Anglophone crisis: Barrister Balla says two-state federation only solution

Agbor Nkongho says the solution to the Anglophone Crisis is a two-state federation but regrets that Cameroon’s political class seems not to be on the same page over concrete solutions to put an end to the armed conflict ripping the English-Speaking communities apart.

For over three years now, separatists have been at war with government forces to restore an independent state of Ambazonia. As calls for a genuine dialogue multiply, Human right lawyer and founder of the Centre for the Defence of Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, Barrister Agbor Balla has said, only a two state federation will resolve the conflict.

“A two state federation is the solution to the crisis. Any other solution be it decentralization, 10 state federation or a special status are only stop-gap measures,” Barrister Balla writes on Twitter Monday.
“We shall have to go back to the drawing board to address the fundamental issues,” he adds.

Barrister Agbor who was at the forefront of the struggle when it escalated in 2016 tabled these proposals alongside other Anglophones elites when the Biya government organised a major national dialogue between September and October 2019.
The talks described as a sham by separatists ended with a “special status for the Anglophones” as major resolution. However, this has not been able to reduce the rate of gun violence and the number of displaced persons.

Earlier this year, Tibor Peter Nagy Jr., the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs said effective decentralisation could appease the separatists and restore calm.

What do you think, could be the way out after over three years of prolonged conflict with thousands dead and over a million displaced?