The colonial partition that keeps Cameroon split along ‘artificial lines’

Tiko, Cameroon – On a warm day in Mudeka, an English-speaking village across the river from Cameroon’s Francophone region, supercentenarian Atemafac Anathasia Tanjuh pieces together snippets of her childhood memories.

One of the last living examples of European colonial rule in Africa and the fierce resistance of her Bangwa people against German colonization is Tanjuh, whose family claims she is around 120 years old.

“They imposed their rules on us,” Tanjuh said, surrounded by one of her five surviving children and some great-grandchildren, her voice laced with both nostalgia and resilience. Cameroon remained a German protectorate until World War I (WWI), when it was carved up between Britain and France after the European powers split Africa during the Berlin Conference in 1884-1885.

Tanjuh claimed that her people had agonized under German rule, but that the true weight of imperial power still exists today is deeply divided and at war with the French and British.

Tanjuh’s community was torn apart when the country was first divided by the English and French in 1919.

We were unable to relocate from Fontem, which was under British rule, to Dschang, where I once worked to sell cocoyam and palm kernel. Relationships between their historical trading partners and their distant relatives were cut off by the divisions.

As the years progressed, the divide became more than merely physical – also linguistic and cultural. After independence in the 1960s, Cameroon maintained its French-majority culture, while those in the Anglophone regions felt increasingly marginalised.

Since late 2016, this has escalated, culminating in a violent conflict between Francophone state-armed troops and Anglophone armed separatists that has resulted in more than 6,500 fatalities and displaced about 700,000 people in the southwest and northwest of the nation.

Tanjuh’s daughter claims that as the separatist clashes come to a close, Tanjuh is quickly brought back to her World War I memories. “Let’s hide in the caves to stay safe, just like we did back then,” the elder tells her family, her instincts sharp and honed by a lifetime of turmoil.

‘They simply drew straight lines’

Before European colonisation, Cameroon was a rich tapestry of independent kingdoms, each with its own territory, leadership, culture and traditions. However, this intricate web of societies was upended in 1884 when Germany annexed the region, unifying it under a single colony named Kamerun. The Berlin Conference, an exclusive gathering of European powers and the United States, which ended exactly 140 years ago this week, made this decision even more arbitrary.

The aftermath of World War I further reshaped Cameroon’s destiny. Germany’s defeat led to the colony being seized and divided in 1919 between Britain and France, this time in Versailles. Representatives of the two powers, who notably had little firsthand knowledge of the region or its people, created the partition.

The Picot Line arbitrarily divided Cameroonian communities that shared a common linguistic, cultural, and ethnic heritage after negotiations with British delegate Lancelot Oliphant and French representative Georges Picot, who also negotiated the Sykes-Picot Agreement that ended the Ottoman Empire after World War II. As a result, communities like the Mbo people, for example, speak English in the Kupe Muanenguba Division but French just across the Mungo River.

Prior to the Berlin Conference, there was no attempt to study Africa’s ethnographic composition in order to develop meaningful borders, according to Paul Nchoji Nkwi, a retired professor of African anthropology at the University of Yaounde I.

“They simply drew straight lines,” he said, pointing out that many Cameroonian ethnic groups, such as the Efik, have close relatives across the border in Nigeria. “If you look at most maps, especially in West Africa, the boundaries are straight, artificial lines. Yet, despite this, ethnic groups have remained culturally connected. ”

In the 1960s, a wave of liberation movements finally led to political independence. French and British Cameroon reunified as a federal state in 1960, following their independence in 1961. However, this process was fraught with challenges.

Natural state formations were stymied, families divided, and tensions that still exist today were caused by the colonial legacy, particularly the forced imposition of artificial borders that did not consider ethnic and cultural realities. These borders continue to shape Cameroon’s socio-political landscape.

The Elung clan, for example, which remains divided along the Picot Line, is a painful reminder of how colonial partition disrupted communities.

dividing one person into two, in your opinion.

One of the Elung clan’s 13 villages is Muangwekan. Near the Picot Line, it is situated on the eastern slopes of the Kupe Mwanenguba mountains. A large concrete border marker that was once used to define British territory and is perched on a hill overlooking the settlement still bears remnants of colonial rule.

Life in Muangwekan carries on as usual, but its traditional ruler, Chief Atabe Emmanuel Ndonjume, is deeply concerned. A government commission recommended the transferring of Muangwekan to the Melong Subdivision, which is a division of the French-speaking Littoral region’s Moungo Division.

Since Muangwekan has always been the Bangem administrative unit in the English-speaking region since Cameroon’s reunification in 1961, the proposal has sparked unrest.

The British Commissioner planted this pillar in Buea in 1947. As villagers gathered around the concrete marker, Chief Atabe tapped it with his walking stick to indicate that the next village [Ninong] is four miles away.

“Muangwekan belonged to British Southern Cameroons at the time,” he continued. To him, those advocating for Muangwekan’s transfer to Melong Subdivision are mistaken.

For Chief Atabe and his people, the proposal is more than just a bureaucratic shift – it threatens the village’s historical identity and cultural heritage, a lingering consequence of colonial-era partitions that continue to shape Cameroon’s geopolitical landscape.

Despite the controversy, Chief Atabe insists the colonial pillar should remain. We will support it because it establishes Muangwekan’s place and provides resolution to any administrative unit disputes. ”

However, forged connections between Muangwekan and nearby Francophone communities like Mbuasum remain intact despite artificial borders.

“My father’s current wife is from Mbuasum. He continued, noting that many people in Mbuasum have brothers and uncles, adding that marriage to someone there would be viewed as incest because some border villages have such close ties to him.

He lamented the consequences of colonial divisions by reflecting on the past and blaming the German government’s demise. One person had to be broken into two, which was challenging. ”

His father, Atabe Francis, now 95, lived through the partition firsthand. He frequently traveled as far as Nkongsamba in the former French Cameroon to sell tobacco and married across the former border.

“There used to be peace,” the elderly man said, sitting frail in a wooden chair. “But these days, I am shocked by the tensions and divisions. ”

European boundaries ‘caused problems’

The continent’s challenges are still shaped by the European-drawn borders that divided Africa more than a century ago.

“The boundaries we have today were created by Europeans, and they have caused us a lot of problems,” said Cameroonian scholar, Joseph Takougang, a professor of African history at the University of Cincinnati.

“If not for the second partition, Cameroon would have been one big, happy family,” he told Al Jazeera.

The expert on colonial and post-colonial Africa, particularly Cameroonian nationalism and political developments, suggested the continent might have evolved differently when asked what Africa might have looked like if the Berlin Conference had never taken place.

“I don’t know. But I guess we wouldn’t have 55 different countries today. If you study pre-colonial Africa, you see that state formations were happening organically,” Takougang said, noting that kingdoms were expanding and institutions were evolving on the continent. “Africa would have created its own states, its own governance structures. However, colonial partition slowed down that process. ”

He recalls a friend from Mamfe whose family owned farms in Nigeria as an example of his own anecdote from his time as a student at the University of Yaounde. “They would simply take a boat, cross the river, and go to their farms in Nigeria. It was that easy. The borders didn’t exist in their daily lives. ”

Regarding Cameroon’s current Anglophone-Francophone conflict, Takougang believes the only viable solution is a return to the pre-1972 federal system, which recognised West Cameroon (former British territory) and East Cameroon (former French territory) as federated states.

“As long as one group of people is undermined and treated as second-class citizens, and no one is willing to listen to them, I don’t know what will happen. Nothing will change until our partners are willing to sit down and openly discuss the issues. ”

In the event of the formation of a “United States of Africa,” Takougang contends that the continent would have been more powerful.

“The more divided we are, the easier we are to exploit,” he said, adding that France directly benefits from instability in Cameroon, Togo, Benin, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They oppose the United States because they would not be able to compete side-by-side with each other. That’s why they will never support true African independence. ”

For the damage colonial powers have caused to Africa, Takougang supports the idea of reparations, but is sceptical about its implementation. “I subscribe to reparations, but in what form? A corrupt few will only receive the money that is sent. Instead, we need technology transfer – something that can actually build African economies. ”

For his part, Nkwi, the anthology professor, also argues that colonial powers enriched themselves at Africa’s expense, and as such should pay for reparations. These nations tapped into Africa’s natural resources, exploiting both the people and the land, and for both. Millions of people were enslaved in the Americas. Natural wealth and human resources were lost in Africa. ”

The way forward

Ethnic and cultural divisions still exist on the continent as a result of foreigners’ arbitrarily drawn maps and the lack of consultation between Africans when dividing their territories.

Nkwi acknowledged that the problem is complex as a means of bridging the gaps in Cameroon.

He noted that many Francophone Cameroonians emigrated to English-speaking countries as a result of French colonial rule’s oppressive nature. “After the Berlin Conference, many Francophones – Douala people, Bulus, Bamilekes – moved to the English-speaking regions because they found French rule too harsh. ”

However, reintegrating these communities remains difficult. “The problem is that Francophones have developed a mentality of superiority, rooted in the French colonial philosophy of ‘mission civilisatrice’ [the civilising mission]. The conflict between the two cultures has grown more severe as a result.

“These divisions are cultural,” he said. “When people share a culture, it distinguishes them, and cultural values are difficult to erase. ”

While many people worry that the way to unity is still elusive, Takougang and Nkwi both claim that a sincere dialogue, political will, and an honest examination of its colonial past are essential for Cameroon’s future. Without these, the nation risks remaining trapped in a cycle of division and instability.

It was challenging to adapt because of the colonial rulers’ arrival and subsequent departure, according to elders Atabe and Tanjuh, who had established social norms and cultural practices. However, they feel their communities have been resilient, transcending all imposed barriers.

Despite the difficulties, they continue to believe that once-divided communities will reunite, restoring the harmony of pre-colonial times.

I’m sitting on the doorstep of Tanjuh’s modest green and white home in Mudeka and thinking, “I’ll be gone one day,” but I sincerely hope for peace before I leave. ”

Source: Aljazeera