Southern Cameroonians are asking what will happen to SCACUF after the election of an Interim PM? Who will be the mouthpiece of Southern Cameroons? SCACUF SG or Interim PM? Will SCACUF dissolve? Mr.Nchia Martin Achou attempts an answer in the opposite why he thinks SCACUF should just transform to an interim government. Amongst others he wrote:
1. The naming of a prime minister just like the declaration of Independence comes with certain preconditions. One of them is the securing of diplomatic protection from a friendly government. If anyone is declared PM and resident in a country la Republique are in its right to demand the eviction of that person. we have not yet prepared the ground.
Declaration of Independence would be just another empty declaration if we do not have a territory to hold and defend. On far I, have not seen any effort in that regard.
2. Secondly We have just put in place a leadership with a Secretary General who answers to a Leadership Council. This means we have a management mechanism in place. The blind declaration of a PM who will form his cabinet would be potentially the First Dictatorship we have installed with no accountability mechanism. What Morisc is selling is an individual who decides on his own without consultation and is not answerable to anybody.
3. We are a revolutionary movement with a Secretary General in place and who is answerable to a Leadership Council. The Leadership Council is fashioned along the Chinese Model where decision making is by consultation and robust debates..not one person going cowboy. In principle the is our PM and can be disciplined by the Council. Why do we need another PM?
4. SG is our PM and the organs are our ministries. Creation of a PM and other ministries would develop two centres of power. Each dragging in their own direction. This has the potential for conflict and the crumbling of our unity. The major difference between the structures we have now is that there is scope for greater participation for more of our people. Each organ has many people who could be anywhere in the world. Somehow everyone feels ownership of the process. It gives great opportunity to women and youth. Once you put a “government” in the classic sense you sit with 6-7 people taking all decisions and answerable to no one.
The instant result is people would back away leaving a white elephant with no resources. Talking about resources we already have a Secretariat with 6 paid positions. A government would be another 10 people expecting to be taken care of with no financial plan in place. The prime minister is a position that requires elaborate resources if not given by a friendly government. have we thought about that?
5. There is serious apprehension by the gross majority of our people to the idea of about that prime minister but I think we cannot go that route now.
6. We presently have a very fragile relationship between the movements of SCACUF. it is an art in self-keeping them together. Going the voting route has the potential to fracture this union. It will take a while to cement the relationship. Leaders are still learning to work together. Electing one leader over the others risks capsizing the boat. We do not want to rock this with an ambitious project that has little logic especially when we consider that we already have a prime minister. All you need to do is to take away the name SG and put PM and you got the same difference. The role of the SG now is to make sure to manage this relationship.
Consequently, we are open to the idea of the prime minister but only in good time. Secondly, We do not need to go into any kind of voting. All we do is convert SCACUF office from an SG to a PM and the organs into ministries. Otherwise, we lose the ground support.
Nchia Martin
12 comments
There are three weapons we as Southern Cameroonians bring to this struggle for our independence.
1) ground support
2) a smart strategy and smart advocacy.
3) the historical facts
– We have the critical ground support of our people now.
– There lawyers did develop a very smart strategy that worked for everyone. The idea of a Consortium and bringing the teachers in to strike with lawyers came from the lawyers. Other unions joined in and It worked. They, together, beat the government and created the environment which brought in everyone else and created the revolution we have today.
– In their grievances against the government, the lawyers also requested it to show an act of union that allowed LRC to rule the Southern Cameroons. It was a critical request which brought into play all the political facts and history. So we have a demonstrated strategy and legal advocates in place working for us. What else do we need to win? Nothing!
To bring us this far, the lawyers did not ask for money from anyone in the diaspora, yet brought our struggle much further than anyone before them. They are the best people we have, in fact the best people any litigant to a case can ask for to successfully make their case. Why are we damaging what is working for us by creating layers of interruption and confusion with “Leadership council, Prime Minister” etc.? This is not time for governing. This is time to state, fight and win a case.
The diaspora has a helping role to play by supporting the actors on the ground financially. But to be honest, that help is not that critical, if it must come with imposing governments in exile on the Consortium process. The diaspora has formed at least 4 governments in exile in the past 20years and gained nothing from them. If we allow the Consortium to continue what they started, we will have our independence. If, on the other hand, we allow OTHERS to project themselves onto our liberation stage, we will lose again.
My advice to the lawyers and the partners who want to work with them is to continue with their process and avoid the diaspora, if they cannot stay away from disruption and confusion and be the asset that they can be for our struggle.
Augustine Ambe
Let me try a response to Mr. Nchia Martin You say naming a PM is like having a revolution. I don’t see it that way because if its a revolution then we must be revolting against someone or something or in this case against another government. The Southern Cameroons should not be be revolting against any government if it chooses to RECONSTUTUTE the Southern Cameroons government which is supposed to be in hibernation since Ahidjo forcefully dissolved it many years ago. It was an elected government and only our people could choose to dissolve it through a legislative process by our elected representatives. Moreso since there is no treaty /agreement and then legal documentation, legal papers placing the Southern Cameroons under the rule of The Republic of Cameroun we do not have any reason to revolt in order to Reconstitute our government. Why should it be a revolt? We could not do it earlier at the time of the forceful dissolution because we did not have the power to do so. Now we do and we are simply supposed to RECONSTITUTE that government rather than forming another. If we decide to form another government we are simply assisting The Republic of Cameroun by endorsing that illegal act of dissolving our government thereby legitimizing their action. I have written extensively about this That is why by insisting on the complete implementation of Resolution 1608 has many advantages. First it upholds the declaration by the UN of our “independence by joining” The Republic of Cameroun, Most importantly, with that Resolution being AN OPEN ENDED one – meaning it offers the possibility of us refusing to join The republic of Cameroun if they would not meet our conditions, the resolution would instantly guarantee our independence if we cannot agree with The Republic of Cameroun. Nowhere in the Resolution is it said that we must join The Republic of Cameroun. even if they don’t want us. Nowhere in the Resolution is . The Republic of Cameroun compelled to accept us into a Union either. As a sovereign country they reserved the right to decline from having us in a union of any kind if our conditions were too difficult for them to accept. – and so if they did that, what would have happened to us? The Resolution states we have to negotiate a joining but negotiations do fail at times. So all the problems Mr Nchia is bringing up should not occur if we Reconstitute our government. And by insisting on the application of that UNGA Resolution 1608 it also avoids the possibility of returning to the security Council where France will simply veto anything that will disfavor The Republic of Cameroun. Our struggle will be dead forever at that point. The Isreali/Palestinian problem should be an example for us to learn from. If we do not insist on implementing that 1608 Resolution we are thereby challenging its validity,and rejecting our independence. That Resolution is as complete as any other only if we choose to apply it on our terms which we can. After the RECONSTITUTING of our government all the other issues raised will be taken care off – hopefully as Mr Nchia prescribes.
RECONSTITUTING THE SOUTHERN CAMEROONS GOVERNMENT
From all I have read and heard so far, even the most promising positions by any of the groups championing the struggle are to the best of my knowledge unattainable. The way I see it is very easy to understand. The UN offered Southern Cameroons only two options during the plebiscite – i.e., either to join The Republic of Cameroun to attain independence or to join Nigeria to do same. So far as I know the UN has never changed that decision. So where does the talk of secession or independence advanced by the SCNC, Ambazonia and the UNO State of Cameroon come from? Logic tells me that given the results of the plebiscite the UNGS is still expecting a written and signed agreement by both The Republic of Cameroun and Southern Cameroons so far as their decision to form a union of whatever kind is concerned. So can anybody explain to us all how come the SCNC, Ambazonia, and the UNO State of Cameroon want to break away from The Republic of Cameroon and have independence Can we really say we are breaking away when we had never been joint before? And then insisting for outright independence is questioning the Resolution 1608. and earlier resolution that led up to this one . Most importantly without even attempting to implement it what can we say is the bone of contention? There has been so far no disagreement .on the terms defining the union between the two entities? Of course there could be no disagreement because there isn’t any signed . yet – so why the talk of secession or independence? I would equally love complete independence but the UN for reasons best known to them refused to offer us that option. By insisting on those positions we are effectively challenging the UNGA resolutions concerning the granting of independence to colonial territories and peoples. But more controversial is the fact that we have never demonstrated to the UN that the terms of agreement between us and the Republic of Cameroun have been unfair to us – and the reason being that no such agreement exists! As soon as the more powerful president Ahidjo of the Republic of Cameroun unilaterally and without reason suspended – at its preliminary stages all discussions relating to coming up with any agreement as required through UNGA resolutions, Southern /West Cameroon was put on hibernation – from that moment to this day. There is very clear documented evidence to prove that the discussions were unilaterally and abruptly called to an end by the President of the Republic of Cameroun, and so implicitly anything that happened to Southern Cameroons to this day was not freely done through ratification as they should have been done by the Southern Cameroons legislature which itself was subsequently forcefully dissolved by Mr Ahidjo through decrees. Southern Cameroonian citizens through the use of force by the occupying forces of the Republic of Cameroon have had little or no choice other than to comply with every decree passed by the Republic of Cameroun presidents. Accordingly to this date the over bearing military occupation and suppression of any attempt to resist the Mr Ahidjo’s and then Mr Biya’s imposed rule over us, they inadvertently froze Southern Cameroons in a time warp. But today we of the Southern Cameroons have concluded and decided that it is appropriate that we revive those very legislative, executive and judicial structures that have been inactive since 1961. We should RECONSTITUTE This government together with its legislative and judicial institutions. In doing this no law even by that of the occupier will accuse us of challenging their government. But if we refuse to RECONSTITUTE this government, any group formed will not have the legitimacy to negotiate on behalf of the Southern Cameroons people.
It is from that point we will continue the negotiations with The Republic of Cameroun which luckily already had had its own revival in 1984. If the Republic of Cameroun, because of no binding agreement between itself and Southern/West Cameroon found it justified to revive and then describe itself once again as The Republic of Cameroun, then Southern Cameroons is even more justified to revive its suspended executive, legislative and judicial structures and restore its violated sovereignty because without them we would have no locus standi to carry on any negotiations with The Republic of Cameroun. A restored Southern Cameroons pre plebiscite situation will cause the need for any pressure groups to be obsolete. This should be the logical resumption point because of the continued absence of any signed agreement between the two states after the suspended Foumban Talks; and then an end to the military occupation too should be done with immediate effect.
No decree or political decision by The Republic of Cameroun should have had any effect on the sovereign peoples of Southern Cameroons – which they unfortunately had because as an occupied territory we could not resist. We should not form a government but rather RECONSTITUTE our Southern/West Cameroons government as it was in 1961 and announce it to the UN and the world. That is the government which was supposed to negotiate with East Cameroon and even today will be charged to negotiate with them as it was supposed to happen at Foumban or anywhere.
We should from now onwards be fair, honest and committed to each other. The era of colonization and annexation is over. We cannot delude ourselves anymore that such a situation is tenable in today’s geopolitics. Federation, Unity, or Independence as per the UN through the UNGA resolutions 1608(15) should be the results of any talks and not the reason for it .One very important aspect we seem to be ignoring in the Resolution 1608 is that no where in that Resolution is it mentioned directly or indirectly that The Republic of Cameroun after the plebiscite results must accept getting into a union with us. As an independent nation they had their own priorities which we were not compelled to accept and neither were they compelled to forego in order to accept us into a Union. . It was simply assumed that The Republic of Cameroun would accept to form a union with us since there is evidence that they had betrayed an interest in us by falsely claiming our territory as part of theirs.. As such, no where in the Resolution was it stated that they should impose certain conditions to accept us into a union. Therefore whatever terms to prescribe in the formation of the Union depended and still depends only on us and not on both of us (i.e not including The Republic of Cameroun) to this day. So Since the Resolution had never been implemented its statutes of limitation is still in place because it expires only immediately it is implemented and an agreement signed by both parties. – and then it can never be used again.
When we present ourselves as open to all possibilities that would be fair to both parties, that would also logically mean we are still insisting on the indisputable fact that the Foumban Conference never came up with any agreement between the Republic of Cameroun and Southern Cameroons according to international law and the UNGA resolutions. So the pre plebiscite status remains the official status of Southern Cameroons to this day. And there is no reason to try to “separate” from The Republic of Cameroon when there is no agreement signed between us. We have all along, albeit against our will allowed The Republic of Cameroun to define the progress, or lack of it, of the Foumban Talks which have been frozen in time and space for over 50 years. An intolerant dictatorship with its army of occupation has maintained an iron grip on us ever since their former President Ahidjo occupied the Southern Cameroons territory since 1961. We wish to pick up from that point. We have nothing to ask the UN, but if anything at all, it is to notify it of the resumption of the stalled progress of the Foumban Talks hoping to reach its logical conclusion. Meanwhile while these Talks resume the occupation too should end with immediate effect because we would not be negotiating under duress from a military occupation, the very instrument used by the former President Mr. Ahidjo of the Republic of Cameroun to suspend the Talks unilaterally for over 50 years today.
I have gone through a good number legal arguments put forward by the various groups as well as UNGA Resolutions and the UN charter. I have also read many documents by the different groups and that is how I came about this conclusion. I saw no need to include them here because most of that can be got from the internet.
Thanks for reading
Published on 13 /04/2017
Some good insights.
The most beautiful thing with Southern Cameroon is that with the UN, France, Britain and LRC colluding to take away our birthright and assimilate us, they end up archiving the opposite of handing it into our hands.
What the majority of us stands for and pour all our energy into will come into being. Just as we for the past 50+ years we poured our energy for dormancy and irrelevancy, subsequently we became dormant and irrelevant. We decide our own faith for that is the option that some how the universe orchestrate for us.
For me one of the most critical component is the military. That is, the man power and the machinery. Also we must know that we must finance everything by ourselves and this where the diaspora can really play their magic.
@Malis:
I totally agree with you. Military readiness is key. Personally, I believe war is the only answer to this problem. What works to our advantage in that, we are not asking the UN for independence. They already gave it to us (Article 1608 Number 5 of 1961), which gives us reason to legally wage war and once it starts, you will be surprised how many offers of arms we shall received from various traders like Russia, Brazil, Iran, etc. The UN knows that we know that our destiny is in our hands and one gun shot will change things. Who knew Mobutu could fall. War changed his fate overnight! LRC will you find out that they don’t know what they don’t know they don’t know.
Don’t need any help whatsoever from Iran. Please do not mention that.
How many more mothers shall mourn for her son? How many more pikin shall grow up without their father? Please stop to propagate war my brother. Love is bigger than hate. We will get rid of LRC without war.
pls let the head of this our struggle look for a means to equipped us so that we can defend our fatherland and prepare a better future for the coming generation
P M before any thing ,stop this over book, we have to complete the government in may ,second to form the military, third t0 form the media to imform our people , fourth to gain back our territory, this has to be done soon, no time to waste
Gaining independence must involve the will of Britain, USA, and the UN. We cannot just get our independence without diplomatic support from powerful governments around the world.
Talking about war, l don’t believe we have the capacity to fight and defeat La Republic militarily because they already have a trained army that we don’t. They already have weapons that we don’t and they have diplomatic relations that we don’t.
I would love independence
If we want to achieve something in 2017 then we can achieve federation.
If we want only independence then we should be ready to sacrifice 2 more years of no schools, and increased poverty.
Can we keep the people of southern cameroons patient for so long.
You only gain true independence when you are recognized by other powerful governments. Can UK, UN, US, and EU accept our independence? What would it take to make them help us gain that independence?
The best way out of this crisis is through negotiations not war.
Federation with this inhuman regime of La Republic will never work. In the long run it will boil down to the same status quo, then why all this struggle leading to the lost of life, imprisonment and exile??. Independence is what this generation will need. A simple opinion pool conducted over the face book showed almost 90% of the people wants Independence. The Biya Regime is fumbling and are now in total confusion. Their evil actions against us is turning back to hunt them, it is a sign that God is for us and so nobody can be against our resolve for an INDEPENDENT SOUTHERN CAMEROON.
@Ni Jack: You are talking about federalism because none of your family members have been raped, maimed and killed. You see it happening to somebody else far away and you don’t share their pain. You are probably sitting in the comfort of western capital and propagating fedralism. What is two years of no schools? You can replace two years of no schools but you can never bring back the sons and daughters killed. Please don’t show us your cold heard at this painful moment.