Editorial: Breaching Commonwealth norms

For nearly half a century since Cameroon’s reunification, the official emphasis on the issue of bilingualism seems to have remained more on paper than in practical terms. It is indeed a one-sided projection of an official policy with a seemingly hidden agenda which underneath the surface, promotes the French language above the English language.

For nearly half a century also, English-speaking Cameroonians have vented their grievances on this issue, but the responses have been largely tied to the persistent argument that the dynamics of Reunification of Cameroon draws its relevance on bilingualism. But the irony of this perception is that the Francophone leadership beginning from Ahidjo to Biya seem to have successively under-mined this reality.

The late President Ahidjo who laid the foundation of this policy of bilingualism, in the twenty-two years of his leadership, made no attempt to address the nation in English.

His successor, the incumbent, has made minimal efforts to insert a few sentences that only punctuate his original speeches in French, most probably to add some life in them as well as revive the hope in the Anglophones, that the spirit of bilingualism is not just floating over a vast sea, but it is settled on solid ground. This is however unfortunate.

Having sacrificed so much of our values for re-unification, the English-speaking Cameroonians, have, as usual remained patient, even as the image of Cameroon in the international community is projected as a francophone country With this perception, no one, other than the English-speaking Cameroonians, could have received the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), Summit with such a level of pride, as well as an opportunity to wipe out that negative image of Cameroon being a francophone country.

The Commonwealth of Nations, sometimes referred to as the Gentlemen’s Club, is one association that has English as the unique language of the organisation. The flames of this pride of the English-speaking Cameroonians burned endlessly when the speaker of the National Assembly, Cavaye Yeguie Djibril and the Senate President, Marcel Niat Njifenji, made frantic efforts to address the assembly in English.

The ovation was long enough to pave the way for the Head of State himself, who, it was expected by the more than one hundred and seventy members of parliament from about fifty-five commonwealth countries represented, to state his case loud and clear.

After all, the Commonwealth of Nations is an organisation through which countries with diverse social and political backgrounds are regarded as equals tied together by a framework of values and goals outlined in the Singapore Declaration of 1971.

One of these common values was the adoption of the English language as the operational lingua-franca of the organisation.

That the Head of State of one of the few bilingual countries had the temerity to sideline one of the values of this organisation, has certainly sent a negative message across.

It is just like in any Francophonie summit a francophone Head of State speaking English will certainly sound repulsive and unacceptable, this being the core value of that organisation.

Cameroon joined the Commonwealth in 1995 and nineteen years later, we are hosting the 60th CPA, who knows, may be the next opportunity may see us hosting the full commonwealth summit itself.

We are certain that delegates to this assembly will live to remember the good times they had in Cameroon by enjoying our gift of hospitality and peace. But what will stick in their memories is the pain it took them to understand the president’s address in French. In-fact the president breached the norms of the gentleman’s club.

We, however, appreciate the points the Head of State raised in his speech, most especially his reference to the gloomy picture of Ebola outbreak, but no matter how much the English-speaking population may try to appreciate this, that their English language has not been considered necessary in an all-English-speaking gathering, has become even more frustrating for the Anglophones.

This obviously provokes a rethinking of our commitment to our bilingual perception. We hope that the government will take this seriously and enhance their commitment to bilingual policy which is an official policy.