WHY MANY ANGLOPHONES STILL STRUGGLE TO TRUST FRANCOPHONES WITH THEIR EXISTENTIAL FUTURE!! (By Dr. David Makongo)

WHY MANY ANGLOPHONES STILL STRUGGLE TO TRUST FRANCOPHONES WITH THEIR EXISTENTIAL FUTURE!! (By Dr. David Makongo)

This is a difficult conversation, but Cameroon cannot heal from a history it is unwilling to discuss.

This is not an attack on Francophones. It is not a declaration that every Francophone participated in the suffering of Anglophones. Many Francophone Cameroonians have opposed injustice, defended human rights and suffered under the same political system.

But reconciliation requires us to understand why distrust exists.

For many Anglophones, the question is no longer simply, “Can we live together?”

We have lived together for generations.

The deeper question is:

Can we trust one another enough to build a new political future together?

That question cannot be answered by slogans about national unity. Trust must be rebuilt through truth, justice, constitutional guarantees and a willingness to acknowledge what went wrong.

THE HISTORICAL WOUND

The present crisis did not begin in 2016.

In 1961, British Southern Cameroons joined the already independent Republic of Cameroon through a federal arrangement. In 1972, President Ahmadou Ahidjo abolished that federation through a national referendum and replaced it with a unitary state. International Crisis Group notes that powers previously exercised by West Cameroon were subsequently transferred to the central government. In 1984, President Paul Biya changed the country's name from the United Republic of Cameroon to the Republic of Cameroon—a decision that became another source of Anglophone grievance.

Whether one describes these developments as constitutional transformation, centralization or betrayal, their political consequence is undeniable:

A substantial number of Anglophones came to believe that the constitutional bargain under which they entered the union had progressively disappeared.

That historical memory matters.

WHEN INSTITUTIONS BECOME SYMBOLS OF ASSIMILATION

The grievances eventually reached the courtroom and classroom.

In 2016, Common Law lawyers and Anglophone teachers protested what they regarded as the erosion of the Common Law legal tradition and the Anglophone educational system. Human Rights Watch documented protests over the deployment of Francophone magistrates and teachers and the perceived assimilation of Anglophone courts and schools into Francophone systems.

These were initially professional and constitutional grievances—not an armed rebellion.

But instead of the dispute remaining a political conversation about institutions, representation and constitutional accommodation, security forces responded to demonstrations with repression, arrests and excessive force. Human Rights Watch concluded that this response contributed significantly to the escalation of the crisis.

Armed separatist groups subsequently committed grave abuses of their own—including killings, kidnappings and attacks on schools, teachers and civilians. Those crimes must also be condemned without qualification.

No legitimate grievance gives anyone the right to murder innocent Cameroonians.

But neither can the violence that followed be used to erase the grievances that came before it.

WHERE FRANCOPHONE COMPLACENCY ENTERS THE CONVERSATION

This is perhaps the most uncomfortable part.

The argument should never be that “Francophones oppressed Anglophones.”

That accusation is too broad, historically imprecise and dangerous.

The more defensible criticism is this:

Too many Francophone citizens, political elites, intellectuals and institutions treated the Anglophone problem for too long as somebody else's problem.

While Anglophones complained about their courts, schools, political representation, administrative centralization and cultural identity, many fellow citizens either remained silent, dismissed those concerns as exaggeration, or accepted the government's framing of virtually every serious Anglophone grievance as a threat to national unity.

And silence has consequences.

When your brother cries for years and you do not ask why, he eventually stops believing that you will protect him when his survival is threatened.

That is where distrust grows.

Not necessarily from hatred.

From memory.

BUT SOMETHING IMPORTANT IS CHANGING

Today, many Francophone Cameroonians increasingly express frustration with problems Anglophones have complained about for years:

Poor roads.

Unemployment.

Corruption.

Failing public services.

Administrative arrogance.

Political exclusion.

Poverty despite enormous national resources.

Weak accountability.

Concerns about elections and representation.

Young graduates without opportunities.

Citizens increasingly questioning whether public institutions actually serve them.

The important realization is that bad governance ultimately has no mother tongue.

A pothole is neither Francophone nor Anglophone.

Unemployment does not ask whether your diploma is English or French.

Corruption does not recognize the Mungo.

A dysfunctional hospital does not ask which colonial power administered your grandparents.

And poverty speaks both English and French fluently.

That realization may become one of the greatest opportunities Cameroon has had since independence.

BUT ANGLOPHONES CANNOT SIMPLY BE TOLD: “COME AND JOIN US”

Reconciliation does not work that way.

Many Anglophones carry wounds produced by decades of political disappointment and years of devastating conflict. Families have lost loved ones. Communities have been displaced. Children have lost years of education. Businesses and livelihoods have disappeared.

Human Rights Watch has documented serious abuses by both government forces and armed separatists throughout this conflict.

So when Francophone voices now call on Anglophones to unite against bad governance, many Anglophones understandably ask:

Where was this national solidarity when we were crying?

That question deserves an answer—not an insult.

Acknowledging another community's suffering does not make you guilty of causing it.

It makes reconciliation possible.

ANGLOPHONE POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS MUST ALSO BE UNDERSTOOD

Not every Anglophone has wanted the same solution.

Some have demanded genuine decentralization.

Some have advocated regional autonomy.

Some have demanded restoration of a two-state federation.

Others have demanded an independent Ambazonia.

We may disagree profoundly about those solutions.

But we should distinguish political aspirations from crimes committed in their name.

Wanting federalism is not terrorism.

Advocating autonomy is not treason.

Peacefully arguing for independence is a political position.

And defending a unitary Cameroon is also a legitimate political position.

The democratic question is whether Cameroonians can finally debate these alternatives without imprisonment, intimidation, violence or war.

THE NEXT CAMEROON MUST NOT SIMPLY CHANGE THE PEOPLE AT THE TOP

This is where Francophones and Anglophones should find common ground.

Cameroon does not need another arrangement where the same families, political networks, regions and party structures simply redistribute appointments among themselves.

We should not replace Anglophone marginalization with Francophone marginalization.

We should not replace one tribe's perceived domination with another tribe's domination.

We should not replace one political patronage network with another.

We must change the system—not merely the beneficiaries of the system.

The Cameroon worth fighting for should guarantee:

Equal citizenship.

Independent courts and due process.

Protection of the Common Law and Civil Law traditions.

Protection of both educational systems.

Genuine local and regional government.

Transparent elections.

Fair economic opportunity.

Accountable public institutions.

Protection of land and property rights.

Freedom of expression and peaceful political organization.

Respect for our different histories, languages and cultural heritage.

And above everything else:

A government that belongs to Cameroonians rather than Cameroonians belonging to the government.

BIYA'S EVENTUAL EXIT MUST BECOME AN OPPORTUNITY, NOT ANOTHER NATIONAL TRAGEDY

President Paul Biya will not remain on Cameroon's political stage forever.

Whenever that transition comes, the greatest mistake would be for Anglophones and Francophones to retreat into competing camps and begin fighting over who controls the presidency next.

The question should not be:

WHO WILL CONTROL CAMEROON?

It should be:

WHAT KIND OF CAMEROON WILL CONTROL THE EXERCISE OF POWER?

That distinction could determine whether another generation inherits our grievances or finally escapes them.

We need institutions strong enough that it matters less whether the President comes from the North, South, East, West, Centre, Littoral, North-West or South-West.

We need institutions strong enough that no Cameroonian should need someone from his village in government before he can receive justice.

LET THIS GENERATION WRITE A DIFFERENT ENDING

Francophones must understand that Anglophone distrust cannot disappear because somebody suddenly shouts UNITY!

Anglophones must equally recognize that millions of Francophone Cameroonians are not their enemies. Many are themselves struggling against poverty, unemployment, injustice and institutions that frequently fail ordinary citizens.

Our histories are different.

Our wounds are different.

But increasingly, our aspirations are the same.

We want dignity.

We want opportunity.

We want justice.

We want accountable government.

We want our children to succeed without knowing a Minister.

We want courts that protect citizens rather than power.

We want elections in which every vote matters.

We want a country where being Anglophone or Francophone describes our cultural heritage—not our chances in life.

It is not too late.

But unity cannot mean assimilation.

Peace cannot mean silence.

Reconciliation cannot mean forgetting.

And patriotism cannot mean defending injustice simply because it comes wrapped in the national flag.

Let Francophones acknowledge the wounds of Anglophones.

Let Anglophones recognize the growing frustrations and awakening among Francophones.

Let both communities reject hatred, collective blame and revenge.

And then let us sit together—not as Francophone Cameroon negotiating with Anglophone Cameroon, but as Cameroonians deciding what Cameroon must become.

Biya's eventual departure should not divide us further.

It should give us the historic opportunity to finally fix the country.

Not for Anglophones.

Not for Francophones.

Not for one tribe.

Not for one region.

Not for one political party.

Not for another privileged family.

FOR EVERY CAMEROONIAN.

We do not need to inherit another Cameroon in which we merely change the names of those controlling power.

WE NEED TO BUILD A CAMEROON WE CAN ALL FINALLY CALL OUR OWN.

DR. DAVID MAKONGO

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