Historical Realities and Specificities of the December 2019 Special status for North West and South West Regions of Cameroon

Charity N. Deyeb (PhD)
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Charity N. Deyeb (PhD): The University of Bamenda-Cameroon

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 2024, vol. 8, issue 9, 1038-1050

Abstract: The aspect of living together of the people of Cameroon from the time of unification in 1961 has since then evolved politically and socio-economically to have a culture so unique only to her. The former British southern Cameroons and the majority French Cameroun who willingly and constitutionally came together adapted a system of government that gave room for the two culture to coexist side by side. Over fifty years down the lane this one time united, loving and friendly people have in the past eight years been experiencing violent socio-political crises in what was earlier known as the Anglophone problem. A crisis began with the Anglophone teachers crying against marginalization of the Anglo Saxon educational system by their francophone system and the lawyers requesting for a place of the common law at the supreme bench was soon high jacked by some citizens with separatist’s ideas. These sequences lead to violent extremism. Several calls from both national and international institutions for the Cameroon government to quickly resolve the problem lead to the convening of the major national dialogue from 30th September-4th October 2019. The December 2019 law of decentralisation which gave the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon a special status is its fruits. Moved by the persistence of violent extremism in these regions even after the national dialogue, this article seeks to answer the question; what are the motivational trend for conflict in Anglophone Cameroon and what could be done to improve on the situation? This article argues that, the problems of Anglophones have socio-political origin, are largely addressed in the realities of this law and that much attention given to its specificities by the beneficiaries it will be realistic. Examining the concepts and articles of the 2019 law in qualitative research method, we discovered that, accumulated socio-political marginalization laid the foundation for the outbreak of violent crises from 2016 and that a majority of the concerned masses are ignorant of the content thus, benefits of the law. This research proposes that, with proper exploitation and application of the 2019 law of decentralization, given its specificities for Anglophones, there will be a facilitation of national integration, social cohesion amongst Cameroonians and sustainable national development.

Date: 2024
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