Special status bill passed for Cameroon’s Anglophone regions

A bill granting devolved powers and special status to Cameroon’s two english-speaking regions was passed by lawmakers on Wednesday.

If the bill passes the senate, it will confer control over education and justice policies to local government in the country’s North-West and South-West provinces. 

The provinces are Cameroon’s only english-speaking regions. They have been marred by conflict between separatists and government forces since 2017. 

Conflict in the anglophone regions has cost 3,000 people their lives and forced a further 500,000 to flee their homes. This bill is seen as an attempt to curtail that violence. 

The country’s english-speaking minority has been at odds with the majority francophone nation since unification in 1961. However, tensions escalated in 2016 when teachers and lawyers began to protest against the use of French in schools and courts. 

Photo credit: AFP