Violence is increasing in western Cameroon, where the country's English-speaking minority lives.
She protests against her marginalization in society. For many of them, separation has become the only way out.
More than 250 languages are spoken in Cameroon. But it is French and English that crystallize tensions. Since the beginning of October, the country has been in turmoil between Francophone and Anglophone communities. The second is the first to accuse the power and to get hold of all the wealth of the state.
Of the twelve regions in the country, ten are French-speaking. North West and South West, the only two English-speaking areas, account for about 20% of the 22 million Cameroonians. On 1 October, the day of the official reunification of the English and French-speaking parts of Cameroon in 1961, the English-speaking separatists proclaimed the independence of the Republic of Ambazonia unilaterally. This is the name given by the English-speaking separatists to the two western regions.
A statement rejected by the government of Paul Biya, but sufficient to ignite the powder.
More than 250 languages are spoken in Cameroon. But it is French and English that crystallize tensions. Since the beginning of October, the country has been in turmoil between Francophone and Anglophone communities. The second is the first to accuse the power and to get hold of all the wealth of the state.
Of the twelve regions in the country, ten are French-speaking. North West and South West, the only two English-speaking areas, account for about 20% of the 22 million Cameroonians. On 1 October, the day of the official reunification of the English and French-speaking parts of Cameroon in 1961, the English-speaking separatists proclaimed the independence of the Republic of Ambazonia unilaterally. This is the name given by the English-speaking separatists to the two western regions.
A statement rejected by the government of Paul Biya, but sufficient to ignite the powder.
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| Tensions In Cameroon: Anglophones On The Brink Of Secession |
Since November 2016, the English-speaking minority has been protesting against what it calls its "marginalization" in society. Secessionist activists denounce the "Francophonization of the regime" and the stranglehold of the French elite on power. "Almost all the seeds of a possible uprising are reunited," said political scientist Hans De Marie Heungoup.
Since the reunification of Cameroon in 1961, the Heads of State and Government have always come from the Francophone region. It is true that Paul Biya, the current president, has reigned over the country since 1984.
Anglophones complain about the omnipresence of Francophones in decision-making positions at all levels of society. In politics of course, but also in economic circles, especially in oil. The national refining company (Sonara), the state-owned oil company, is based in Limbe in the south-west, but none of its managing directors has ever been anglophone.
But why in an old German colony, do we speak French and English but not Goethe's language?
At the end of the First World War, the Germans were deprived of their protectorate of Kamerun, established in 1884. The League of Nations, ancestor of the UN, "entrusts" the eastern part of the former Germanic colony to France , and the western part in the United Kingdom.
The French part becomes independent in 1960. It is followed a year later by its British cousin, which will end on October 1st, 1961 with the creation of the Federal Republic of Cameroon.
Since then, the government of Yaoundé has been pursuing a policy of centralization of power, leaving less and less autonomy to the English-speaking regions. The name reflects this loss of autonomy. The country, named the Federal Republic of Cameroon in 1961, became the United Republic of Cameroon in 1974 and finally the Republic of Cameroon in 1984, two years after the takeover of Paul Biya -- Tensions in Cameroon: Anglophones on the brink of secession
Since the reunification of Cameroon in 1961, the Heads of State and Government have always come from the Francophone region. It is true that Paul Biya, the current president, has reigned over the country since 1984.
Anglophones complain about the omnipresence of Francophones in decision-making positions at all levels of society. In politics of course, but also in economic circles, especially in oil. The national refining company (Sonara), the state-owned oil company, is based in Limbe in the south-west, but none of its managing directors has ever been anglophone.
But why in an old German colony, do we speak French and English but not Goethe's language?
At the end of the First World War, the Germans were deprived of their protectorate of Kamerun, established in 1884. The League of Nations, ancestor of the UN, "entrusts" the eastern part of the former Germanic colony to France , and the western part in the United Kingdom.
The French part becomes independent in 1960. It is followed a year later by its British cousin, which will end on October 1st, 1961 with the creation of the Federal Republic of Cameroon.
Since then, the government of Yaoundé has been pursuing a policy of centralization of power, leaving less and less autonomy to the English-speaking regions. The name reflects this loss of autonomy. The country, named the Federal Republic of Cameroon in 1961, became the United Republic of Cameroon in 1974 and finally the Republic of Cameroon in 1984, two years after the takeover of Paul Biya -- Tensions in Cameroon: Anglophones on the brink of secession
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