One of the political casualties of the Presidential elections of 7
October 2018 is that the SDF party was wiped off the political map of LRC and the Southern Cameroons.The most important political goal that all militants of the Briscam.Freedom Party must share is the total independence of the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia. Anyone who does not share this goal shall not be welcome as a member if the BFP. However, the BFP wants to attain that goal through democratic means.
The Collapse of the SDF and the Emergence of the Briscam Freedom Party (BFP).
I. The Collapse of the SDF
1.0 One of the political casualties of the Presidential elections of 7
October 2018 is that the SDF party was wiped off the political map of LRC and the Southern Cameroons. Its leadership has collapsed completely with the dismal performance of Joshua Osih in the Presidential elections. John Fru Ndi who incarnated the SDF since May 1990 is currently seen as a politician of the past. Joshua Osih compromised his position with the people of the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia by running for a parliamentary seat from Littoral region.
1.2 In so doing he took the SDF away from its political heartland in the
Southern Cameroons/Amazonia and was resoundingly rejected by the people of French Cameroun. Consequently neither John Fru Ndi nor Joshua Osih represent any longer the aspirations of the people of the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia in the wake of the presidential elections of 7th October 2018.
1.3 They played the political game according to the rules defined by Paul Biya and both of them have bitten the dust are now history. The SDF is now dead as a result of the political miscalculations and compromises of its leadership. It no longer has any following in the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia because it does not stand for any ideas that correspond to the aspirations of the people of the Southern
Cameroons/Ambazonia.
II. The Emmergence of the Briscam Freedom Party
2.1 Under the circumstances, we of the Briscam Freedom Party can
confidently claim to be the only political party that now speaks for he
people of the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia. The people of the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia deserve to have a political party which espouses ideas close to their aspirations. The resounding rejection of the SDF and the CPDM in the last presidential elections was a clear sign that the people of the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia wish to be led by a new political party which can articulate ideas that are closer to their aspirations at this political juncture.
2.2 The Briscam Freedom Party is not a liberation movement and it is not a pressure group. It is a political party whose existence is based on the democratic principle if freedom of association between people of Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonian origins who share the same political goal.
2.3 The most important political goal that all militants of the Briscam
Freedom Party must share is the total independence of the Southern
Cameroons/ Ambazonia. Anyone who does not share this goal shall not be welcome as a member if the BFP. However, the BFP wants to attain that goal through democratic means. But it cannot renounce on its right to act in self-defense to protect the people of the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia from the current campaign of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity being conducted by the Biya regime, against which the UN, AU, and the ICC and the international community have chosen to maintain a conspiratorial silence.
2.4 It will be recalled that in 1966, all the political parties of West
Cameroon (KNDP and CPNC) were deceived by President Ahidjo to merge together to form the CNU/UNC union under total command of President Ahidjo. It is this “parti unique” that enabled President Ahidjo to engineer without opposition the advent of the uitary state in 1972 which brought an end to the experiment of federalism for ever in Cameroon.
2.5 It is clear that the absence of a political party which speaks for and
defends the interests of the people of the Southern Cameroons is
responsible for much of what has gone wrong in the lives of the
English-speaking peoples of the Southern Cameroons. The emergence of the Briscam Freedom Party is intended to correct that.
III. Registration of the Briscam Freedom Party:
3.1 The Briscam Freedom Party is not registered with the Ministry of
Territorial Administration of LRC and does not intend to do that. Howeverbthe party shall actively mobilize support in the Southern
Cameroons/Ambazonia and in the Diaspora. The people of the Southern
Cameroons/ Ambazonia deserve to have a political party which speaks for and defends its interests around the world.
3.2 A political party is not just an abbreviated string of letters of the
alphabet signifying nothing. A political party must represent a social
philosophy and a set of ideas which represent people’s aspirations for a
better life for themselves and for their children and a commitment to
implement those goals if and when the people confer on the party through a democratic process the power to form a government.
3.3 A political party is more like a fig tree which attracts people based
on its promise to bear fruits. If the fig tree fails to produce the fuits
that are expected, it is the people themselves who shall curse it to die.
(Mark 11: 12 -25:). That is precisely what has happened to the SDF as a
political party.
3.4 A political party is also like a business enterprise. It will continue
to exist only as long as it is well managed. But if it is mismanaged for
long, it will fail and must file for bankruptcy. The SDF has failed and is
now bankrupt and it is time for new businesses to enter the scene and
serve the people.
3.5 The BFP believes that the only place to register a political party is
in people’s hearts because it must embrace social ideals which are close
to people’s hearts. That is why the BFP believes that the time has come to articulate with maximum clarity the political and social ideas which it
stands for so that it will be permanently registered in the hearts of the
people of the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia until the final goal of
independence is achieved.
IV. The Rostoration of the independence of the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia
4.1 The BFP believes that the declaration of the restoration of the
independence of the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia on 1st October 2017 was a legitimate act under international law because the UN under GA Resolution 1608(VX) of 21 April 1962 gave the Southern Cameroons the option of achieving independence “by joining French Cameroun” or “by joining the Federal Republic of Nigeria”. Once that joining act took place on 1st October 1961 with the French Cameroun, the Southern Cameroons became indepenpdent. Period!!!
4.2 However, when the glue of the union subsequently peeled away under the political power greed and monopoly of French Cameroun, the status of the Southern Cameroons as an independent state has remained unchanged.That is why the proclamation of the restoration of the independence on 1st October 2017 was a legitimate act under international law because the collapse of the union of 1st October 1961 is entirely attributable to the monopolistic quest for political power and the greed shown by Predident Paul Biya for 36 years.
V. The Right of legitimate self-defense
5.1 The Briscam Freedom Party supports legitimate self-defense because of the atrocities that have been committed against the people of the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia which have now escalated to killing and burning of young Southern Cameroonian alive. Since October 2017, the people of the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia have been driven from their homes as their towns and villages have been systematically burnt by the Cameroonian army sending them as refugees into Nigeria and as IDPs living in the bushes.
5.2 Under the circumstances, the BFP believes in the legitimate
Self-defense is a fundamental human right; No one in the Southern
Cameroons/Ambazonia should wait for the UN, the AU or the ICC because they don’t care whether we live or die. The people have the right to defend themselves and their families with what they have. If any group of persons breaks into your home or into your village and engages in the wanton killing and rape of your women and the destruction and burning of your property and your means of livelihood, such a group of persons is an enemy. Such a group is not a legitimate representative any kind of constitutional law or regalian order even if they are wearing an official uniform. They are a terrorist group and you have to organise yourselves into a self-defense militia to drive away the invading terrorist force.
5.3 It is your fundamental human right to defend yourself and your loved ones with any means at your disposal, including with your own life against such an evil force.
5.4 The people of Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia have the inalienable right to acquire the means to defend themselves given the fact that the
International community has chosen to remain silent towards the genocidal attrocities that have been committed against the people of the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia since October 2017.
5.5 In spite of the genocide that the Biya regime has committed against
the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia, the UN Human Rights Council has even given a seat in the Council to the Biya regime so that the Biya regime can shield itself from any criticisms for the human rights abuses that it was found guilty of. Under these circumstances, the only option left for the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia is to intensify the self-defense strategy and to acquire the means to do so.
VI. The policy of languages
6.1 The BFP stands in favour of the creation of the sovereign state of
Ambazonia with English as its official language. The BFP rejects the
concept of a bilingual country because during the last 56 years this
concept has deprived the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia of a language identity which is needed to position itselt in the world. This is because inspite of the window dressing of bilingualism, French was actively imposed on the English-speaking community as the language of power and Anglophones were openly denied services in many public institutions once they made request for services in English.
6.2 However the BFP shall promote the reform of the school curriculum in Southern Cameroons/ Ambzonia so as to to make it mandatory for all
secondary schools to teach French, German or Chinese as international
languages. Secondary Schools shall also be required to teach either Hausa, Swahili or Arabic as African languages. The purpose of this language policy is to open the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia to the entire world.
VII. Membership of Commonwealth and Francophonie
7.1 The BFP shall support membership of both the Commonwealth and
Francophonie for the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia. However its membership of the Commonwealth, as a former British Trust Territory, shall be made conditional on the expulsion of la Republique du Cameroun from the organisation on grounds that the country has never valued its membership of the Commonwealth and has never adhered to any of the democratic and human rights values which are core values of the organisation.
7.2 But the most important reason why the BFP shall support the expulsion of French Cameroun from the Commonwealth is because it has engaged since 1984 in a systematic attempt to destroy all the symbols of the Anglo Saxon heritage in Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia including the English-speaking educational and common law legal heritage and the fraudulent change of the name of the town of “Victoria” to “Limbe” in order to falsify the true history of the town of Victoria which was founded in 1858 by Alfred Saker a British Baptist missionary following his purchase of a piece of virgin land from King William of Bimbia for £2000 after the Baptist missionaries were expelled from Fernando Po.
7.3 The latest attempt to destroy the English-speaking educational system is the scrapping of the GCE Board as an independent body and transforming it into a paraststal body under the control of francophone cvil servants in Yaounde.
VIII Public signage and language policy
8.1 The BFP advocates the idea that all public signs in Southern
Cameroons/ Ambazonia should be exclusively in English as from January 2019. All officials in Southern Camroons/Ambazonia should address the population in English and issue circulars exclusively in English. Police and Court proceedings should be conducted in English exclusively. Contracts shall be valid only if they are entered into in English.
IX Franc Zone membership
9.1 The BFP strongly advocates the withdrawal of the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia from the Franc Zone because it is a currency system controlled by France which has been a hindrance to the economic development of any country that has adopted the currency.
9.2 The Franc Zone is a poorly managed currency system where matters as basic as the availability of change at points of sale (POS) in the economy are never addressed by the central bank with the result that many economic transactions are frustrated at POS by the simple lack of change. There is also a chronic incapacity to address the problem of currency overvaluation of the CFA relative to the Euro and the US$ which has penalised the competitiveness of any country using the currency. The issue of a devaluation gap with between the Cfa and Naira the currency of an important economic neighbour like Nigeria has not been addressed by the monetary authorities of the Franc Zone and that is having a negative impact on the economy of neighboring countries .
9.3 The people of the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia overwhelmingly want to adopt the Amba as their national currency and at the earliest opportunity the FCFA shall be demonetized and submitted to BEAC, the issuing authority in return for the equivalent sum in Euros at the rate of 655 fcfa/€ as compensation as required by agreement with the issuing authority.
X. The Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonian Diaspora
10.1 The Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia has a very large expatriate
community in the Diaspora of which a significant number (1-1.5million) is in La Republique du Cameroun. They are employed in government and the private sector as well as personal self-employment.
10.2 The BFP believes that those who occupy positions in the Cameroonian legislature such as deputies and senators based on past elections are free to continue in those positions as long as it is understood that with effect from 1st January 2019, they are doing so in their personal capacity for employment purpuses rather than as representatives of any constituency in the Southern cameroons/ Ambazonia. Such people also include Ministers, Prime Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Secretaries of State and other senior civil servants in the government of French Cameroun.
10.3 They are free to continue to occupy those positions strictly for
purposes of employment. The BFP believes that it is their right to do so
until there is total separation between the Southern Cameroons and LRC because the budget of LRC draws nearly 50% of its revenues from on oil exports from the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia.
10.4 This expatriate community also includes Southern Cameroons/
Ambazonians working in the private sector or are self-employed in French Cameroun. The BFP believes that they are free to continue with their activities as long as they feel safe where they are.
10.5 They are free to travel back to their homes in Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia provided they do so strictly in their private capacity and avoid displaying or wearing any apparel or symbols of any political party such as the SDF or the CPDM because such display shall be considered politically provocative to self-defense groups which can take punitive action against any such persons or groups that have been supportive of the genocidal campaign of the Biya regime against the people of the Southern Cameroond/ Ambazonia.
XI. Elections in Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia
11.1 The Briscam Freedom Party shall not participate in any elections
(parliamentary or municipal) which the Biya regime shall attempt to
conduct in Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia in 2019 because the the BFP does not recognise the legitimacy of Elecam to conduct any elections in Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia.
11.2 Such elections are sgainst the laws of the Southern
Cameroond/Ambazonia and like the presidential elections of 7th October 2017, they shall not be allowed to take place in Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia because such elections shall be considered a provocation by the self-defense groups in Southern Camroons/ Ambazonia. They shall therefore be banned throughout Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia for reasons of public safety and security.
11.3 The BFP shall be opposed to the holding if new municipal elections in Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonian because the campaigns will require the display of political party symbols that are not welcome in Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia and such campaigns shall attract retributive reaction from self-defense groups leading to the death of many more innocent people in Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia.
11.4 The BFP is there in favour of the incumbent municipal councillors
retaining their positions on condition that the councils elects new mayors who shall have no political party affinity. The new mayors shall be required to renounce any affiliation with the party under whose banner they were elected and be totally neutral.
XII. Dialogue with the Biya regime
12.1 The Briscam Freedom Party is opposed to any kind of Dialogue with the Biya regime because of there is no common ground on which such dialogue can be conducted.
12.2 The Biya regime wants a unitary state in which Southern Cameroons/bAmbazonia shall be annexed and transformed into a French colony to bebgoverned by proxy and forced to accept the Franc Cfa as its currency.
12.3 The Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia wants total independence with English as its official language and the withdrawal of the Franc Cfa to be replaced bu the Amba. These two basic positions leave no room for any kind of dialogue.
12.4 The Southern Cameroon/Ambazonia crisis is a matter that is now beyond the intellectual, political and military capacity of the Biya regime to handle. The Biya regime does not have military strength to defeat the movement. It lacks the political legitimacy to table any ideas that the people of the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia can take seriously and the criminal conduct of the Cameroonian army has deprived the Biya regime of the intellectual and moral capacity to be a serious interlocutor in this crisis. Consequently, it is a total waste of time to think about the idea of dialogue with a criminal regime.
XIII Federalism and Decentralization
13.1 Public opinion in Southern cameroons Ambazonia is split between those who want to remain in some form of united but decentralized system in Cameroon and those who want total independence. It is not clear what proportion of the population of Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia supports either option.
13.2 The BFP is opposed to any form of union between the Southern
Cameroons and LRC under any form of federal system because it will never work. That is why the federal system was abandoned in 1972. French Cameroun wants to maintain the links with the Franc Zone while the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia wants to leave the Franc Zone. How can two currency systems coexist in the same country?
XIV. The Negotiated Two Sovereign State Solution
14.1 The BFP strongly advocates the Negotiated Two Sovereign States
solution that will enable two sovereign States to be created with a
sepration treaty that shall be negotiated signed ratified and registered
with the UN in accordance with article 102 of the UN charter.
XV. UN Sponsored Referendum
15.1 The Briscam Freedom Party is in favour of a UN sponsored referendum which will give the people of the Southern Cameroons the right to choose between total independence and remaining in a union with LRC under some kind of federal system, yet to be determined.
15.2 The Briscam Freedom Party believes that as long as some world powers continue to block the passage of a UN Security Council Resolution calling for a ceasefire and fixing a date for a referendum in Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia, legitimate self-defense should continue and be intensified throughout Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia.
©Copyright November 2018;
Dr. Nfor N Susungi
Chairman Briscam Freedom Party(BFP)
Ombudsmen for National Security