Retired Catholic Clergy, Cardinal Christian Tumi, of the Republique of Cameroun, has openly confessed that they deliberately tried to influence the outcome of a survey of British Southern Cameroonians on the form of the state of Kamerun. Speaking to Equinox Television, in the French Cameroun Economic Capital of Douala, on September 16, 2019, the prelate said the interviewees refused to hear about federalism, which they stated was the form of the state. “When we said what form of government will solve this problem, we made the choice for them like Federation, Decentralization. Just about 4 or 5 reacted out of a thousand“. The Cardinal said 69% of the respondents added the third option with the qualifier “ABSOLUTE” Separation. “We were taken aback” Cardinal Tumi said. To the man of God, it is clear that 69% of British Cameroonians are convinced that if Anglophones and Francophones want to live as brothers and sisters, then absolute separation is the form of governance. Quizzed on the idea of secession to be included in the dialogue, Cardinal Tumi was blunt that the subject must be included. President Paul Biya, he said cannot deny the will of the people, as the state is not God’s creation. The prelate equally stated that he firmly believes that separation can solve the problem from their research on the field.
Cry My Beloved British Cameroon
The man of God also made it clear that his position has always been a federal system, as he personally fought for it. He however regretted the bad faith of French Cameroun ruling authorities, who neglected the 1996 constitution. To him, effective decentralization would have prevented the conflict. Nostalgic about British Cameroon, the soft-spoken Tumi, decried abuses by the French Cameroun ruling authorities. “I first saw a Policeman with a gun, after unification. Police men had batons in British Cameroon. After unification, we see a police man with a gun, ready to fire, and brutalize”. On the abysmal French judicial system, he decried arbitrary arrests and jailing of people for years without trial. “Everything here is force, force, force. We are not used to that. This country is a different thing”. Cardinal Tumi stated

On the neutrality of the host of the the trumpeted national dialogue, including its chair, Mr. Dion Ngute, of the ruling CPDM party, the Cardinal, called on participants to give him the benefit of doubt. He however warned of chaos if transparency is found wanting. He equally endorsed the presence of the military, claiming the military has played an important role in the conflict.
The conflict it should be recalled started in 2016 as a peaceful demand by people of the former British Southern Cameroon, (an autonomous entity that voted to join an independent French Cameroun in 1961 as two equal partners ) for equality. Their demands were met by the full weight of the French Cameroun military leading to a planned ethnic targeting of the English-speaking people. Till date more than 14,300 people have been killed by the French Cameroun military. (click here for corpses), close to 10,000 homes burnt. (Click here for evidence). Refugees in Nigerian number more than 50,000, while close to 2 million are internally displaced. For three years schools in the British Cameroons have remained ineffective. Worthy of note is the fact that life in French Cameroun has remained unperturbed while their military rape and annihilate villages in British Cameroon. Of all the clamour for talks, the participants have refused to talk about the people killed. According to a victim whose mother was shot by the Cameroun military on her way to church, dialogue should begin by counting the killed. This he said can only be done by a neutral party. It should be noted that despite a call for some sort of talks, the killings in British Cameroon by the French Cameroun military continues. More than 450 have been killed in the past two months.(Click here for evidence )
Watch the entire interview here.
For more about British Southern Cameroon, click here.
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