It is old news now that La Republique du Cameroun has “rejected” the Canadian-Facilitated Process which was meant to be the product if the pretalks.
Since the “shocking” communiqué international partners have continued to “help” Ambazonian stakeholders to pursue other avenues for a “solution” in the Ambazonian Liberation Struggle. One such avenue is the organisation of the “All Ambazonian Conference”, AAC (not) to be confused with the two previous namesakes?
As these lines are committed actions are underway to “ensure a broad participation” in order to show the international partners that the Ambazonia Liberation Struggle is universally supported among Ambazonians. Surely a tautology! Well, only if those international partners and the Ambazonian stakeholders were on the same page, and they are not!
“International partners” tend to be looking for “peace” which means the lack of active conflict or fighting. They are not generally exercised about whether that means the citizens of those peaceful places are experiencing justice or injustice. That is why La Republique du Cameroun is able to commit the acts they have over the last few decades, and more intensely, the last six years, in Ambazonia and still be tolerated. Our international partners would love nothing more than for what La Republique calls “normalcy” to return to Ambazonia! Ambazonian stakeholders and leaders need to be aware that, putting it bluntly, most international partners may not be on the same page when it comes to the desire and insistence on the justice part of the issue. No matter how helpful, they are more than likely to be constantly nudging Ambazonians away from total independence. To them it is just a job and a feather in their current functionary’s cap if they achieve peace, even temporary peace. Ambazonian leaders need to deal with the issues from their own interest and avoid trying to attain thresholds set by those partners especially when La Republique is not being required to do anything. In the run up to the 1961 plebiscite the UK representative at the UN objected to the option of independence for Southern Cameroons though the UK remained prepared to present the façade of neutrality “in letting the people of Southern Cameroons decide their own fate.”
To their ends, various international partners have been helping a select few Ambazonian leaders to assimilate the idea that Ambazonia needs to impress the international community! This is where the “wide participation” being touted for the AAC is a dangerous problem to solve. On the face of it, it would indeed provide the evidence so that Ambazonia can call out the international community’s continued tolerance of La Republique du Cameroun’s stance. The questions remain: then what? What if they do and what if the international community condemns La Republique du Cameroun? What if La Republique simply ignores it and continues to play for time? Where would that take Ambazonia?
That was assuming the best for the AAC with the recommended attendance. There is worse and sadly that worse is more likely and much more in line with the international partners’ outlook. They want a broad participation to be the whole spectrum of “people born in Ambazonia” from proponents of “one Cameroon” through federalists to independentists. Though it would be a paradox for the extreme end of this spectrum to attend an All Ambazonian Conference, it is not beyond imagining that La Republique would quite like Ambazonians to be bugged down in more costly debate while they continue to kill our people as they have done through out the various “processes”.
Even if the conference went perfectly it is hard for it to be able to resolve strongly in favour of independence were the wide spectrum to participate. “Federalists” such as Munzu are on record that they were waiting for the fighting to “subside” when “the antagonists” realise they can’t win. They [federalists] would then come in as “the happy median”. One of the boasts in that outing was that Munzu was an “insider” of the workings of the international system! Would Dr Munzu be part of the wider participation? Would Balla? Would that be because they represent any constituencies or just that they have high profiles with the international community? What about the nebulous CDN? Is this the time juncture?
Does Ambazonia want to start making concessions even before any remote possibility of negotiations with La Republique du Cameroun? Should those concessions be to parties who not only have folded arms and callously ignored the crimes against humanity but, in some instances declared their willingness to wait for the opportunity before coming in to “negotiate federation”?
Maybe participants at an All Ambazonian Conference need to be Ambazonian first. This leads to the question of who an Ambazonian is. Are they simply anyone born in Ambazonia or do they need to be actively pro Ambazonian Restoration? Which of these is the most needed at this juncture in our Liberation Struggle?
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