Judith Yah Sunday does not carry a weapon or fire a shot. But she participates in something more subtle and potentially more destructive: She switches off the voice of a people fighting for survival. In the history of this struggle, it may be recorded that the most dangerous weapon used against Southern Cameroonians was not the gun, but silence.
Investigative Profile and Political Commentary
By The Independentist Investigations Desk
Judith Yah Sunday, born in Ndu and educated in Canada, occupies one of the most powerful corporate posts in Cameroon. As Director General of Camtel, she manages the nation’s internet backbone, international gateways, and telecommunications infrastructure.
She is presented by Yaounde as a success story. A daughter of the Northwest who rose to national prominence. But behind the glowing official narrative lies a harsh reality. The system she oversees has become a tool of repression in the conflict affecting the former British Southern Cameroons.
Silencing the Most Vulnerable
Since the conflict escalated, Camtel has participated in or coordinated: Internet shutdowns across the Northwest and Southwest, Targeted disruptions during protests and critical reporting
Cooperation with military intelligence using surveillance capabilities
Each time the network goes dark, lives are placed at risk. Families cannot call for help. Journalists cannot alert the world when massacres occur. Communities under attack are left in isolation, unable to warn one another. A humanitarian worker put it plainly: “When there is no signal, someone is in danger.”
Power Without Accountability
Judith Yah Sunday has access to enormous influence over who can speak and who must remain unheard. Yet, through years of conflict, mass displacement, and burned homes across her own homeland, she has expressed no concern and shown no willingness to defend her people’s right to communicate. She remains a member of the CPDM Central Committee. Her loyalty to the regime is clear. Her silence is loud. How does a daughter of Ndu become a guardian for a system that suffocates her own people
A Protected Elite
Her marriage to the late Prime Minister Achidi Achu placed her at the heart of Cameroon’s ruling elite. By maintaining loyalty to those in power, she enjoys security and privilege even as many in her home region face attacks, starvation, or exile. One displaced elder expressed the frustration of many: “She sees our suffering and remains silent. Privilege has taken our daughter away from us.”
Information Blackout as a Weapon
Under international law, communication is a human right. Blocking information in a conflict zone can amount to a violation of those rights and can even be considered a method of warfare. By enabling the restriction of communication, telecom leadership contributes to a strategy that punishes communities and prevents the exposure of wrongdoing. This is not simply obeying instructions. It is collaboration in a system of oppression.
How Will History Judge Her
Judith Yah Sunday is celebrated as a symbol of progress for women and for Anglophones in Cameroon. But progress for who? As villages fall silent under the weight of violence, her success serves only the powerful. Is she a leader for her people, Or a leader for a regime that has targeted them. She represents a painful truth: The greatest betrayal often comes from those who should be protectors.
Silence Is Not Neutral
Judith Yah Sunday does not carry a weapon or fire a shot. But she participates in something more subtle and potentially more destructive: She switches off the voice of a people fighting for survival. In the history of this struggle, it may be recorded that the most dangerous weapon used against Southern Cameroonians was not the gun, but silence.
The Independentist Investigations Desk
