Consortium makes public conditions for dialogue with Archbishop Samuel Kleda

The President of the Republic of Cameroon, Paul Biya addresses the youths today. The Consortium has received a tip-offthat he may acknowledge mistakes in the handling of our struggle. We are told the acknowledgement would not be sincere, but meant to fool us once more; a thing we should have become used to by now.Secondly, we have read from the French Language Daily- “Le Messager” that the President hasdesignated the Archbishop of Douala, His Grace Samuel Kleda as mediator in this struggle. We respect the man of God, who has demonstrated always that he is honest and has a personable character. But we must point out that in as much as we are ready for dialogue at any time, we abhor diversion.Let it be known that all those leaders the people of Southern Cameroons put their trust in to negotiate on their behalf are either in jail or on the run. They must be found and brought to pilot any negotiations that shall engage the responsibility of the people; no government appointee shall speak for us, the people of the two regions have very resoundingly rejected those regime stooges.Furthermore, the Consortium re-iterates that any discussions with government that shall not be based on one agenda only; the practical modalities for the putting in place of a two-state federation, and in the presence of representatives of the United Nations, and the UK shall be a waste of time.While we maintain our struggle as a non violent movement for the liberation of our people, we want to strongly condemn the continuous provocation by forces of law and order against peaceful and unarmed citizens. We particularly deplore the actions of gendarmes who rapedstudents in a boarding school in Kumba last Wednesday night; reason we keep asking parents to keep their children at home.The excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests, kidnappings and torture on our people is pushing many to begin wondering whether federalism is even an option anymore!God is with us!On behalf of the Consortium,Tassang Wilfred, Tapang Ivo, Mark Bara