On November 21, the army was deployed to Bamenda, the largest city (700,000 inhabitants) in the western English-speaking regions. To disperse the demonstrators and ward off the demons of separatism, the soldiers carried out warning shots. At least one person was killed and a hundred others arrested in the wake.
So why the strike at the first place ?
First it was the lawyers, then the teachers' turn. Convinced of being marginalized by a francophone dominating system and aging administration, the South-West and the North-West rebelled.
English-speaking teachers demand that their francophone colleagues can no longer practice in English-language schools unless they are bilingual. In the same way, they request that the administrators and teachers of the universities of Bamenda and Buea all speak English; reason behind the request: safeguarding the specificity of the education system throughout the region.
But teachers are not the only ones who want to fight with Yaoundé the political capital city and government headquarter . In a strike since October 11, Anglophone lawyers demanded that the uniform acts of the Ohada (Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa) be translated into English as well as those of the Cima (International Insurance Conference ).
English-speaking teachers demand that their francophone colleagues can no longer practice in English-language schools unless they are bilingual. In the same way, they request that the administrators and teachers of the universities of Bamenda and Buea all speak English; reason behind the request: safeguarding the specificity of the education system throughout the region.
But teachers are not the only ones who want to fight with Yaoundé the political capital city and government headquarter . In a strike since October 11, Anglophone lawyers demanded that the uniform acts of the Ohada (Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa) be translated into English as well as those of the Cima (International Insurance Conference ).
Evident sign of oppression from the ruling government :
Initially, the government did not appear to take the matter seriously, but was eventually caught off guard on the 8th of November. On that day, lawyers gathered before the Bamenda Court of Appeal announcing the creation of a new exclusively English-speaking bar. Violently repressed by the police during their protest, images of abused lawyers made rounds of social networks. Ayah Paul Abine, attorney general of the Supreme Court and an anglophone figure, was left indifferent - a sign that the dilemma goes as far as the highest level of state; he declared himself publicly supportive of the demonstrators. On social networks, almost all the comments which echoed his thunderous declaration favoured the partition of the country and the demande for independence of the territorial entity that groups the North-West and South-West regions and which in 1961 joined eastern French-speaking Cameroon.
Anglophones, who claim to be assimilated and discriminated against, want to regain their freedom. Federalism for the moderates, secession for the most radical ... Despite the absence of opinion polls, one can venture to argue that the majority of them want an evolution of the present form of the State.
Initially, the government did not appear to take the matter seriously, but was eventually caught off guard on the 8th of November. On that day, lawyers gathered before the Bamenda Court of Appeal announcing the creation of a new exclusively English-speaking bar. Violently repressed by the police during their protest, images of abused lawyers made rounds of social networks. Ayah Paul Abine, attorney general of the Supreme Court and an anglophone figure, was left indifferent - a sign that the dilemma goes as far as the highest level of state; he declared himself publicly supportive of the demonstrators. On social networks, almost all the comments which echoed his thunderous declaration favoured the partition of the country and the demande for independence of the territorial entity that groups the North-West and South-West regions and which in 1961 joined eastern French-speaking Cameroon.
Anglophones, who claim to be assimilated and discriminated against, want to regain their freedom. Federalism for the moderates, secession for the most radical ... Despite the absence of opinion polls, one can venture to argue that the majority of them want an evolution of the present form of the State.
No comments:
Post a Comment