Prominent SCNC leader, Ambassador Fossung, dies!.

Ambassador Fossung was among the founding fathers of the SCNC, following the second All Anglophone Conference, AAC II, which held in Bamenda, from April 29 to May 2, 1994. The SCNC was born out of the Bamenda Declaration of AAC II.

Though a non-violent movement seeking greater autonomy and rights and opportunities for the two English-speaking Regions, with a motto “The Force of Argument, Not the Argument of Force”, SCNC activists continuously had clashes with security forces.

Fossung was one of the pioneer SCNC leaders who led the first Southern Cameroons delegation to the United Nations in 1995, before later becoming the leader of the movement.

In 1996, when the then Chairman of the SCNC, Barrister the late Sam Ekontang Elad, resigned, Ambassador Henry Fossung, took over the reins of the movement.

For years, the Buea residence of Ambassador Fossung was frequently invaded and ransacked by security operatives. He was arrested and detained severally. In one instance in January 2005, Fossung had recounted to the press how the police had fired about ten gunshots into the air before bludgeoning their way into his compound in Buea.

Years back, Ambassador Fossung relocated to the United States of America. Until his death, noting was heard of him when the Anglophone problem morphed into a crisis and later escalated into an armed conflict. 

Ambassador Fossung studied in some of the most prestigious institutions in the United States of America. He served on several United Nations commissions, achieved the feat of being elected President of the African Diplomats Club in Washington, DC, and served as Cameroon’s Ambassador to many countries.    

Prior to heading the SCNC, Ambassador Fossung was a leading figure within opposition political circles serving amongst others as the founder and pioneer Chairman of the National Democratic Party and Executive President of the Liberal Democratic Alliance, after the merger of his party. 

He was active within the vibrant National Coordination of Opposition Parties and was one of the most articulate voices from the opposition during the tripartite talks of 1991.  

He was one of the pillars of the first All Anglophone Conference of 1993 in Buea, which set the stage for the rebirth of Southern Cameroons nationalism. 

It should be noted that because SCNC was advocating secession from Cameroon, it was declared an illegal organisation by the government. It was officially banned by the government in January 2017. Security forces regularly interrupted SCNC meetings, arresting members and typically detaining them.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3749 of Thursday April 02, 2026