have seen protests in Belgium, UK, USA, Japan, Ireland, Rome-Italy and more are still coming. The diaspora is getting involved now than it was before. You all good people of Southern Cameroons crowded the lines of the International media and they responded by reporting our struggle but the road is still far. We must not give up.

I call on all Southern Cameroonians to be steadfast. We must remain resolute and we must stand behind our lawyers and teachers now than never before. It is the duty henceforth for all sectors of nationhood from transport to health, to business etc to join this protest so that together we can collectively achieve our objectives. Our parents should remember what they did before GCE Board was granted. I call on our parents and elders to support us, guide us, pray for us and call on our ancestors to lead us to this stormy road ahead. Victory is certainly ours.

I am making a special appeal to all Catholic and mission schools, especially in Buea, Kumba and Mamfe dioceses to join this call and shut down their schools. The church must be on the side of justice. The church should listen to the people. We can do this.

As such, I hope that as the strike continues, Southern Cameroonians should remain peaceful and steadfast. We must be our brothers and sisters keepers. We must shun any form of bribery because the regime has scattered its agents across Southern Cameroons to halt the momentum. We must speak one language.

Finally, in the days ahead, we should be calling for the total boycott of anything ELECAM in Southern Cameroons. No registration should be allowed to go on. The only election in Southern Cameroons hence should be a referendum where Southern Cameroonians are asked whether they wish to remain in a Federation with La Republique or walk away to an Independent Republic of Southern Cameroons.

These are our two choices and so help us, God.

Mark Bara
Southern Cameroons Activist
Publisher, BaretaNews