Postwatch (Cameroon)

Rigging Three Elections in One by Ntemfac AN Ofege

The forgotten factor about the July 22 heavily rigged elections in Cameroun was that Mr. Biya’s party, the Cameroun Peoples Democratic Movement, achieved the groundbreaking feat of rigging three (03) elections in one. By Cameroon’s current “to be put in place progressively” constitution, the future elections into the projected Regional Councils and the Senate will be “indirect” elections. What this means concretely is that current councilors and parliamentarians will elect some of the members of the Senate and the regional councils. The constitution says that the president of La Republique will appoint 30% of the members of the Senate. By giving itself an insolent majority through election fraud, the CPDM is setting itself for a totalitarian control of Senate, National Assembly and Regional Councils. Look forward to 95 plus CPDM Senators, 90% plus CPDM Regional Councillors to add to the 140 plus CPDM parliamentarians. That the names of 70% of those agitating in the CPDM (including Biya Paul, Atanga Nji, etc) also feature in the list of those who owe the banks. inc

The Uncompleted De-colonization Process of the former Trust Territory of the Southern Cameroons by Mola Njoh Litumbe

The territory known up to 1961 as British Cameroons lies to the East of Nigeria and covers a surface area greater than at least 20 independent states that are members of the United Nations.  It boasts a population currently estimated at between 5 to 6 million inhabitants.  It was first administered by Britain under the Mandate system of the League of Nations, but on 13 December 1946 it became a UN Trust Territory with Great Britain as administering Trustee.  To the east of British Cameroons was another UN Trust Territory known as French Cameroun, both territories having been previously part of German Kamerun over which Germany renounced all territorial claims at the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

2.  Great Britain and France respectively were designated trustees of these two territories that were excised from German Kamerun.  The UN defined the territorial boundaries of each, over which it executed separate but identical Trust Agreements, pursuant to Art. 76b of the UN Charter. The Trust territory of French Cameroun attained independence on 1 January, 1960.

The Emergent SCNC By Vincent Feko

One of the most popular and powerful political parties in Nigeria in the` 50s was the NCNC, National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons, the British Cameroons to be precise. The British Cameroons was an internationally recognized geographical circumscription, with a surface area of 86214sq km, sandwiched, as it were, between Nigeria and the former French Cameroun.

When Nigeria attained independence on October 1, 1960, the Cameroons component was dropped and NCNC was renamed the National Council of Nigerian Citizens. Acknowledging, this was in keeping with the international Law maxim of uti possedetis juris that ordains that: the international boundaries or borders of a country   become fixed, unchangeable or frozen with effect from its declaration of independence.
The principle was reaffirmed by resolution AGH/ Res16 (1) of the OAU (AU) heads of state Cairo Summit of July1964. The Resolution states that colonial boundaries inherited at independence remain “tangible immutable and inviolable.” uti possedetis juris and Res. AGH/ Res.16 (1) did not apply to La Republique du Cameroun any less than they applied to Nigeria when the French Cameroun acceded to independence as La Republique du Cameroun, earlier on 1st January 1960.
Both Nigeria and La Republique du Cameroun, as accredited members of the AU have pledged to uphold the Charter of the AU in which is enshrined, like in the charter of the United Nations, the right to self-determination of a people under foreign occupation and domination. Besides, Nigeria could not have let go the British Cameroons that, in the first place was never an integral part of Nigeria, only to turn around 8 months later to acquire part of the territory. That would be like overturning the uti possedetis juris it had law-abidingly respected at independence. It would be comparable to the unwitting acquisition of a Trojan horse. That historical snapshot is intended to prepare the reader’s mind for a better understanding and appreciation of the paper’s title: The Emergent SCNC, and the analysis that follow.
Picture: EML  Endeley, First PM of Southern  Cameroons

Now Declassified: The Inside History of the Southern Cameroons Liberation Movements

“We are thus faced with a situation in which Third World States, themselves the pre-beneficiaries of resolution 1514 (XV) guaranteeing the principle of self-determination of all peoples, become modern colonizers of less fortunate peoples within their area.” [Judge TO Elias, President of the International Court of Justice (as he then was), in ‘The Role of the ICJ in Africa’, 1 RADIC, 1989, p.8)]

The actualization of the Independence and Sovereignty of Southern Cameroons Independence, a Must By Justice (Mr.) Frederick Alobwede Ebong.

The quest for self-determination and independence of the peoples and territory of the Southern Cameroons is an incontrovertible issue. At the 896th General Assembly meeting in October 6, 1959, speaking for the USA, the UN Ambassador Clement J. Zabloiski said: “The USA had voted for resolution 1350 (XIII) and still finds its provisions satisfactorily. The USA congratulates the people of the Southern Cameroons for their accession to auto determination as it constitutes the will of the population who wants to run its affairs democratically. The government and the opposition parties of the Southern Cameroons unfortunately have not come to an agreement, however, there is no reason to deny the population of the Southern Cameroons a brief; the results of a hurried choice imposed on the population of the Trust Territory would be catastrophic for their political future.”