President Paul Biya and Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis: A Catalog of Miscalculations

Abstract:Historical literature traces the origin of Cameroon’s anglophone crisis to the failure to implement the Foumban Constitutional Agreement. The current study adds a new perspective: based on extensive field work in Cameroon and a variety of primary and secondary sources, it argues that the crisis, which began in October 2016, degenerated into violence because of a catalog of miscalculations made by President Paul Biya’s regime. It argues that the crisis has devastated life in the anglophone region and recommends what needs to be done to turn the tide there. It fills an important gap in the literature on the crisis and the struggle for change and contributes to postcolonial Cameroonian and African historiography overall.