By George Ngwane
Abstract
For close to eight years and counting, Cameroon has been engulfed in an armed conflict whose root causes stem from what is called ‘The Anglophone Problem’. Historically Anglophones are the English-speaking part of Cameroon that decided through a Plebiscite on 11 February 1961 and Reunification on 1st October 1961 to join their French-speaking part to make what is today Cameroon. Anglophones have had different politico-geographical nomenclatures from Southern Cameroons, West Cameroon to the North West and South West regions. The country itself has mutated from Federal Republic of Cameroon (1961-1972), United Republic of Cameroon (1972-1984) to today Republic of Cameroon. The root causes of the armed conflict have had different interpretations as much as the solutions provided for their closure. This paper seeks to suggest the role and relevance of exploring a multilateral Constitutional Convention in Cameroon as a foray to conflict resolution and peacebuilding.
The process involved in engineering a constitution can earn a nation with either a people-centred or politician-decreed supreme law of the land. Most constitutions today owe their relevance and sustainability to the fact that citizens hunger for micro-governance and bottom-up decision making.
I have taken the liberty to present an overview of the constitutional processes in Nigeria so as to draw parallels and symphony with the Anglophone predicament within the Cameroonian context. For close to 70 years, Cameroon has also walked the journey of Suitability; a journey in search of a constitution suited to the political circumstances, cultural coloration and national aspirations that speak to an enduring policy of unity in diversity.
In the face of calls for the root causes of the Anglophone problem, cognisant of the fact that relative calm is being noticed in some areas in the Anglophone regions, considering the fact that a constitution should be a practicable document which seeks to find solutions to past problems, as well as attempts to forestall any structural hitches that may impede national development in any foreseeable future , and aware of the fact that an asymmetrical conflict cannot solely be won through weapons of mass destruction, this paper encourages all belligerents and stakeholders to embark on a journey that seeks to involve the conscience of the nation through a physical sitting in the form of a constitutional convention.
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