Visit and declaration of the special representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Central Africa in Yaounde and encouragement of the government and the new legitimate Anglophone leaders for more efforts to stop the crisis.
Following the visit of Ambassador François LOUNCÉNY FALL, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in Central Africa, on the crisis in the anglophone Northwest and South-West Regions of Cameroon and his statement at the press conference held in Yaoundé on 12 April, CRM welcomes at last the United Nations’ attention to this continuing crisis, which is jeopardizing peace and stability of our country.
CRM considers that technical measures taken recently by the Government are in the right direction and in turn urges the Government to implement them fully and without delay.
However, CRM considers that these technical measures are not enough for a long-term solution to the underlying political problem that is periodically coming back and is well known to the authorities of our country. This problem concerns the need for concrete implementation of a certain degree of autonomy allowing concerned Regions to preserve their cultural identity inherited from “colonization” and, beyond that, allowing all Regions of Cameroon to manage their affairs and thus to promote their economic and social development.
CRM reiterates and supports the demand for the release of all those arrested in connection with this crisis, as well as the complete restoration of Internet beyond the University and certain administrations. Those measures, which would constitute an important move for appeasement, would undoubtedly lead to the normal resumption of activities in anglophone regions, in particular the resumption of school activities which disruption or interruption jeopardize the future of Cameroon’s youth in that part of the country.
There is a time for everything: a time for discord and confrontation and a time for appeasement and concord; a time for anger and insults and a time for tolerance and fraternal reunion.
As with all issues concerning our country and its people, CRM has been working, in a humble way, to find the best solutions to this crisis, without bias, suggesting the most appropriate responses to the expectations of anglophone populations and in the best interests of the Cameroonian nation. This is our understanding of political responsibility.
The Communication Department.
Yaoundé, April 18, 2017
