Letter to the Editor
Dear editor,
Permit me to express an opinion here. When you keep on talking about Ambazonian independence without a proper handling of the very many worries at the home front with the grassroots it makes me feel our leaders are not being real and truly interested in the well being of the people which I think should be the primary interest of the leaders.
My dear editor, the people on the ground in the northwest and southwest are bleeding and I strongly feel that if there were a referendum today to decide the future of our people we might have an embarrassing response. It would take really enormous efforts to re-convince the people.
I shuttle between Bamenda and kumbo and can talk authoritatively about what the people are going through. It may be of your interest to know that in the last two weeks hundreds of people have fled kumbo again. In Bamenda people are also moving out and some changing quarters with the consequences we can all imagine.
As I write to you now there are close to ten women that I know who are in captivity. I wouldn’t talk about the men any longer. The amounts being asked and taken from the captives is unimaginable at a time when people can barely feed themselves and afford other amenities.
How can one explain this? That the people for whom independence is fought can bleed to this level? We all understand this cannot go without a price or sacrifices to make but should this be at cost of life itself and should the cost be imposed again by the people who are supposed to stand on the side of the affected populations to protect them?
When the father of the house has been abducted several times and money collected and now the mother is being abducted how can any reasonable person explain such a situation for anyone to understand? That people can be leaving communities again at a time we need people home the most is terrifying.
I don’t need to recount what you already know about people not being able to get back home. How can there be a genuine march forward towards independence without proper handling and fixing of the the issues on the ground? Are our leaders still truly in quest for independence and the alleviation of the sufferings of the people?
Anonymous
Response from the editorial desk
My dear brother
Thank you for speaking so honestly. Your concerns are serious, legitimate, and painful. No one committed to the future of our people can dismiss the suffering you have described. Independence cannot be discussed as an abstract political goal while the very people in whose name the struggle is carried are being abducted, extorted, displaced, and traumatized.
The first duty of any serious leadership is the protection of the people. If civilians are being kidnapped, if women are held in captivity, if families are forced to pay impossible sums, and if communities are fleeing again from Kumbo, Bamenda, and other areas, then we must have the courage to say clearly that something has gone terribly wrong.
No struggle can maintain moral authority if the population begins to feel abandoned, unprotected, or victimized by those who claim to stand for them. The people are not instruments of politics. They are the purpose of the struggle. Their security, dignity, livelihood, and confidence must come first.
For that reason, kidnapping, ransom-taking, extortion, intimidation, torture, and attacks on civilians must be condemned without ambiguity. No person, group, unit, or authority has the right to abduct civilians or impose suffering on communities in the name of Ambazonia. Kidnapping is not resistance. Extortion is not sacrifice. Terrorizing civilians is not liberation.
You are also right that any future referendum, settlement, or political outcome will depend on the trust of the people. If the grassroots lose confidence, the political project itself is weakened. That is why leadership must listen carefully to voices from the ground. Those who live the daily reality in Bamenda, Kumbo, and other affected communities understand the pain in ways that many outside may not fully grasp.
What is needed now is not only words, but action. There must be a clear public position against kidnapping, a secure reporting mechanism, a civilian protection structure, community engagement, verification of incidents, and consequences for anyone involved in abducting or extorting civilians. Silence is dangerous because it can be interpreted as weakness, indifference, or complicity.
The march toward freedom must begin with protecting the people. Independence, if it is to mean anything, must promise a better life than the suffering our people are currently enduring. It must mean justice, discipline, security, accountable leadership, and respect for human dignity.
Your message should not be treated as an attack on the struggle. It should be treated as a serious warning from the grassroots. A movement that cannot hear the cries of its own people cannot claim to speak for their future.
I hear you clearly. The home front must be addressed with urgency, honesty, discipline, and humility. The people must be protected first.
Editorial desk
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