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The ACHPR has said that the right to self-determination can be exercised in other ways than through the creation of an independent state. But that is only their opinion. They cannot tell the Southern Cameroons how to exercise this right. They cannot tell the people of the Southern Cameroons to go and form political parties in République du Cameroun. When the Southern Cameroons gets to Banjul, my hope and expectation is that it will be to tell the ACHPR and République du Cameroun how the people want to exercise that right to self-determination which has been acknowledged by the Commission. This promises to be very dramatic.

By Dr. Nfor Susungi

The idea of forming political parties under the jurisdiction of LRC is jumping the gun and most certainly suicidal. Many people were grossly mistaken when they said that the Banjul Verdict was not favorable to the Plaintives. Although the African Commission of Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) could not come out and declare that the Southern Cameroons has the right to self-determination, the key element of the Banjul ruling which we should grab and hang on to for now for now, like a good running back, is where it says:

“Southern Cameroonians are a People recognized as such in international law.”

This is a very important finding because it automatically entitles the Southern Cameroons to those other rights which are built into the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights such as Article 20 (1) which states that:

All Peoples shall have the right to existence. They shall have the unquestionable and inalienable right to self- determination. They shall freely determine their political status and shall pursue their economic and social development according to the policy they have freely chosen.”

In other words, the ACHPR has implicitly acknowledged that the people of the Southern Cameroons have the “unquestionable and inalienable right to self-determination by the mere fact of being recognised as a “People” under international law. Given that the international law in question is the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights, an international treaty which has been ratified by all AU member countries, including République du Cameroun, it is quite clear to me that Banjul was unquestionably a victory.

By offering to host negotiations within 180 days, the ACPHR has opened a Pandora’s Box and thrown the whole thing wide open. It is up to the Southern Cameroonians to decide what to put on the negotiating table when the Southern Cameroons sits face to face with République du Cameroun.

The ACHPR has said that the right to self-determination can be exercised in other ways than through the creation of an independent state. But that is only their opinion. They cannot tell the Southern Cameroons how to exercise this right. They cannot tell the people of the Southern Cameroons to go and form political parties in République du Cameroun. When the Southern Cameroons gets to Banjul, my hope and expectation is that it will be to tell the ACHPR and République du Cameroun how the people want to exercise that right to self-determination which has been acknowledged by the Commission. This promises to be very dramatic.

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More information on the Southern Cameroons

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