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| Barrister Sam Ekontang Elad .Photo Credit:Chris Ambe |
*In the following exclusive interview,Barrister Sam Ekontang Elad,who was Chairman of the All-Anglophone Conference(AAC1) & AAC2 of 1993 and 1994 in Cameroon, advises Anglophones to speak with one voice.
* The pioneer Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) chairman also urges Anglophones to keep mounting pressure on President Paul Biya and be ready for a long walk.
*He says AAC3 will be time to tell the Biya regime that"if you don't act ,as they were saying in the '90s, then the Zero option would fit in"
*Says he’s still ready to support the Anglophone Struggle.
Barrister Elad sat down for this exclusive interview with The Horizon's Contributing Editor, Christopher Ambe Shu, last week.
Excerpts:
Barrister Sam Ekontang Elad, you were the chairman of the April 1993 All-Anglophone Conference (AAC) and later pioneer Chairman of the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC), now outlawed in Cameroon. You have been following the Anglophone crisis now for close to a year. What is your understanding of this crisis?
Barrister Elad: Thank you very much Mr.Ambe.The problems we are facing today are
not new. I would say they stem from the late appreciation of the problems which
existed since 1961. You remember the AAC complains bitterly about the
marginalization of Anglophones in this country. We had the Buea Declaration,
which spoke adequately then of the position of Anglophones. And that document
is still very relevant today. So the whole problem relates to the marginazation
of the English-speaking people of Cameroon. And it has resurfaced maybe because
the President of the Republic has realized -if he had not realized before now,
that there is, in fact, the marginalization of Anglophones.
The AAC of 1993 had as its main purpose to adopt a common Anglophone
stand in view of an announced Constitutional reform, which would help make
Anglophones feel more at home in Cameroon. Could you remind our readers of the
position the Conference adopted and how far it was implemented?
Permit
me to say the AAC was not meant to necessarily narrow Anglophones to take a
single position on the constitution. That conference spoke of the total
subjugation of a people who had freely joined the Republic of Cameroon and
these Southern Cameroons people had been subjected to discrimination and they
have been reduced to the level of second-class citizens. In fact, the AAC was a
statement to say No to what Francophone Cameroonians were/are doing to
Anglophones was/is wrong and totally contrary to the spirit of
reunification-which was that of equal partners in status was.
I understand that the AAC came out with some resolutions which you
intended to implement. How far did you go about that? In a nutshell, what was
the Buea Declaration?
It
is a document that details the points of discrimination Anglophones can point
to and say this is why we feel aggrieved. They listed for example that, in the
whole of the country almost all the divisions are headed by Francophone SDO’s.They
brought out the fact that, at the time none of the important ministries had be
headed by an Anglophone. It was a document that is still relevant today. It
would be useful for every Cameroonian to have a copy of that document and
realize that what we are saying now is the same thing compatriots had said in
1993.
Would you say the Buea
Declaration has ever been taken with seriousness by the Biya Government?
I
don’t think. What happened at the time was a strong expression by Anglophones that
we should have a system of government that is federal in character; a
government that would take cognizance of the existence of Francophone and
Anglophone ways of doing things. In fact, that this country is a product of
Anglophones-the British way of doing things and the French colonial heritage.
What has happened, to the best of my knowledge and I guess to the best of yours,
is the persistent pursuit of the French way of doing things to the total
detriment of the Anglophone-Anglo-Saxon culture.
And do you think, with the on-going crisis which seems to be
deepening, the Biya Government can now reverse this ugly trend?
The
spirit of reunification was that we should come together, adopt that which was
good in the French culture inherted and do same with the British culture inherited,
and see how to create better nation.Today, this is not what has happened! I am
absolutely convinced that the problems today reflect the persistent insistence
by the Francophone Regime of implementing and toeing the line of the French cause.
Politically,you are conscious.
I don’t doubt that. Why do you think Anglophones are treated as a subjugated people
instead of partners of equal status, as it was supposed to be by the successive
Francophone regimes?
I
have two opinions. One is that the authorities that designed the state of the
Republic of Cameroon in 1960 had no conception that we would ever be part of La
Republique. As a result, every thing they are doing take the position that If they
we joined them we must do things their way.
The
other position could be that Anglophone Cameroon is naturally wealthy. And you
know when a country colonizes another which is very rich, it tries to take all
the wealth, and suppresses the indigenes of the area it has colonized from
making a noise otherwise, they too would want to benefit from the resources
West Cameroon has.
I understand you gave up the leadership of this Anglophone struggle
long time ago but you still believe in the cause. How close you are to the
present leadership; some of the leaders want a federation and others want
nothing less than an outright independence for Anglophones? Have they been
contacting you for advice?
I
would say no. But we get in touch. I get their view points; sometimes I meet
some of the leadership and they express to me some of their ideas. But closeness,
in the formal sense that they come to say ‘OK Senior citizen or dear elder brother,
what do you think we should do hear? This has not happened; but from time to
time members of the new generation elite, the new leaders of the Anglophone struggle
reach me and we converse. You know some news media make public my ideas
concerning this country.
But why can’t you as the pioneer leader SCNC and the chair of the
1993 AAC invite them and give them some good advice?
Mr.Ambe,
we must appreciate that all of us get old and there is a point where you let
the young ones carry the struggle forward. Whenever I have the opportunity I do
suggest what should be done. But the time has passed when I should come forward
and say this is how it should be.
Human
life is dynamic, it is creative and you know the new generation is moving forward.
Let it be that way.
Should they come to you formally, are you going to give them your
support?
There
is no doubt about that. It is not if they come. I am there ready to give the
support!
The 1993 AAC, which you chaired, was boycotted by the then
Anglophone Prime Minister (Achidi Achu) and other Anglophone Members of Government.
I hear talk about the need for another all-Anglophone conference. If such a conference
were to hold today would you advise Anglophone members of Government, who are
so silent about this struggle as if they have taken an oath of sealed lips, to
participate effectively and not be pretentious?
I
would beg to differ with the proposition you have made.Mr. Benjamin Itoe was
very much one of the members of the document we produced for the AAC. So, one can’t say all Anglophone ministers
stayed away.Mr.Achidi Achu,in Bamenda during AAC2 presented the leadership of
the AAC with a goat. One can understand with his position as Prime Minister he
could not come down and say this or that. I know that he gave his support
behind-the- scene that we should go ahead, but not to jeopardize anything he
may have stood for. I want to say this:it could be me or you. If you are
appointed a minister today circumstances would compel you to stand up and say”
Oh, Cameroon is one and Indivisible.” The system that has been created compels
ministers to be loyal otherwise they would be expelled.
You know we have been plunged into this crisis because people have
been pretending. People who are supposed to be our leaders or true
representatives see black and say it is white for selfish interests. What is
wrong if people are true to themselves?
People have different approaches to solving problems.
I think the approach they (Anglophone Ministers) took was that let them advise
from the rear. I don’t see anything wrong with that. You wouldn’t expect the Members
of Government to come up and advocate for “Zero option”. I can’t negate them or
say they acted in bad faith.
We had ACC1 and AAC2. Do you think there is need for another
All-Anglophone Conference now?
Yes, there is that
need! That must be said without equivocation. In the 1990s when we said all-
Anglophone conference we probably did not mean it to be all-embracing as it
should be today. There is absolute need that Anglophones should speak with one
voice. AAC I and II were spectacular demonstrations of needs among Anglophone
people. At the time the resistance was not so much. But today the consciousness
has grown among our people, that such a conference, were it to hold, I think
that it would make a serious statement to Yaounde-that enough is enough.
But these
are the same problems that were articulated in the 1990s and we still have the
same government?
Yes but there will
be a new voice, a new determination, a new fire behind the conference to stand
up and say to the government, “Look, these are our problems if you don’t act,
as they were saying in the 90s then the
Zero option would fit in.”
We have to learn to
see what is happening in the rest of the world. In Spain, you have the Catalans
and the Government in Madrid. You see Catalonia declared the zero option-that
Catalonia would become an independent state…they understand the consequences.
Ok,here in Cameroon
the people who would want to adopt the zero
option should be bold enough; they should stand up and say this is what we
want..
Although as an
individual I am not so sure that the zero
option would be the best solution, because it is good to be united, but I
can see that producing results. Some people there in East Cameroon would say,”
Eh, take care. Our brothers over there feel so desperate and angry that they
are prepared to go independent”. It could bring a change.
Don’t you
think there will be a total crack down on the activists? The people have no
arms.
I think people, I
am talking of West Cameroonians should look at what is happening elsewhere and
learn. Nobody would urge the Catalans to go about carrying weapons. There is no
need to waste lives or spill blood. If the pressure mounts-look at what
happened in Eritrea, in several countries, South Sudan. These are examples. If
the pressure is put on the existing government, the consciousness of the
government would certainly bring about the needed change.
But the point I
want my compatriots to note is that, when ministers say “Cameroon is one and indivisible,” they are bound by their positions
to say such. That does not mean the other side should relent. They should keep
mounting pressure because somewhere along the line there will be exchange of
ideas.
In 1961,
Southern Cameroons through a UN-supervised plebiscite freely chose to enter
into a political union with La Republique du Cameroon. Article 102 of the UN Charter says that any
union treaty must be registered with the Secretariat of the UN and published by
it for it to be binding. This was not respected.
Can La
Republique du Cameroun, which became independent in 1960 and is a member of the
UN rightfully claim sovereignty over Southern Cameroons without a union treaty?
The issue of
legalistic interpretation is there .Yes there was no binding union treaty. They
(La Republique du Camerooun) have moved in to this side of the country and
captured it. We could resist; but for some now we have been regarded as part of
one nation. The way to solve that problem is either to bring to bear pressure
on the Yaounde regime to appreciate the fact that the terms of cohabitation are
not equitable or this element of dragging us as second-class citizens must
stop.
This
year-old Anglophone crisis sometimes has been characterized by violence,
vandalism and school boycott. What is your take on that?
I think
that all the measures that have been taken by the aggrieved populations are in order.
They may not be right, just or prudent but you see these are an angry people
expressing their frustrations. In some villages you ask school children why
they are not going to school and they tell you we don’t want this French system
of doing things. You see this Anglophone struggle is being planted in the minds
of children. There is no way Yaoundé can escape from the reality: that we
deserve our nation!
What
advice would you give to President Biya and his Government, which appear to be
silent on this matter?
I would not say
President Biya has been totally quiet. To a certain extent he may have
triggered partially the crisis, when he came up and publicly acknowledged that
there is an Anglophone problem. You see before his acknowledgement it would
have been almost treasonable for someone in Yaoundé to say there is an
Anglophone problem. The fact he did acknowledge it in a way told the world that
there is, indeed, a problem.
Perhaps, it is a
strategy on his part to remain quiet; perhaps it is a failure to appreciate the
magnitude of the problem. But the struggle is beyond one man; beyond the
President of the country. Whether they like it or not, the march of history is
set.
Some
pundits blame the UN for plunging Anglophones into this crisis.
Do you buy this opinion?
When I was chairman of the SCNC we led a delegation to UN.At the time
the UN scribe was Boutros Boutros Ghali .We
summoned late Dr. John Ngu Forcha and Honourable Solomon Tandeng Muna to come
join us at the UN,so that with their own voices they could tell world that what
they bargained to enter for in 1960-1 was not exactly what was on the ground
and they were asking the UN to step in and do something. The UN is a
multinational organization-that is to say they act upon the consensus of member
countries. No one country can take up the issues and impose on others. The UN
Secretary-General can not say Cameroon has burning problems, so let us send
troops there. It has to be decided by the Security Council. So for the UN to
step in the people of Southern Cameroons must agitate sufficiently to trigger
the UN to know that there is a crisis here that needs a resolution, that is a threat to peace. And I think that when
Anglophones demonstrate they, in fact, are doing the right thing to say “Look,
there is a problem. United Nations if you want us to die like the massacre in
Rwanda Ok your conscience will judge you. It is not that after events have
taken place then you come and say there was problem. What were you doing now?
What is your
reaction to the Government use of excessive force on Anglophones activists,
marching peacefully, on September 22 and October 1, which resulted to deaths?
I must say the
death of any citizen in this matter is highly regretted; it is unfortunate. But
there is something Americans call collateral damage-that is to say if there is
a struggle and you want to achieve an end it is not necessarily the point you
are targeting that become the focal point, there is collateral damage, other
issues that are not necessarily in the
focal point could be damaged. Now the Anglophones came out; I am happy they did;
I praise their bravery. Should I say they were wrong? No, because they are
doing the inevitable; it touches their souls. I am not saying they should go
carry guns .They knew what they had to do and the Government too has its
obligation to maintain law and order. It is dynamic which could result to
something.
Barrister
the present Anglophone leadership seems divided. If you are given the
opportunity to convene another AAC, would you accept the offer?
The issue of the
leadership-I must appreciate that there is a leadership vacuum. I know a number
of my friends hold that leadership is not an issue. There is a vacuum. But
would I as an individual imagine that I can aspire to that challenging position
of leadership? I doubt. First of all, age! Secondly there are dynamic young men
knowledgeable in these things than somebody who is approaching permanent
retirement. We need a young person in his 40s or 50s.But I will support
whatever they say that leads us to the struggle.
I would tell because I was
the leader of the SCNC at creation. The SCNC was formed in 1994 in Buea. We had
a meeting here in Buea and we had a colleague who was working with an
international organization, who said “Look, let us put this thing in the cloak
of a freedom struggle”. And we resolved in that meeting to change from
All-Anglophone Conference(AAC) to SCNC, aimed at restoring Southern Cameroons.
Was SCNC for
secession, because the Government of Cameroon tags it as such?
No. It was not for
outright secession.Now the question of secession was employed as a tactic to
tell the Government that our people would be prepared to go to that extent –the
zero option, if Government did not pay attention to legitimate cries of
Anglophones.
I would say that since
then the situation has worsened; the legal situation deplorable; it has gotten
worse so that things have not moved forward.
Now what would you
propose as the way forward, to get us out of this crippling crisis?
Anglophones have been in a
state of agitation for almost a year. I would caution Anglophone against hoping
for instant remedies; they should note that this struggle can last for years;
You see the people in Palestine have been fighting for their rights since
1948;so Anglophones must be prepared for a long walk, so that with faith, inevitably
their aspirations would come; there should be no fear, no relenting back; this
issue they are fighting for is self-evident; So let nobody try to say,” Look,
give up. When will it come?” They should continue in this path and as they see
things improving, they should intensify the pressure.
(NB:This interview was first published as lead story in The Horizon Newspaper,Yaounde-Cameroon,of Monday November 6,2017)
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