When Global Powers Avert Their Eyes: Rawlings on the Anglophone Crisis
Former Ghanaian president Jerry John Rawlings, speaking at an international peace summit in Seoul, calls out the silence of Western powers and the UN in the face of mass violence against English-speaking Cameroonians, questioning why diplomatic pressure has not materialized despite hundreds dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.
In a keynote address at the World Summit of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) in Seoul, South Korea last Saturday, the former Ghanian president drew attention to the situation in Cameroon and questioned why France, the United States, the United Kingdom and other allies seemed oblivious to the horrendous situation unfolding here. These were his words:-
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is sad to note that hundreds are being killed in Cameroon in West and Central Africa, all because they seek parity in their basic livelihood. Interestingly France, the United States, the United Kingdom and her allies seem oblivious to the horrendous situation in that country.
Although the UN, the AU and other international organizations, and even the citizens of the two Cameroons have asked for “an all-inclusive dialogue, without pre-conditions,” to rapidly curb the massacre that’s carried out on almost a daily basis on the English-speaking people, there is no real concerted diplomatic pressure to stem the tide of violence against a vulnerable group. We have seen no move taken by the government of Cameroon or the international community to bring the two sides onto a negotiating table. For how long shall the world stay still and watch a government in one part of the globe, rob her people of their dignity, and their humanity?
The UN talks of more than 140 villages burnt down; and almost half a million people who are internally displaced. There is another forty thousand who have sought refuge in Nigeria; while thousands are languishing in jails under very harsh conditions. I have previously called on France to actively play a pivotal role to end the crisis. Southern Cameroon’s marriage of convenience with the French Cameroon since 1961 has got to be reviewed by the UN and the AU, if these people should live together peacefully as one people anytime soon.
Must we wait to see an entire world in perpetual conflict – Conflict that swallows up entire populations, splits families and becomes the problem of all in the form of refugees, aid needed for reconstruction, terrorism and global poverty?”
We wanted to tell you a little bit more about Jerry John Rawlings but his story is so interesting and important that we did not know which parts to talk about and which to leave out. We suggest you google him and read more about him. He is a good model of an African leader.
- TeamPoise
The post dates to early 2019, when the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon's Northwest and Southwest Regions had already claimed significant lives and displaced populations. Rawlings's intervention reflects a moment when international attention remained fragmented and diplomatic solutions appeared stalled, despite appeals for inclusive dialogue from both civil society and affected communities.
The piece documents a rare, direct rebuke of Western and multilateral institutions by a respected African statesman—a voice that carried weight precisely because it came from outside Cameroon. Then and now, it poses a hard question about the selectivity of global concern and the gap between stated commitments to peace and concrete action, making it a useful historical marker of how the crisis was perceived by engaged regional figures.