The Guardian Weekly (2022-01-14)

The Guardian Weekly 14 January 2022

Eyewitness

Cameroon

 Fever pitch

Burkina Faso fans get in the party

mood at last weekend’s opening

ceremony of the Africa Cup of

Nations at the Paul Biya stadium,

Yaoundé. The tournament is being

hosted by Cameroon for the fi rst

time for 50 years.

For many in a football-loving

nation, the tournament is a proud

moment, where Cameroon start as

underdogs behind the favourites

Algeria, Egypt and Senegal.

But for others in the English-

speaking parts of Cameroon, the

tournament is a sideshow to an

ongoing crisis.

Behind the celebrations –

tempered by strict pandemic

restrictions – are tensions from

a security crisis spreading from

anglophone regions, potentially

aff ecting the event. Authorities

in the west African country have

ramped up security, particularly

in the capital, Yaoundé, and

other host cities across fi ve of

Cameroon’s 10 regions.

In Limbe, a peaceful coastal

city that will host group matches,

an explosion near the city centre

earlier this month left six injured

and destroyed property. A faction

of the separatist Ambazonia

movement claimed responsibility,

and the wider movement

has pledged to disrupt the

tournament.

Separatist groups seeking

independence for the English-

speaking parts of Cameroon

have been accused of several

attacks and blasts, including

against schools, escalating an

education boycott that began in

2017, and depriving a generation

of Cameroonian children of

an education, according to a

report by Human Rights Watch.

Cameroonian security forces have

been accused of human rights

abuses against anglophones,

especially in rural areas.

Many anglophones accuse

the government of attempting to

assimilate their education and

legal systems into the dominant

francophone system.

Emmanuel Akinwotu and

Franklin Sone Bayen

KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/GETTY

18