Ambazonia did not secede from Cameroon. Cameroon dissolved the union and annexed Ambazonia. A state robbed of its sovereignty has every right and every legal duty to restore it. This is the essence of the Ambazonian struggle. This is why the bullets have not silenced the truth. This is why freedom is inevitable.
By The Independentist Political Desk Part one of the Constitutional Truth Series
When Southern Cameroonians voted in the 1961 United Nations supervised plebiscite, they were told that the future would be a union of equals, a federation where each state would preserve its identity, autonomy, and system of governance. The United Nations insisted that such a union required a Treaty of Union negotiated and signed by both parties. But that treaty was never written. It was never signed. It never existed. Instead, what followed was a constitutional ambush.
A Constitution Written in Yaoundé, Not Negotiated With Ambazonia
The document titled Constitution of the Federal Republic of Cameroon was drafted solely by French Cameroon and imposed on the people of Southern Cameroons. It begins by declaring that, “The Federal Republic of Cameroon is formed of the State of East Cameroon and the State of West Cameroon”
There is no article in this constitution that recognizes two sovereign states coming into a union by agreement. There is no mention of a treaty. There is no recognition of the international status of British Southern Cameroons. The constitution treats Ambazonia as a province to be absorbed, not a partner to be respected. Ambazonia was annexed on paper before its leaders could even speak.
Power Concentrated in Yaoundé
The constitution states that federal authorities oversee defense, finance, foreign affairs, nationality, and communications. But who controlled those federal authorities? The same constitution gives the President absolute supremacy. It states that , The President is Head of the Federal State and of the Federal Government
In reality, The President of East Cameroon automatically became President of the Federation, ruling both states simultaneously. Ambazonia never had its own head of state. Ambazonia never had equal representation. Ambazonia never had constitutional protection from marginalization. The federation was a mask for domination. The Trap Was Designed from Day One
Nothing in the constitution protects, English Common Law, The West Cameroon legislature, Local governance, Equality of languages, The right to exit the union. Meanwhile, the constitution empowers the President to override the federal structure entirely. Federal law overrides State law
The President may declare a state of emergency
The President may dissolve State institutions. This was not federalism. It was colonial subjugation legalized.
The Fatal Violation: No Referendum on the Union
International law requires mutual consent, a written treaty, and ratification by the people concerned. Ambazonia never consented. Ambazonia never signed any treaty. Ambazonia never voted to surrender its sovereignty. Yet the constitution presents the union as a completed fact. The war did not begin in 2017. It began on 1 September 1961, the day this constitution was signed in Yaoundé without the people of Ambazonia. It began with a pen, not a gun.
From Constitutional Abuse to Open War
For years, West Cameroon leaders including John Ngu Foncha, Augustine Ngom Jua, Salomon Tandeng Muna, and Dr Emmanuel Endeley protested the systematic stripping of autonomy. Their objections were ignored.
Then, in 1972, federalism was abolished by a fraudulent nationwide referendum. This violated the constitution’s own rule that the federal structure could not be altered without the full consent of both states. That act completed the annexation. The present war is the delayed response. Ambazonians refused to disappear.
A Truth the World Must Hear
Ambazonia did not secede from Cameroon. Cameroon dissolved the union and annexed Ambazonia. A state robbed of its sovereignty has every right and every legal duty to restore it. This is the essence of the Ambazonian struggle. This is why the bullets have not silenced the truth. This is why freedom is inevitable.
The Independentist Political Desk
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