Waning politics in Cameroon, disarmament not even a contributor in solving Anglophone crisis
2 min readWhy most we start from the top to the downward part of the story in Cameroon? Why should the government not thought it wise to firs all fine a concrete solution to the Anglophone problem before creating a disarmament commission? Who and how are we going to do that? A Cameroonian ought to wonder after hearing the creation of disarmament commission as they did when the Bilingual commission was created!!! Yes, commissions are being created every day, what is/are the use of these commissions when the only thing that can solve the Anglophone problem is dialogue or negotiations before disarmament.
The creation of disarmament commission by the presidential degree No 2018/719 of 30 November 2018 to establish the National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee can be describe by political scientist in the spirit of the Republic as radical blunder of the year. This is because there is no reason to create disarmament commission when the war is ongoing and there is no agreement between the parties involved to do so.
It is worthy to note that in the Northwest and the Southwest regions of Cameroon, there has been political ups and downs since 2016 till date which has claimed thousands life indiscriminately. The war is still ongoing between the Cameroon government and the separatist fighters (Ambazonian Defense Forces (ADF) and no side is showing signs of surrendering.
The essential issue is that the Cameroon government should or is ought to creates a suitable environment for dialogue or Negotiations with the conflicting party than creating a disarmament commission. In every war, for disarmament to take place, both parties must come into an agreement so that the weaker party should not be ill-treated by the stronger party. Likening the situation of the Anglophone regions of Cameroon and the creation of disarmament commission, there is no similarity because the people who are fighting do not trust the Cameroon government. The question is how can they trust the government? Only one answer can quench the taste of asking, that is faith can be built between the both parties through dialogue and agreement. The creation of this commission will also entails double or useless expenditure for the government because there is lack of trust between Cameroon government and separatist fighters.
We therefore urge the Cameroon government to rather involve in useful and meaningful dialogue with the separatists fighters before creating the Disarmament Commission. See the full decree by the president of Cameroon below
Berinyuy Cajetan is the founder and publisher of Human Rights and Legal Research Centre (HRLRC) since 2017. He has intensive experience in strategic communications for Civil Society Organizations, campaign and advocacy, and social issues. He has an intensive experiencing in human rights monitoring, documentation and reporting.
