“Nothing less than federalism is going to succeed in stabilizing Cameroon”: Cardinal

In the Cardinal’s view, a federal system of government “should help put an end to the Anglophone crisis that has left more than 3,000 people dead and 700,000 displaced.”

France granted independence to French Cameroons in 1959. Two years later, British Southern Cameroons voted to join the former French colony. 

When the two independent entities merged, delegates from the Anglophone and Francophone regions of the country drafted a new Constitution, which made the Central African state a federation that was called the Federal Republic of Cameroon, comprising East Cameroon and West Cameroon, each with a Prime Minister and Parliament.  

However, in 1972, a new Constitution was drafted and the federal system of governance was abolished. The country’s name was also changed to what is now the United Republic of Cameroon. 

Anglophone regions of Cameroon, North West and South West, have been experiencing violence since 2016 after Francophone teachers and judges were sent to work in the historically marginalized English-speaking regions.  

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An armed separatists’ movement claiming independence for the so-called republic of Ambazonia emerged following the government’s crackdown on protesters.

In the RFI December 2 report, the 90-year-old Cardinal says that the upcoming regional elections will not end the Anglophone crisis. 

“It won't automatically solve the problem, no,” the Cardinal says, making reference to the regional elections in Cameroon planned for Sunday, December 6. The regional elections are provided for in the 1996 Constitution but they have never taken place. 

The December 6 poll will be an indirect ballot during which electoral colleges will choose 90 regional Councilors with limited powers, including 20 representatives of traditional chiefdoms.

Different opposition and separatist leaders have criticized the upcoming poll, with Cho Ayaba, a separatist leader, quoted as telling Reuters that separatists intend to seize officials who will be officiating the poll.   

On his part, former Presidential candidate, Joshua Osih has criticized the election saying, “If it had come in 1996, maybe it could have solved the crisis. But we are no longer at that level. The demands are beyond decentralization. People want to take care of their own territory,” 

In September, Bishop Abraham Kome of Cameroon’s Bafang Diocese said that the government’s failure to put in place “an electoral process that will clearly reflect the people's choice appears to be a scheme at the service of the ruling party with bitter experiences left to the majority of citizens.”

“Why has the current government produced such a deterioration in terms of mentalities and social welfare?” Bishop Kome posed.

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.