By Sah Terence Animbom
For the first time in six years of the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon’s North West and South West regions, separatist factions have come together and have expressed readiness to pursue a peace process with the government of Cameroon, mediated by Canada.
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, on January 20, 2023 issued a statement announcing a peace process aimed at resolving the ongoing crisis in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon:
Part of the statement read… “Canada welcomes the agreement by the parties to enter a process to reach a comprehensive, peaceful and political resolution of the conflict. The parties have also agreed to form technical committees to begin work on confidence-building measures.
The agreement to enter a formal process is a critical first step toward peace and a safer, more inclusive and prosperous future for civilians affected by the conflict.”
“We commend all parties for engaging in substantive dialogue. We encourage all stakeholders to support and work with the parties to advance and contribute to an inclusive process to reach a lasting and sustainable political settlement.”
“Canada has accepted the mandate to facilitate this process, as part of our commitment to promote peace and security and advance support for democracy and human rights. Our role also reflects Canada’s engagement to work with our African partners to build a better future for everyone.
“The parties to this agreement are the Republic of Cameroon, the Ambazonia Governing Council and the Ambazonia Defence Force, the African People’s Liberation Movement and the Southern Cameroons Defence Force, the Interim Government, and the Ambazonia Coalition Team. The parties further express the hope that other groups will join the process.’’
Following the issuance of this statement, several world leaders from across the globe including Pope Francis saluted the initiative while enjoining the parties to exercise patience and listen to each other in the process.
Things however turned bleak around the process when Cameroon’s minister of communication presented a release which many analysts say could not have been issued by him, dissociating the government of Cameroon from any peace process with any third party, stressing that the Major National Dialogue was already forum enough to solve the ongoing crisis.
In the statement released On Monday January 23, 2023, Cameroon’s government said it had not asked any country to mediate its conflict with Anglophone separatists, apparently denying a statement from Canada that it had been assigned to work on a peace process.
Part of the statement read… “the Cameroonian government has not entrusted any foreign country or external entity with any role of mediator or facilitator to settle the crisis,” it said in a statement that did not directly mention Canada.
The office of Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said it already held three meetings in Canada that included representatives from the government of Cameroon.
“We are in touch with the parties and our previous statement stands,” wrote spokesman Adrien Blanchard after the controversial release from Cameroon’s minister of Communication.
“Canada’s sole interest in this matter is a peaceful resolution and a safer future for all civilians affected by the conflict.”
The U.S. Embassy in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde said on Twitter on Monday that it welcomed Canada’s announcement of talks to resolve the crisis.
Despite the denial, top religious leaders from the English speaking regions threw their weight behind the Canadian government calling on all parties to the conflict to embrace genuine mediated dialogue to put an end to the crisis. This was a rare move that seemed to suggest that they are aware of the good will of some faction within the government that genuinely wants to put an end to the conflict while another faction seems to be bent on maintaining the status quo.
Some French language newspapers in Cameroon refers to Canada as trying to steal the political victory of Paul Biya, a narrative that only goes to prove that there is an issue of ego and insincerity among some government officials in Cameroon as far as resolving the Anglophone crisis is concerned.
Another argument raised by political analysts is that the Honourable Mélanie Joly is a seasoned diplomat with so much experience and could not have jumped to make such a statement had Canada not actually engaged talks with the government of Cameroon and other separatist factions.
While some diplomats The SUN has spoken with say the government seems not to be ready to actually talk with the separatist leaders, some government officials have continued to live in denial of the actual problems raised by the separatists, a situation that has now proven that Cameroon’s government may be more divided among themselves with regards to taking action to end the crisis than the separatist groups themselves.