By The Independentist editorial Desk
Monday, October 13, 2025. – As the presidential race intensifies in La République du Cameroun, new polls show Issa Tchiroma Bakary rising sharply in popularity. Across the country and in diplomatic circles, this surge is being framed as a sign of “change.” But beneath the polished language and carefully staged interviews lies a familiar story — one that Ambazonians know all too well.
For decades, the regime in Yaoundé has perfected the art of repackaging the same centralized, colonial system in different forms. Tchiroma’s rise is simply the latest chapter in that strategy. He is not an outsider bringing fresh ideas; he is a man deeply rooted in the very machinery that has crushed Ambazonian aspirations since 1961. He once vowed openly that he and his colleagues would spill blood to keep Ambazonia under the control of La République du Cameroun. Today, he wants the public to believe he represents renewal.
Some in the diaspora and even at home may be tempted to view his talk of federalism as a softer alternative to Paul Biya’s stagnant rule. That illusion is exactly what the regime and its French backers want to create: a sense that “something new” is happening, when in reality, nothing fundamental is changing.
Recent diplomatic leaks have exposed the heart of Tchiroma’s federalism project. In discussions with French officials, he reportedly agreed to a deal that would see Ambazonia surrender control over its vast natural resources to France in exchange for a symbolic federal status under Yaoundé’s authority. This is not federalism; it is a political trap dressed up as reform — one designed to keep Ambazonia economically dependent and politically subdued.
This should sound familiar. How are Tchiroma’s proposals any different from Paul Biya’s Communal Liberalism or the so-called decentralization that mimicked Canada’s one-sided “dialogue” with Quebec? In truth, there is no difference. Since 1961, the language of the Cameroonian regime has never changed. First, they promised federalism. Then came decentralization. Then regionalization. Each time, the words changed, but the structure of domination remained intact. These are recycled formulas, not genuine political solutions.
What’s worse is that instead of challenging the Accords de Coopération — the agreements that have kept Cameroon under French economic control since independence — Tchiroma and his allies seem to see Ambazonia as a trophy to offer Paris. Rather than fighting to free their own country from neo-colonial chains, they are preparing to hand over Ambazonia’s land and resources as a gift to please France and secure their own positions of power.
Ambazonians have lived through this cycle too many times to be fooled again. Their language never changes. Their concessions are always tactical. Their only constant is domination. From Foumban in 1961 to the fraudulent 1972 referendum, from the empty promises of the 1996 Constitution to the decentralization laws that were never implemented — the pattern is clear.
If their language does not change, neither will our position. Ambazonia must not surrender or bargain away its sovereignty in exchange for recycled political concepts. We will not walk into the same trap dressed in new colors.
The Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia in exile is sounding the alarm: a Tchiroma presidency will not bring sovereignty, dignity, or control over our resources. It will consolidate French interests and attempt to drag Ambazonia back into the same colonial framework that has failed for over sixty years.
The real struggle is not between Biya and Tchiroma. It is between continued domination by La République du Cameroun and the internationally recognized right of the Ambazonian people to self-determination.
The Independentist editorial Desk
