The President of Cameroon, Paul Biya has announced the country’s first regional elections to be held in December.
While addressing the nation, he made it a point to highlight the participation of two western regions that are currently in the midst of a revolt by the Anglo-phone minority.
The elections scheduled for 6th December 2020 in the country’s ten regions will put in place councils provided for in the 1996 Constitution in a bid to lean towards decentralization. These councils will also be elected in the two western regions that have encountered insurgency for over three years claiming 3000 lives and more.
The two Anglo-phone regions are home to a large minority of English speakers in a predominantly French-speaking country, a situation that is as a result of the decolonization of Africa by France and Britain more than six decades ago.
Years of resentment and perceived discrimination prompted the Anglo-phone minority to unlawfully declare the Republic of Ambazonia in the two regions thus triggering action from the rightful authorities.
President Biya, 87, who has been in power for over four decades has promised these two regions special status in a bid to quell the unrest.
