Gov’t refuses visa to UNPO delegation
By Amindeh
Blaise Atabong in Yaounde
Chief Ayamba |
Apparently frightened by the latest
developments and the decisive direction the Southern Cameroons independence
struggle is taking, the Yaounde authorities have instructed the Cameroon
embassy in Brussels, Belgium not to issue visas to members of the Unrepresented
Nations and Peoples Organisation, UNPO, who were expected in Cameroon in the
days ahead.
A highly-placed source within the SCNC who
announced the development to The Guardian Post has qualified government’s
decision to refuse giving visas to the UNPO delegation members as shameful.
Said he: “ I thought that for once, the Biya regime would pretend that there is
freedom of gathering in Cameroon by allowing the UNPO delegation entry in
Cameroon…If they did this, it would have gone a long way to reverse the
international opprobrium which Cameroon has suffered since the introduction of multi-party
politics’’.
It should be recalled that the UNPO
delegation was not only coming to Cameroon to condole with the family of the
late SCNC national chairman, Chief Ayamba Ette Otun but also to get first hand
information on the problems being faced by Anglophones in Cameroon.
The delegation’s first stop-over was to be
in Mamfe where they were expected to condole with Chief Ayamba’s family before
undertaking a tour of the Southern Cameroons territory to live the true picture
of Anglophones. They had also planned to get testimonies from aggrieved
Anglophones which would have been used by the UNPO to strengthen the Southern
Cameroons’ independence struggle. SCNC activists were already mobilizing to
give the UNPO delegation a red carpet reception.
But while SCNC activists are crest-fallen
that the UNPO delegation would no longer
make the Cameroon trip, a sympathizer of
the movement, Yembe Martin rather sees it as a blessing in disguised: ‘’It is a
good thing for the SCNC that the Biya regime has blocked the UNPO delegation
from getting to Mamfe to condole with Chief Ayamba’s family and then later make
a tour of the Southern Cameroons’ territory...the Yaounde authorities have not
only inadvertently given the SCNC publicity but have reported themselves to
international bodies as being a truly
repressive regime…’’
It should be recalled that when news of
Chief Ayamba’s death was made public, the UNPO head office in Brussels issued a
condolence statement which read in part: ‘’…the UNPO presidency, secretariat
and members would like to express their sincerest condolences to Chief Ayamba’s
family, friends and the people of Southern Cameroons…Mr. Ayamba Ette Otun
dedicated his life to protecting and promoting the rights of the Southern
Cameroons. His activism for the right to self-determination has been
relentless…he had vowed never to shave his beard until the Southern Cameroons
is completely free. With the passing away of Chief Ayamba, the Southern
Cameroons movement for self-determination has lost a great leader. The UNPO
stands with the people of Southern Cameroons in this difficult moment and hopes
the legacy of Chief Ayamba may inspire many…’’
About the UNPO
The UNPO, it must be said, is a movement
whose main objective centres on drawing attention to issues affecting
marginalized groups at the United Nations. For its over twenty years of
existence, the UNPO’s key action plan has been to ensure that it members are able to
effectively access and take part in the discussions of international bodies
mandated to protect their rights.
Membership to the UNPO where the Southern
Cameroons is also a member is open to all nations and peoples who are not
adequately represented at the United Nations. Prospective members have to be a
nation or a people, possessing the will to be identified as a nation or a
people and are bound to a common heritage which can be historical, racial,
ethnic, religious or territorial. The prospective participant can also be a
section of a people, constituting a minority, living on a portion of its
ancestral territory, incorporated into a state other than a state represented
by that people.
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