CAMEROON: LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION DURING THE ANGLOPHONE CONFLICT IN THE SOUTH WEST REGION. INITIATIVES AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

The paper discusses local communities’ initiatives and challenges in resolving the Anglophone conflict in the South West Region of Cameroon between 2016 and 2023. The con flict that began in September 2016 as the Anglophone teachers and lawyers strike soon vitiated into calls for secession of the Anglophone regions of the country due to marginalization by the Francophone majority. By early 2017, the employability of arms by separatists alongside other tactics like ghost towns, kidnappings, and the maiming of civilians had prompted a gov ernment military response leading to a massive humanitarian crisis. While the conflict is still on, the situation seems to be returning to normalcy in some communities owing, not to the government approach to solving the problem but to various indigenous community initiatives. Informed by primary and secondary data, the study investigates the strategies adopted by local communities in resolving the Anglophone conflict in the southwest region of Cameroon. The paper also concedes the persistence of the crisis despite these initiatives and questions factors that mitigate against indigenous conflict resolution mechanisms that local communities have been propagating. It concludes that the anglophone crises far from serving as a platform for the English-speaking people of Cameroon to express their grievances was an opportunity for local communities to understand the complexities of war and a chance to re-initiate indigenous con flict resolution mechanisms which were rife in the pre-colonial days. Keywords: Anglophone, Cameroon, conflict resolution, local community.