Southern Cameroons' Nationalists Face Le Prêfet
Magistrate Congratulates Southern Cameroons' Nationalists and Rescues SDO from Verbal Onslaught

The presiding Judge at the Bamenda High Court, Justice Julius Nchuo has commended the Southern Cameroonian nationalists standing trial in his court since January 2007 for always being prompt in court in spite of the fact that many of them come from distant towns such as Ndu, Kumbo, Mutengene and Kumba. Justice Julius Nchuo made this remark on Tuesday October 23, 2007 while presiding at the long drawn-out case between the state of Cameroon and Southern Cameroonian nationalists arrested last January 20, 2007. The Southern Cameroonian nationalists where later released on bail after more than three months in detention amidst local and international protests and condemnation.

The defendants are Southern Cameroonian nationalists calling for the de-colonization of the Southern Cameroons and the end of its territorial occupation by French Cameroun or la République du Cameroun. They were arrested while holding a Press Conference in the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) head office in Bamenda on January 20, 2007. The case had been brought by the Yaoundé-appointed local administrative authorities in Bamenda, Mezam Division, led by the Senior Divisional Officer (SDO), Jules Marcellin Ndjanga.

Five Adjournments

There was relief on the faces of the defendants when they saw the SDO of Mezam in the courtroom. On more than five occasions since January of 2007, the case has been adjourned five times because the key prosecuting witness, the SDO of Mezam or the presiding judge was not available for scheduled appearances. It should be pointed out that both the presiding judge in Bamenda and the SDO owe their positions ultimately to the president of the Republic at whose pleasure they all serve in this hyper-centralized system where all such appointments are vetted by the Secretariat of the presidency in Yaoundé. They weld more power and authority than the locally elected officials.

The presence of the SDO of Mezam opened the way for "cross examinations" to begin. The Magistrate called on the prosecuting witness, the SDO for Mezam to make his opening statement. The SDO submitted that his office had learnt on the 20 th of January, 2007 that SCNC activists were holding a secessionist meeting at their head office on Cow Street in Bamenda; he therefore dispatched the forces of law and order to stop the meeting and arrest them.

Invasion of the SCNC Head Office in Bamenda, January 20, 2007

The Magistrate, Justice Julius Nchuo, then gave the opportunity for the defendants to question the SDO. Speaking on behalf of the Southern Cameroonian nationalists, Prince Humphrey Mbinglo, who is the Northern Zone Chairman of the SCNC, expressed satisfaction that the SDO for Mezam could even acknowledge the existence of a SCNC head office.

Prince Humphrey Mbinglo told the Court that the SCNC holds meetings at that office on a daily basis, but what happened on January 20 th , 2007 was that they had organised a Press Conference and not a meeting. That aside, Mr. Humphrey Mbinglo, asked the SDO to be clear on who was seceding from whom and to produce any documents showing that the Southern Cameroons has ever been part of la République du Cameroun. Clearly, Mr. Mbinglo's statement was alluding to the fact that both la République du Cameroun and the Southern Cameroons, with separate dates of independence and internationally recognized borders, began negotiations in 1961 to form a federation. The negotiations, according to Southern Cameroonian legal experts, remain inconclusive because no treaty of union has ever been signed between the two nations. He may also have been referring to the fact that Paul Biya unilaterally seceded from any sort of "union" when in 1984, he invoked the name of "la République du Cameroun," the appellation that French Cameroun adopted on January 1, 1960 upon her independence from France. At the time of French Cameroun's independence, there was no political or administrative association of any sort between the Southern Cameroons and the Republic of Cameroun (French Cameroun).

Rescuing the SDO

The SDO on his part insisted that at a time when the world is uniting, it is wrong to see a part of a united entity like Cameroon trying to disintegrate. As the SCNC activists were gearing up to confront the administrator with more questions, Magistrate Julius Nchuo stopped them and proceeded to congratulate them for always appearing in court promptly and as scheduled, even if one or two were absent today, referring to Nfor N. Nfor, the SCNC vice National Chairman who was out of the country.

The case was finally adjourned for November 18 th when it is hoped judgement will be delivered.

UNPO General Secretary, Mr. Marini Busdachin with his visa request

The case has also drawn international attention. On January 25, 2007 members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) along with Southern Cameroons activists based in Europe staged a protest in front of the Embassy of the Republic of Cameroun in The Hague. In a release following the protest, the UNPO's website reported that the "UNPO General Secretary, Mr. Marino Busdachin, attempted to present to the Embassy of the Republic of Cameroon a visa request to conduct a mission to Bamenda in order to consider reports of arbitrary detention, the conditions under which SCNC and UNPO members are being detained, and report on the larger issue of the human rights situation in Southern Cameroons. The General Secretary was however refused entry to the Embassy at its very doorstep, and denied even the opportunity to present formally his visa application. This refusal of what UNPO considers a legitimate request could be recognised as an indication of the Republic of Cameroon's rejection of any attempted scrutiny of its arrest and detention practices."