Southern Cameroons detainees in the Kondengui Central prison in Yaoundé will begin a hunger strike on Friday the 26^th of May 2017, Cameroon Intelligence Report has learnt from a reliable source in Yaoundé.  Our source maintained that a majority of the Anglophones taken prisoner by security agents from La Republique du Cameroun do not even have an understanding of the Southern Cameroons uprising and quest for an independent state and will launch a hunger strike to press for basic rights and shed light on the difficult humanitarian conditions inside French Cameroun prisons.

We gathered that the detainees are demoralized after more than five months in detention with an average of five court appearances and no charges brought against them in a political trial that has been rocked by constant adjournment as though the judges are waiting for instructions from the 84 year old dictator, President Biya. They have core demands and will continue to fast until they achieve them. The prisoners see hunger striking as the only door they can knock on to attain their rights.

A senior Anglophone citizen loyal to the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé who spoke to us but sued for anonymity observed that the Southern Cameroonians detained in the many jails in French Cameroun were indirectly serving a long prison term without judgments. He added that living conditions in those Francophone detention facilities were very poor and ravaged by disease. “Even though it is one of the most dangerous and difficult decisions, they are only making this choice because conditions inside the prisons have reached a new low,” He added.

Many of those being held at the Kondengui prison in Yaoundé have complaint that they are under constant attacks by fellow Francophone inmates. Some of the Anglophones do not have any legal representation and it is difficult for their family members to visit them because of the distance and the Francophone procedures to meet any detainee which at times takes weeks.

Several of the Southern Cameroonians have lost their businesses and jobs and nothing is being mentioned about them by a divided Diaspora and a Southern Cameroon leadership caught between staying with the struggle and surrendering to La Republique’s dominance.  Southern Cameroon rallies have also disappeared from the major cities in the West in solidarity with the plight of the Anglophone prisoners. It should be noted that the ages of those arrested since 2016 ranges from 19 to 67 yrs.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon Intelligence Report