SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT AT THE ACT TOWN HALL 2022, (30th June 2022)

PRESIDENT SAMUEL IKOME SAKO

SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT AT THE

ACT TOWN HALL 2022, (30th June 2022)

Fellow Ambazonians,

Concerned International Community,

The journey of Southern Cameroons to Freedom from slavery and colonialism did not begin today. We have some experience reading through our history.

We did not have to create any superstructure to govern negotiations with LRC at any time. That is a misunderstanding we need to correct. The Ambazonia Coalition Team (ACT) was and is just an expression of our willingness and intention to negotiate with LRC as a people who are widely represented by their trusted interlocutors.

In 1953 our forefathers negotiated our autonomy with the Crown of England as a DELEGATION, not as a superstructure. In 1961 the same leaders negotiated our future with the Government of Ahidjo in Foumban as a DELEGATION, again not as a superstructure.

In both cases, the Southern Cameroons DELEGATIONS were headed by the head of Government. Hence, Endeley led the delegation to talk with the Queen and Foncha led the Southern Cameroons DELEGATION that negotiated our failed union with LRC. These delegations were constituted by the government in power, the leading political parties at the time and the Head of Government. Besides, I have not seen anywhere in the world where a complete new politico-military superstructure is created, dissolving all liberation groups just to meet the other side for negotiations. If any exists, that is far from our experience as a movement.

Sometime in December 2018 the Swiss Government, responding to our request to the Swiss Federation to serve as mediator in the on-going conflict with LRC, I invited the leaders of SCNC, SCAPO, SCARM, MORISC, SCYL, the defunct CONSORTIUM, etc. and some independent Ambazonians around the world, to come together and take up this opportunity offered to us by the International Community led by the SWISS. That is how the SOUTHERN CAMEROONS LEADERSHIP COUNCIL, SCLC was formed. Shortly after that, one of those invited to be part of the association had the guts to dismiss the IG from the SCLC. When the same kind of thinking tried to destroy the SLP (Swiss-Led Process) we decided in Montreux, Switzerland to change our appellation from SCLC to Ambazonia Coalition Team or Team Ambazonia, and we let go of the internal saboteurs.

The following were the highlights of our foundation agreement for our new association.

We agreed that:

1. Only organizations that were created prior to the constitution of ACT were admissible

as Members.

2. That, admission shall remain open to all liberation groups interested in the SLP.

3. That no splinter of the founding members, present and future, shall be admitted into the body.

4. That, ACT will not be a superstructure, will neither dissolve member organizations nor absolve their autonomy. Meaning that ACT is not a Transitional authority.

ACT is a loose association of Organizations that endorse the SLP, and therefore agree to constitute the Ambazonian DELEGATION that will manage negotiations with LRC.

Unfortunately, some members within ACT saw this initiative as an opportunity to question the leadership of the IG, dissolve the IG or take authority and control away from the IG. Every attempt to remind them that ACT is a loose association of friends of the SLP organized to prepare for the eventual negotiation with LRC was futile, especially because these members continued to think a liberation group is only relevant to the extent that it is represented in ACT .

They kept insisting that we make ACT strong. They wanted ACT to be the platform to decide on matters ranging from Defense, Ghost Towns, Joint Treasury, Communication, etc. in the struggle. They seem to forget that the relevance of any group in this struggle is established outside ACT and not within ACT.

Let me be clear here, the IG does not need ACT to be relevant in the struggle, we created ACT and in fact we still lead Team ACT because we are not just relevant, we are the Principals on the Ambazonian side in any negations. We made the decision from the beginning of this process that The IG will lead, but Ambazonians shall be in charge of the negotiation process.

We engineered the creation of ACT as an Association, hence we cannot resign from it, that will be tantamount to dissolving ACT. What will remain of a so-called Team Ambazonia without the IG? Which group(s) excluding this IG, amongst the 12 groups in ACT has the structure, the following and authority to implement any form of agreement reached with LRC on any negotiation table?

It smells like another failed coup d’état for any member of Team ACT to suggest that the IG resigned from ACT while ACT still exists. Someone even said if the IG wants to return to ACT, IG should apply. How can you build your own house and give yourself a quit notice? Then someone asks you to apply to come back to your house. Apply to who?

Dear International stakeholders,

What unites Ambazonians is not a structure per se, it is our END GOAL of Restored Independence. Our agreement or disagreements now are temporal and superficial. Our final agreement or disagreement is what matters. It will not depend on who was and who was not part of the Ambazonian DELEGATION at the negotiation table. It will ultimately depend on our take- home from the table. Anyone can lead us to the table, but make sure you bring us nothing short of INDEPENDENCE. I don’t have to be on the table before I endorse a Negotiated Agreement that achieves our goal.

Those who insist they must be the ones on that table before they endorse any outcome, good or bad, in this war have a selfish agenda. Participating in the negotiation process will be a patriotic call to any Ambazonian that will be invited. It is not and will never be an entitlement or reward for age, activism or social media presence. It shall be on merit. This is our chance, perhaps the very last chance, and we cannot gamble with it. As I told you last time, I tell you again, I know what Ambazonia wants, I know when an agreement is good and when it is bad, but I don’t think I know how to do the job of negotiation that experts do. I will stand by the table to observe, like our ARFs in the jungles, I may not seat on the Table.

But, Vetted, smart and diehard patriotic Ambazonians shall be on the table to represent us. I and the ARFs can judge whether an outcome is acceptable and reasonable or not, but we cannot handle the nitty gritty of negotiations.

I also hear that LRC is sending people to come and see me, that would not be necessary, they should simply tell the SWISS or US State Department that they are ready to meet with Ambazonia, and We shall constitute the delegation that will meet with them for any pre-talks. I don’t have to be part of any pre-talks, my participation on any table will depend on the level of representation from LRC’s side. If Biya will be on the Table for pre-talks, then I will be on the table. Those who think I am wrong should tell me: what is the meaning of “Two States of Equal status”. Yes, I will not talk to anyone from LRC government outside the ongoing mediation

Process.

The mediation process is led by the SWISS Government, endorsed by the International community. We however call on the US in particular, and members of the UN Security Council to do all to bring LRC to the table sooner than later… and thus save innocent, civilian lives.

This process is very much alive as much as we know. We are grateful to the international stakeholders in support of this process. We are building our team, and making it stronger and stronger, notwithstanding the lackluster attitude of LRC.

From the frontlines, I can tell you that we are now nearer to the end than many of us know. The negotiation table is just another battlefield, it is not where all disputes can be settled. Negotiations are only possible if both sides are willing and agree. LRC should take note.

However, We in the IG and ACT reserve the right to declare this process as unfruitful and dysfunctional and withdraw our mandate to the Swiss government, if LRC continues to despise this process while massacring our innocent civilians as seen in recent days.

We will be requiring clear and definite answers from Switzerland in the weeks ahead to determine the fate of this lone opportunity for a peaceful dialogue. Be it known that we are not for dialogue because we are losing the war, we are calling for dialogue because we value every innocent life lost on both sides.

Thank you for coming.

Viva the Federal Republic of Ambazonia!

God bless our beautiful country!