By Elah Geoffrey Mbongale
The former president of the Cameroon Bar Association has denounced government’s mismanagement of the Anglophone crisis, which resulted in massive demonstrations on Friday across the North West and South West regions.
In a video posted in two versions (French and English) on his official Facebook page, the former President of the Cameroon Bar Association, Barrister Akere Muna, holds the Government responsible for the tensions that are exacerbating in the Anglophone regions.
He released the videos a day after the Friday, September 22, 2017 mass demonstrations in most of the localities of the Northwest and Southwest regions and the explosions of improvised explosive devices in Bamenda and in Douala.
“I am talking to you at this late hour from my office, deeply saddened by the news that circulates on social networks and in the press concerning the events taking place in the North-West and South-West regions and in Douala. This is what happens when a government refuses to listen to the people. All the Cameroonians who saw these images surely noticed the peaceful reply of those who went down the streets, “he said at the beginning of his speech.
He said he was all the more saddened by reports of loss of lives following these demonstrations. “Like many other Cameroonians, from the beginning of the 1990s, I have recently insisted on the imperative nature of a sincere dialogue. Unfortunately, the Government’s response has been repression, cosmetic reforms. Teachers, lawyers who have expressed their legitimate concerns have been arrested or forced into exile. Physicians who only demanded dialogue were subjected to disciplinary transfer, humiliation. It is regrettable that the Government has not learned anything from the past and a party which has produced no result, ” Barrister Akere Muna lamented.
He also decried the pseudo multipartism and a “decentralization still awaited after more than two decades”.
“The people can no longer believe in their government. The youth are facing an uncertain future. In the immediate future, a genuine dialogue is needed. But before that, the rest of all those who have been arbitrarily detained must be released and also the real conditions must be put in place for the return of Cameroonians exiled abroad. For the success of genuine dialogue, the people must be at the center of all concerns. So that your concerns are taken into account, it is essential that your spokespersons or representatives come from those who live with you and understand your situation, “he advised.