|
|
Article: Moins ca change...: Democracy in West Africa. (Cameroon)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- January 22, 1994
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
ON THE road that climbs westward from the capital, Yaounde, to Bamenda in Cameroon's highlands, a sign saying "North-West Province" tells you this is English-speaking territory, where habeas corpus applies and Napoleonic law does not. The Cameroon-ian gendarmes do not always get the message, so the people of Bamenda have become expert at building barricades to reinforce the point.
Cameroon, briefly a German colony, was divided after the first world war between French and British trusteeship. Independence came at the start of the 1960s. Part of the British zone voted to join Nigeria, part to rejoin the French zone. United in form, in spirit they are not. People in ...