Camer360

On the eve of the 2025 presidential election campaign in Cameroon, jailed Ambazonian activist Abdulkarim Ali has penned a powerful open letter addressed to Philemon Yang, one of the appointed campaign managers for President Paul Biya in Bamenda.

Biya, now 92 years old and in power for over 43 years, is running for an eighth term, despite ongoing allegations of atrocities in the Anglophone regions: killings, mass incarcerations, forced displacements, and widespread destruction of villages.

Ali writes with a tone of anguish, evoking the blood of Southern Cameroonians as the ink of his message. He recalls his personal encounters with Yang in 2013 and 2014, as well as their shared alma mater, the Cameroon Protestant College (CPC).

Quoting Yang’s own advice – “Don’t forget our anthem, and don’t betray our motto” – Ali accuses him of hypocrisy, citing Yang’s years as Prime Minister during the escalation of the Anglophone conflict and his silence on atrocities committed under Biya’s rule.

The activist highlights grim statistics:

• 25,000 killed in Southern Cameroons since 2017
• 2,000 detainees in prisons
• 1 million displaced internally
• 80,000 refugees abroad

Ali contrasts Yang’s recent calls for ceasefires in Gaza and Ukraine during his tenure as President of the UN General Assembly, with his failure to speak against Biya’s war in Cameroon.

Quoting scripture, he challenges Yang:

“Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?”

Ali concludes by urging Yang to reflect on his legacy and reconsider his role in leading Biya’s campaign in Bamenda, warning that history will judge him harshly.