Houston – It is both disheartening and revolting to have witnessed so-called Anglophone chiefs gathered in Yaoundé on January 27, to spearhead the endorsement of Paul Biya for yet another term in office. In doing so, they showcase a level of moral bankruptcy and self-serving cowardice that insults the very people they claim to represent. These chiefs—displaced from their ancestral lands by the same regime they now glorify—have chosen to ignore the cries of their communities, trading dignity for fleeting favors from a dictator’s table.
For over eight years, Paul Biya has presided over the destruction of Ambazonia, a region that once thrived with culture, commerce, and hope. His regime’s military campaigns have left thousands of Ambazonians dead, with homes burned, villages emptied, and survivors scattered as refugees across borders and as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in cities like Yaoundé and Douala. Shamefully, many of these chiefs now reside in exile from their own palaces, forced into urban hideouts by the very terror they now want to enable through their endorsement.
One must ask: where is their conscience? Where is their loyalty to the people who once looked to them as custodians of tradition and protectors of the land? By taking the front seat in this charade of endorsement, these chiefs align themselves not with their suffering people, but with the architect of their people’s devastation.
Why is it that Anglophone chiefs, whose communities have borne the brunt of Biya’s brutal oppression, are the ones chosen to lead this grotesque spectacle? Why must the representatives of a region annexed, decimated by war, economic sabotage, and systemic marginalization be the first to sing praises for the man responsible for these atrocities? The irony is as glaring as it is despicable.
These chiefs—many of whom have become willing pawns of the Biya regime—sit in Yaoundé as strangers in a land they were forced to flee. They are not in their villages because those villages have either been razed to the ground or are under occupation by Biya’s military. They cannot return because the people they abandoned would not welcome them back with open arms. Yet, instead of demanding accountability or justice for their communities, they choose to grovel before the man whose policies have turned them into exiles.
Let it be clear: their endorsement of Paul Biya will hold no weight in Ambazonia. They can sing his praises and pledge their allegiance all they want, but Biya and his regime remain persona non grata on Ambazonian soil. No elections will be held in Ambazonia under the authority of a man who has waged war against our people.
These chiefs may think they are securing their own survival by aligning with Biya, but history will judge them harshly. They are complicit in the betrayal of their own people, selling out their heritage and their honor for crumbs from a collapsing regime. Their actions are a stain on the institution of traditional leadership, reducing what should be a sacred role to a tool of oppression.
To the people of Ambazonia, let this serve as a reminder: your fight for freedom cannot and will not be dictated by traitors and opportunists. Paul Biya may have his cheerleaders among the displaced and the compromised, but he will never have the allegiance of a free Ambazonia. Our struggle is bigger than his regime, and our resolve is stronger than any betrayal.
The endorsement of Paul Biya by these so-called chiefs is a hollow gesture, devoid of any legitimacy or relevance to the people of Ambazonia. Biya may continue to cling to power in Yaoundé, but his influence ends across the bridge at the Mongo, Matazem and Dschang. Ambazonia’s march toward freedom is unstoppable, and no amount of endorsement or propaganda can change that.
