In Cameroon, protesters want equality for English
They say they are victims of official bias in nation that favors French language
Tamanjong Stella is upset because her children’s school is closed, a victim of a bitter dispute between English-speaking protesters and the government of this largely French-speaking central African nation.
“The teachers say they cannot start classes until the government has removed the security forces that are posted everywhere,” said Stella, who lives in Bamenda, the capital of one of two Englishspeaking regions of Cameroon. “I do not know what is going to become of my children without school.”
Months of protests and clashes with government troops have not only forced schools to close, but the Internet also has been shut down, and dissidents have been jailed as English-speaking citizens demand equal rights.
Although English and French are both official languages, the English speakers say President Paul Biya, 83, discriminates against them by installing French teachers, judges and officials in their regions.
“Francophone teachers who teach English-speaking children must be removed and replaced by English-speaking teachers,” said Wilfried Tassang, executive secretary of the Cameroon Teachers Trade Unions, whose members walked out of their schools three months ago. “Francophone judges must also be removed to have English-speaking judges.”
In December, police killed at least four people in a market in Bamenda after a strike by teachers and lawyers. A month earlier, police killed one person and arrested more than 60 during violent protests there.
The conflict stems from Cameroon’s colonial past, when separate parts of the country achieved independence from Britain and France in the early 1960s, and the English-speaking regions opted to join Cameroon rather than neighboring Nigeria. The resulting country was supposed to draw strength from its linguistic diversity.
“We should never forget that we are walking in the footsteps of our country’s founding fathers, our national heroes, who shed their blood to bequeath to posterity a nation that is united in its diversity,” Biya said late last year in a rare statement about the conflict. “Cameroon’s unity is therefore a precious legacy with which no one should take liberties.”
Critics said Biya could quell the protests by granting more powers to the English-speaking regions. “President Biya said that the founding fathers wanted a rich country with its diversity, but this diversity is also linguistic,” said George Ngwane, who has written books about Cameroon’s politics.
Joseph Ayeah Chongsi, executive director of Human Rights, Peace and Advocacy, said Biya must hold accountable police who killed citizens at protests.
“Cameroon’s unity is ... a precious legacy with which no one should take liberties.” President Paul Biya