THINGS FALL APART
Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.It is in these terms that Chinua Achebe starts his epic novel, Things Fall Apart, written in 1958. It is, in fact, an excerpt of the poem by W.B. Yates, “The Second Coming”. Chinua Achebe’s novel is more or less about the transition from colonial Nigeria to independence, viewed through the life of Okonkwo, an Igbo wrestler.
Cameroon is itself at the crossroads of a transition and, whether we accept it or not, the signs are glaring. A population, of which 70% is under 30 years and worried about its tomorrow, is slowly choking under the stranglehold of a group of oligarchs whose only worry is about today and their self-preservation, totally oblivious to the inevitable nature of change: that today is tomorrow’s yesterday, and tomorrow always comes. The scary fact is that, in less than a year, those who govern us have effectively leveraged the diversity of Cameroon into a tool divide our nation. By preventing citizens – Common Law lawyers and Anglophone teachers – from exercising the basic right to demonstrate which is enshrined in our Constitution, they set off a spark and today, months later, we find ourselves in a situation where things seem to be falling apart. We are now divided between secessionists, federalists and those seeking decentralization. We are divided between Francophones and Anglophones. We are divided between North Westerners and South Westerners. We are divided between Bamilekes and Betis. We are even divided between Ewondos, Bulus and Etons; between the Bamouns and the Bamilekes. The non-homogenous nature of regions makes them tailor ready for division. You find the Mbam in the Centre Region, the Bassa in the central region, people of the Sawa origin in the southern region, people of Sancho in the Menoua Western, and so on. Muslims and Christians in the north live together as one and seeds of discord are sown at convenience. The list goes on.
This is the delicate balance on which our country sits. If we are to survive and thrive, we must listen to each other and constantly engage in honest dialogue about the future of Cameroon. Any form of arrogance and reckless discrimination, regardless of the nature, instigator or perpetrator, can only threaten this delicate balance. The visit of the prelate from Douala who is the head of the Episcopal Conference was either ill-advised or ill-conceived, or maybe even both. So here we are; the church that was the rock and only survivor of this quagmire with the chance to be a moral voice and a strong mediator is now weakened by the perception that it too is now divided. The “Eglise Evangelique” has also gotten its taste of the virus of division favored by a climate in which we now tend to concentrate on what divides us than on what we have in common. The Bishop of Bafia was found dead on the shores of the River Sanaga, a couple of days after his car was found on the Ebebda Bridge over the Sanaga. The strange thesis of suicide was immediately proclaimed even before the body was found. Now it is clear from the declaration of the Episcopal Conference, that the venerated Bishop was the victim of a callous crime. So, whither are we bound? As regards what is now known as the “Anglophone Problem” (I always use this appellation with hesitation because I have never understood whether it means the Anglophones have a problem, or that Anglophones constitute a problem, and if so for whom?) certain measures have been announced as an answer to the complaints that were put forward by the teachers and lawyers.
The simple fact is that an academic year has been lost, lawyers are still on strike, many Anglophones have been forced to escape into exile and others remain in prison. Internet that was disconnected was brought back after 93 days and an outcry that was echoed over the whole world against such a collective form of punishment. We emerged from the saga with a world record of the longest-running Internet blackout – a record in which some have taken pride as proof of power, with some even expecting the deprived regions to feel grateful for the reconnection. Anglophone prelates from all the oldest churches of Cameroon (Baptist, Catholic and Presbyterian Churches) have now been dragged to court. An unfortunate atmosphere has been created in which being an Anglophone now constitutes the first indices of being a secessionist, a troublemaker or a potential terrorist. I speak with the certainty of one of those who have been so classified.
That is what it has come to, for those who worry for the country, seek equality equity and dialogue. That is what it has come to, a situation in which, when one makes concrete proposals after factual and reasoned analysis of the facts, one can be branded a potential enemy of the nation. If the ever-increasing trend of bad governance is not reversed very soon, we will wake up in a country that none of us recognize. The first step will be to reverse certain unfortunate results of the knee-jerk approach we have had in response to the outcry of our Cameroonian brothers and sisters. National healing is the primary guarantee for national dialogue. So what should we do to start the healing? On the Matter of Ongoing Criminal Proceedings: It is generally accepted that the release of all those arrested will boost the goodwill and pave the way to dialogue. The law actually allows for this.
As regards the detainees and the different trials going on in the Military Tribunal Regions as well in the courts in the Anglophone regions, against citizens, clerics and prelates, it is important to recall the provisions of Article 64 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code which states: “The Procureur General of a Court of Appeal may, by express authority of the Ministry in Charge of Justice, enter a nolle prosequi, at any stage before judgment on the merits is delivered, if such proceedings could seriously imperil social interest or public order.” This provision of the law describes the exact situation we are in. It is applicable to the ordinary courts. An equivalent provision exists for the proceedings instituted before the Military Jurisdictions. This is section 12 of the Law No.2008 of December 2008 Organizing Military Justice Anyone talking about peace and reconciliation in good faith should immediately resort to these provision, to put a halt to the current situation, which is accelerating the country’s glide towards division and conflict. I remember assisting my brother, Batonnier Bernard Muna, in drafting the Amnesty Law that was proposed to the then Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon, Mr. Sadou Hayatou, for the attention of the Head of State. It was sent to Parliament and adopted in the interest of peace and reconciliation. A telex message was even sent from the Presidency congratulating Bernard for his patriotic spirit. Today, here we are, Cameroonians, asking for this.
International organisations and NGOs have joined the chorus. We should heed these calls and save our nation from further division. Those who sought refuge in arrogance and repression must certainly realize that this is choking the country.
By Akere Muna
To be continued
6 comments
Absolute rubbish again from Akere Muna, trying to protect his linkages to Biya, like his father, Solomon, aka Uncle Tom. Don’t mix us with cameroun’s internal problems and divisions. They are not ours. We are all united for restoration of our independence and anyone against is not an ethnic Southern Cameroonian (I mean, the anglophones like bamilikes, betis, doualas and hausas/fulbes). Again, secession is not applicable to us. The right term to describe our case is separation. Please stop making a full of yourself, Akere.
There can be nothing in Cameroon like reconciliation and good faith. First The Republic of Cameroun has no legal authority to still have its forces of occupation in the Southern Cameroons.Those forces should be withdrawn with immediate effect. If there is anything to be called reconciliation that is the first thing they have to do. Withdraw those soldiers and policemen and the Southern Cameroons will get its own security forces within a very short time. That is the only reconciliation possible now. But what Maitre Muna seem not to understand is something I had written more than a year ago. The ethnic group in power will not give up. If they do , they will all be judged an given life sentences or put on firing squad. The reason is simple. There is no country on earth that can forgive these people for the political and financial damage they have inflicted onto Cameroon since 1982. The amount of money these people have damaged is inexcusable. I have used the word damaged because they have not used the money in any sensible way even for their own benefit. If anything they have managed to acquire enough weapons to fight the rest of Cameroon for a very long time. That is the only hope they have. They know any other succeeding authority in the government will not pardon them. Nobody in his right mind will pardon them. They know that. The amount of money they have destroyed in this country is staggering. They don’t even have property which the state can seize to try and make compensation for that. Southern Cameroonians cannot stomach this anymore – coupled with the fact that they have been discriminated against since 1982. No amount of promise can convince Southern Cameroonians to believe that some kind of goodwill gesture will ever be made by another Francophone led government that an affirmative action will be made to right the wrongs of the past. The Southern Cameroonians think it will be for the best interest for them to go their own way and the Francophones go theirs. Southern Cameroonians will be too happy to even go empty handed rather than spend another year with this Francophone led government. It has been a disaster from day one. A government that for 35 years could not build one secondary school? F… it.
The riht words are those used by HRM Angwafor III (according to one Baretanews’ article of June 4th) stating that we the people of Ambazonia offered olive shoots to LRC government but only got thorns in return. it is too late to recant now. Forward we’ve gone and are going. No turning back now. No rational arguement can convince us again that these dubious and malicious tyrants can be trustworhty.Only a miracle can do. Barister’s preaching to LRC is beneficial in that it gives us more convincing grounds that it’s been tantamount to preaching in the wilderness. they cannot be trusted. I appreciate your efforts for the struggle Barister. We sincerely count on leaders like you for help in the drafting of our constitution and the building of our restored state. “Pharoah’s” heart is being more and more hardened.
For Restoration we’ve come and for it we stand!
The Struggle continues…
Hell no, things aren’t falling apart, they feel apart 50+ years ago, rotten with bad smell, maggots crawling everywhere for quite a long while now.
What is happening now is the Purge, total house cleaning.
At this moment right now somewhere in Ambazoni the private army of the demonic government in LRC is committing genocide, terror, rape, and all sort of devilish acts, their Gestapo officers stationed in Ambazonia are selling away our land, resources, riches, treasures to foreigners, Chinese, Europeans, and terrorizing our people.
And somehow it”s now that some of us Ambazonians are talking of ” things are falling apart”? I feel like I just time travel.
Barrister Akere Muna it is really frustrating that someone of your educational standing should at this juncture still be nurturing the hope for peaceful cohabitation with LRC. This trend of thinking is an attempt to totally obfuscate the fact that we are dealing with a people who are dubious, evil and nothing but sub-humans.
Imagine the humiliation that was handed to Pa Foncha despite the fact that Lucifer Ahidjo used him to pacify the Bamilikes. In the end the thank you he got was to be rendered irrelevant. And you want us to forget this like we do not have better things to do with our life?
Do I need to mention the way your father was treated. He got shabby treatments despite the fact that he frustrated the aspirations of Southern Cameroonians to the benefit of the Beti/Ewondo crime syndicate. And you want us to forget this?
Now let us fast forward; can you say you will be so willing to forgive someone who raped Ama Tutu? That haven said, just think of those students who were being made to lie face down in sewage tainted water, girls being pulled by their hair and by their legs and forced to roll over in sewage tainted water. Please for Haven’s sake just imagine these girls were Ama Tutu that someone was dehumanizing.
Furthermore, forces of disorder believe it was their right to break into the living quarters of female students and rape them. Or just imagine all those students who were packed into trucks half naked like animals that are being led to the slaughter house. And you expect us to forget these indignities?
In light of all these indignities, can you honestly tell Southern Cameroonians what was the rational for these levels of barbarisms that were inflicted on those students other than the fact that many in LRC have come to delude themselves that they can do anything that pleases them and Southern Cameroonians will not retaliate?
Moreover, can you tell us why justice Ayah Paul, Barrister Balla, Dr. Fontem, Mancho Bibixy and the rest are doing in jails in Yaoundé other than this arrogance from Biya and his Beti/Ewondo mafia. Are you oblivious of the fact that mothers have lost their sons, husbands and daughters as a result of this Beti?Ewondo arrogance?
Personally, I think you should eschew the idea that things with LRC will be normalize for past experiences have left Southern Cameroonians totally resolve that the distorted history of Southern Cameroon must be righted this time.
If these are not mentally deprived people, at one time Southern Cameroonians were “Biafrans”, “anglofool”, “enemies in the house” etc.
Suddenly, today we are part of something called “one and indivisible?”
Barrister Akere, you will agree that it was a manipulated decision by Ahidjo and the French leeches for a federation of two equals to be form. Unfortunately, our decision to cohabit amicably with LRC was violated time and time again and at this juncture to find you still thinking of a living together arrangement with LRC is really a very bitter pill to swallow.
This article of yours smacks of absolute levity of the many heinous crimes continuously perpetuated by LRC on our people that was epitomized by the events of November 2016.
Thanks