The publisher of Cameroon Journal, Christopher Anu Fobeneh, has done it again. Out of his hat, he has pulled more dubious claims. Reeling from being fired from the Communications Sub-committee, he is doubling down on his crusade against the Movement for the Restoration of the Independence of Southern Cameroons (MoRISC) peppering this with a collection of half-truths, outright lies, fake news and shenanigans. Probably more aware than anyone else about the lies, he proclaims: “We are about providing all the FACTS to all THE SIDES of every story.” Gee me a break!
In an earlier posting on my blog, www.lambomsvuvuzela.com, I debunked Christopher Anu Fobeneh’s reportage that misinformed the so called Editorial of his journal, as an affront to the ethos of journalism. While everyone welcomes the veritable “watchdog” character and “gatekeeper” role wont of journalism, Cameroon Journal’s pretentious attempt at it, is disgraceful and quite off the mark with respect to MoRISC. So far off the truth is everything Christopher Anu Fobeneh publishes that it would be appropriate to preface every article with the warning: “and now lies from the Cameroon Journal…”.
In its new batch of rumblings against MoRISC, Fobeneh harps on the relationship between the Advisory Council and MoRISC. First of all, let us be clear: no Advisory Council was nominated like Fobeneh claims. This “drive-by” reporting can only yield the kind of calumny, Chris has indulged in. It would be helpful to get the facts right and report without bias: When the general Assembly deadlocked over how to proceed during the June 21st confab, MoRISC’s Steering Committee invited leaders of the different groups present in the hall to come together and concert. This group was made up of the Chair of SCNC NA – Elvis Kometa, Chairperson of SCYL – Dr. Ebenezar Akwanga, Chair of the Ambazonia Liberation Movement – Edwin Ngang, representative of the Confederation of British Southern Cameroonians NA – Jonathan Awasom, representative of South East delegation from Dallas, whose name I cannot recall, Valentine Gana – representative of the Midwest, Sebastien Epah – representative of South West Elite Association (SWELA), Fako Washington DC President: Nathaniel Mosaso and a representative of Houston Delegation whose name I cannot recall. Even Theodore Ngomba, who took the roll call of those present, identified himself as representing his lone self, as an independent. Note that the draft Constitution which was not debated and, therefore, not adopted set out this group to bring together only the leaders of liberation movements. The General Assembly resolved to nominate Boh Herbert as Spokesperson for MoRISC and cleared the leaders of the liberation movements, who were discussing the setting up of the Advisory Council, to work with the MoRISC Steering Committee ahead of the February 11th 2017 conference. These were the two resolutions which were presented to the general assembly and voted by unanimous acclamation.
If that group arrogated to itself the task of reviewing the draft constitution, they did not inform the noble assembly gathered. The cry on the floor was that many people had not had the opportunity to read the draft constitution and needed more time. This is why those present at that meeting agreed to discuss and adopt the draft constitution at the Feb. 11 conference. Every participant was encouraged to read the draft and send in proposed amendments to the legal team ahead of the meeting in Hagerstown.
Also uninformed, dishonest and laughable is Fobeneh’s claim that an advisory council was charged to take over management of MoRISC. Does that not fall flat in the face of the council’s own nomenclature: Whom will they be advising then? Nevertheless, that did not happen and even at face value defies any rationale standard. That notwithstanding this can only be rated as “pants-on-fire” in the “Truth-o-meter” to borrow from Politifact’s classification.
I find it ludicrous to imagine that MoRISC organized a conference and mortgaged the responsibilities of taking the meetings’ proceedings to an advisory body. If that had truly happened you would have been crying foul and accusing MoRISC of dereliction of duties. Hearken to your earlier post!
The other resolution that came up from the General Assembly called for the issuance of a declaration at the end of the conference. This suggestion was made on the floor while the conference was in session. Nobody needed to have been consulted thereafter, except, of course, the General Assembly which reconvened during the night session, adopted and disseminated the declaration under the title Washington Declaration.
MoRISC has a vibrant, dynamic and competent communications team into which Fobeneh was briefly coopted before being fired. It is a shameful lie to claim, as he does, that he was never part of any committee while at the same time claiming that he was one of the founders of MoRISC. Fobeneh participated in conference calls, seating as a member of the same committee he claims he never served on. When you proposed to reach out to Prof. Kofele Kale to be the keynote speaker at the January 21st conference, on what basis were you offering to do that? Is it a matter of selective amnesia? One would forgive that but clearly there are desperate attempts at sabotaging MoRISC.
This is amply borne out in your critique of MoRISC as a “personality cult” even though what you meant to say is that MoRISC is a North Western cult. Spewing this kind of garbage is eloquent testimony of your sworn commitment to kill MoRISC even though hiding behind the cloak of serving as a watchdog. Your acrimonious charge is alarming on three levels. First, the clumsy grammatical construction of that statement evident in your odd mixture of Kom, (a tribe), Ndop and Nkambe (names of towns in the North West Region) and Donga Mantung axis (a division of the NWR) speaks volumes. The lack of parallelism in that sentence structure exacerbates the issue.
Secondly, it is factually incorrect for you to make such a claim. Please be informed that there are many persons from the South West region in MoRISC’s steering committee. How comes you failed to notice that of all the leaders who came out to speak on the floor, only one cultural group leader was present and thank God from Fako. Let me paraphrase the words of Mavis Staples and say “In MoRISC, there is no South West or North West but one Southern Cameroons, one Ambazonia.”
Thirdly, if anyone doubts where your allegiance is, this paragraph clears this out. You are drawing exactly from the playbook of La Republique that has played this tribal, ethnic and regional card for too long. They have used this to divide and rule us. They have played us against each other and successfully held us in bondage and servitude with this philosophy. We have grown accustomed to see things in shades of North West and South West. This is unfortunate. While I regret that you could play this card, I understand why. When you engage in desperate acts of smearing, you end up with such puerile philosophies that feed xenophobia. And you claim to be reporting facts? No, Sir! It passes the smell test of hate speech. This stinks!
One understands you have a personal axe to grind with a distinguished colleague, Herbert Boh! He called you out for propagating violence which is anathema to the mission and goal of MoRISC. Are you trying to get back at him? Good luck and try harder!
Lastly, your reference to MoRISC re-inventing the wheels is shallow and pretentious. Isn’t it outlandish for you to make such claims? It betrays the impression that you get a status report about MoRISC and its contacts with the different leaders at home. There is a lot happening in the background of which you are clueless. Tread carefully, my friend. MoRISC remains highly indebted to the giants who have blazed the trail of the liberation struggle. It recognized them and will continue to build with them. I provided you a list of those giants who are present here in the United States with whom MoRISC made contact. One of MoRISC’s subcommittee is Strategy and Policy which includes some of the persons you referenced and as MoRISC gathers steam and momentum, and becomes functional, more visibility would be afforded this committee.
MoRISC is also not oblivious of the fact that to continue doing the same thing and expect different results is a recipe for madness. This struggle is not at its initial stages and outreach is not something to be accomplished in a day. Consensus building takes time and hard work. Your penchant for hackneyed strategies that have not panned out is just a straw man. Imagine the role social media is playing to further the cause. Is the consortium not new? Is it not serving a purpose? It is counterintuitive to limit engagement of the struggle to the past. Riding on the coattails of the current momentum, there are many who have come from the fringes and have a right to chart a new way. This is not a zero-sum game of “Either…Or” but rather “Both…And.”
We live in the age of “alternative facts” wherein opinions are glorified and facts relegated to the background in pursuit of an agenda. Like I recommended in my last rebuttal, Christ encourages us to let the weed and the wheat grow together. At harvest time, they shall be known by their fruits. Why is Fobeneh fiddling while Southern Cameroons burns?