Analysis: MINAT’s machete ban epitomizes government’s obliviousness to the Anglophone crisis

On Tuesday, August 18th, 2020, Cameroonians living in the war-toned English speaking regions, most of whom are farmers  wakeup to yet another unbelievable restrictions, this time from Yaoundé The minister of territorial administration Paul Atangana Nji has rollout a series of measures possibly aimed at preventing ‘weapons’ from falling to the wrong hands Minister Atanga Nji in his order says he is banning ordinary people in the Anglophone regions from owning and keeping a machete, axe, and iron rods for the next four months Exception he says will apply to farmers, butchers, those with building permits, and few others. Hold on, we shall come to the debate on who is a farmer later/butcher later. But even if you are a farmer, it doesn’t guarantee you can now own a machete the order states, one of the primary tools used by Cameroonians to farm You still need the authorization of DOs (most of who are hardly on seat in these regions) and a couple of other identification papers to get farming tool worth 3000 FRS CFA. Wow! The minister’s decision possibly stems from recent atrocities committed by armed separatist fighters in North West and southwest regions of Cameroon. Armed separatist fighters had used machetes; axe and other weapons to kill their victims lately, well, not because they don’t have access to guns, but well, probably to demonstrate their savagery when executing their victims and to deter potential enemies The latest one being the butchering of a 35-year-old mother of two in Muyuka, Fako division of South West region by separatist fighters The ministers’ decision is not only reckless but will unintentionally punish those in the Anglophone regions for the crimes of Armed separatist fighters who have made no secret of their intentions to kill the people, sometimes for just no reason. Punishment to farmers and many others While there is no clear identification for a farmer in Cameroon or even a butcher giving almost everybody farms to survive (most times, small scale farming), the minister’s order says these people would have to prove they are one, how? Well, it’s anyone’s guess Living in regions where millions depend on farming, most of them subsistence farming where machetes and axes are heavily used, the minister’s decision will hurt the poorest Cameroonians, just like the crisis, most. There is no current evidence to prove that these restrictions would stop these potential weapons from falling into the wrong hands and little evidence shows it will affect the perpetrators of evil, the minister’s target Poor farmers, most of who can barely survive the crisis would now be forced to make long journeys from their villages to sub-divisional headquarters, possibly line-up on queues for days to see their divisional officers, some of whom have abandoned their offices and now leave in bigger and safer cities just to get an OK to farm in a war zone But it’s not just about farmers, most households in the regions depend on axes to split woods used in cooking while many, even in urban areas use machetes for the different household task including for security reasons against possible intruders In a region where armed separatists can pick up a woman in her shop in Muyuka in brad daylight, tied her, interrogate her and butcher her in the middle of a highway (all while filming the heinous scene) without the intervention of any security officials, there is no doubt that the people can’t entirely outsource their safety in the hand of security officers who are evidently stretched and at times are authors of some atrocities of their own. How the process is going to work is anyone’s guess for now, but the MINAT’s boss has entrusted the responsibility to the governors to engineer a working mechanism. The previous ban on guns has failed to slow down separatist fighters This is not the first time the government is restricting certain activities to curb the spread of violence in the Anglophone regions On April 5th, 2018, the minister issued a communiqué, banning the sale and use of fireman sin six regions of the country including the Anglophone regions But unlike this recent ban, the ban on firearms was justified; statistics showed many Cameroonians were carrying fireman’s without appropriate authorization, posing security threats to some parts of the region But despite the ban, separatist fighters have shown no sign they are lacking in weapon or munitions to carry out their killings If anything, tons of weapons, some of them, modern ones have been recovered each time the military dislodge a separatist hideout in the two regions Critics say the minister’s decision is a true reflection of government’s tactics of employing irrelevant and cosmetic solutions to solve a growing crisis worsening each passing day Calls for genuine and inclusive dialogue has failed to resonate across the corridors of power in Yaoundé, Separatist leaders say the 2019 national dialogue is a no event and  minister Felix Mbayu insist that was the  first and last and the international community seems confused as the people continue to suffer and die Cameroon is like a man, sick of malaria and for now, government (doctor) is aware of the diagnoses but prefers to treat the man for fever The post Analysis: MINAT’s machete ban epitomizes government’s obliviousness to the Anglophone crisis appeared first on TeboPost.