The Position of the Interim Government Regarding the Meeting Convened in Canada

Tuesday, October 11 th 2022 Ref: DCOMIT/10/11/22-1

Office: SEC. MARTIN MUNGWA PHD, F.ASCE

The Position of the Interim Government Regarding the Meeting Convened in Canada

Dear Ambazonians and the International Community:

This afternoon, I want to revisit the President’s October 1 message to Ambazonians to highlight the Interim Governments positions on the ongoing negotiations with LRC. Our position is supported by historical precedence and International Law. LRC seemingly practices a type of “bait and switch” diplomacy driven by the mistaken appetite of a python to swallow a live crocodile – something unnatural and very hard, if not, impossible to accomplish on this planet.

Here are some highlights

Following the vote in the UNGA on 21 April 1961 to grant independence to Southern Cameroons which LRC opposed, UN Resolution 1608 mandated LRC and Southern Cameroons to conference with guidance from the United Kingdom, to draft a Treaty of Union for the Cameroons Federation, guaranteed by the United Kingdom and NATO. It was a mighty chance for LRC to quit the devasting Cooperation Treaty with France of December 26, 1959 which taxed all Cameroonian exports at 80%.

Barely 19 days later, LRC under President Ahidjo decided to mock Her Majesty’s Government of Great Britain by suing the Harold MacMillan administration at the ICJ. That was a nasty surprise. It is only sad that LRC deflated like puff puff dough lacking yeast and had to abandon the court case after Gt Britain merely responded to the false accusations. That is what bullies do – they only reign in the land of weaklings.

In 1960-61, in Foumban, LRC aborted the first genuine dialogue. The federal constitution was not approved by the parliament in Buea or Yaounde. President Ahidjo promulgated the draft into law without debate in the lawless fashion of LRC.

In 1966, they dissolved our institutions and political parties without debate or dialogue in search of a unitary state.

In 1972, they changed the form of state between a supposedly two states of equal status without dialogue. The choice in the lawless referendum was between YES and OUI, ostensibly to liquidate the regional autonomy of Southern Cameroons then known as the West Cameroon State. LRC, as greedy as a pig, wanted to control all the limited petroleum deposits found in the Southern Cameroons maritime border with Nigeria.

1984, LRC changed the name of the country by decree reverting to her former name prior to independence, thereby seceded from the budding federation without dialogue. More importantly, Paul Biya traded the Southern Cameroons as a commodity with France in order to realign his country, this time annexing the Southern Cameroons state into mere provinces. Mr Biya now bore the same LRC name in the dreaded 1959 Treaty with France. return, for such realignment by decree, France granted a life presidency to Mr Paul Biya. That is why he is still in office as the oldest president on earth.

In 1993-94, they refused to dialogue with us.

In 1996, they refused to organize a sovereign national conference with the mandate for genuine dialogue.

In 2003, LRC argued to African legal scholars at the African Commission in Banjul that the People of the former British Southern Cameroons are not a people and were therefore incapable of self-determination. The African Court of People and Human Rights struct down LRC’s argument and re-affirmed the People status of the People of Southern Cameroons. The Southern Cameroons People are a People, not least because of precedence in international law, a common colonial heritage, language, educational and legal systems. Our right to self-determination arises in the United Charter and is “ad infinitum”. That means, our right to sovereign independence out of a failed federation with LRC is not limited by time. The geography is ours and we seek no inch of LRC soil.

In 2017, they refused to dialogue with our consortium of civil society organizations.

In 2019 while in Paris, Mr Biya bragged to the International Community how French speaking Cameroun had tried to assimilate the Southern Cameroons people but failed because of identity differences. This time, the LRC leader claimed the right to grant us a special status despite never debating with People of Southern Cameroons to determine the popular will.

In 2022, they rejected the Swiss-led mediation process for genuine dialogue. LRC is now lying to the international community that they’ve won the war and peace has now return to Ambazonia and reconstruction is underway.

Now the Interim government learnt that LRC convened a meeting in Canada, involving some individuals from La Republique du Cameroun, some Anglophone Federalists and some Ambazonian actors.

It should be noted that because of La Republique du Cameroun's outright rejection of the Swiss-Led Process, Switzerland pulled out as the mediator of any possible talks that were to take place between Ambazonia and La Republique du Cameroun.

Procedurally, for a third party to step up as a mediator of a conflict like ours, which has an international dimension, it is necessary for the prospective mediator to be mandated by both belligerents of the sovereignty conflict (in this case, The Federal Republic of Ambazonia (FRA) represented by the Interim Government and La Republique du Cameroun (LRC) represented by the Government of Cameroun) in order to take up the role of mediation.

People of Southern Cameroon honor and respect Canada as a Commonwealth development partner. Interim Government of Dr Sako, representing the overwhelming majority of Ambazonians, are not sure about the role of the Government of Canada regarding this upcoming meeting. Canadian Government or her agencies have not been officially mandated to take up a mediation role in this ongoing conflict, as of the date of this Press Release.

In order to avoid manipulation, a nonchalant attitude and non-genuine commitment by La Republique du Cameroun concerning future talks, the Interim Government suggests that:

There must be an official commitment by both belligerents (FRA and LRC) of the FAILED Cameroons federation, to follow through with the talks if a mediator is mandated.
Any such talks must be between two delegations - one representing the La Republique du Cameroun (Officially appointed by its leader) and the other representing the Federal Republique of Ambazonia (Officially constituted by the Interim Government and made up of stakeholders of our liberation movement, depending on the level of the talks at that instance).

The Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia is not interested in direct informal talks with La Republique du Cameroun, whose outcomes are usually non-binding but generate voluminous propaganda in French.

prospective mediation talks concerning this genocidal war must follow official procedures involving the mandated third-party mediator and both belligerents (FRA and LRC) of the failed Cameroons Federation.

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