Martin Jumbam

The All Anglophone Conference (April 2-3, 1993).

Twenty five years ago, English-speaking Cameroonians, from all walks of life, flocked to Buea, the historic capital of British Southern Cameroons (April 2-3, 1993), to openly and loudly express their frustration over what many saw then, and still consider today, to be the second-class status to which the Francophone majority has reduced them.   Twenty five years later, with the dark clouds of a senseless civil war, prosecuted against them by the Francophone-majority leadership, looming at the horizon, this historic document sounds as topical as ever. It's worth re-visiting. 

Forward: Reflections from the 1993 All Anglophone Conference

The second day in the month of April in the year of our Lord 1993 is a Saturday. As my ageing “Lada” is sputtering along the Douala-Tiko highway, a feeling of excitement tinged with some apprehension suddenly descends on me and buries its claws in my mind. Rumours had, in fact, been making the rounds of the anglophone community in Douala that the “Lion-Man” alias “Man-Lion” was determined to disrupt the first ever “All Anglophone Conference” billed for the historic Southern Cameroonian capital of Buea, and arrest those attending.

The Languor of a Dirge

Reproduced from Cameroon Post, No. 164, May 20, 1993, P. 7

The Mount Mary Maternity Centre is already packed full when I arrive. I'm still wondering where to find a seat when Charles Wirsuiy of The Sketch newspaper walks up to me and asks me to follow him. He leads me to the section reserved for the press not far from the high table.

He motions me to a seat sandwiched between some journalists. One of them vehemently protests that the seat is already taken. Charly says it's okay, I can have it. I sit down and greet my neighbours. One of them answers cheerfully; the fellow who has just objected to my presence merely grunts and buries his nose in his newspaper.

Carlson, well done!

From Cameroon Post, No. 169, June 23-28, 1993, P.2

There was already quite a crowd milling around the All Anglophone Conference (AAC) Secretariat on the morning of April 2, 1993, when I spotted Dr Carlson Anyangwe. I walked up to greet him and he jokingly asked me if I, too, was already old enough to wear a beard. That came as something of a surprise to me, for, not only am I old enough to wear a beard, the said beard is already greying quite visibly. There was even a time my then five-year old son marvelled his friends with an incredible story of how his daddy sat up all night long, sprinkling powder on his beard while the rest of humanity was sleeping! Imagine that.

Reverend Sisters, God bless you!

Reproduced from The Messenger, Vol. 1, No. 008, Thursday, June 17, 1993, p.2

It was only when we arrived at the All Anglophone Conference (AAC) Secretariat that many of us learnt of the new venue for the meeting. It was said that Mrs Njeuma’s bosses in Yaounde had phoned to her, threatening to dismiss her from her job if she were to let us use the Buea University hall as she had previously agreed to do with the convenors of the AAC, and that was said to be the reason she slammed the doors of the University hall in our faces.