As one collaborator is laid to rest, La République du Cameroun has tried to milk the grief a poor family for all its worth in their vain attempt to steady a sinking ship. They have “honoured” the person who, in life, was subjected to frequent intimidation until he could be brought into their tent, with a post-humus decoration.
Yes someone somewhere must value trinkets from a corrupt incompetent patronage which no right thinking individual with any dignity or self-respect would approach without nose-clamps!
As if by magic, a video has surfaced to “prove” the division between “North West” and “South West”! Apparently there is “shock and consternation” that a certain long-time enabler auxiliary of La République “represented the position of the South West against the North West” in the “Grand Dialogue National” of La République du Cameroun. In the gathering of collaborators and enablers purporting to represent Southern Cameroons there was “disagreement” on Federation! This is such a vacuous idea it is tedious to even contemplate it!
Their patron La République du Cameroun has sacrificed many of their poor citizens in a war which they declared partly to stop any mention of the word “federation”!
Their dreaded paramilitary “judicial” SED is known to have summoned many a person to explain their utterance of the very word!
If anyone has ever listened to their speeches, the single constant has been “the form of state is not up for discussion” – even if the collaborators/enablers had agreed it would have been void!
Since the 1984 secession triggered by Mr Biya’s withdrawal of La République du Cameroun the from the already-dubious “United Republic of Cameroon” it became null and void to discuss anything Southern Cameroons in a context implying that La République du Cameroun had any jurisdiction over Southern Cameroons. HCB 28/92 made it clear that La République has no jurisdiction in Southern Cameroons so the collaborators’ quarrels in Yaounde would never be binding on Southern Cameroons especially as they were all chosen by the “illegal forceful Occupier” and not representatives or believers in Southern Cameroons. The Fifth Column purporting to represent Ambazonia!
Ambazonia News sees no merit in the “shocking video” other than a chance to restate the legal position and point out the aim of the revelation. This video needs to be ignored as the participants were not representing Ambazonia and their debates or arguments would not be binding. Mukete did not have a mandate from anyone in Southern Cameroons to represent the “South West” and should not have carried any voice in merely making a one-person statement. That single-person argument should then not have been assumed as the “voice” of the “South West”, much less Southern Cameroons, to the extent that they then “invented special status”. Never mind that the entire body of the meeting had no mandate in the first place!
This is an opportunity to point out the fake division orchestrated by La République du Cameroun in order to control our country through a patronage system where individuals with personal interests hold rallies and make speeches claiming that people who have lived together and in peace for all time are against each other. Southern Cameroons became West Cameroon and had several changes of government without any idea of North West nor South West! These demarcations were created and played on by La République du Cameroun and do not prevail in the Ambazonian Liberation Struggle.
Here is what to do about the “shocking evidence of the video”: read the evidence behind the “evidence” and then rejoice that our Liberation Struggle is going so well that such a convoluted and vacuous scenario is being dredged up to attempt to revive a non-existent division!
The Most High God is the Watchman of our Nation and is seeing us through.
IG President Marianta Njomia is inviting Ambazonia patriots to dare with her to oust La Republique du Cameroun from our territory.
Seven years is enough. Our cause is just and we must have the courage of our convictions to do what it takes to go over the line. With the recent massacres in Ambazonia there is no argument about La Republique du Cameroun having crossed the Rubicon on numerous occasions.
While the IG is not conceding the force of argument, in true Ambazonian character, there must come a time when the argument of force imposes itself. That time is now.
But Ambazonia has great talent which can optimise our argument of force so that it is truly listened to in a way that the previously valid force of argument wasn’t.
Collaboration is a corner stone of the Ambazonian Liberation Struggle. Be it Building Bridges between Diaspora stakeholders and GZ ARFs, Complementary Commitment to synchronise the various sacrifices and efforts of diaspora and GZ ARFs or other practical and obvious aspects of “having your brothers’ back”, it all seems common-sense when reflected on.
The last fortnight in Big Babanki [Kedjom Keku] provides a salutary, and possibly timely, lesson for reflection, especially as carpet bags are being unfurled in certain quarters in the vicinity of the Ambazonian Liberation Struggle. Instead of victimising the women enough for them to take to the streets to voice their upset, any ARF involved in “taxing” should have valued the fact that their survival on our whole territory is mainly thanks to the good will and sympathy of our citizens before applying the very intimidation tactics that the Enemy has failed with over more than six decades. Maybe it is worth outlining the collaboration that needs to be taking place on GZ.
The Restoration Forces need to be on survival terms such that each group knows that they all survive together and shares intelligence and support to back-up neighbouring groups, even if they are not “united”. They do not need to be united to know that their survival and success would be vastly improved by the their “having each others’ backs”. Enemy militias should never “surprise” any Ambazonia Restoration Forces again. Instead groups should routinely share and update live movement and locations of enemy forces, ensuring that if they are able engage, that the enemy does not have the freedom to roam our hills and valleys with relative impunity. Such intelligence sharing will be the sole property, ideally of the local GZ groups, who for the purposes need to know, for one thing, that strict control of its circulation would improve security.
Just as intelligence saves their lives, they should do all they can to ensure that our civilians never consider a choice between them and the enemy, but instead rely on their protection as citizens of Ambazonia. In the case of the Big Babanki tragedy, the enemy would never have had the daring to deploy in the village had the idiotic media not provided “evidence” of discord between the civilians and the ARF in the area. Whatever the actual truth of the media, the effect was that the enemy was afforded a window to deploy there by the mistakes of over pressurising the civilians then producing footage which was scarcely believable as anything other than enemy propaganda media. Ambazonia News still cannot “credit” the offending media as the work of genuine Restoration Forces.
To be clear: GZ Ambazonia Restoration Forces must make sure that they collaborate with the civilians for their mutual survival. The ARF must be able to answer in the affirmative the question whether our civilians’ encounters with them are better than their encounters with enemy forces. Whenever, rather if ever, the answer wavers from “yes”, the ARF must adjust as needed.
As our ARF continue to learn from experience we all continue to trust that The Most High God is the Watchman of our nation.
IG President Marianta Njomia is inviting one and all to the regular APP next weekend.
In line with Accountability and Action, you will be updated on efforts in progress even in this time of talking about talking.
The APP is open to all Ambazonian Independentist stakeholders in line with the IGs Building Bridges protocol. We will succeed together better and faster than individually.
The IG continues to advocate Complementary Commitment to the Diaspora and GZ. The Ambazonian Liberation Struggle will succeed through the joint application of financial, material and time contributions from the diaspora to complement the commitment of the Ambazonian Restoration Forces and GZ civilians to actualize our independence and decolonisation.
Our tiny droplets 💦 will make the ocean to flush La Republique du Cameroun off Ambazonia’s neck.
We trust in the Most High God as the Watchman of our nation.
If people like our Brother Wasaloko and politicians passing for pastors like “The Not So Reverend Fonki Samuel Forba” truly desire to help Cameroun tell these big lies about Amba torturing these women in Babangki, why can’t they even do a bit of homework? Why not try to make the lies “intelligent lies”? When the PCC Moderator puts out a statement saying he has ascertained the veracity of the video, and lavishly cites the Word of God to back his lies, why can’t do just a little homework first?
Let me point only to a few basic facts to show that these pictures of “women tortured and injured by Amba” are as fabricated as the claims about abduction by Amba. Come with me:
1) Checkout the woman in greenish “kabah”. The one holding up one arm and hiding her face. The home in the background of her picture is built of plank or “karaboat” as our people would say. Well, Babangki does not have “karaboat” houses. These are generally found in the Southern Zone.
2) Take another picture… the one of the woman whose back has lacerations reportedly from the torture and whipping by Amba. Well, her picture is filmed inside or near another “karaboat” house. Not Babangki, definitely.
3) Now, checkout all the women on the video reportedly showing women in Babangki under Amba captivity. Crosscheck every woman in the pictures of women displaying injuries in the photos and not a single one of those with injuries is anywhere on the video or screenshots of same.
4) The “yellow” legs, black feet and hands of the woman with injuries to her two legs and the other “yellow” legged woman being attended to by a man kneeling cannot be identified in the video or screenshots. They should have been easy to find given their distinctive “yellow” bleached legs.
5) A big effort was made by the producers of this propaganda to mask the metadata (dates when original was taken and where). Yet, and as true as there is no perfect crime, all the pictures showing injured women were taken a long time before the Babangki video screengrab.
6) Finally, according to Google Images, the propagandists who most likely produced and first posted these pictures all work as propagandists for La Republique du Cameroun. Google Images shows that it is the online outfit known as “A Better Cameroon” whose executives include a certain Clovis Onga Naseri (of Disarmament Fame) that uploaded several of the pictures first.
La Republique can keep trying, but tell them I said “wuna dross di show”.
Ntumfoyn Boh Herbert (Yindo Toh) Spokesperson, MoRISC
After the talk and speculation about this subject in recent weeks, it was instructive to attend a presentation by an experienced expert on the subject of a referendum on Sunday 21st May 2023. The presentation was part of the nebulous Southern Cameroons Stakeholder Platform, SCSP’s campaign to promote collaboration for negotiation.
The expert, Henry Atem, for it was he, made a detailed, comprehensive and informative presentation on the mechanics and methods of referenda citing examples from the past.
He distinguished a referendum from a plebiscite or popular consultation, explaining that a referendum would usually rely on the laws of the “state” and be requested by the state, though it could be facilitated by the UN. The international community has never imposed one anywhere before. Furthermore, the international community cannot guarantee the outcome and usually only relies on the will of the belligerents. Plebiscites do not require the state’s laws but still do, in practice, rely on the will and motivation of the belligerents. The conclusion from this segment is that a referendum will not happen in Southern Cameroons unless La Republique du Cameroun requests one from the UN. The question then arises when would LRC be motivated to make such a request?
The next important concept was MHS – Mutually Harmful Stalemate to paraphrase(?). That is a situation where the opposing sides reach a stalemate of mutual hurt where neither can accept/bear their losses. That explains the apparent callousness of the international community as they usually calculate this stage in a conflict before deeming it is worth intervention. The logic is that that is when the belligerents are the most motivated to negotiate meaningfully to end the conflict as they are enduring unbearable losses. The question here is similar. Is the Ambazonian Liberation Struggle at its MHS?
When asked about the impact of the Ambazonian recent focus of referendum talk, Comrade Atem answered that ” The debate on a referendum could harm the Ambazonian Liberation Struggle by ‘consuming its oxygen'”. Though he would not be more explicit Ambazonia News deduced that the point was that a referendum would only happen after Ambazonia moved LRC to the MHS – and that is not by discussing the merits, undoubted though they are, of a referendum but by intensifying the actions that brought the tentative moves out of LRC to the point where talk if a referendum is fashionable.
The second in the sequence of debates is slated for 28/5/23 Ambazonia News understands. Can’t wait.
IG President Marianta Njomia addressed Ambazonian citizens and other stakeholders on Friday 19th May 2023, considering many of the current issues and ideas in circulation in the Ambazonian sphere.
She commended the resolve and determination of the Ambazonian Restoration Forces and Civilians on Ground zero, calling for the Diaspora to complement those Ground Zero efforts by making their own sacrifices in finance and other resources.
She acknowledged the efforts of many Diaspora Ambazonian stakeholders in sensitizing and discussing possible negotiation routes toward the resolution of the Ambazonian Liberation Struggle, routes which would carry the merit of saving lives. She urged Ambazonian stakeholders to have as wide a view as possible as she cautioned that every route out of the conflict that involved negotiation or other parties would depend on some action or agreement by LRC or her allies. Thus far, no signs have emerged that LRC would volunteer any such actions and, in fact, LRC’s previous limited and shy movements have all been prompted by the pain of the action that the ARF’s have produced.
This logic left only the one option for how Ambazonians should proceed, regardless of whether they hope for dialogue and negotiations or ground victory, as long as they wanted to achieve an independent state of Ambazonia and that is to “massively empower the ARF’s”.
The President pointed out that dialogue with La République du Cameroun has a big obstacle in the knowledge that La République du Cameroun prefers to talk in a perspective of “Anglophone Crisis” where the Ambazonian Liberation Struggle would be considered and treated as an internal conflict, whereas every Ambazonian group aims for Total and Unconditional Independence for Ambazonia. This obstacle dictates that “Action on the ground” has a more urgent role to play to shift LRC away from such a position. In that case, she asked, “Could the Resources being deployed to convene and run conferences to discuss negotiation strategies be more effective deployed on Ground Zero Empowerment?”
Below is a text of the address:
My dear distinguished Ambazonian brothers and sisters,
Patriots of our God ordained Ambazonian Liberation Struggle,
The Ambazonia Restoration Forces and all Ambazonian Liberation Fighters,
The Interim Government Cabinet, County Chairs and LGA Chairs,
Most reputable international socio-political exponents and institutions,
I greet you all in the name of our Ancestors and the Custodians of the Ambazonian Territory.
Tomorrow will be 20th May 2023.
In Ambazonia there may be a few people attempting to persuade our citizens that they should march in commemoration of “unity” between the “neighbouring” people of the Former UN Trust Territory of French Cameroon and we The people of Former UN Trust Territory of British Southern Cameroons.
Let me resound this once again that LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN gained her independence on 1st January 1960 from France and acquired an internationally recognised boundary and territory with the name “La République du Cameroun” and membership of the UN.
For over a year after LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN was established, British Southern Cameroons, now Ambazonia, was negotiating her own independence modalities with various international partners and holding a vibrant and informed debate on the territory. There were views expressed on the nature of the Association with La République du Cameroun including a range from “loose federation” verging on a confederation to “reunification”, though both ends of the spectrum remained based on a federation.
History lead to the Federal Republic of Cameroon in 1961 on the basis of two states of equal status, the equal status being deliberately safeguarded due to the known imbalance in terms of demography and geography of the two states.
A succession of subsequent acts, which have since been established to be illegal, were perpetuated by the East Cameroon dominated government and eventually resulted in La Republic du Cameroun being reasserted in 1984. The rights or wrongs of those acts notwithstanding, the effect was to revive the two pre-plebiscite states. Recall that La République du Cameroun was a recognised UN member with a defined territory and international borders. This revival of La Republique du Cameroun was judged in the Bamenda High Court ruling HCB 28/92 as a secession from the “Union” whose effect was to reassert the sovereignty and territory of British Southern Cameroons, called Ambazonia. The legal inference and written article of the judgement included the conclusion that La Republique was illegally and forcibly occupying Southern Cameroons. To date that rulling and all its conclusions have not been called into question or challenged.
LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN’s military and administrative presence in Ambazonia has therefore been an illegal INVASION since 1961.
The discussion on this legal background explains why the Ambazonian Liberation Struggle can not be solved unilaterally within La République du Cameroun.
We Thank the all Ambazonian Restoration Forces and fighters, members of civil society and all civilians on ground zero for their resilience over the past seven years and beyond.
My mami and my papa them, I salute wona all. I thank wona for wona perseverance and tie heart for this time wey LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN di burn wona houses them, kill weer pickin them. Wona don show them say Ambazonia na we own country wey we go do weti wey ee correct for we and we pickin them. I di thank all for how wey wona don respect this first day for lockdown this 20th May
As LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN prepare to rub our noses in it again on 20th May we continue to shun and reject this grotesque charade. Dancing on graves has never been more literal!
Our outrage and grief are huge and well known even if we limit our view to the current round of crises.
We, all the Ambazonians need to own the sovereignty that HCB28/92 established in the restoration of our statehood. Yes, we own the right to our existence, inheritance, and destiny; The right to our external self-determination as a people.
While the best peace through justice solution to the Struggle would be a negotiated political settlement with LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN, we must be clear that it is no longer possible to address the root causes, never mind solve it unilaterally within LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN. It is understood that LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN still hangs on to the hope that the Struggle is an “Anglophone Crisis” and that explains their inconsistent diplomacy in flip-flopping on negotiations and burning bridges on at least the lst two attempts by international partners, viz Switzerland and Canada.
LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN is an external state as per the 1st January 1960 borders and territory and therefore does not dispose of the sovereignty to “grant” a “special status” or “administer” any part of Ambazonia without the consent of us, the people of Ambazonia, who hereby notify the international community and the UN that our consent has been actively withdrawn through our people’s resolute observance of abstention from LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN control through the seven years + of regular Monday ghost towns -“country Sundays” throughout the Ambazonian territory and other spontaneous instances, to withdraw our consent variously for “11th February” and “20th May” celebrations on our streets or anywhere on our territory.
We have further resolved to assert our dignity and sovereignty through our own community schools and education and call on the international community to help our citizens to activate their decolonisation and self-determination by running our own education system to ensure the development of our children and future generations, without the control of LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN.
“To you the people of Ambazonia”
As a peace-loving people we look forward to a future where we are able to co-exists as neighbours in our two distinct sovereign states of Ambazonia and LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN, with the acceptance that we do not have to be in the same state be it unitary or federal. We are very confident that our people would overwhelmingly choose to chart our own path if the international community would seek our sovereign voice, the WILL of the Ambazonian people, in a vote, say in a future referendum. We believe that such a vote could save a lot of lives and livelihoods but we have proved that we are not just relying on the legal righteousness of our cause but will keep mobilizing our people to exercise our right to self-defence. We firmly hold the moral high ground.
Our forefathers had good faith and sought to live with a “brother” people. They were not mistaken, as we have established that there was informed debate about how the “Federation” would play out, nor, therefore, were they unaware! It was the “brothers” duplicity that crashed the federation and left the relationship in ruins.
Even so, having learnt from the errors of the past, we propose to take our destiny and future into our own hands with new hope and excitement at forging our own future, drawing the benefits of our own effort and mitigating the pitfalls of our mistakes.
In either case, our growth is our prerogative.
To the diaspora…
It is clear that LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN is not seeking to negotiate anytime soon, as it is clear that they would have to first accept us a separate legal state due to their own secession in 1984 as per HCB 28/92. Regardless of our good intentions in seeking a negotiation we must be realistic that a negotiation is very unlikely in the present circumstances as LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN would have to own up and negotiate from a 1960-61 perspective, when we were separate international entities.
We commend the new found urge to hold conferences and we urge our compatriots of fellow stakeholders to have a wider outlook in all their deliberations in these conferences. Better still we should think long and hard about the resources we are deploying to organise and run these multiple conferences with redundant subjects and consider how much more effective they would be if deployed on the ground.
When it comes to LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN we all know that their track record means they have nothing to offer our people except marginalisation, corruption, and bleak future with no prospect of socio-economic progression.
We must retain our openness to a sensible peace through justice solution to end the war with a sovereign Ambazonia, but we must be aware that we need a strong position and that this position could be made even stronger and better, but it is not as bad as some would make-believe in the mistaken and futile effort to lure us back to servitude in a corrupt LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN. Our people are the ones who need to live those lives!
Our position is certainly not so bad that we would revert to the erstwhile posture of second-class citizens.
We must commend our effort and resolve in the last 7 years as they have lead to LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN tentatively consenting to steps to solve the Struggle through dialogue and negotiation. First they tried the Swiss process even though they were not convinced our cohesion would hold, hoping instead that the talk of dialogue would divert our attention from the ground action and dissipate the momentum of our RF’s and civilians. That did not work out for them as they continued to suffer and feel the pain of our efforts.
They tried terminating the Swiss process, probably after concluding that the effect of it was rather to maintain some level of communication and collaboration among our various groups and show up their [LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN’s] unreliability as a diplomatic partner.
They then tried one last bid in the Canadian Pre-talks, this time sending actual representatives who only managed to betray their expectation and hope that our cohesion would not hold.
Ironically, we benefitted from a combination of the COHESION of our participating stakeholders in Canada AND the CONSISTENCY of both those participating stakeholders and more distant stakeholders as both continued to make the single and simply point that they were focused on the Total and Unconditional Independence of Ambazonia. The attempted divide and rule had once again only demonstrated the collective, even if separate resolve of our diverse Independentist Groups. Our Ambazonian Liberation Struggle proved itself, once again to be God-ordained!
When LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN gave up again frustration, this time setting fire to diplomatic bridges in public, a wider range of international partners must have realised that their route to solving the conflict and security in the Gulf of Guinea lies in relying on the Ambazonian side. To be fair to LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN, they have been clear throughout that they preferred any dialogue to be an extension of their infamous “Grand National Dialogue”, or more simply, that the Ambazonia Liberation Struggle should be cast as an internal crisis within LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN.
In all these aborted attempts it is important to realise we cannot overstate the importance of the resilience and firm resolve of our ARFs and civilians as they continued to hold the fort where it mattered the most. We keep saying 21 gun salute until it sounds cliched but we must take this opportunity to underline, if they did not know it, that they are literally bearing our homeland with their blood and determination. We must find a way to say more than 21 gun salute. Maybe that way is to stop saying and do with our complementary commitment – make our financial commitment more reliable so that we can complement this colossal effort of our RFs and civilians in the face of LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN military’s intimidation.
We should now consider why, apart from the option of review of the failed UN decolonisation process of the Southern Cameroons, 3 most significant options through which the Ambazonian Liberation Struggle would end in our favour.
1. LITIGATION: We could win a case in the international court of justice – on the basis of the various and numerous breaches by LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN since our fore-fathers took the leap of faith to throw in their lot with LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN.
2. REFERENDUM: We could win a referendum – the international community could supervise a referendum, which we are confident we would win. This option would appear to be much-talked about as international partners continue to make up their minds on the evidence of LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN’s behaviour in the diplomatic arena.
3. RESISTANCE non-stop: We could intensify our effort on the ground and compel LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN to admit defeat and withdraw (hence self-decolonisation) or agree to either the LITIGATION or REFERENDUM options.
The resistance option, unlike the litigation and referendum options, depends solely on us and is an indispensable catalyst to the Arbitration and Referendum options
The IG there recognizes all three potential options but reiterates the DUAL strength of the Resistance option, as both a solution option to end the war and an indispensable catalyst for adoption of the other two options – Litigation and Referendum.
The IG will prioritize on RESISTANCE as the most determinant solution option per our FUND-FIGHT-FREE vision rather than over preaching on solution options that might rather delay our journey to Buea or nurse false hopes that the war has come to an end, hence detailing our commitment to be CONSISTRENTLY resourceful towards sustaining the RESISTANCE until external self-determination is attained.
We have a very small extra step to take, but time is of the essence, and we must take it.
It is our duty to empower our RFs and civilians to actualise our dignity and sovereignty by decolonising not only education as they are through Community Education and other sectors but increase our economic independence by abstaining from LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN control in many more ways.
International partners must be clear that we are ready to go for it alone.
IG President Marianta Njomia has called on all Ambazonian Independentists to collaborate to intensify action on GZ as the only way forward, even for the newly popular idea of a referendum to resolve the Ambazonian Liberation Struggle.
Speaking at the launch of an event to promote Ambazonian citizens’ dignity against the La Republique du Cameroun 20th May celebrations, she welcomed the communication per se between various Ambazonian stakeholders as a great starting point but cautioned that referendum or negotiation depended on La Republique du Cameroun “agreeing” and that the only way they could be induced to agree to either was through the “maintenance of heat” on the ground. Other speakers on the occasion agreed, stating the could not bear to imagine the lot of Ambazonian citizens if the leaders took their eye off the ball to seek to fulfill the “advice” of ” international partners”.
The recent buzz, not to say dernier cri is the feverish preparation of various incarnations of an “All Ambazonian Conference” AAC. It would appear that the confusion that would have arisen from calling such a gathering “AAC” had not initially been apparent to the various “convenors”. The subject of convenors is big in itself, but more later, time permitting.
A little before this became really big and the thing, Ambazonia News discussed the concept of the All Ambazonia bit of the conference, raising questions on who the participants should be and why/how it could impact the conference and the larger Liberation struggle.
On the subject of Collaboration, which would clearly accrue from a conference of this sort, Ambazonia News has always advocated and once sketched the various combinations of collaboration that could foster and expedite the Liberation struggle. These reminders should be borne in mind when the next few questions and analysis/suggestions are considered. We must bear in mind also that nothing is linear in terms of cause and effect maybe apart, almost uniquely from the idea that if the Liberation Struggle loses momentum then LRC does not need to negotiate no matter how well attended and united an All Ambazonian Conference presents.
Ambazonian News Celebrates Collaboration … but
At Ambazonia News, having extolled collaboration, it would be odd to suddenly object. Collaboration will ensure that Ambazonia wins on the ground more quickly regardless of the machinations of international partners. This winning collaboration is in ensuring that all our restoration forces act in a coordinated fashion and back each other up at all times, regardless of what political faction backs them. As per a previous post by Ambazonia News, this collaboration should be through the local autonomy of the forces in realising that their literal survival relies on the support and trust of all their neighbouring restoration forces. They should be able to trust that LRC forces will not cross Ambazonian counties unchallenged to surprise any other Ambazonian county. At the very least there should be no surprises when it comes to the movements and locations of LRC militias in Ambazonia and so no restoration forces should be surprise victims of any LRC ambushes.
At this moment, the movement on organising political conferences needs to have zero influence on the ground collaboration which should always remain on the “life-and-death-trust” level sketched here as in previous posts. Ambazonia News would celebrate and promote any “AAC” which enhances the ground collaboration thus. The danger Ambazonia News would watch for is the “AAC for negotiation”.
This is where many “leaders” are deliberately posturing to be in the limelight for the sole purpose of being at a negotiating table with LRC. At best, this would be a pipe dream as LRC has formally dismissed any intention to attend any negotiations and cannot be made so to do by any international partners no matter how well-meaning. They may apply some sanctions or organise mentoring sessions with some Ambazonian stakeholders but those have no benefit in terms of progress towards Ambazonian Independence even if the flattery is irresistible! Those international partner mentors will melt into the ether if the momentum of the Liberation Struggle dissipates as LRC hopes.
The only good thing that mentoring and facilitation from international partners could/should be that the beneficiaries are so used to the flattery and so enjoy it that they realise why they are getting it … at least in part. This attention and flattery is due to the resilience and persistence of the ground forces, hence the assurance of this new importance status with the international partners relies on maintaining/improving ground success! That should be the virtuous circle. The risk is that the international partners create a sandbox for the Ambazonian political leaders where the latter can “safely” indulge in grandiose posturing while neglecting the ground to LRC’s benefit – ultimately leading to a situation where LRC, having already dismissed negotiations does not feel compelled. Ambazonia News posted previously quoting certain leaders declaring that LRC would be dragged to the negotiation table. Our hope at Ambazonia News is that some of those leaders do not see the sandbox they are in as a start of negotiations – LRC has dismissed negotiations AND the international community does not have the Ambazonian interests at heart and nor should they! What is their interest in Ambazonia? What is the mutuality? And what about the projected and already unfolding chaos in LRC? Wont it benefit Ambazonia? If and only if the there is the level of collaboration between the RF sketched above -and more! BUW have already been calling for other county RF to “draw” some of the LRC fire much along the lines of the collaboration sketched here!
The convenors who are they?
The Convenors should be the main players and beneficiaries of the Conference. They should be the people of Ambazonia exactly like it should have been the people of The Former UN Trust Territory of British Southern Cameroons who voted in 1961, having decided whether independence was or was not for them at the time. Just like then, a litany of mentors does not know better and while they can be mentors they cannot decide the time or timing, the agenda, the attendance or composition of the “All Ambazonian Conference”. The mentors’ mentoring should only be mentoring and no nudges or pressure to promote any timetable or agenda which could act against Ambazonian interests. The people of Ambazonia should. By definition Ambazonians are independentists. Independentists entities should represent the people who have, over the last seven years chosen independence by voluntarily abstaining from LRC activities, abstained from voting in LRC, started their community education to help them break LRC colonialism.
In conclusion collaboration in political circles can only benefit Ambazonian Independence if it leads to more collaboration among RFs on the ground leading to more victories on the ground. This first outcome would be the logical genesis of a strong negotiating position which need not actually rely on LRC’s choice to attend or not attend. In this scenario the AAC – or whatever they turn out to be called – bring together a coalition of independentists, who while ironing out political differences, still prioritise the Liberation struggle outside any sandbox. Over to our “Leaders” now to judge for themselves whether they are in a sandbox and what they will achieve from a “conference”.
The Most High God remains the Watchman of Ambazonia despite our mistakes. Let us choose the right collaboration. Ground Zero is not a sandbox
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