The government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia (Government in Exile) writes to the Independentist news editorial team.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The Independentist News
June 28, 2025
Re: Barrister Felix Agbor Balla’s Facebook Video Urging Registration and Voting.

Dear Editor,

I write on behalf of the Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia to address the recent Facebook video by Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor Balla, in which he emphatically urged Ambazonian youth at the University of Buea to “not just register—but register and vote.” This message, while passionately delivered, poses serious risks to the integrity and future of our struggle.

1. Civic Duty or Trojan Horse?
   Barrister Balla’s call reframes civic engagement as a path to political influence—but this oversimplifies the reality. Elections in Cameroon occur under a centralised state apparatus that never intended Southern Cameroons to play a meaningful role. To suggest that ballots can dismantle systemic oppression is to support a political framework designed to suppress our voice.
2. Rotten Electoral Foundations
   Decades of manipulated voter rolls, under-staffed polling stations, and military oversight demonstrate that the electoral process in Cameroon functions not to serve the people, but to entrench one-party dominance. Youth who heed Balla’s call risk becoming pawns in an operation that coerces legitimacy out of abuse.
3. Registration is Redemption—Only on Paper
   Balla paints registration as the first step towards empowerment. In reality, the central government—and its loyalist operatives—control the process. They decide who votes, who ballots count, and whose voices echo beyond the polling station. This is not empowerment—it is political theatre.
4. A Dangerous Distraction
   Balla believes he’s igniting a democratic spark; yet his message threatens to extinguish the momentum that has fuelled our quest for independence. It complicates international lobbying, weakens collective bargaining, and emboldens the regime’s claim of normalcy in occupied Ambazonian territory.

What Ambazonia Needs
• Zero engagement with fraudulent Cameroonian elections.
• A collective focus on internationally mediated negotiations led by Ambazonia’s Government in Exile.
• A redoubling of civic education on self-determination, not simulated access to oppressive institutions.

While we respect Barrister Balla’s dedication to civic ideals, his call to vote under occupation chips away at the foundation of our movement. The ballot box, in this context, is not a tool for liberation—it is a leash. Southern Cameroonians have already begged in ballot lines for decades. Now, we demand freedom.
Yours faithfully,

Dr. Martin A. Mungwa
Secretary of State for Communication
Federal Republic of Ambazonia.