Separatist group calls for election boycott

A separatist organisation in Cameroon has called on people in the country's two English-speaking provinces to boycott municipal and legislative elections slated for 23 June. The call, made on Wednesday by the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC), came two days before election campaigning is scheduled to start. It followed the circulation of pamphlets in the Southwest and Northwest provinces urging the residents to stay home on election day. SCNC said "the die had already been cast" and the polls would have no bearing on the two Anglophone provinces. The provinces, it added, would organise their "own elections at the right time" while those who voted on 23 June would be considered "traitors". Campaigns open on Friday and run until 22 June. The government has said it plans to work closely with public and private media to inform the public and raise interest. SCNC, led by Frederick Ebong, started in the mid 1990's to advocate the separation of the two provinces from the rest of Cameroon. The SCNC eventually wants the formation of a new state called the republic of Southern Cameroon. It has crossed paths on numerous occasions with the government. In its anti-election call, SCNC leaders also warned the Church to stay out of the upcoming polls. In the past, the church has supervised elections and trained observers. Cameroon was a UN trustee territory administered by France and Britain. In 1961, the northern region of British-administered Cameroon voted to become part of Nigeria during a UN-supervised referendum. The southern region opted to join French-speaking Cameroon which was called the Republic of Cameroon. The two regions subsequently merged and became the Federal Republic of Cameroon. However in 1972, the county became a unitary state and was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon. In 1984 the official name was changed again to the Republic of Cameroon.