Human Life Equity in the New Ambazonia

That is the promise of our struggle. Not just a new flag. Not just a new anthem. But a new way of valuing human life. If Ambazonia can build a country where every life counts, then all the suffering will not have been in vain.

By Dr. Martin Mungwa The Independentistnews contributor

In every great struggle, there comes a moment when a people must decide what kind of nation they want to build after the pain is over. Ambazonia has reached that moment. After years of suffering, displacement, and loss, the most important question before us is not only how to win, but how to live together after victory. That question has one clear answer: human life equity.

Human life equity simply means this: every Ambazonian life has equal value. No village is more important than another. No tribe is superior. No political group is more human than another. No family’s grief is smaller than another’s. A farmer in Ndu, a trader in Kumba, a teacher in Buea, and a child in Mamfe all matter equally.

This idea may sound simple, but it is revolutionary in a land that has known war, fear, and injustice. For years, our people have lived in a system where some lives were treated as disposable. Whole communities were punished. Homes were burned. Schools were shut. Innocent people were arrested, tortured, or killed. That is what colonial rule did to us. That is what dictatorship did to us. And if we are not careful, it is what our own divisions could do to us again.

Dr. Samuel Ikome Sako has often said that the struggle is about protecting the lives and dignity of our people. That is not just a slogan. It must become the foundation of the new Ambazonia. A government that cannot protect the lives of its people has no moral authority. A revolution that forgets the people it claims to fight for loses its soul.

In the new Ambazonia, human life equity must mean that no one is above the law and no one is beneath its protection. If a civilian is harmed, it must be investigated. If a child is kidnapped, it must be treated as a crime against the nation. If a woman is abused, the state must stand with her. If a village is attacked, the country must respond. This is how trust is rebuilt.

People will only believe in Ambazonia when they feel safe in Ambazonia. Farmers will return to their land when they know they will not be shot or extorted. Parents will send their children to school when they know those schools will not be turned into battlegrounds. Investors in the diaspora will send money home when they know lives and property are protected.

Human life equity also means healing.Thousands of Ambazonian families are carrying wounds—physical wounds, emotional wounds, and deep grief. Some have lost children. Some have lost limbs. Some have lost their homes. Some have lost their futures. A serious nation does not tell these people to “move on.” It listens to them. It records their stories. It compensates their losses. It honors their pain.

This is why the new Ambazonia must have truth-telling, reparations, and justice. Not revenge, but accountability. Not forgetting, but healing. When wrongs are acknowledged and addressed, people can begin to forgive. And when people forgive, a nation can be rebuilt.

Human life equity also means equal opportunity. After the war, the new Ambazonia must not become a place where only those with connections succeed. It must be a place where ex-fighters can find jobs, where widows can start businesses, where displaced families can rebuild, and where young people can learn skills and earn a living. Poverty and exclusion are enemies of peace. Dignity and work are its strongest allies.

In the end, human life equity is what will separate the new Ambazonia from the old Cameroon. Cameroon was a system where power mattered more than people. Ambazonia must become a nation where people matter more than power.

That is the promise of our struggle. Not just a new flag. Not just a new anthem. But a new way of valuing human life. If Ambazonia can build a country where every life counts, then all the suffering will not have been in vain.

Dr. Martin Mungwa