To resolve crisis in NW, SW: Dr Munzu, Agbor Balla front urgent All Anglophone Conference!.

Dr Munzu, who served as United Nations Secretary General's Deputy Special Representative for Côte d'Ivoire, kickstarted the campaign Sunday, a day after the departure of Pope Leo XIV from Cameroon.

Dr Munzu’s rallying call has received the backing of Barrister Agbor Balla, who for several years served as a human rights officer at the UN offices in Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In his Sunday message, Dr Munzu explained that as the originator of the idea of an Anglophone General Conference in 2017, “I have always believed that a broad-based meeting of Anglophone Cameroonians is inevitable in the long run, whether or not His Holiness Pope Leo XIV visited Cameroon, despite the setbacks this initiative suffered eight years ago under the leadership of the late His Eminence Christian Cardinal Tumi”.

The retired diplomat continued that: “However, the providential Apostolic Visit of the Holy Father to Cameroon that just ended has brought urgency and much-needed impetus to the idea”.

For Dr Munzu, an Anglophone Conference is a national imperative, either as a stand-alone forum, or as a distinct segment of a future national conference on the governance of Cameroon in the wake of the October 2025 presidential election.

“I suspect that, in their private meeting(s) in Yaounde during his visit, the Pope requested and obtained from President Paul Biya a commitment to address Anglophone grievances fully, with the release of political detainees/prisoners and the grant of autonomy to the Anglophone regions being key components of a would-be comprehensive national peace

and justice plan,” Dr Munzu said of the Pope’s visit.

He added that: “With this in mind, I am inclined to wait and see what measures the President of the Republic will announce in the weeks ahead”.

“A precipitated call for an Anglophone conference at this juncture would sound hollow and opportunistic. However, such a Conference must take place to lay the ground for ending the Anglophone crisis,” he insisted.

Enter Agbor Balla

Meanwhile, in what he described as a reflection on Dr Simon Munzu’s call for an All Anglophone Conference, Barrister Agbor Balla declared his unreserved support for the initiative.

Agbor Balla, who sits atop the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, CHRDA, disclosed that he has carefully read the reflections of Dr Simon Munzu, whom he described as one of the pacesetters of Anglophone consciousness and a voice many of “us have learned from”.

Barrister Agbor Balla was categorical that “as someone who has walked in the path laid by his generation, I find myself in agreement with his central point: an Anglophone Conference is not only inevitable, it is necessary”.

Balla recalled that the 2017 initiative, under the late Cardinal Christian Tumi, remains a powerful reminder that the said idea has long been part of “our collective search for justice and lasting peace”.

He then noted that Dr Munzu’s call for strategic patience, particularly in light of recent developments, is both thoughtful and instructive. 

“If indeed there are ongoing engagements at the highest level, it may be prudent to observe, assess, and allow space for possible concrete measures to emerge,” he stated, warning that: “At the same time, this moment must not be one of inaction. It should be a moment of quiet preparation of building consensus, ensuring inclusiveness, and defining clearly the issues at stake”.

“Ultimately, we are united in the same objective: a just, peaceful, and lasting resolution of the Anglophone crisis. And in that journey, we must continue to draw from the wisdom of those who came before us, even as we take responsibility for shaping what comes next,” Agbor Balla continued.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3767 of Tuesday April 21, 2026