Since 2016, the Anglophone crisis has plunged the North West and South West regions into a humanitarian crisis that has resulted in more than 2000 deaths and more than 530,000 displaced people including more than 50,000 refugees in neighboring Nigeria.
While the Cameroonian government kept denying the problem and refused to call for an inclusive national dialogue as recommended by Cameroonian civil and political personalities as well as international organizations and the US, Mr. Paul Biya announced on September 10, 2019 the opening by end of September 2019 of a national inclusive dialogue, to seek solutions to the Anglophone crisis. This announcement followed Cameroonian Prime Minister (Mr. Dion Ngute) statement, in May 2019, on the upcoming opening of an inclusive national dialogue.
By offering a national dialogue, Mr. Paul Biya is the recognizing the existence and legitimacy of the Anglophone crisis that has sometimes been denied by senior members of the Cameroonian government and media.
Moreover, while this offering is hailed by some international organizations and influential people who see it as a sign of appeasement, the retention of English-speaking leaders in prison as well as the organization of the national dialogue entrusted to the Cameroonian prime minister is seen as a bias towards achieving a lasting solution.
On the other hand, after Mr. Paul Biya speech, the armed secessionist groups present in the North West and South West regions considered his remarks demonstrated Mr. Paul Biya has no respect for human life. They therefore decided to extend the ghost town and lockdown, initially imposed from September 1st to 15th 2019 in these two regions, after the conviction of Ayuk Tabe and his 9 co-defendants in prison for life sentence as well as fines, to September 16th and 17th 2019 . A new lockdown is also announced for September 24th and 25th, 2019. Actions by separatist groups have been planned on the ground and anyone that would not follow it is clearly putting his life at risk.
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