WHO ARE WE? THE PEOPLE OF SOUTHERN CAMEROONS ASK
Keywords:
People, Southern, CameroonsAbstract
Because there can be no Cameroonian nationality outside la Republic, international law recognises only the inhabitants of la Republic of Cameroon as Cameroonians. Acquisition of Cameroonian nationality is only by treaty and once the treaty is abrogated, you are no longer a Cameroonian. If the 1972 constitution which gave the people of southern Cameroons nationality was abrogated, then who are we? The people asked. This paper begs an answer to this question. In answering this question, it is useful to have a look at the history of Cameroon. True African history is important because it plots a course for the understanding of the people’s past and present. It help the people locate themselves on the map, tell them of their historical time of the day, who they are, what they have been, where they are now, but most importantly, where they still must go. We cannot therefore gainsay the fact that in the absence of true African history, many will be left in the dark as it is the case today in Cameroon. A description of the history of Cameroon will provide an important background to asserting the identity or nationality of the people of southern Cameroons.
Downloads
References
iAjumane F “Cameroon: Court Rules Ambazonia leaders are Cameroonians, Orders hearing to Start” Journal du
cameroun.com, 20 February 2019.
iiIbid.
iiiMotsoko P, “Effects of Colonialism on Africa's Past and Present” Pambazuka News: Voices for Freedom and
Justice, 31st May 2012 <https://www.pambazuka.org/global-south/effects-colonialism-africas-past-and-present>
accessed 1 June 2019.
ivIbid.
vThe Common Wealth, “Cameroon History”
accessed 1 June 2019.
vi Fombad CM “Introductory Notes” 2 www.ica.up.ac.za> accessed 20 June 2019.
vii Most government houses including the Kumba General Hospital, Senior Divisional Officer’s residence, and
Government Technical Training College (GTTC) are German structures.
viii The defeat took place at Mora on 20 February 1916.
ixSee Rudin HR, Germans in the Cameroons 1884–1914: A Case Study in Modern Imperialism (New Haven, Yale
University Press, 1938) and Ardener SG, Eye-Witnesses to the Annexation of Cameroon, 1883–1887 (Buea,
Government Press, 1968).
x The partition is based on an agreement signed on 4 March 1916. This partition was confirmed in an AngloFrench Declaration, signed in Paris on 10 July 1919 by Viscount Milner (for the British) and M. Simon (for the
French).
xiArt 119 of the Treaty of Versailles and Arts 22 and 23 of the League of Nations Covenant of 1922.
xii Fombad (fn 6) 2-3.
xiii Leno N.D, The Development of a Commercial Law Structure in the SADC with Specific References to
OHADA (LLD Thesis, University of Pretoria, 2014, 20).
xiv 1
st January 1960.
xv The two plebiscites were held in February 1961 and the results were as follows. The population of Southern
Cameroons voted thus: For joining the Republic of Cameroon: 233,571 and for joining the Federation of Nigeria:
97,741 while the population of Northern Cameroons voted thus: For joining the Republic of Cameroon: 97,659
and for joining the Federation of Nigeria: 146,296.
xvi The Plebiscite was conducted on the 11 of February 1961, but unfortunately, southern Cameroons were
manipulated with options. They were either to vote in favour of yes or qui, two words with the same meaning.
xvii The Foumban conference lasted from July 17-21, 1961. Mualimu SJ and Amin DA, Explaining History for
Cameroon Schools and Colleges (Graphics Printers, Bamenda, 9th ed, 2015, 168).
xviii Article 1 of the Federal constitution of 1961 provides that the official languages shall be French and English.
This was retaken in article 1 of the unitary constitution of 2 June 1972 and article 1 (3) of the constitution, Law
No. 96/06 of 18 January 1998 as amended.
xix 1
st July 1961.
xx This was during a referendum organised on 6 may 1972.
xxi Succession Law 84/001 of 4th February 1984.
xxii Mualimu and Amin (fn17) 227.
xxiiiLaw No. 06 of 18 January 1996 to amend the Constitution of 2 June 1972.
xxivCited in fn 6.
xxv Ajumane F (fn 1).
xxvi
“On-going Crisis has Negatively Impacted the 60% Market Shares MTN Cameroon owns in these Regions”
Business in Cameroon, 12 February 2019 at 13.45
xxvii Ajab A and Awung W, “Economic Analysis of Private Returns to Investment in Education in Cameroon” A
paper presented at the Regional conference on ‘Education in West Africa: Constraints and Opportunities’, 25-26
November 2005, Dakar, Senegal.
xxviii “What is the legal system” accessed 1
st January 2019. See TetIey
W, “Mixed Jurisdiction: Common Law vs Civil Law (codified and uncodified)
<https://www.cisg.law.pace.edu/cisg/biblio/tetley.html> accessed 1
st January 2019.
xxix S29 (1) of the Judicial Organisation Ordinance of 2006/015 of 29th December 2006 as amended by Law No.
2011/027 of 14th December 2011.
xxx S1 (1) (b) of Decree n°79/448 of 5/11/79 modified by Decree n°85/238 of 22/2/85 organising and regulating
the activities of Bailiffs in Cameroon.
xxxi Art 29 of the Uniform Act on Simplified Recovery Procedures and enforcement Measures 1999 provides “The
State shall be required to lend assistance in the execution of decisions and in other writs of execution”. Baaboh F,
“The Force of Cameroon Legal system” <https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/the-force-of-the-cameroon-legalsystem-7156> accessed 20 June 2019.
xxxii
They include but not limited to the following: Civil Law, Common Law, Religious Law (Islamic, Hindu,
Jewish etc), Customary Law, and Mixed Law. See Law C, “Legal Systems of the World”
accessed 20 June 2019.
xxxiiiU.S Department of Justice, National Security, “International Legal systems: An Introduction”
<http://www.jsutice.gov/nsd/ovt, 3> accessed 12 December 2018.
xxxivHerteI C, Legal Systems of the world (Notarius International, 1-2, 2009, 128).
xxxv Ibid.
xxxvi Walton FP, The Scope and Interpretation of the Civil Code, (Montreal 1907, reprinted by Butterworth,
Toronto (1980, 1).
xxxvii Danpullo IB, Introduction to English Law and Legal System (Messie and Publishers, Yaoundé, 2017, 45) for
some discussion on the differences between the legal systems of Cameroon.
xxxviii Kindzeka ME, “Dual Languages, Legal Systems Make Seeking Justice Difficult in Cameroon” Vox of
Africa, 21st May 2015.
xxxix English and French-speaking judges are appointed upon graduation from ENAM.
xl U.S Department of Justice, National (fn33) 6.
xli Ibid.
xlii Tabe-Tabe S, Company Formation under the OHADA Uniform Act on Commercial Companies and Economic
Interest Groups: Changes in the Law Hitherto Applicable in Former West Cameroon (LLD Thesis, University of
Yaoundé 11, Cameroon 2009, 9-10).
xliii Leno D, ‘Lesson Notes on Introduction to Law and LegaI System (Unpublished and on fiIe with Author).
xlivMazeaud H, Leçons de Droit Civil (François Chabas, ed, 11 Ed, Paris, Montchrestien 1996, vol. 1, para. 110
at 172).
xlv The literal rule also known as the ordinary meaning rule or the plain meaning rule is the task of the court to
give a statute’s words their literal meaning regardless of whether the result is sensible or not. This idea was
expressed by lord Esher in R v Judge of the City of London Court when he said, “If the words of an act are clear
then you must follow them even though they lead to a manifest absurdity. The golden rule redacts absurdities in
the law and the Mischief rule or the rule in Heydon’s case of 1584 seeks to correct a mistake by looking at the Act
before it was passed in order to discover the gap that is the defect and the ejusdem generis rule narrows down
words to suit a particular words.
xlvi Leno ND, “The Constitutional Validity of the OHADA Treaty in Cameroon” Global Journal of Management
and Business Research Vol. 16 no.1, 2016, p3.
xlvii s11 (2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948.
xlviii Law No. 2008/001 of 14 April 2008 to amend and supplement some provisions of Law No. 96/06 of 18th
January 1996 to amend the constitution of 2 June 1972.
xlix Law No. 2005/007 of 27 July 2005 as amended in 2011.
l Ordinance No.74-1 of 6 JuIy 1974 to establish Rules governing Land Tenure in Cameroon.
li Art 1(3) of the Cameroon’s constitution.
lii Enonchong N, “The Harmonisation of business law in Africa: Is article 42 of the OHADA Treaty a problem?”
Journal of African Law, 2007, p101.
liii The OHADA treaty was ratified (decree 96/177 of 5 September 1996) without consideration of the legal
peculiarities of the country.
liv Leno ND (fn 46) 4.
lv Kouega JP, The Benefits of French-English Bilingual Competence in Cameroon (OAlib vol. 5, No. 3, 2018)
lvi Decree No. 2017/013 of 32 January 2017. Under the authority of the president of the republic, the commission
is created to maintain peace and ensure national unity.
lvii Esso l, “Introductory Statement on Claims by Anglophone lawyers” Press Conference, 30 March 2017.
lviii Dibussi T, “Memory Lane (May 9, 2015): Common Law Lawyers in Cameroon Call for a Return to
Federalism” Journal Du Cameroun, 10th of May 2017.
lix Kindzeka (fn38).
lx Ibid.
lxi Ibid.
lxii Cameroon Report, “Is Cameroon becoming Rwanda II” (458 edition, 4 February 2019, 5).
lxiii Government troops are deployed to the troubled English-speaking regions of the country, where they have
caused Iots of atrocities such as rape, kiIIings and destruction of properties.
lxiv Ajumane F (fn 1).
lxv Ibid.
lxvi The 1949 Geneva Convention and 1977 Additional Protocols to the Geneva Convention.
lxvii Kannan A, “Examine the meaning of Mann’s quote that ‘War is a cowardly escape from the problems of
peace’” <http://www.enotes.com/topics/thomas-mann> accessed 15 December 2018.
lxviii “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” <http://www.sahistory.org.za> accessed 15 February 2019.
lxix TetIey (fn 28).
lxx Kindzeka ME (fn 38).
lxxi Ibid.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
License Terms
Ownership and Licensing:
Authors of research papers submitted to any journal published by The Law Brigade Publishers retain the copyright of their work while granting the journal specific rights. Authors maintain ownership of the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication. Simultaneously, authors agree to license their research papers under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) License.
License Permissions:
Under the CC BY-SA 4.0 License, others are permitted to share and adapt the work, even for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate attribution is given to the authors, and acknowledgment is made of the initial publication by The Law Brigade Publishers. This license encourages the broad dissemination and reuse of research papers while ensuring that the original work is properly credited.
Additional Distribution Arrangements:
Authors are free to enter into separate, non-exclusive contractual arrangements for distributing the published version of the work (e.g., posting it to institutional repositories or publishing it in books), provided that the original publication by The Law Brigade Publishers is acknowledged.
Online Posting:
Authors are encouraged to share their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on personal websites) both prior to submission and after publication. This practice can facilitate productive exchanges and increase the visibility and citation of the work.
Responsibility and Liability:
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their submitted research papers do not infringe on the copyright, privacy, or other rights of third parties. The Law Brigade Publishers disclaims any liability for any copyright infringement or violation of third-party rights within the submitted research papers.
