Discriminatory sharing of national cake: Key institutions Anglophones have never headed since independence!.

Others have been having varied interpretations of what the total absence of Anglophones in certain positions of leadership in the country means. 

For some, the development sends an outright message to Anglophones that they don’t belong, or at best, are considered as secondhand citizens in a country they call theirs.

Yet, for others, such absence casts a shadow of quasi citizenship on the aborigines of the North West and South West Regions, who fit into the meaning of Anglophones.

Grumblings about the ‘anti-Anglophone status quo’ at the leadership of certain State institutions, observers say, have been alive for as long as the reunification and independence of the country. 

The bubbles came alive in the close to three decades leadership of the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo and has continued 43 years on under President Paul Biya.

That two Francophones have headed the country as Heads of State in 64 years and still counting, with no equitable leadership rankings atop State institutions or at least Anglophone leadership presence in certain areas, analysts are saying, call for deep reflections.

Evidence may be short in supply, but going by some political analysts, the outright provocative marginalisation and discrimination against Anglophones, roared its ugly head when on taking over power, President Biya scrapped the position of Vice President, which Anglophones second in command.

Since then, the highest office occupied by an Anglophone is the Prime Ministry, which is a distant fourth in the country’s power ranking.  

The pain, critics argue, is that while the applecart of the State apparatus may have shifted a bit, it has failed woefully to assume the character of a country with a history of two entities that united as equals, with initial intentions being to build a formidable Republic united in its diversity.

Those revisiting Anglophone absence at the leadership of certain institutions say even before the deadly outburst in the North West and South West Regions in the last quarter of 2016, many well-meaning Anglophones had warned that the State craft was not yielding equal or commendable dividends to aborigines of the two English-speaking Regions of the country.

Many say it is still vexing that it took the heat that is still to completely give way in the North West and South West Regions, for an Anglophone to be named Minister of Territorial Administration and Minister of Secondary Education. 

Analysts say granted that such are strides, the blood that had flown in the former West Cameroon over feelings of marginalisation before such happened, rubbishes the gains of their political, historical and sociological meaning vis-à-vis Cameroon’s thorny history.

Even with some forceful cracks and adjustments in the presence of Anglophones in the running of the country, those with an understanding of the political dynamics of countries with a history similar to Cameroon such as Canada, say the political leadership of Cameroon is left with only one important thing to do- bury their heads in shame.

They are lampooning especially the Biya regime, for not making plain that anyone, be he/she from the English-speaking or French-speaking Regions, can run the show of service at any echelon of government.

They are saying that if President Ahidjo paid lip service to virtues of equality and national unity, having lived reunification, President Biya, carries more of the blame; having promised a new era of uniting the country when his time played out on November 6, 1982, to be Head of State.

Pundits are firing that the absence of Anglophones in key and juicy leadership positions remains unjustifiable. They supplement their submissions on the basis of the records and transformations that have been recorded in several ministries, parastatals and international organisations; wherein citizens with roots traced to the North West and South West Regions have served.

Aside such basis, they add that Biya and his predecessor have failed to make true meaning of the policy of regional balance in especially political appointments. 

That Anglophones have never been given the chance to head several key State institutions, they are saying, tells that successive Presidents of Francophone background have mocked and are still mocking the country’s history with reckless abandon.

Odds still against Anglophones 53 years after Referendum

While the country emptied self to ceremonial grounds nationwide on Tuesday May 20, to fete 53 years since the Federal nature of the country gave way to a Unitary State, with Biya chairing activities in Yaounde, critical minds are saying unanswered questions abound in almost all aspects of national life.

They hold the opinion that beyond the parroted choruses of national unity and living together, the major problem is at the level of eating together and equitable sharing of the national cake. 

Most are spitting fire that Anglophones have not had equal presence at the sharing table and are still missing in giving the opportunity to serve a country where everyone is supposed to have equal opportunities.

Beyond the clamour for Anglophones to be given equal command power in certain areas of national life, many are also bemoaning what they say remains the silent marginalisation of Anglophones at the lower rungs of leadership.

The Anglophone vexation, others are detailing, is beyond just numbers but the historical undertones of two entities that reunited as equals. Decades on, some are saying the look of things reeks huge disappointments for the people of the North West and South West Regions.

Others argue that even if they can forgive Ahidjo, Biya, who is affectionately referred to as the Father of the Nation, has not fathered with a sword of justice, equality and love, when it comes to sharing of the national cake.

Facts & figures that scream marginalisation, discrimination…

Even if some persons may read something different since independence in terms of Anglophone gains in the project called Cameroon, those who oppose such proposition say they are hinging their arguments on facts and not aspersions and street talk.

Among the several institutions and ministries that belong to the country but have never had an Anglophone at its helm is the Cameroon Radio Television, CRTV.  

The State broadcaster has had only one Anglophone as Deputy Director General since independence. Even when it comes to the appointment of Directors at the corporation, Anglophones, insiders say, are almost absent.

There is also the Cameroon News and Publishing Corporation, SOPECAM, that has never had an Anglophone as its General Manager. The highest an Anglophone has attained there is Deputy General Manager. 

At the level of the Presidency, an Anglophone has never served as Head of State since independence. Even the position that warrants just a presidential appointment like the General Secretariat of the Presidency, no Anglophone under both late Ahmadou Ahidjo and Biya’s 43 years and still counting, has ever been named Secretary General.

The President’s cabinet too has never had an Anglophone at its helm. The Civil Cabinet of the Presidency has remained the exclusive preserve of Francophones since independence. 

The Senate, which came into existence since 2013, has also been categorised as a no-go zone for Anglophones.

Added to these are; the Port Authority of Douala, PAD, Port Authority of Kribi, PAK; National  Hydrocarbons Corporation, SNH; National Oil Refining  Corporation, SONARA; Cameroon Petroleum Depot Company, SCDP; Ministry of  Finance, MINFI; General Delegation of National Security;  National Gendarmerie; Ministry of Defense; Special Council Support Fund for Mutual Assistance, FEICOM; Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, MINEPAT among others.

Many say the case of SONARA is even more vexing and provocative. SONARA, located in Limbe, an Anglophone soil, has never had an Anglophone as General Manager or Deputy General Manager, since its creation in 1972!

Anglophones have been programmed to dream only of the ceremonial position of Chairperson of the Board of Directors of SONARA. The overwhelming majority of senior and junior staff at SONARA are Francophones. Not only that, though planted on an Anglophone city, the predominant working language in SONARA is French!

In yet another tear-provoking development, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM, though was created in the Anglophone town of Bamenda in 1985, has never had an Anglophone as the Secretary General of the Central Committee- the second highest position, coming after that of the National Chairman of the party, held by President Biya, a Francophone, since 1985.

The highest an Anglophone ever occupied within the CPDM is the ceremonial Vice President position. It was occupied by the late Fon Solomon Anye Angwafor of Mankon. The position has remained vacant since he quit the scene.   

Biya has not increased the quota of Anglophones serving as Governors. The report card has remained at a steady two Anglophones out of 10.

The same situation is seen for Senior Divisional Officers, SDOs, wherein it was only in the course of the heat in the North West and South West Regions that there was a slight increase in the number of Anglophones out of 58. 

It took the pressure in the two English-speaking Regions for Biya to slightly increase the number of Anglophones serving as Divisional Officers.

Given that the graph of appointments and sharing in leadership positions continue to read in the same direction since independence, observers say the only way to prove the contrary is for those in power to break the jinx. 

Such mental shift and political will, they say, must be seen in appointing more Anglophones to strategic national posts of responsibility and not preaching love, living together and national unity, while treating Anglophones as secondhand citizens. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3452 of Thursday May 22, 2025