The problems caused by the crisis are
ripplingthroughBamendainvisibleand
less visible ways. Samuel, a university
professor, says: “What is happening in
the hospitals is devastating. Young girls
who are not going to school are getting
pregnantandendingupinhospitalwhen
they try to get rid of it on their own.”FUTURES DIMINISHED
OtherBamendayouthstruggletosurvive.
Two young boys dressed in light jackets
lookatthegroundandbackupagainsta
carinneedofrepairswhenapproachedin
asmallpassageoffofNkwenStreet.“For
one month now, we are panel beaters,”
says a 13-year-old out-of-school boy. “I
like studying math [...] but there is no
school because of ghost town.” Manystudents in town are working as hawk-
ers and looking for other ways to make
money. AsThe Africa Reportwent to
press, it was still not clear if there would
be classes in the next school year as the
troublesinBamendadraggedonafterthe
2016/2017 school year was a washout.
The economy of Bamenda is also in
a dire state. The food market, hit by one
of the fires that have plagued the city in
recent months, has more sellers than
customers in the middle of June.
Clothes seller Bryan says that since
last year “the market is very bad. Before
Icouldnotgominuteswithoutsomeone
coming by to ask what I am doing here.Now I sit here for hours with nothing to
do.” The receptionist at the mid-sized
CliftonHotelsaysthatatthistimeofyear,
normallytheplacewouldbebookedout
but it has just five guests.
Suspicionsarehighandpeopletalking
about the conflict often look around to
see if anyone is listening. The fire at the
TopStarHotelinearlyJuneandanother
recent one at a bar on Nkwen Street are
seen as a sign that those organising
ghost towns will punish those who do
not respect the business boycott. At her
restaurant,Samanthasaysthatshecloses
downon Mondays. “No one knows who
is setting the fires. They say they are in
a group called Black Spider. They will
threatenyoufirstandgiveyouawarning
or slip a note under the door. But then
they will come back to burn it if you do
not close down on a ghost town.”
To fight the insecurity, the red berets
of soldiers are now a common sight at
points throughout Bamenda. Even a
member of the eliteBataillon d’Inter-
vention Rapidewas seen on a night in
June sitting in a noisy bar near a central
transport hub in the city, dressed in
fatiguesandBIRbaseballcap,surveying
the crowd. Their presence is set to con-
tinue as the community’s resolve seems
unweakened in its fight for anglophone
traditions, development and better gov-
ernance, in the face of the government’s
game of hardball with anything that it
sees as a threat to stability.*Some names have been changed
to protect the identity of sources due
to the current tensions.SOME 74 ANGLOPHONES ARE APPEARING before a military
tribunal in Yaoundé accused of terrorism for their involvement
in the crisis that has hit Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions
since November 2016. They were arrested during protests
after lawyers and teachers went on strike to protest threats
to the legal and educational systems. They risk the death penalty
due to an anti-terrorism law adopted in December 2014.
Three leaders of the anglophone cause are among
the accused: lawyer Félix Agbor Nkongho, professor Fontem
Aforteka’a Neba and Mancho Bibixy, a.k.a. ‘BBC’, a radio
host. The first two are respected intellectuals. Bibixy is an
activist and was at the frontline from the beginning
of the troubles. During the first protests, he appeared
in a coffin, haranguing the crowd.
The trials started on 23 March and are set to drag on.
The accused have been imprisoned in a high-security jail
in Yaoundé since January. In late April, their lawyers filed
a request for their provisional release, but the tribunal rejected it.Faced with attacks by the Nigerian Islamist group Boko
Haram, Cameroon adopted a controversial law to use in the
fight against terrorism. It defines terrorism as “any act or
threat likely to cause death, put in physical jeopardy, bring
about corporal or material damage, damage to natural
resources, the environment or cultural heritage.” Activists
say the regime is using the law to stifle all contestation.
That case is not the only trial causing tensions in North
West Region. Three bishops, two priests and a nun are being
sued for the Catholic Church’s management of its schools
during the strikes. Two senior military officers are leading
a group that claims to represent the parents of students.
They are seeking damages of 150bn CFA francs ($225.8m),
an amount that would bankrupt the archdiocese of
Bamenda several times over. The backers of the suit say
that Archbishop Cornelus Fontem Esua and the others
are responsible for the boycott of classes in the church-run
schools and collecting fees without holding classes. R.K.The high price of protesting
In state-run schools pupils were
forced to sit end-of-year exams
after a year without teachingREINNIER KAZÉ FOR TAR48 COUNTRY FOCUS| CAMEROON