The last thread by which the LRC-Southern Cameroons failed union hangs is becoming clearer. Why else would LRC be willing to cough up 100m CFA to release “Sen.” Mundi? It turns out that last thread is the existence of “representatives” of Southern Cameroons in LRC’s parliament. Without them LRC could not sustain an argument in any international setting.

LRC’s first mistake was to “win” the Foumban conference. That lead to their failure to bother to get the union signed off and recorded with the UN. That means the entity known as LRC is the French Cameroon which gained “independence” from France on January first 1960.

The win at Foumban kicked off a scam which has relied on the implied consent of Southern Cameroonians for the de facto union to keep going. It kept going but apparently the proxy French colonialist in LRC had no idea as they kept multiplying their mistakes. Even so they remained lucky in that Southern Cameroonians basically would have settled for a fair and just country and the lack of a treaty would not have mattered. Southern Cameroonians could be argued to have been willing to postpone that fair country into the future as they stoically “accepted” all LRC’s provocations with only minor complaints. Of course the international community has always been happy to “let sleeping dogs lie” to avoid resolving any problems that interfere with the messy balance of self interest.

Mr Ahidjo committed the first error in abolishing the federation which would have lead to a fair country that would have rendered the missing treaty of union unnoticed. Of course he did not know but was lucky in that Southern Cameroons did not know either, and, in any case, appeared determined to settle for even a promise of fairness in future!

Enter Mr Biya in 1982. Having exhausted his honeymoon in less than three years he decided to consolidate and commit the final major error…namely to effectively withdraw LRC from the union-without-a-treaty by reverting the name to LRC! Luck still held as Southern Cameroons persisted in hoping for a fair country in the future and accepting unbelievable doses of provocation. Mr Biya probably clocked on to the problem soon as he set up a patronage system to bring Southern Cameroons “elites” to provide the “representation” that justified the de facto union.

Mr Biya was basically not up to his dictatorial powers as he let his system sweep over him and create its own automatic corrupt tribalistic machine. He had too little control so when the “Anglophone Crisis” came he could not deal with it. He was already a patient but remained “in charge” so nobody could carry out the really simple negotiations that would have quelled it. Instead the situation quickly got out of hand to the point where LRC concluded they had to “win” through violence. Fast forward now… LRC has been fighting a losing genocidal war to preserve a union they not only did not sign legally but themselves dissolved when they withdraw even from the de facto union. There is no way for LRC to negotiate as they have nothing to negotiate with. They need to win but they cannot because even they, contrary to their pretensions, think of Southern Cameroons as foreign!

Last Friday for the first time in many years, LRC did not put any effort into showing that “normalcy” existed in Ambazonia. Even their most fervent quack experts have given up and now call Ambazonia “Ambazonia”, rather than NOSO.

Though “NOSO” was offensive it was also one of a long list of LRC shooting themselves in the foot when attempting to deal with Ambazonia.

Now to Ambazonians. Whether by design or coincidence the Mundi arrest points the way. All to the individuals closing to be representing Southern Cameroons constituencies, which they refer to using NOSO need to be dissuaded to make it clear that it is no longer even a de facto union. After that the various Ambazonian groups need to urgently confer to set up and agree their institutions.

Most Ambazonian groups have talked of collaboration. They need to take it seriously and urgently get on, looking at Somaliland as a model. To spell it out, our country can start functioning without waiting for formal recognitions.

Concurrently they need to declare all LRC “chefs de terre” who remain in Ambazonia personae non grata, giving them the opportunity to decamp voluntarily.