HISTORY, FACTS AND LIES-A SOUTHERN CAMEROONS PRODUCTION
SEASON THREE: Non-implementation of UNGA Resolution 1608 (XV)
1. Was
Southern Cameroons self governing?
The Southern Cameroons was fully self-governing from 1954 to 1961. It was a
thriving constitutional
democracy
operating
a parliamentary system of
government modelled
after that of the British. During that period it had two free and fair elections, a peaceful regime change, and a Constitution (the Southern Cameroons Constitution Order-in-
Council 1960) based on values of democracy, the rule of law, an independent judiciary, an open society, a
free press, freedom of expression and movement, human rights and accountability. It had international personality and international status, first as a League of Nations Mandate and secondly as a United Nations Trust
Territory. By
dint of this international personality and international status, it was a qualified subject of international law. After seven years of full self-government,
the Southern Cameroons was poised for sovereign
statehood as provided in Article 76 b of
the UN Charter and
the
Declaration on the
Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (UNGA Resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960). Rather than grant independence outright
to the Southern Cameroons, the United Nations and the United Kingdom as Administering Authority contrived to organise a questionable plebiscite in the Territory.
2. What happened after
publication of the plebiscite results?
Soon after the
plebiscite results were announced Republic of
Cameroun started plotting
secretly on annexing the Southern Cameroons. And yet, in 1959 the President of Republic of Cameroun had gone to the United Nations and given the solemnly assurance that it had no expansionist ambitions and that it would not annex the Southern Cameroons. “We are not annexationists,” he declared to
the World Body, stating that Republic of Cameroun is prepared to form a political association
with the Southern Cameroons “on a footing of equality.”
3.So what
happened on 21st April 1961?
On 21 April 1961 the General Assembly of the United Nations met to consider the results of the plebiscite. It took two separate roll-call votes on those results. The first roll-call vote endorsed
the decision of the people of the Trust Territory to achieve independence.
The second roll-call vote acknowledged the matter of political
association with Republic of Cameroun in a federation of two states, equal in status. In Resolution 1608 (XV) of that date, the
results of these
two separate roll-call
votes were infelicitously conflated in
one sentence thus: “endorsed
the results of the plebiscite that the people
of
the Southern Cameroons decided to achieve independence by joining Republic of Cameroun”.
4.What does the resolution
state?
In that resolution the United Nations went on to appoint 1st October 1961
as
the effective
date of independence of the Southern Cameroons concomitant with the termination of the Trusteeship Agreement “in accordance with Article 76 b
of the Charter of the United Nations.” In rather ambiguous phraseology, the World Body further decided on the termination
of
the Trusteeship Agreement “upon the Southern Cameroons joining the Republic of Cameroun.” Untidily, all
three events, namely, independence, termination of trusteeship, and ‘joining’, were enjoined
to take place on
the same date. ‘Joining’ was however made conditional upon the Southern Cameroons, Britain and Republic of Cameroun finalizing the manner of
implementation of
the federal set-up agreed upon by the Southern Cameroons and Republic of Cameroun before the plebiscite. On this
specific point the United Nations in that same
resolution invited: “the Government of the
Southern Cameroons, the United Kingdom, and Republic of Cameroun to initiate urgent discussions with a
view to finalizing before 1
October 1961, the arrangements by which the agreed and
declared policies of the parties concerned will
be implemented.”
It was understood by all
concerned that the United Nations would be associated with these “urgent discussions” contemplated by
Resolution 1608. This understanding comes from the solemn assurance given by the United Kingdom Government during Anglo- Southern Cameroons talks in London in October 1960. During those talks the British Secretary of
State for the Colonies informed
the anxious Southern Cameroons delegation that:
“A vote for attaining independence by joining the Republic of Cameroun would mean that, by an early date to
be
decided by
the
United Nations after consultation with the Government of the Southern Cameroons, the
Cameroun Republic, and the United Kingdom as Administering Authority, the Southern Cameroons and Cameroun Republic would unite in a Federal United Cameroon Republic. The arrangements would
be worked out after the plebiscite by a
conference consisting of representative delegations of equal status from the Republic of
Cameroun and
the
Southern Cameroons. The United Nations
and the United Kingdom would also be associated with this conference.”
5. We learnt Republic of
Cameroun Voted against the resolution?
Republic of Cameroun advisedly voted against Resolution 1608 (XV). By that act it
rejected political association with the Southern Cameroons and
maintained its frontiers with the Territory
as unchanged.
The instruments attesting to its independence and international boundaries deposited
with and duly recorded at the United Nations when it
was admitted
to
membership
of the Organisation
remain unchanged.By July
1961 Republic of Cameroun started
speaking expansionist language.
It assert claim to the territory of the Southern Cameroons.
The envisaged
Four-Party post-plebiscite conference failed to take place, resulting in the
non-implementation
of the outcome of the plebiscite. In fact,
after adopting Resolution 1608 (XV) of 21 April 1961 the United Nations simply washed its hands off the Southern Cameroons. And yet the trusteeship still had at least six
months to run since the United Nations itself had
set 1
October 1961 as the end date of the trusteeship.
The United Nations did not monitor post-plebiscite developments in the Trust Territory. It did not require the Administering Authority to submit a report on developments leading up to termination of trusteeship. It made no efforts to
ensure the effective implementation
of
its own resolution. Republic of Cameroun cashed in
on this serious dereliction of responsibility by the United Nations. It carried out
military incursions deep into the Southern Cameroons. On 1 September 1961, its Assembly passed a
law amending its Constitution by providing for the annexation of the Southern Cameroons. In that law and in policy statements made
afterwards
Republic
of Cameroun
stated
that the Trust
Territory of the Southern British Cameroons is part of its territory
returned to her by the United Nations and the United Kingdom. In the same month of September 1961, French- led forces of Republic of Cameroun marched into the Southern Cameroons, physically occupied the territory
with the acquiescence of the Administering Authority, and began enforcing an unwarranted state of emergency declared over the peaceful
Territory.
The annexation and occupation of
the Southern Cameroons took place while the United Nations and the Administering Authority passed ‘on
the other side’ like the Biblical priest and the Levite. Tragically, the Southern Cameroons did not achieve independence
promised by the Charter of the United Nations and the plebiscite. Nor was there a valid political association of the Southern Cameroons and Republic of
Cameroun. Republic of Cameroun occupies the territory and administers it
with an iron fist as its colonial dependency.
Produce by Mark Bara
Publish by Bareta Media and Communications
Answers culled from Southern Cameroons Briefing Papers
