Without constitutional checks, security forces operated with impunity. Moments of peaceful protest or political expression were met with violence. Arbitrary arrests, torture, and intimidation became tools of governance. Ambazonian voices were not just ignored, they were punished.
By The Independentist Political Desk
Part Three of the Constitutional Truth Series
In 1972, when federalism was abolished by decree, Ambazonia did not only lose its constitutional status. It lost the safeguards that protected its people, culture, and institutions. Without the federation, there was nothing left to restrain centralized power. The consequences were immediate, systematic, and devastating. What began as a constitutional violation became a crisis of human rights. What started with a stolen signature now continues with stolen lives.
The Dismantling of a Democratic Society
Before annexation, West Cameroon operated with its own democratic structures that promoted accountability. Leaders answered to their citizens. The legal system respected liberties. Civil society thrived. Schools were independent and community-based. Corruption was limited because power was close to the people.
After annexation, Ambazonia’s institutions were replaced by administrators imported from Yaoundé. Local rights disappeared beneath centralized rule. Decisions affecting communities were made hundreds of kilometers away by officials who neither spoke their language nor understood their needs. A government that does not represent a people cannot protect them.
Culture and Identity Under Attack
Ambazonia’s history, common law system, and educational legacy became targets. French civil law was forced on English-speaking courts. Teachers untrained in the Anglo-Saxon system were deployed to classrooms. Students who once competed globally in English were redirected into a structure designed for assimilation, not excellence. A people’s identity became something to be corrected rather than respected.
Resource Exploitation Without Accountability
Ambazonia is rich in timber, oil, fertile land, and minerals. These resources became state property controlled from Yaoundé. Revenue flowed outward, poverty remained. Economic marginalization was not accidental. It was the strategy. A territory that once funded its own development became a colony in everything but name.
Militarization and the Rise of Fear
Without constitutional checks, security forces operated with impunity. Moments of peaceful protest or political expression were met with violence. Arbitrary arrests, torture, and intimidation became tools of governance. Ambazonian voices were not just ignored, they were punished.
For years, the world looked away.
When People are Denied Justice, They Demand Freedom. By the time Ambazonian lawyers and teachers marched peacefully in 2016 asking for basic rights, they were met with bullets, arrests, and tear gas. Instead of dialogue, the response was military deployment. Instead of reform, repression deepened. Communities took up self-defense not because they wanted war, but because they had no other path left to safety or dignity.
The War Did Not Begin in the Bushes. It began in courtrooms forced to abandon common law. It began in classrooms stripped of their language. It began in city halls where votes no longer mattered. It began the moment equality was replaced with domination. This Is Not a Conflict of Identity But a Conflict of Legality.
The core truth must be stated clearly. Ambazonians have a legal right to exist as a people Ambazonians have a legal right to govern themselves. Ambazonians have a legal right to restore their sovereignty. These are not privileges to be granted by Yaoundé. They are rights protected by the United Nations Charter.
A Call to the International Community
Silence does not neutralize injustice. It approves it.
Delays do not promote peace. They extend suffering. A sustainable solution requires an honest acknowledgment. There is no legitimate union to preserve. There is a legitimate people to protect. The path to peace begins with recognition of the truth. Ambazonia was annexed. Ambazonia was oppressed. Ambazonia now stands up. Freedom is not a rebellion. It is a return to legality and dignity
The Independentist Political Desk
