After joining DDR Centres: Ex-separatist fighter regrets gov’t dishonesty towards reintegration

Popularly known as General Nambere, the ex-Ambazonia combatant in Cameroon’s Southwest region lamented to MMI that the Cameroonian Government has failed to honour her word about preparing and reintegrating ex-fighters into society.

Accompanied by the military, the former Amba boy was in Kumba last week where he mobilized denizens to denounce separatist fighters and their activities in the city of Kumba, following the killing of schoolchildren.
“I can’t sit here and watch people dying every day while some persons are using the crisis for business.

“Government seems to be divided into many factions. There are some who do not want the conflict to end… There are others who really want the fight to end. I have seen it myself that there’s a lot of debating between these people here,” he said.

He added that for his over 10 months at the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Centre, DDRC, he has not been given any employment as Government promised them.

They have been idle throughout the time at the DDRC, without any training to help reintegrate them into society, as they were told before they joined the Centre.

“Government has been providing our feeding but we provide accommodation for ourselves,” he said.
He also regretted that for over 10 months they have not been given identification cards and their freedom of movement is therefore limited as they cannot move beyond their locality.

“I have tried following up the procedure but it’s very tough. Until now there’s no solution. We cannot force the Government and we don’t know what to do.”
After the creation of the DDR Centres for ex-fighters in Northwest, Southwest, and Far North regions, the State had promised to disarm all the combatants, re-orientate them, train them with self-employment skills, and integrate them back into society.

Nambere regrets that Government has not honoured her word regarding the treatment of Ambazonia fighters who surrender their arms.
He said the government has only been faithful in that none of the ex-separatist fighters have been killed after they dropped their arms.

Mimi Mefo Info