Anglophone Cameroon separatists to declare independence on August 14?

Anglophone Cameroon separatists look headed for a showdown with Yaoundé after announcing that they will declare the two formerly British administered regions of the country independent on the same day Cameroon completely takes control over the formerly disputed oil rich Bakassi peninsula.

Total transfer of sovereignty over the neck of land in the English-speaking Southwest Region which was at the centre of an almost two-decade spat between Cameroon and Nigeria, is August 14, according to the Green Tree Accord both nations signed on June 12, 2006.

Proposed Southern Cameroon Flag (Source WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)

The population of Northwest Region where authorities cracked down last week on activists has been particularly rocked lately as news about the intentions of the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) spreads.

Apparently preparing for their independence day, SCNC activists from May to July this year held a series of secret meetings to raise funds.

Curiously, more women have boarded the bandwagon of the SCNC. The movement has seen the number of women backing its activities ahead of the declaration of independence soar, sources say.

As a show of their grit, activists have already posted a national anthem, “Freedom Land,” online, a pledge and their blue and white stripped flag with thirteen stars (yellow) which stand for the thirteen would-be states of Southern Cameroons.

A currency dubbed the Cameroon United Nations Organization “CUNO” will be publicly launched on August 7, 2013, they say.

A group of activists, who claim that United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, has already given them the nod by signing some “vital documents,” declared that, “on August 13 breaking the D-day, our national flag will be hoisted in all our earmarked 13 states amidst gunshots.”

While other SCNC factions claim that they have a radio and standing army, some who dismiss the claims as blatant lies, argue that Southern Cameroons does not need an army “because our independence will come on the platter of gold.”

The latter splinter group argues that the French speaking part of Cameroon long seceded from the union when they reverted to using the name, “La Republic du Cameroun.”

“They cancelled one of the two gold stars on the flag’s green section and moved the other to the red portion leaving the English speaking part of the country out.”

In a bid to put things under control, the administration of the Northwest has already started cracking down on what it calls “bad eggs” destabilizing national unity.

Over 80 SCNC activists led by their National Chairman, Nfor Ngala Nfor, were arrested on Saturday, July 27th in Ndzrinji-Kumbo, Bui Division, during an enlarged meeting and incarcerated at the Kumbo prison.

Mezam SDO, Nguele Nguele Felix, sealed Bamenda-based private FM station, Foundation Radio on April 22 on grounds that it propagated secessionism on its early morning talk show, the “Good Morning Bamenda Show”. However, the Radio was re-opened on Monday June 24.