Cameroon: living together in the North West and South West regions

African Traditional Rulers offer to mediate the Anglophone crisis by providing a traditional and sustainable solution.

The Pan African Council of Traditional and Customary Authorities, PACTCA, has expressed its readiness to intervene in the socio-political tension rocking the two English dominated regions of the country in a view of looking for lasting solutions to the situation that is growing daily.

The council made known its intention recently in a statement pronounced in Cotonou – Benin by the president of the council, His Majesty Dada Awiyan Kokpon. In the statement, he said that in solidarity with the state institutions and the people of Cameroon, the Pan African Council is committed to mobilize the Traditional and Customary Authorities in Africa to find a traditional sustainable solution to the Anglophone Crisis in the North West and South West regions.

The operation according to PACTCA is aimed at preserving peace and promoting living together in these regions.

It shall be done essentially through well coordinated series of meetings, consultations, rituals and cultural activities. The council in the declaration of Friday 25^th May 2018 indicated that the organization would when the time comes, provide a detail program and more information on the modus operandi to be carried out including the dates of field operation, project program of the event and many more.

His majesty Awiyan Kokpon, president of PACTCA speaking in Cotonou said “conscious of the role of traditional entities as institutions of social expression rooted in the positive value of the soil and memory, guaranteeing conviviality among people, including over the ‘borders’ of states as traced by colonization, the Traditional and Customary Authorities have decided to assume their responsibilities and henceforth to rely at the same time on governments, credible civil society organizations and African cultural institutions of cooperation such as the International center for Research and Documentation on African Traditions and languages, CERDOTOLA”

The traditional dignitaries through the creation of the Pan African Council of Traditional and Customary Authorities, PACTCA have decided to federate their experiences, knowledge and ancestral know-how in the prevention, resolution and management of crisis and conflicts.

By playing the role that is theirs, the Traditional Authorities also announced that they will be intervening in other areas including the ongoing conflicts at the border localities of the Far North and East regions of Cameroon.

The Pan African Council of Traditional and Customary Authorities, PACTCA was created in 2014 during a meeting in Benin which was an initiative of custodians of culture and tradition from many African countries like Mali, Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Libya, Morocco, Cote D’Ivoire, Nigeria, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic and Togo.

It was equally fruits of a long culture and diplomatic process on international and inter-community levels during which stake holders were duly consulted.