BILINGUALISM WEEK : DON RUBBISHES OFFICIAL BILINGUALISM IN CAMEROON

OFFICIAL BILINGUALISM IN

CAMEROON: FARCE OR REALITY?

Cameroon is celebrating Youth week and the Bilingualism week just went by. Two officials were brought from the Ministry of Secondary Education to talk on Bilingualism in Cameroon. The two held that Cameroon's bilingualism is forging ahead.

In this academic paper, a University Don, by his observation and using specialist approach, holds that Cameroon is not progressing as far as bilingualism is concerned.

He says there was need for texts to govern the practice of official bilingualism in Cameroon.

The University lecturer Saidou Nchouat Soule of the University of Yaounde 1 argues that Cameroon is not a bilingual country.

By SAIDOU NCHOUAT SOULE*

Abstract

There has been a lot of research on the path taken by bilingualism in Cameroon, from pre-colonial times to present. 

ARE YOU A BILINGUAL COUNTRY?

Several writers see English-French bilingualism as making positive progress in the country while several others hold that the country is rather monolingual (French) linguistic set up. All the writers have one start-off point: The Constitution. Incidentally, The Constitution of the Republic of Cameroon has just one section on bilingualism, and most officials quote this rather notorious section of the Constitution as proof of Cameroon’s Bilingualism.

That over – cited Section 1/3 of the Constitution talks of the promotion of bilingualism, but is very, very silent on the practice, the implementation of bilingualism. The institutions (schools, pilot centres, universities, etc) responsible for the promotion of bilingualism have so far been doing a wonderful job. 

But there is not even one institution in charge of ensuring the implementation of bilingualism. Billboards, posters public road signs, etiquettes on goods, leaflets, and documents meant for public consumption, etc are mostly in one language. This is because there is no legislation on the practice of bilingualism in Cameroon. There is most of all no Institution responsible for the control of the implementation of bilingualism. And since there are no rules – dos and don’ts – there are consequently no sanctions.

 If a civil servant graduates from a Pilot Linguistic Center and once back into his office he refuses to speak or use an official language, there will be no sanction meted out on that civil servant simply because present legislation does not provide for one. A monolingual top ranking official who insists on using only one official language in whatever situation and at whatever part of the country is not breaking any rules: there are no rules for him to break; he cannot be sanctioned, there is no provision for that.

DO YOU SPEAK FRENCH? WHY NOT?

If Cameroon has to be a country practicing French/English-English/French Bilingualism, as we boisterously claim worldwide, then there must be some laid down rules, there must be supervisory authority to control implementation thereof. Furthermore, the introduction ofsome national languages as official languages shall enhance our independence, for it is not from Europe, America or Asia that our national languages shall be declared official.

Promoting Bilingualism is not practicing bilingualism: the best professional cigarette sales promoters are most of the time non-smokers themselves.Key words: Implementing bilingualism, promoting bilingualism, official languages, national official language, law governing the practice of bilingualism, translation.

1)BRIEF HISTORY OF OFFICIAL BILINGUALISM IN CAMEROON

The evolution of the use of our official languages in Cameroon (English and French) has gone a long way, especially since 1958 when it became clear that the two Cameroons were moving towards a federal or a unitary state.History holds that after the defeat of the Germans in 1919, Kamerun with headquarters in Buea, was split up by the League of Nations as a Mandated Trusteeship Territory to be governed between the French and the English,and became “The Cameroons”,  with the French setting up head quarters in Yaounde, while the English remained in Buea. 

AHIDJO : DID YOU SPEAK ENGLISH? WHY NOT?

Abwa (2011) in a presentation at a Conference in 2011 1 , holds that “had

Germany continued up to 1960, Cameroon would have had only one imperialist …sorry! official language”; 

German would have been the sole official language in Cameroon. In the same vein, Anchimbe (2008) cites other writers who had examined this affirmation 2:

“The defeat of Germany in the First World War marked the end of a decisive

project to institute German as a “universal vehicular language” (Eco: 1995 331)

had Adolf Hitler won the war and succeeded in reducing the USA “to a confederation of banana republics”. Having successfully annexed Cameroon in1884 the German colonial administration decreed German to be the only official language. Several ordinances were proclaimed to foster the use of German. These include April 1910 Ordinance on grants-in-aid to mission schools that adopted German-language programmes (Chumbow 1980) and the March 1913 Ordinance that made the use of English illegal (Amvela 2001)”. 

FONCHA: ARE YOU TO BLAME?

Thus, after the chasing away of the Germans from Cameroon, each of the Mandated Powers, Britain and France (not colonial power), of course used its language as the official language in the territory of mandate. 

As Pondi (2011) rightly puts it, since the indigenes were to learn the official language “not in order to develop themselves or their territory, but rather to help the German powers better run their mandated territories”3 (3), native Cameroonians of the time learnt the official languages – French and English – so as to be in the good books of the masters, besides other non-native reasons.

Then came the independence of French Cameroon in 1960, followed by the plebiscite of 1961 which led to the independence of English Cameroon by joining French Cameroon. The situation of the official languages took a new twist, as the Federal Government had to handle administration in the two official languages: English and French. The then Constitution held that in every situation where there are two texts on the same event, the French document shall be authentic 4 (4).

BIYA: STATE OF NATION ADDRESS in ENGLISH : POSSIBLE?

 This was a clearly stated policy which relegated the use of the English language in Cameroon to the second position after French. 

Then came the unification (some say re-unification) of the two federal States in 1972, and the Constitution did not deem it necessary to change the rules. French was still authentic, while English was still the second class language. The All Anglophone Conference of 1993 in Buea indicated in a strongly worded resolution that there is no reason for the French language to lord it over the English language, and pointed to the equality of the two languages as one reason not to move into the cessation of Anglophone Cameroon from the Unitary State. 

UB CAMPUS

This led to the revision of the 39 articles of the 1972 Constitution. However,revising the language policy was not a priority to those undertaking the revision of the Constitution, so only one article,rather a subsection of one article, was included in the 68 articles of the 1996 Constitution with regard to the official languages English and French 5(5). The article is today rambunctiously quoted everywhere and every time today as proof of thebilingual nature of the Country.

2) ACTIONS CARRIED OUT BY GOVERNMENT

Subsequent amendments of the Constitution had nothing to do with the use

of the official languages, so the situation of the official languages in Cameroon as of 2013, that is to say 52 / 53 years after independence, is as follows:

a) The Constitution in force is not very explicit on the bilingual nature of Cameroon, in terms of practical usage of the two official languages in everyday life;

b) The promotion of bilingualism is adequately being ensured through the Basic and Secondary Education sectors, with some considerable input from the Pilot Centers;

DOES CAMEROON RESPECT ITS CONSTITUTION?

c) English/French bilingualism within the State apparatus is guided by the existing structures set up to provide texts in both languages when the need arises; they include:

i. The Languages and Bilingualism of the Presidency of the

Republic, which works for the PRC only;

ii. The Department of Translation and Interpretation at the

PMs Office which works for the PM’s Office only;

iii. The Department of Translation and Interpretation at the

National Assembly, which works for the National

Assembly only;

iv. Translation Units and Services in almost all public and semi public bodies, which work for those institutions only;

v. The National Governance Programme, which is an advisory body, with more of a programme on paper than any capacity whatsoever to ensure follow-up. There exist a battery of Instructions, Circulars and other texts which go to either “enjoin” government workers to respect bilingualism (not the private sector) or simply ask them to scrupulously respect the directives therein. If the Civil Servants do not respect these texts, there are no provisions for any sanctions to be meted out on anyone whatsoever. They include 6(6):

UB CAMPUS 

1) Decree n°077/04/PR of 6 January 1977 to regulate the publication of

official texts in the official gazette;

2) Instruction n°03/CAB-PR of 30 May 1996 on the preparation, signing

and publication of official texts in the two official languages;

3) Circular n°001/CAB-PM of 16 August 1991 on the practice of

bilingualism;

4) Circular n°A685/CAB-PM of 25 April 2000 on the practice of

bilingualism in State and Para Statal Institutions;

5) Circular n°A490/SG-PR of 4 February 2003 to reiterate our

Constitutional Option of Bilingualism;

6) Circular n°A685/SG-PM of 24 March 2003 on the respect of the

Constitutional option of Bilingualism;

7) Circular n°008/CAB-PM of 18 September 2003 on the publication of

calls for tenders in English and French;

8) Circular n°007/CAB-PM of 23 August 2003 on the creation and use of websites by Government Departments, public and semi public institutions. Alongside these transversal texts, several Ministries have come up with Circulars and Service Notes specific to their area of competence, all calling civil servants to order with regard to the implementation of the policy on Bilingualism, begging them to please be bilinguals. As a matter of fact,nothing obliges a civil servant in Cameroon to be bilingual. Furthermore, there is some unwritten but highly implemented instruction to the fact that the language of the military and the police in Cameroon is French!!!!

CAN ASTI BE OF HELP?

3)THE PILOT LINGUISTIC CENTERS

The Pilot Linguistic Centers, which are not found all over the national territory (and that is already a setback – Maroua and Ngaoundere are still lacking), are part of the Bilingual Training Programme under the coordination of the Secretariat General of the Presidency of the Republic. These Centers have as missions 7(7) to:

Ø enable participants to acquire the required general skills to

communicate orally or in writing in their second language, under

working conditions described by their employers;

Ø contribute to national unity and integration as well as to the

promotion of the two official languages;

Ø encourage participants to carry out self tuition at their own pace and

according to their language and professional needs.

These centers provide training and ensure the promotion of

bilingualism, but there are no incentives for the graduates of these centers to ensure the practice of bilingualism. For example, there is no job offer published in Cameroon in which a clause indicates that “holders of diplomas from the pilot centers will have an edge over other candidates….”. There is no civil servant who has been given a promotion or increment because he or she successfully completed a course from the Pilot Centre, even when the course is paid for by the Ministry or other Government structure. The Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic has not been known to punish any graduate of the Pilot Linguistic Centre who refuses to put to practice what he or she learnt in the Centre.

4)EFFORTS TOWARDS BILINGUALISM BY OTHER ACTORS

Considerable efforts have been made by other actors in a bid to implement

and practice English/French Bilingualism in Cameroon. The above set of texts, alongside the schools and linguistic pilot centers for the teaching and

learning of both official languages, can be considered efforts made by

the Government to ensure the implementation of the policy. There are

several other identifiable efforts.

a) Efforts made by professionals. Translators and interpreters when

and where they are involved always make sure the use of the two languages

is well enhanced. Other professionals include terminologists, who in several

instances help out in difficult cross lingual contexts. The teachers of English

and French in bilingual contexts, from primary to tertiary levels, are all

professionals who are out to promote bilingualism. Such teachers should not be confused with purely language teachers who as a matter of fact do inculcate in their students a notion of the superiority of the language they teach over all other languages. 

MENDO ZE: DID YOU HELP PROMOTE BILINGUALISM?

For example, Professor Mendo Ze as a die-hard promoter of Francophonie says it loud and clear, anywhere anytime, that French is the only language worthy of human usage on Earth. 

In a recent conference at the Amphi 700 of the University of Yaounde I on the harmonizing of the wordings of the National Anthem 8(8),Professor MENDO ZE made it clear that the exquisite beauty and linguist savour of the French version of the National Anthem makes it imperative to harmonize in one and only one direction: translate the French version into English!!! (hmmmm!!!, that is a different research topic altogether:

harmonizing the National Anthem).

b) Efforts made by parents. : Most parents make sure they send their

children to a school other than that of their first language. It is thus very

common for francophone parents to send their children to Anglophone

schools, and vice versa. 

There is a steady increase in the intake of francophone students into the school, and this trend has been ongoing since the early 90s. A similar study carried out in Presbyterian Secondary School Mankon and Saker Baptist College Limbe indicated similar trends. Meanwhile the number of Anglophone parents who send their children to francophone schools is very minimal.

The reason given by the francophone parents, however, is far from ensuring

the promotion of bilingual Cameroonians. Most francophone parents hold

that their children stand a better chance to study and even live abroad in the

USA, Germany, Australia, etc, while the French background limits the

children only to France. So, while this effort made by parents may end up

somehow to produce bilingual Cameroonians, the raison d’être of the action

is not to enhance Cameroon’s bilingualism.

c) Efforts made by individuals: most Cameroonians readily, without

any coercion or other motive, use the other language in professional

milieus. Some government minister have taken upon themselves to speak in

the two official languages, much to the chagrin of some of their francophone

collaborators who sometimes openly reproach the Minister for speaking “in

a foreign language”: English. When a speech is rendered in French there is

no complain from either the francophone or Anglophone audience. But

when a speech is rendered in English, there come cries of “condense,

condensé “ from the francophone audience.

5)THE NATIONAL BILINGUALISM DAY/WEEK

As Kouega (2004) indicated 10(10), “a National Day of Bilingualism in public

and private schools in Cameroon was instituted (Decision no 1141/B1/1464/MINEDUC/IGE/IGP/BIL of October 28, 2002)”. This Decision still holds today even with MINEDUC  split up into MINEB and MINESEC. This is yet

another aspect of the promotion of bilingualism, though most nationalobservers consider this approach to be child’s play since it is left in the hands of children.Furthermore, what is the idea behind any day or week? The idea is to raise awareness on a subject which otherwise will not be looked at because it does

not affect the day-to-day lives of those observing the day or week. 

We all know the use of “awareness” or “commemorative” days or weeks, and most of the time those involved in the “celebration” of especially awareness days or weeks are usually a handful of persons who are either carrying out some perfunctory activity or are involved in some personal interest activity therein. One can safely conclude that after the Bilingualism Day or Week is over, every other thing goes back to normal, business as usual.

PROF SAIDOU: TELL THEM!

 Kouega (2004) further indicates 11(11) “a circular letter instructing secondary education state officials to see that the National Bilingualism Day is observed in all schools and that, in addition, Language Clubs (LC), to be called Club Français for anglophone pupils and “English Club” for francophone pupils, be set up in all schools, that the National Anthem be sung in English and French on alternate days and that a prize be awarded to the best bilingual pupils in each class (Circular letter No

B1/1464/MINEDUC/IGE/IGE/GP/BIL of December 2, 2002)”.

The same argument for “days” and “weeks” also holds for “clubs”: a club is a

place where people freely join, no constraints, no stress, and if they falter or

even drop out, or worst still dilute or change the objectives of the club, there

will be no punishment. So bilingualism in Cameroon is also a matter of

clubs for children.

6)THE PROBLEM: PROMOTION VERSUS PRACTICE

Is Cameroon a bilingual country? Is it only the country that is bilingual or

only the citizens who are bilingual? Is there any set of rules laid down and

adopted by legal procedure for all to follow? If such rules exist, are there any

11 Op cit Kouega 10

punishments for individuals, groups, institutions or otherwise who

deliberately or inadvertently break such rules?

Echu (2004) had since put the problem in another perspective:

“As regards the implementation of the policy of official language bilingualism,

there is clear imbalance in the use of the two official languages as French

continues to be the dominant official language while English is relegated to a

second place within the State. The frustration that ensues within the Anglophone

community has led in recent years to the birth of Anglophone nationalism, a

situation that seems to be widening the rift between the two main components of

the society (Anglophones and Francophones), thereby compromising national

unity.”

What makes the situation even more frustrating is the fact that some

Cameroonians feel that the French Language makes them a superior entity

over others, and there is no punishment whatsoever for any individual or

group who trample on the language rights of the other. This is the more so

as there is no legal framework within which official bilingualism operates in

Cameroon.

1) The Constitution does not make any clear statement on the

use/practice of bilingualism in Cameroon: promotion is just

the first step towards usage or practice. Furthermore, the Constitution

does not say on what the promotion of the bilingualism should bear:

English/Ejagam Bilingualism, French / Fulfulde Bilingualism, etc

2) There is no official definition of expressions; in the context of

Cameroon:

a. What is official bilingualism?

b. What is an official language?

c. What is a national language?

d. What/who is a bilingual person (this should be important for the

criteria to appoint persons to hold certain offices);

e. Etc.

3) In the process of promoting bilingualism, there should be a clear

definition of what a bilingual primary school, secondary school or

university is. What is the language of administration, communication

and instruction?

4) Bilingualism in Cameroon is an issue of the Government services

alone: private institutions and business concerns feel no obligation

whatsoever to practice bilingualism, especially when the use of the

other language will not procure direct commercial gain to the business

concern.

5) THERE ARE NO SANCTIONS ANYWHERE to be meted out on

those who infringe on the rules governing the practice and usage of

bilingualism in Cameroon. By the way, THERE ARE NO RULES, so

there can be no defaulters. The existing decree, instruction and

circulars cited herein above all say what has to be done, in some

specific situations, not in all situations, and do not say at all what

must not be done (by the way, that was not the intention of these stopgap

texts).

6) THERE IS NO STATUTORY AUTHORITY IN CHARGE OF THE

IMPLEMENTATION AND THE FOLLOW-UP OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF

BILINGUALISM IN CAMEROON. The SG/PR to whom the Languages

and Bilingualism Division is attached, feels neither professionally nor

morally bound to ensure the implementation (of the non-existent

policy) of bilingualism in Cameroon. The Bilingual Programme

Coordinator works on the promotion of bilingualism, not on the

practice/usage. The Secretary General at the Presidency, more

specifically, one of the two Deputy Secretary Generals, goes round the

country each year to chair the graduation ceremonies from the Pilot

Linguistic Centres. 

His very presence at the graduation ceremonies is

a pointer to the importance the State attaches to the training.

However, what the graduands do with the acquired skills, how the

graduands put those skills to practice for the benefit of Cameroon and

Cameroonians, is not at all the business or the worry of the Secretary

General of the Presidency.

Situations can change if there is the will to do so. The desire to update

situations could be through arm-twisting or by simple political will of the

powers that be in Cameroon. For example, Cameroon was one of the

original signatories of the OHADA Treaty in 1993; a year later, the

Cameroonian parliament, by Law No 94/4 of 4 August 1994, authorized the

President of the Republic to ratify the Treaty. Two years later, by decree No

96/177 of 5 September 1996, the President ratified the Treaty, thus

incorporating it into Cameroonian law. 

This Presidential Decree of 1996

gave rise to the question whether the effect of article 42 of the Treaty

renders application of the Treaty in Cameroon unconstitutional as being

inconsistent with article 1/3 of the Cameroonian Constitution, which states

that English and French are the official languages of the country and that

both languages have the same status. As Enonchong (2007) pointed out, all

the Anglophone countries of Africa refused to ratify the treaty before

modifications. The OHADA Treaty was revised in 200812(12), with article 42

changed as follows:

Art 42 original (1993) : La langue de travail de l'OHADA est le français.

Art 42 new (2008) : Les langues de travail de l'OHADA sont : le

français, l'anglais, l'espagnol et le portugais. Avant traduction dans les autres langues, les documentsdéjà publiés en français produisent tous leurs effets. En cas de divergence entre les différentes traductions, la version française fait foi.

Furthermore, the other issue is the question whether, even if application of

article 42 is technically not unconstitutional in Cameroon, its application in

Cameroon may not be tantamount to an infringement of the human rights

of the English-speaking people of Cameroon protected under international

human rights instruments including the African Charter on Human and

Peoples’ Rights 13(13) which prohibit both discrimination on the ground of

language and domination of one people by another.

Why does one have the feeling that this last part of article 42 (new) takes us back to the Cameroon Constitution of 1972? With “le français étant la version authentique”!!!!

Echu (Yaounde/Bloomington 2004) expressed the feeling of most language

experts in Cameroon, a feeling which holds true even today:

“Although successive Constitutions of the country since independence have

always reiterated the policy of official bilingualism, there exists no well-defined

language policy till date as to its implementation. In the first place, in spite of the

fact that English and French are considered to be equal in status as per the new

Constitution, French has a de facto dominance over English in the areas of

administration, education and the media”.

To summarize the problem, it can be stated here that the State is doing

quite a lot to ensure the promotion of bilingualism, as stated in the

Constitution, but is doing absolutely very little to ensure practical

implementation of bilingualism in the country. There can be no

implementation without legislation. For Cameroon to be a truly bilingual

 Country, practicing Official French/English – English/French Bilingualism,

there must exist a legal framework within which to function, what

must be done, what must not be done, what constitutes a breach of language

rights, who to meet in order to seek redress, and most of all what

punishment awaits defaulters. If Cameroon is a State of Law, it is not

only because the laws exist but also because the said laws can be enforced.

7) USING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN CAMEROON’S

ADMINISTRATION

In July 2010 The Ministry of External Relations of Cameroon, in

partnership with the Commonwealth Organization, organized a workshop

on “Administrative drafting in English for Cameroon”. This exercise, which

was repeated in June 2011, came about because the Government of

Cameroon came to realize that the use of English as an official working

language in Cameroon’s administration was a big challenge both to the state

agents and users of their services. 

It is interesting to note that this exercise,

though highly priced by the Ministry of External Relations, was not really

taken as a serious issue by other Government Institutions. Ministries sent

people to attend the seminars not on the basis of their ability to implement

the resolutions emanating thereof, nor on their capacity to effect any

meaningful change in their institution with regard to enhancing the use of

English as an official language in Cameroon.

Anglophone secretaries,drivers and junior office staff, alongside some francophone service heads who could babble some words that sound English,

were sent to attend the seminars. This being the only attempt made by Government so far to ensure the effective use of English as an official language in Cameroon, many seniorofficials who later attended some of the sessions felt that it would havemade more sense if the opening and closing ceremonies were chaired by the

Prime Minister Head of Government, or even the Secretary General of the

Presidency of the Republic, to show how important it is to use English as an

official language in Cameroon. But, no, the seminars were opened and

closed by some lower ranking officials who were even in a hurry to leave for

more important duties.

The efforts thus made by the Ministry of External Relations culminated in

the production of a manual entitled Manual for Administrative drafting in

English for Cameroon’s public Administration. The 130page document,

edited by a team with the highly respected Professor SIMO BOBDA of ENS

at the head, contains 31 chapters and handles mostly some curricula with

which students of schools of translation and interpretation are very familiar.

Chapter 4 dwells on the “Features of Administrative Drafting in English”

with much emphasis on the differences between drafting in administrative

documents in English and in French.

Nevertheless, this will not help Anglophone purist of this country who

always get into trouble when they use English the proper way. A colleague

wrote to the Head of State and started his letter with

“Sir,

I wish to draw your attention to….

And his office superior sent him a query, insisting that the President of the

Republic cannot be addressed simply “Sir”. The colleague should write

“Your Excellency The President of the Republic and Head of State,

I have the most sincere and respectful honour to …”

Deification seems to be absent in the Anglophone administrative drafting

style, which is a priority in the franchophone administrative drafting style.

It is therefore with no surprise that we read official letters written in English

and signed by the Head of State ending with “Please accept the assurances

of my highest esteem”. Maybe someone could enlighten us whether that is

British, American, Australian etc usage; well, maybe it can be registered as a

“camerounese”.

It is this regard that we are proposing that there should be a code to govern the practice of official bilingualism in

Cameroon.Furthermore, after over half a century, Cameroon should start using some of her national languages in official business. English is somebody’s “contri-tok”, so too is French. When shall we see one of our own “contri-tok being studied by the CIA and the KGB? Must Cameroon breed terrorists before the national languages become interesting even to Cameroonians themselves? It appears that when multiparty politics started in Cameroon, that is when some francophone officials saw the need to understand English!!!!

THE CODE

The use of the expression “code” entails that it is a set of documents put

together, not just one document. We shall define an official bilingualism

code for Cameroon as:

“A systematically arranged and comprehensive

collection of regulations and rules of conduct and

procedure governing the use of English and French as

official languages in Cameroon”.

Similar documents already exist in Cameroon:

a) The Penal Code: Law and several decrees;

b) The Town Planning Code: The law and five attendant decrees;

c) The Family Code: Law and Decrees

d) The Electoral Code: Laws and Decrees

e) etc

Efforts are already underway to draft a law to govern the use of National

Languages in Cameroon 14(14). The Language Code for Cameroon in a

Context of English/French Official Bilingualism could thus comprise the

following instruments:

1) Law to govern the use of English and French as Official Languages in

Cameroon;

2) Law to govern the use of National Languages in Cameroon;

3) Decree to regulate teaching and learning within the context of

English/French Bilingualism in Cameroon;

4) Decree to regulate use of the official languages in the Civil

Administration in Cameroon;

14 The draft is presently being examined (2012) by an interministerial committee chaired by the Office of the PM.

5) Decree to regulate use of the official languages at the National

Assembly and Municipalities in Cameroon;

6) Decree to regulate use of the official languages in the Semi public

bodies in Cameroon;

7) Decree to regulate use of the official languages in the private sector

and business concerns in Cameroon;

8) Decree to regulate use of the official languages in professional and

labour relations in Cameroon;

9) Decree to regulate practice of the professions of translation and

interpretation in Cameroon;

The focus here shall be on the “Law to govern the use of English and French

as Official Languages in Cameroon”. Of course, the attendant decrees,

should also be made available and instantly. This will enable us avoid the

highly cherished approach of “progressively putting in place” all the

elements that should ensure implementation thereof. We have seen that

“progressively” can go beyond 20 years, as is the case with the Senate, the

Constitutional Council, implementing Section 66, the Regional Councils,

etc.

CONCLUSION

The present texts governing the practice of official bilingualism in

Cameroon are, as we have seen, not strong in themselves to ensure any

proper implementation, both at Regional, National and even International

levels. Worst still, the existing texts are even not available to the general

public, so even the public cannot act as watchdog. 

This set of rules will laydown a clearly defined policy on the use of English and French as OfficialLanguages in Cameroon, how to ensure the practice of official bilingualism in the Country, while providing a prominent place for our national

languages. The introduction of the notion of Official National Language in the law

entails that some of our national languages shall have official language

status. This means that it is incumbent on Cameroon to promote its

national languages, and not wait for some European country to validate the

use of one Cameroonian language in administration, commerce, education

and the army.

The idea of a Code is to determine good practices in the implementing of the

policy on bilingualism and it is hoped that when adopted by all the

stakeholders it will go a long way to enhance economic growth and ensure

political stability, while giving a sense of belonging to Cameroonians.

Simplistic as it may seem, the unavailability of regulation to govern the

practice of official bilingualism in Cameroon is a very good weapon in the

hands of all the Anglophone separatist movements. 

The frustration created

by such misuse of an official policy, coupled to the fact that French,

someone else’s language, makes one Cameroonian feel superior over

another, is reason enough for one to seek for a geographical space where the

language of an imperialistic foreigner, whilst still leaving that bitter aftertaste

of colonialism, will not constitute a source of superiority.

This Code is being proposed 52/53 years after independence, while the laws

governing the practice of bilingualism in Canada (Official Languages Act)

were drafted in the 1800s: “it is better late than never”.

NOTES

1) In a conference organized by the UN/ECA in Yaounde, October 2011, Professor

Daniel Abwa presented a paper on the historical evolution of political parties

from Kamerun through The Cameroons to Cameroun; he concluded that the

German language, like all the other German legacies, were thrown out of

Cameroon when Hitler was defeated.

2) Anchimbe, like some of us, is not necessarily crying over spilt milk : Cameroonians

do not need to move from one colonial master to the other. However, if the only

official language was German then we should have had fewer problems.

3) In this publication on the historical places and events of the City of Yaounde,

Professor Jean-Emmanuel Pondi shows how some Cameroonians learnt the

German language so as to be friends of the colonial master, and not for the

development of the city.

4) The Constitution has been modified several times: the first was in 1960, after

French Cameroon became independent; the second in 1961 with the Federal

Constitution, the third in 1972 after re-unification, the fourth in 1996, and the

fifth in 2008.

5) This time around, the authenticity of French was taken off, but the word

bilingualism appears only once in the whole text. The 2008 Constitutional

modifications did not affect the language situation.

6) Some of these texts exist only in French

7) The website of the Bilingual Training Programme outlines the goals and

objectives of the Programme. The Programme is out to teach and promote, not

to implement.

8) University of Yaounde I, Mercredi des Grandes Conférences , Wednesday 4 April

2012. Theme: “Towards the harmonization of the Cameroon National Anthem”.

Moderator: Professor Jean-Emmanuel PONDI; Speakers: Prof Gervais Mendo Ze,

Prof Efoua Mbozo’o, Dr Nug Bissohong.

9) Anchimbe in the publication cited herein clearly defines the notions of

« Anglophone child and francophone child »

10) Kouega JP documents the circulars and decisions signed by the Ministers of

Primary and Secondary Education and also ends up concluding that quite a lot is

being done as regards the promotion of bilingualism.

11) Op cit Kouega 10

12) The 2008 OHADA treaty has been ratified by Cameroon, another source of

linguistic problems in Cameroon.

13) See all Charters on Human Rights and Freedoms, especially the aspects on

language use. It is paradoxical that some Charters are meant to protect some

 language groups from the overbearing weight of English in the world, yet in

Cameroon English needs protection!!!

14) The draft is presently being examined (2012) by an inter-ministerial

committee chaired by the Office of the PM.

FOOT NOTES

1 In a conference organized by the UN/ECA in Yaounde, October 2011, Profesor Daniel Abwa presented a paper on the historical evolution of

political parties from Kamerun through The Cameroons to Cameroun; he concluded that the German language, like all the other German

legacies, were thrown out of Cameroon when Hitler was defeated.

2 Anchimbe, like some of us, is not necessarily crying over spilt milk : Cameroonians do not need to move from one colonial master to the other.

However, if the only official language was German then we should have had less problems.

3 In this publication on the historical places and events of the City of Yaounde, Professor Jean-Emmanuel Pondi shows how some

Cameroonians learnt the German language so as to be friends of the colonial master, and not for the development of the city.

4 The Constitution has been modified several times : the first was in 1960, after French Cameroon became independent,; the second in 1961

with the Federal Constitution, the third in 1972 after re-unification, the fourth in 1996, and the fifth in 2008.

5 This time around, the authenticity of French was taken off, but the word bilingualism appears only once in the whole text. The 2008

Constitutional modifications did not affect the language situation.

6 Some of these texts exist only in French

7 The website of the Bolingual Training Programme outlines the goals and objectives of the Programme. The Programme is out to teach and

promote, not to implement.

 8 University of Yaounde I, Mercredi des Grandes Conférences, Wednesday 4 April 2012. Theme: “Towards the

harmonization of the Cameroon National Anthem. Moderator: Professor Jean-Emmanuel PONDI; speakers: Prof

Gervais Mendo Ze, Prof Efoua Mbozo’o, Dr Nug Bissohong.

9 Anchimbe in the publication cited herein clearly defines the notions of « anglophone child and francophone

child »

10 Kouega JP documents the circulars and decisions signed by the Ministers of Primary and Secondary Education

and also ends up concluding that quite a lot is being done as regards the promotion of bilingualism.

12 The 2008 OHADA treaty has been ratified by Cameroon, another source of linguistic problems in Cameroon.

13 See all Charters on Human Rights and Freedoms, especially the aspects on language use. It is paradoxical that some Charters is meant to

protect some language groups from the overbearing weight of English in the world, yet in Cameroon English needs protection!!!

Bibliographical References

Abwa, Daniel (2011). Elections et gestion de la diversité culturelle au Cameroun,

paper presented in Yaounde, Conference organized by UN/ECA.

Anchimbe, Eric A. (2005) "Anglophonism and Francophonism: The stakes of

(official) language identity in Cameroon". In Alizés: Revue Angliciste de la

Réunion 25/26, 7-26.

Ayafor, Isaiah Munang (2005) Official Bilingualism in Cameroon: Instrumental

or Integrative Policy? University of Freiburg, Germany ISB4: Proceedings of

the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism © 2005 Cascadilla Press,

Somerville, MA.

Echu, George (2004): The Language Question in Cameroon Linguistik online

18, 1/04 (Yaounde/Bloomington)

Enonchong, Nelson (2007). The Harmonization of Business Law in Africa: Is

Article 42 of the OHADA Treaty a Problem? Journal of African Law, 51, 1

(2007), 95–116 School of Oriental and African Studies.

doi:10.1017/S0021855306000222, United Kingdom

Jikong, S. Y. (2001). Official bilingualism in Cameroon: a double-edged sword.

Alizés, 19 (also available at: http:/:www2.univreunion.

fr/~ageof/text/74c21e88-308.html)

Kouega, Jean-Paul (1999) "Forty Years of Official Bilingualism in Cameroon,"

English Today, 60(15), 38-43.

Kouega, Jean-Paul (2003) Bilingualism at tertiary level education in Cameroon:

the case of the University of Yaounde II (Soa), In J. Cohen, K. T. McAlister, K.

Rolstad, and J. MacSwan (Eds.) ISB4

Pondi, Jean-Emmanuel (2012): (Re)découvrir Yaoundé! Une fresque historique

et diplomatique de la capitale camerounaise, Editions Afric’Eveil, Yaoundé.

Simo, A. Bobda and Rossiter, Anthony (2012) : Manual for Administrative

drafting in English for Cameroon’s Public Administration, Commonwealth –

MINREX Publication.

PROF SAIDOU IS LECTURER, UNIVERSITY OF YAOUNDE 1. ARTICLE FIRST PUBLISHED JUNE 2013