Commentary

Communities must resist becoming vehicles for the escalation of violence against their own civilians. Preserving communal trust, protecting innocent life, and rejecting the manipulation of local grievances into military operations may prove essential not only for survival, but for any future possibility of reconciliation and peace. By Carl Sanders, Guest Writer The Independentist News, Soho,

The parallel trajectories of Somaliland and Ambazonia reveal that statehood in the contemporary international system is not determined solely by legal doctrine. It is shaped by diplomacy, strategic interests, governance capacity, historical narratives, and geopolitical realities. By Tarh Paddy King The Independentist News contributor The recent diplomatic breakthrough reportedly pursued by Somaliland — including discussions

The central tragedy of Southern Cameroons today is that too many people now live in political limbo: distrusted by the state, distrusted by resistance movements, and abandoned by the international community. That is not peace. It is the anatomy of a society trapped between unresolved history and an uncertain future. By Timothy Enongene Guest Editor-in-Chief,

History is unforgiving toward movements that lose operational control. The road ahead demands: unity, discipline, civilian protection, command responsibility, and strategic restraint. Because wars are not remembered only by who fought them. They are remembered by how they were fought. By Timothy Enongene Guest Editor-in-Chief, The Independentist News. BAMENDA – 21 May 2026 – The

The central issue haunting Cameroon today is not only who committed particular crimes. It is whether the country still possesses institutions trusted enough to establish truth impartially. Because without truth, there can be no accountability. Without accountability, there can be no reconciliation. And without reconciliation, unresolved violence simply mutates from one generation into the next.

There were originally two Cameroons. And they believe those two political identities remain historically distinguishable to this day. Whether history ultimately moves toward separation, renewed federation, or another negotiated arrangement, one reality continues to haunt the conflict: A promise made in 1961 was never universally believed to have been honoured. By Uchiba Nelson The Independentist

And until Cameroon honestly confronts that inheritance, recognizes the distinct historical experiences within its borders, and replaces coercion with genuine political dialogue, the cycle of mistrust, militarization, and political fragmentation may continue to reproduce itself under new names and in new regions. That past never truly disappeared. It simply changed uniforms. By Ali Dan IsmaelEditor-in-Chief,

Trust, once broken, becomes extraordinarily expensive to rebuild. That is the fundamental dilemma confronting Cameroon today. Because the issue is no longer simply whether federalism is theoretically possible. The deeper question is whether the populations involved still believe a shared political future remains psychologically and politically sustainable. By Ali Dan IsmaelEditor-in-Chief, The Independentist News The

Empires rarely announce assimilation openly. They normalize it slowly. Through appointments. Through maps. Through schools. Through bureaucracy. Through language. Through dependency. Through time. The Roman Empire did it through citizenship and administration. The Soviet Union used ideological integration. By Ali Dan IsmaelEditor-in-Chief, The Independentist News The War Behind the War Empires do not always conquer

A nation celebrated internationally for over 250 ethnic groups and linguistic diversity increasingly relies on military force to suppress one of its most historically distinct populations. “Africa in Miniature” may describe Cameroon’s geography.But it cannot hide the bloodstains of a conflict the world has too often chosen to ignore. By Ali Dan IsmaelEditor-in-Chief, The Independentist