Major National Dialogue

The Major National Dialogue (French: Grand dialogue national) is the official name of a dialogue between the Government of Cameroon and various opposition parties, aimed at resolving the Anglophone Crisis. The event took place between September 30 and October 4, 2019.[1]

Joseph Dion Ngute, Prime Minister of Cameroon, visits the plenary hall of the Palais des Congrès in Yaoundé on Sept. 29, 2019, on the eve of the Major National Dialogue.

Background

For decades, Anglophone Cameroonians in the area formerly known as Southern Cameroons had resented the central government for marginalizing them.[2] In October 2016, major protests broke out in cities in the Anglophone regions. The Cameroonian government responded by deploying soldiers to quell the protests.[3] Six weeks into the demonstrations, six demonstrators had been killed and more than 100 had been arrested.[4] In September 2017, Anglophone separatists began to take up arms against the Cameroonian government, and on October 1, the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front declared the independence of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.[5] The situation evolved into a military conflict including human rights violations called the Anglophone Crisis.[6]

Negotiations

On September 10, 2019, President of Cameroon Paul Biya announced in a televised speech that a "grand national dialogue" would take place before the end of the month. The dialogue would take place "within the context of the constitution", hence ruling out Ambazonian independence, and would include the Anglophone Cameroonian diaspora.[7] A government website was subsequently launched, where people could submit proposals ahead of the dialogue.[1]

Reactions to the announcement

Support
  • The United People for Social Renovation supported the initiative. Its leader Serge Espoir Matomba met with the Prime Minister ahead of the dialogue to submit his proposals.[8]
  • The Cameroon People's Party submitted its own proposals and views to the Prime Minister ahead of the dialogue.[9]
  • Felix Agbor Balla, President of the Centre for Human Right and Democracy, supported the initiative, but stressed that separatists should be given a guarantee that they would not be arrested if they showed up.[10]

Conditional support
  • The Social Democratic Front offered conditional support of the initiative, demanding a ceasefire and amnesty to all separatists who had been jailed.[11] The party also declared that the dialogue should be chaired by a neutral third party, suggesting the United States, the United Kingdom or Germany.[12] Later, the SDF accused the ruling CPDM party of sending a disproportionate number of representatives to the dialogue.[13]
  • Cardinal Christian Tumi, Archbishop Emeritus of Douala, stated that Ambazonian independence should not be ruled out from the onset.[14]

Opposition

Separatist response

Course of the dialogue

September 30

The dialogue started with an opening ceremony, where former separatist fighters sang the Cameroonian national anthem.[19] Afterwards, Prime Minister Joseph Ngute challenged the attendants to "make history" and find solutions to "the problems that have separated us physically and intellectually in recent years".[20]

October 1

Debates started fully on the second day of the dialogue. Eight commissions had been named, each focusing on a particular issue; one for multiculturalism and bilingualism, one for the educational system, one for the judicial system, one for the question of refugees, one for reconstruction, one for disarmament, one for the diaspora and one for decentralization.[21]

At the end of the second day, Barrister Akere Muna of the "Now Movement" declared that he would withdraw from the dialogue unless the form of state would be discussed.[22]

October 2

The third day had the same focus as the second day. Barrister Felix Agbor Balla declared that the dialogue would be pointless unless the form of state was discussed, insisting that decentralization would be insufficient.[23]

October 3

On the fourth day, the commissions submitted their recommendations to the Prime Minister.[24] As the Major National Dialogue neared its conclusion, President Paul Biya issued a decree that discontinued the court cases against 333 Anglophone activists.[25]

Responding to the presence of separatist generals as the dialogue, the Ambazonia Self-Defence Council issued a statement claiming that these separatists were fake.[26]

October 4

On the fifth day, final resolutions were read.[27] The decentralization commission proposed a special status for the Anglophone regions, as well as more local autonomy.[28] Other recommendations included the construction of an airport and a seaport in the Anglophone regions, the renaming of the country to the "United Republic of Cameroon", measures against corruption, and an intensified effort to rehabilitate former separatist fighters.[29]

Reactions

The ruling CPDM party welcomed the recommendations from the commissions. Some attendants criticized the structure of the dialogue, as well as the fact that separation was not debated as an alternative. Others characterized the five-day event as a sham.[30] The separatists reaffirmed their rejection of the dialogue, promising to step up the war.[29]

In December 2020, the United Nations urged the government of Cameroon to address the issues that had been brought up at the Major National Dialogue and to continue the dialogue process with all parties involved. François Loucemy Fall, Head of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa, stated that "the implementation of the recommendations from the major national dialogue, in addition to continued dialogue with all parties, remains crucial to building lasting peace and development".[31]

Aftermath

The day after the conclusion of the dialogue, President Biya ordered the dropping of the cases of some supporters of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, including its leader Maurice Kamto.[16] This move was directly linked to the Major National Dialogue.[32] On November 16, two government delegations started embarked on a mission in the Anglophone regions to win popular support for the conclusions of the Major National Dialogue. In particular, the delegations aimed to convince the populace that a "special status" for the Anglophone regions would address their grievances.[33] This resulted in the "General Code of Regional and Local Authorities", which was passed by the Cameroonian parliament on December 18, 2019.[34]

The war in the Anglophone regions intensified in the weeks following the dialogue. Maintaining its military approach to resolving the crisis, the Cameroonian government began to focus on creating local vigilante groups to fight the separatist guerilla. The separatists intensified their guerilla war against Cameroon, notably by assassinating a separatist general mere days after he had laid down his arms.[35]

References
  1. Cameroon: Gov't creates website for reception of contributions ahead of National dialogue, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 19, 2019. Accessed Sep 23 ,2019.
  2. Anyangwe, Carlson. Betrayal of Too Trusting a People. The UN, the UK and the Trust Territory of the Southern Cameroons: The UN, the UK and the Trust Territory of the Southern Cameroons, pp. 108–111. African Books Collective, 2009.
  3. "(True or False?) Two Anglophone lawyers beaten up in Buea – StopBlaBlaCam". StopBlaBlaCam. Archived from the original on 2017-09-03. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
  4. "Arrests in Cameroon language protests". BBC News. 2016-11-23. Archived from the original on 2017-09-11. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
  5. "English speakers protest in Cameroon, demand equal rights amid calls for secession – News – DW – 22.09.2017". DW.COM. Archived from the original on 2018-01-25. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
  6. CHRDA publishes shocking list of military atrocities in Cameroon’s NW, SW regions Archived 2018-08-22 at the Wayback Machine, Journal du Cameroun, Aug 22, 2018. Accessed Aug 22, 2018.
  7. Cameroon: Paul Biya convenes national dialogue to solve Anglophone crisis, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 10, 2019. Accessed Sep 12, 2019.
  8. Cameroon: Matomba submits pre-dialogue proposals to PM Dion Ngute, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 20, 2019. Accessed Sep 23, 2019.
  9. CPP Says National Dialogue Must-Have Content of Calibre, Cameroon News Agency, Sep 24, 2019. Accessed Sep 24, 2019.
  10. All those concerned by Anglophone crisis should be represented at national dialogue- Agbor Balla, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 25, 2019. Accessed Sep 25, 2019.
  11. Cameroon: What is SDF proposing for National Dialogue?, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 13, 2019. Accessed Sep 23, 2019.
  12. National inclusive dialogue should be chaired by neutral personality- SDF, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 13, 2019. Accessed Sep 23, 2019.
  13. Cameroon: SDF denounces partiality shown by governor of Centre region in drafting out list of delegations to meet PM, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 23, 2019. Accessed Sep 23, 2019.
  14. Cameroon’s cardinal: Anglophone independence must be on agenda, Crux Now, Sep 25, 2019. Accessed Sep 25, 2019.
  15. Cameroon: CRM sets Kamto, allies release as condition to partake in National dialogue, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 18, 2019. Accessed Sep 23, 2019.
  16. Cameroon orders release of main opposition leader Maurice Kamto, France24, Oct 5, 2019. Accessed Oct 5, 2019.
  17. Biya’s ‘dialogue’ for Cameroon crisis runs into questions, rejection Archived 2019-09-23 at the Wayback Machine, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 11, 2019. Accessed Sep 12, 2019.
  18. Cameroon: SW Separatists to participate in dialogue through phone conferencing, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 24, 2019. Accessed Sep 24, 2019.
  19. Cameroon: Ex Ambazonia fighters sing National Anthem at Major National Dialogue, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 30, 2019. Accessed Oct 4, 2019.
  20. PM Dion Ngute urges Cameroonians to make history with Major National Dialogue, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 30, 2019. Accessed Oct 4, 2019.
  21. Cameroon: Major National Dialogue enter day two, Journal du Cameroun, Oct 1, 2019. Accessed Oct 4, 2019.
  22. Cameroon: Akere Muna storms out of Major National Dialogue, Journal du Cameroun, Oct 1, 2019. Accessed Oct 4, 2019.
  23. Cameroon: Agbor Balla insists form of State should be discussed at Major National Dialogue, Journal du Cameroun, Oct 2, 2019. Accessed Oct 4, 2019.
  24. Cameroon: Committees of Major National Dialogue submit reports today, Journal du Cameroun, Oct 3, 2019. Accessed Oct 4, 2019.
  25. Cameroon: Paul Biya orders discontinuance of case against 333 detainees of Anglophone crisis, Journal du Cameroun, Oct 3, 2019. Accessed Oct 4, 2019.
  26. Cameroon: Ambazonia Forces say Generals Presented in Yaounde are fake, Journal du Cameroun, Oct 3, 2019. Accessed Oct 4, 2019.
  27. Cameroon: Final resolutions expected as Major National Dialogue wraps up today, Journal du Cameroun, Oct 4, 2019. Accessed Oct 4, 2019.
  28. Cameroon: Delegates propose special status Anglophone regions at Major National Dialogue, Journal du Cameroun, Oct 4, 2019. Accessed Oct 4, 2019.
  29. Cameroon's Anglophone conflict: Will the National Dialogue make any difference?, BBC, Oct 5, 2019. Accessed Oct 5, 2019.
  30. "A war of words / English-speaking villages are burning in Cameroon / A report from a forgotten conflict". No. 7 November 2019. Paragraph 8, p. 41: The Economist print weekly and web (full article with free registration or subscription). 9 November 2019. pp. 41–42. Retrieved 11 December 2019. Signs of compromise are scant. Separatist groups do not even have a common position among themselves, despite efforts by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Swiss NGO, to help them find one. For his part, President Riya in September raised hopes by announcing a "National Dialogue". Yet it was a sham. The meeting was not just about the crisis; it gave Cameroonian leaders from all regions a chance to air complaints (and collect per-diems). Many important Anglophones were either not invited or left in prison. "It was not a sincere effort," says Alice Nkom, a lawyer.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  31. Cameroon:UN wants govt to address core issues raised by Major National Dialogue, Journal du Cameroun, Dec 11, 2020. Accessed Dec 14, 2020.
  32. Cameroon: Paul Biya discontinues case against ‘some’ Pro Kamto supporters, Journal du Cameroun, Oct 5, 2019. Accessed Oct 5, 2019.
  33. Cameroon: Gov’t dispatches post dialogue missions to Anglophone regions, Journal du Cameroun, Nov 18, 2019. Accessed Nov 18, 2019.
  34. Cameroon: Parliament adpts bill according ‘special status’ to Anglophone regions, Journal du Cameroun, Dec 20, 2019. Accessed Dec 20, 2019.
  35. Why has violence increased since Cameroon’s National Dialogue?, African Arguments, Oct 29, 2019. Accessed Oct 29, 2019.
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