NEWS ANALYSIS

By Peterkin Manyong, guest writer and publisher of The Independent Observer

 SCNC clandestine flag-hoisting: Mockery of genuine independence struggle

Ni John Fru Ndi: No Cameroonian ignores this name. Whatever weaknesses he may have as a man, no fair-minded Cameroonian can undermine what he did in the early 90s starting from the dare-devil launching of the SDF through operation “Ghost Towns and Civil Disobedience” to the 1992 presidential election and its aftermath.

John Fru Ndi himself is a man with a sense of purpose. The Biya regime which had never witnessed such raw courage thought he had foreign backing. He hadn’t. That is the direct opposite of what we are witnessing with the SCNC leadership or those who claim to be.

Of all the activities that can undermine a genuine liberation struggle, there is nothing as ridiculous as clandestine flag-hosting. Hosting a flag is a symbol of a nation state. The very next is to salute it. If a flag cannot be accorded any honour, there is absolutely no point in hosting one.

When you throw stones at someone and hide, you are effectively telling him that you lack the courage to confront or withstand him. Before proceeding with the psychoanalysis on the stone-throwing cowards, let us look at the crucial question: Is there an Anglophone Problem in Cameroon? Those who say there is isn’t one, are the same as those who claim that there is no God.

John Donne in Sermon XIII mocks these atheists by stating that if God didn’t exist, the idea and name of God would not even occur in their minds for them to be refuting it. Similarly, if there exists no Anglophone Problem in Cameroon, the idea wouldn’t even come for discussion among those who claim it doesn’t exist.

Those who believe it does exist must constitute themselves like very well-structured army into two distinct camps: Those who conceive the struggle and those who fight.

The SCNC is the acknowledged champion of the Southern Cameroons struggle. The Biya regime recognized it beginning from its infancy at AAC I in Buea and AAC 2 in Bamenda. The very act of sending troops to disrupt Anglophone meetings are a tacit admission that they are a force to reckon with.

At its early stage of the struggle, there was no throwing of stones and hiding. Sam Ekontang Elad, Simon Munzu and Carlson Anyangwe who championed the struggle were legal minds who knew the struggle was legitimate. Both in Buea where the Anglophone met at Mount Mary after their effort to meet elsewhere had failed and in Bamenda where there was an attempted murder of a reverend sister at St.Joseph’s Metropolitan Cathedral at Big Mankon, Southern Cameroons activists were unequivocal: they told security forces to their faces that they had crossed the Rubicon and that they were determined to restore their independence. Youth like late Afoni Julius, Akwanga Ebenezer, late Fomunyoh Bah Tango etc. were at the forefront of the struggle.

When the Southern Cameroons delegation returned from the US in 1995 with a UN flag supposedly from the UN head quarters in New York, the symbolic crossing of the River Mungo was done in broad day light. Members of the Southern Cameroons Youth League, SCYL, led by Akwanga openly accompanied the SCNC leadership on a tour of the North West. They later also toured the south West despite the barking of former Governor Oben Peter Ashu. 

 

Enter cowardly flag-hoisters

The cowardice being manifested by SCNC supporters began after a less courageous and ill -focused leadership took over from Ambassador Fossung through Prince Ndoki Mukete to Chief Ayamba. Since then, the SCNC began functioning like a rudderless ship without any sense of direction. Even the seizure of Radio Buea and the proclamation of Southern Cameroons independence by the Justice Ebong- led faction on December 31, 1999 breaking January 1, 2000 was carried out in a manner as to cast doubts on the competence and courage of the freedom fighters.

Even before the death of Chief Ayamba, the SCNC was a splintered group, a movement that lacked unity and coordination. It is therefore no surprise that cowardly acts like the hosting of flags in obscure places usually characterize October 1 celebrations.

The way forward

The Guardian Post has already given a road map out of the quagmire in some of its soul-searching editorials. The SCNC must be reorganized. Whoever wins the election to become the new leader should be recognized by all Southern Cameroonians. Whoever loses should acknowledge defeat and work with the new leader.

The new leadership should next contact authorities of La Republique du Cameroun as it would be futile to wait for the Francophone-led government to initiate dialogue. It can never do it because there is nothing at stake.

Every human endeavour, whether to fight for one’s freedom or to marry, must be preceded by profound reflection and meditation. Anglophones don’t pray earnestly. They should learn to do so now. Above all, they should sink their differences and move as a team. Fru Ndi once boasted: “If I host a flag, I will not run away. I will stand there and tell whoever comes why I hosted it.” That is what Anglophone activists should do. Let it never be said that it was not said.