Ambazonians want peace more than anyone — because they are the ones burying their children. But peace must be built on justice. Peace Without Justice Is Not Peace: A Response to Elie Smith And justice must stand on the freedom of a people in their land. Until that day, the duty to defend remains a moral necessity.
By A Devoted Patriot for Ambazonia’s Future
When journalist Elie Smith returned to Facebook after a 30-day suspension, he acknowledged two crucial realities. First, Southern Cameroonians are a distinct nation with a legitimate identity. Second, despite facing one of Africa’s most entrenched and militarized regimes, they have resisted with courage that has surprised even global powers. For that, he deserves recognition. But his conclusion — that it is time to lay down arms and return to peaceful protest — must be examined with clarity grounded in lived experience, law, and history.
Violence Was Imported, Not Chosen
No Ambazonian woke up in 2016 wanting war. The crisis began with unarmed teachers, lawyers, students, clergy, and chiefs raising constitutional grievances — and being met with bullets, incarceration, and disappearances. That violence continues today.
Calling for an end to self-defense while foreign troops still occupy our cities is not a call for peace — it is a request for vulnerability. As long as the fire burns, the bucket cannot be dropped. A Real Path to Peace Must Address the Cause, Not the Symptom. Peace is not a slogan issued from comfort in Yaoundé or Paris. It does not emerge from disarming victims while the agents of brutality reload.
True peace requires: Withdrawal of occupying forces. Cessation of mass killings and arbitrary arrests. Restoration of civilian governance and economic life. Internationally guaranteed political resolution. Respect for the right of a people to determine their future. Anything less is not peace — it is submission. Disarmament Before Protection Is Genocide in Slow Motion
History warns us that disarmed populations facing hostile regimes rarely survive the aftermath. Rwanda. Bosnia. Darfur. Each teaches the same lesson: Removing self-defense while perpetrators remain armed leads directly to catastrophe. Ask the families of Ngarbuh. Ask the mothers of Mautu. Ask the children of Kumba. A nation under assault has not only the right but the obligation to protect its people.
Identity Cannot Be Preserved Through Capitulation
Elie Smith fears that displacement and schooling under a francophone system may erode Anglophone identity. He is correct to worry. But identity dies only when freedom dies. And freedom dies only when resistance ceases. A liberated Ambazonia can restore its schools, rebuild its culture, and renew its identity on its own soil. Defense is the shield that preserves tomorrow’s possibilities.
Ambazonia’s Middle Ground: Ready for Peace, Resolute in Defense
The debate is not between war and peace. It is between forced silence and dignified survival. Ambazonia rejects the extremes: Yaoundé’s fantasy of military victory. Diaspora voices rejecting political dialogue outright. Our stance is firm and reasonable: We are open to a negotiated peace — but not to the unprotected slaughter of our people. That position aligns with international law and basic human dignity.
To Elie Smith: Thank You, and Here Is Our Answer
We appreciate his acknowledgment of our strength and legitimacy. We welcome all voices who recognize Ambazonia’s right to exist. But we reject the notion that it is time to lay down our only protection. Not while schools remain battlefields. Not while churches burn. Not while our homeland remains under siege.
Ambazonia’s Final Word
Ambazonians want peace more than anyone — because they are the ones burying their children. But peace must be built on justice. Peace Without Justice Is Not Peace: A Response to Elie Smith And justice must stand on the freedom of a people in their land. Until that day, the duty to defend remains a moral necessity. Ambazonia seeks peace. Ambazonia demands justice. Ambazonia will continue to protect both.
A Devoted Patriot for Ambazonia’s Future
