Rejection of Canada peace talks: Gov’t dampens hopes for return of peace in NW, SW!.

Many had seen the move as one that will finally put an end to the bloodletting in the two English-speaking regions. The announced peace talks, which is said to have been on the heels of a series of secret meetings with Cameroonian delegations in three Quebec and Ontario locations over the past four months, had raised hopes from across the board, including separatist leaders.

However, these hopes for a return of peace in the North West and the South West regions have been dampened following Yaounde’s recent rejection of the Canada-facilitated peace talks.

It should be recalled that in her release, the Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, Melanie Joly, had disclosed that her country “has accepted the mandate to facilitate this process, as part of our commitment to promote peace and security and advance support for democracy and human rights”.

“Our role also reflects Canada’s engagement to work with our African partners to build a better future for everyone,” she wrote.

She had noted that the government of Cameroon and the different groups have agreed to enter, “a process to reach a comprehensive, peaceful and political resolution of the conflict,” noting that, “the parties have also agreed to form technical committees to begin work on confidence-building measures”.

The statement had also identified other key groups that have accepted the fresh engagement to include “the Ambazonia Governing Council, the Ambazonia Defence Force, the African People’s Liberation Movement, Southern Cameroons Defence Force, the Interim Government and the Ambazonia Coalition Team”.

The Canada-facilitated peace talks, as laudable as it is, gained accolades from across the board. This, many analysts said, was a glimmer of hope that the much-trumpeted genuine and inclusive dialogue will finally take place to resolve the Anglophone crisis.

Gov’t “unwilling party” for dialogue

Nonetheless, the government of Cameroon is now being seen as the “unwilling party” for a veritable dialogue to resolve the crisis.

While many Cameroonians and the international community were looking forward to the commencement of the Canada-facilitated dialogue, Yaounde, on Monday January 23, made an unexpected U-turn, rejecting the announced peace talks.

In a press release issued Monday, the Minister of Communication who doubles as Government’s Spokesman, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, said: “The Government of the Republic of Cameroon informs the national and international community that it has not entrusted any foreign country or external entity with any role of mediator or facilitator to settle the crisis in the North West and South West regions”.

“It is first and foremost up to the Cameroonian people, to the institutions and leaders that they have freely chosen, to seek appropriate ways and means to address problems facing our country,” the statement said.

“The Major National Dialogue, which was held in Yaounde in 2019, was an opportunity for the sons and daughters of Cameroon to exchange freely and discuss prospects for a future of peace, security and progress for our country,” it added.

“Since then, the Government of the Republic has been working to implement the recommendations of the Major Dialogue. It is also continuing its efforts for the reconstruction of areas affected by the crisis and providing assistance to the populations concerned,” his statement noted.

It went ahead to state that: “The Government of the Republic thanks friendly countries and international institutions for the interest they take in our country and for the multifaceted support they provide”.

“The Government firmly condemns the deadly attacks and the destruction that certain terrorist groups continue to perpetrate in the North West and South West regions. It commends the Defense and Security Forces for their bravery and the professionalism with which they accomplish their missions of defending the territorial integrity and protecting the civilian population,” it said.

Meanwhile, that statement urged “friendly countries to track down and bring to justice those who, from abroad, are financing and encouraging violence in our country…we  thank the Government of the United States of America for the actions that have made it possible to bring the perpetrators of such acts to justice. We encourage other friendly countries of Cameroon to do the same”.

“The Government of the Republic once again urges members of the armed groups to seize the peace offer of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Paul Biya and once again contribute to the great work of nation building,” it said.

Gov’t’s back-pedaling attracts condemnation

While it is not clear why the government has back-pedaled, many right-thinking Cameroonians of goodwill have been condemning Yaounde’s action, describing it as a faux pas.

An analyst, who did not want to be named, said: “For the fact that the announced Canada-facilitated peace talks was welcomed by senior British and US diplomats, and even by Pope Francis, who praised the agreement during an address on Sunday, for the government of Cameroon to back-pedal, it smacks of bad faith and unwillingness to peacefully resolve the Anglophone crisis”.

“The government has often shown that it is unwilling to peacefully resolve the Anglophone crisis, but instead wants to continue pursuing the military option that has left thousands dead and hundreds of thousands displaced,” he added.

Meanwhile, Chris Roberts, a University of Calgary scholar and Africa specialist, who has worked on Cameroon issues, is quoted by The Globe and Mail as saying Yaounde’s denial of the peace talks “should not be taken as a surprise.”

He added that the move is “a major stumbling block toward peace in Cameroon”.  

“I assume Canadian officials and others in the international community were prepared for this denial, given the regime’s track record,” he told The Globe.

“Now the real diplomacy begins,” Chris Roberts added.

This is not the first time the Cameroon government is denying moves to resolve the Anglophone crisis peacefully.

In September 2019, the government had also rejected a third-party mediation led by Switzerland to end the crisis. The Swiss-mediated peace process had begun in 2019.

The chief envoy to the Swiss-led mediation, Ambassador Gunther, had said then that it was ending its efforts toward brokering peace in the nearly six-year-long war in the North West and South West regions. Yaounde had reportedly told the Swiss government that it was not interested in a third-party mediation, instead calling on Switzerland to rather support the Major National Dialogue held in Yaounde in 2019.

It should also be recalled that years back there were reports that government had initiated peace talks with separatist leader, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his cronies who are serving life sentences at the Kondengui prison.

However, Yaounde later came out powerfully to debunk the information. Nonetheless, authoritative sources say groundwork for the said peace talks had actually been underway before the government back-pedaled as usual.

These and many other efforts to end the bloodletting in the crisis-hit regions, which the government had thwarted, analysts say, “are clear testimonies that the government is unwilling to use peaceful means to resolve the crisis”.

Heightening anger within communities

Government’s press release rejecting the Canada-facilitated peace talks has sparked disappointment and pricked the bile of many within communities in the crisis-hit regions, who had been hoping that peace will finally return so they can go about their lives as was the case before the crisis erupted in 2016.  

Bad seeds within the system

Meanwhile, bad seeds within the Biya regime have been accused of frustrating efforts to resolve the Anglophone crisis and end the over six-year blood-spilling in the crisis-hit regions.

Analysts say there are some government bigwigs behind the scenes who have been throwing spanners in the works to frustrate the initiatives for peace talks. They are thus insisting that for a veritable no-holds-bared peace process to come to fruition, “such bad seeds must be weeded out”.

One of the analysts, who did not want to be named, said “it is very unfortunate that people continue to lose their lives, property and livelihoods in the North West and South West regions while government continues to drag its feet over efforts to cause the return of peace”.  

Human rights lawyer, Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor Balla, reacting to government’s rejection of the Canada-facilitated peace process in a tweet, expressed discontent, stating that “the forces of evil can never triumph”.

Urging all sides to remain calm after government’s U-turn, Agbor Balla said: “Let us keep hopes alive”.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, Melanie Joly’s press secretary, Adrien Blanchard, is also quoted as having said: “We are in touch with the parties and our previous statement still stands.” Representatives of Cameroon government had attended all of the earlier meetings in Canada that led to the agreement, he said.

A Cameroonian based in the Diaspora, Eric Acha, in a post on his Facebook page, regretted government’s feet-dragging.

“While the Cameroun government must be up with one of their usual games, and doing what they do best, they must be informed that Canada has not been working alone, and has had the support of other stakeholders and friends of Cameroon who want to see peace return to the Southern Cameroons, via the settlement of the root causes of the conflict,” he wrote.

He added that: “Just earlier today, the US via their Embassy in Yaounde issued a statement in support of the Canadian statement. So, it is now evident to the world who has been against peace returning to the crisis-hit Anglophone regions”.

Across-the-board endorsement of peace process

It should be noted that many groups, including religious leaders in Cameroon had hailed the Canada-facilitated peace process.

In a statement issued Saturday January 2023, religious leaders of the North West and South West regions had welcomed the announced Canada-facilitated peace process, describing it as “a major step towards the search for a true, sustainable, and lasting peace in these regions”.

“This has been our prayer and we are thankful to God that a hopeful corridor is beginning to open for inclusive dialogue that should usher in a peaceful resolution of the distressful socio-political crisis in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon,” they wrote.

The statement was signed by the most Rev Andrew F. Nkea, Archbishop of Bamenda, on behalf of the Bishops of BAPEC; Rt. Rev Fonki Samuel Forba, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, PCC; Rev Dr Nditemeh Charlemagne, Executive President of Cameroon Baptist Convention, CBC; Tukur Mohammed Adamu, of Bamenda Central Mosque; Alhadji Mohammed Aboubakar, Chief Imam of Buea Central Mosque; and Rt. Rev Dibo Thomas Elango of the Anglican Church of Cameroon.