This Is Why We Fight: The Betrayal of the Too-Trusting People of the Southern Cameroons

These assurances were given in speeches before the UN Decolonization Committee, the General Assembly, in public addresses, and even to the BBC. They were repeated often enough to convince not only our leaders, but also the world.

By Celeste Maddox, Contributor

Why We Cannot Forget

The struggle of the Southern Cameroons — Ambazonia — is rooted not in rebellion but in betrayal. In 1961, President Ahmadou Ahidjo stood before the world and made solemn promises. Our leaders believed him. The United Nations recorded his words. The international community listened.

Those words were supposed to guarantee dignity, autonomy, and equality. Instead, they became the foundation of deception.

“In diplomacy, the word of a statesman carries the weight of a treaty.”

Ahidjo’s words bound his country before history. His successors chose to shred them.

The Promises Made

Again and again, Ahidjo assured Southern Cameroons:

“You will keep your parliament, your administration, your laws.”

“We will not annex the Southern Cameroons.”

“This will be a federal union — equal partners, free to withdraw if you choose.”

“We will respect your culture, language, and institutions.”

“We seek not conquest but cooperation, democracy, liberty, and justice.”

These assurances were given in speeches before the UN Decolonization Committee, the General Assembly, in public addresses, and even to the BBC. They were repeated often enough to convince not only our leaders, but also the world.

The Reality Delivered

What followed was the opposite:

Our parliament and government were dismantled.

Our courts and laws were swallowed by a foreign system.

Our cultural and linguistic identity was suppressed.

The federal structure promised in 1961 was unilaterally abolished in 1972.

What was pledged as voluntary became forced, and what was called a union became an annexation enforced by soldiers.

“The only crime of the Southern Cameroons has been to remind La République of the words its own president once spoke.”

The Question That Haunts Cameroon

If you were a lawyer today, confronted with this record, what would you do? Would you deny the truth? Or would you have the courage to face it, admit the betrayal, and sue for peace?

Even if those who heard Ahidjo’s voice are gone, the documents remain. They are not rumours. They are history. And history cannot be erased.

Why We Fight

We fight because silence would mean accepting betrayal as destiny.
We fight because dignity cannot be traded for submission.
We fight because words, once spoken before the United Nations, must mean something.

We do not fight to conquer. We do not fight for vengeance. We fight because the Southern Cameroons deserves to live free — exactly as promised.

Closing Appeal

The betrayal is undeniable. The shame belongs not to the Southern Cameroons, but to those who engineered deception and now enforce it with bloodshed.

The only honourable path is this: respect the record, end the occupation, and allow the Southern Cameroons to live in peace, dignity, and freedom.

“Thank you, United Nations, for preserving the evidence. Thank you, Ambazonians, for keeping faith with truth.”

Celeste Maddox, Contributor