By Atia Tilarious Azohnwi
The Southern Cameroons People’s Conference held on March 29&30 in Washington DC rallied pro-federalists and independentists as solutions to the deepening unrest in Cameroon’s North West and South West Regions [otherwise referred to as Ambazonia by some and Southern Cameroons by others] are sought.
The Washington DC all-inclusive confab is the brainchild of Dr. Fontem Aforteka’a Neba, secretary general of the outlawed Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium.
The gathering assembled various diaspora groups and factions implicated in the goings-on in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.
“This conference enabled Southern Cameroonians to “speak with one voice; to express what they want and to summon the international community to take its responsibility before history,” its organizers said.
A member of the steering committee charged with organizing the conference, Dr. Fontem Neba said they reached out to all engaged in the fight for the liberation of Southern Cameroons.
“We need to be united, to talk with one voice. That way we can better channel our grievances. It has been my prayer that we can find common grounds,” he said.
In a statement, organizers of the confab say there is an urgent need for a peaceful solution to the crisis by bringing all the Southern Cameroonian stakeholders at home and in the diaspora together to chart, by consensus, a peaceful way out of the bloody conflict.
“The Conference will bring together all Southern Cameroonians around the same table to: Identify the problems which have plagued their existence since they obtained independence by joining the Republic of Cameroon in 1961,” the statement read.
It will also seek to “review the social, economic and political factors that led to the 2016 strikes, government handling of the crisis, its escalation, the onset of the civil war and the loss of property and lives.”
“Evaluate the efforts made so far by government and the people of Southern Cameroons to stem down the crisis and the outcomes (if any); Ascertain the nature and extent of the humanitarian crisis resulting from the burning of villages, hospitals and how refugees and IDPs can be integrated in the overall drive for peace.”
“Chart the way forward for sustainable peace and the role of the international community in achieving it and reconcile Southern Cameroons political groups and rally them around this cause for peace, outlining a code of conduct to govern political activities before, during and after the peace process.”
The All-Southern Cameroons People’s Conference held under the framework “a national consensus on the way forward” had as intend to “heighten international awareness of the conflict which has been treated in the media as simple “Anglophone Problem,” develop a common strategy for peace within a viable framework for a long term solution and the role the international community can play within it and to reconcile the different political groups and ideological leanings towards a common or consensus position.”
“Only a diverse and consensus or democratic expression of our collective convictions can yield long-lasting solutions,” Fontem says.
The confab gave birth to the Southern Cameroons Liberation Council (SCLC) with the visa of the likes of March Chebs, Elvis Kometa, Ebenezer Akwanga,Samuel Sako Ikome, John Mbah Akuroh, Sally Likowo and Boh Herbert.
Though with a “liberation” mission, many hold that this may be a signal that dialogue can now take place. Government now has an idea of the persons that can well be engaged on the dialogue table for peace to return to the North West and South West regions.