An insider with the Southern Cameroons diplomacy team to London has revealed to The Cameroon Journal that the next step which is getting the case heard by a full assembly of the British House of Commons may just be only months away.
Though no date has been reached yet, every condition appears to have been met. The only thing left to do is have the MP who is leading the charge in the House to liaise with the House leadership and have the case scheduled for a full House hearing. Our source said.
Presenting a synopsis of the Southern Cameroon’s team to London, our source who accompanied the delegation to all meetings said; “A two-pronged approach was adopted: seek audience with Her Majesty the Queen who is the Head of State, and seek to brief and update the House of Commons on the situation in the Southern Cameroons and the question of its independence.”
“Regarding audience with the Queen, I am sure you have seen the reply from her office. The Queen referred the
Southern Cameroons matter to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It will in turn brief the Queen with detailed information. They have all the necessary documentation we supplied them.”
Regarding the House of Commons, he disclosed that “we had to work through an MP. One does not write to the House seeking audience with it or request to be heard.” In Great Britain, the parliamentary convention is that MPs are better placed to raise issues, including an issue like the Southern Cameroons’. “That is why throughout the 1960s it was an MP, Lord Thompson, as he later became, who persistently raised the Southern Cameroons issue in the House of Commons, telling the House that the UK still has at least a moral responsibility towards the Southern
Cameroons, the source said.
“So we had to contact an MP who was sympathetic to our cause. But for her to raise the matter she needed to be fully briefed and provided with all the necessary historical information and especially the massive and widespread gross and reliably attested human rights violations perpetrated in the Southern Cameroons by la Republique du Cameroun since October 2016.
The lady MP alerted the House of Commons. A meeting was then scheduled in the House of Commons, Committee Room 5 where there would be an audio and video recording of what we had to say. This would then subsequently be presented to the House together with other materials already presented to the MP. Indeed we had that meeting in Committee Room 5
of the House of Commons on the scheduled date and time. We discovered that ours was not the only case being processed to eventually reach the floor of the House. For example, the Tamils of Sri Lanka, the representatives of Kashmir, an NGO representing disappeared people in Latin America, etc. were also there. So time was allotted. We presented our case as concisely but also as fully as possible within the allotted time.
The MP will put together all the material and then at some date raise the matter on the floor of the House. As you can see it is a long and slow process.
But that is how democracy works. We do not expect a quick fix. The important thing right now is to conscientise relevant potential actors. We will follow up even after Proclamation of Restoration of Independence on 1 October 2017 because we do not see the colonial oppressor leaving our territory yet. That might take some months. So we will keep pushing from all angles. In fact, we believe the Struggle will be taken to another and intense level after 1 October.”
Presenting a synopsis of the Southern Cameroon’s team to London, our source who accompanied the delegation to all meetings said; “A two-pronged approach was adopted: seek audience with Her Majesty the Queen who is the Head of State, and seek to brief and update the House of Commons on the situation in the Southern Cameroons and the question of its independence.”
“Regarding audience with the Queen, I am sure you have seen the reply from her office. The Queen referred the
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| Southern Cameroons BH Case Going For Full Hearing in British House of Commons Next |
Regarding the House of Commons, he disclosed that “we had to work through an MP. One does not write to the House seeking audience with it or request to be heard.” In Great Britain, the parliamentary convention is that MPs are better placed to raise issues, including an issue like the Southern Cameroons’. “That is why throughout the 1960s it was an MP, Lord Thompson, as he later became, who persistently raised the Southern Cameroons issue in the House of Commons, telling the House that the UK still has at least a moral responsibility towards the Southern
Cameroons, the source said.
“So we had to contact an MP who was sympathetic to our cause. But for her to raise the matter she needed to be fully briefed and provided with all the necessary historical information and especially the massive and widespread gross and reliably attested human rights violations perpetrated in the Southern Cameroons by la Republique du Cameroun since October 2016.
The lady MP alerted the House of Commons. A meeting was then scheduled in the House of Commons, Committee Room 5 where there would be an audio and video recording of what we had to say. This would then subsequently be presented to the House together with other materials already presented to the MP. Indeed we had that meeting in Committee Room 5
of the House of Commons on the scheduled date and time. We discovered that ours was not the only case being processed to eventually reach the floor of the House. For example, the Tamils of Sri Lanka, the representatives of Kashmir, an NGO representing disappeared people in Latin America, etc. were also there. So time was allotted. We presented our case as concisely but also as fully as possible within the allotted time.
The MP will put together all the material and then at some date raise the matter on the floor of the House. As you can see it is a long and slow process.
 |
| Southern Cameroons BH Case Going For Full Hearing in British House of Commons Next |
