By Ikome Christie-Noella Eposi in Buea
It was at the press flats on Friday, March 17, 2023 where the Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa launched a book representing the unheard voices of the Anglophone crisis.
The publication which is written for the ordinary Cameroonian of any work of life is the manifestation in print of many voices screaming from a crowd (the Anglophone war).
Titled “In the eye of the storm, between the devil and the deep blue sea, the unheard voices of the Anglophone war in Cameroon”, the book, which was written by the Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa consists of 9 chapters and 173 pages.
‘Listen to my voice, hear my scream, did anyone steal the economy of Anglophone Cameroon?, hell on earth: whatsapp conversations in the context of the Anglophone war, poetry of war, a bloody picture is worth a thousand words’ are themes of some of the chapters in the publication.
Talking to the CEO of CHRDA, Barrister Felix Nkongo Agbor at the close of the book launch said the author is the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa representing unheard voices of people who have been victims of the crisis and who have also seen the crisis from a different perspective. “We felt that we should capture these voices because traditionally we always have the heard voices so we felt that the unheard voices should also be listened to. So they are the ones whom CHRDA captured their voices. It’s no particular individual that is the author of this work but rather the organization”
“The message we want to pass across through this book is that enough is enough. A lot of people are suffering, people have suffered and people will continue to suffer but one reads the book, they can at least talk to whoever has any power to find a solution to put an end to the crisis. There is a time for everything and this is the time for us to find a solution. We did not do any blame games in the book but we believe that all of us in one way or another might have made errors but it’s high time that we find a solution.
Contributing to peace and development, the CEO of CHRDA stated that the book seeks to find a solution to the ongoing crisis as it is suitable for any person in any work of life who can in their own little way contribute to peace and development. The stories are humanized and it tells us that peace is for everyone.
According to Barrister Nkea Emmanuel, the book is a way of documenting evidence for some future legal exercise. “We have had victims, we see them but nobody is documenting and so this is a very innovative way of reporting and keeping trace for future references”.
At the introductory section of the book, it is important to note that the author (CHRDA) states that the book brings the reader face-to-face with specific members of the local population and the trauma they have suffered. It illustrates that nothing good comes out from war and that anything else is preferable to war. The principal objective of the book is to provide a medium for specific individuals to speak for themselves or for a group they might represent or epitomize in order to unburden themselves and begin to heal. It is also explained that the book is written to raise awareness of the daily life of people behind ‘enemy lines’. To evoke sympathy for their plight and to build solidarity their human and social cause in Cameroon and abroad
Finally the author explains that the book was written to awaken the reader to the reality that the Anglophone war will end someday and a new journey will begin; the journey to economic stability, democracy, governance and the rule of law.