By Tata Mbunwe
After the arrest of prominent separatist fighter “General” Shaggy in Ekona last Friday, human rights defender and Electoral Board member Christopher Tambe Tiku has come under vindictive accusations and attacks from pro-government activist Okha Naseri Clovis, who has published what he says are Tambe Tiku’s communications with the captured fighter.
Clovis accuses the prominent rights defender of being a separatist collaborator who negotiates ransomes for the fighters and then gets his cut of the money each time civilians are kidnapped.
But Tambe Tiku has never made his communication with separatists a secret. He has been communicating and negotiating with separatist fighters to protect kidnapped civilians and diffuse community tensions.
A Dialogue He Never Hid
In an earlier address during the launch of the government-led community dialogue in Buea on September 28, Tambe Tiku admitted in front of Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute and South West Governor Bernard Okalia Bilai that he regularly spoke with separatist fighters.
He believes community dialogue means speaking with those the State considers enemies — the separatists.
“We talk to them. It’s not a secret. How do you want to resolve the crisis without talking to your enemies?” he asked.
He credited his previous dialogues with the deceased separatist General Sagat and other fighters in Fako for the peaceful organisation of the yearly Mount Cameroon Race of Hope and the release of several people kidnapped by the fighters during the armed conflict.
“Regular dialogue is very important more than isolated conferences,” he said, advocating for community dialogue with armed actors — people the government has often called terrorists and officials usually boast the State does not negotiate with.
Track Record of Negotiated Releases
Tambe Tiku was prominently involved in the negotiated release of 20 University of Buea students kidnapped by separatists in March 2021. He recalled going to Mile 16, considered a risky security zone at the time, to negotiate the students’ release, despite no sponsorship from the government.
His action was scrutinized by government supporters, with some questioning if he was working with fighters. But Tambe Tiku has often maintained he is a mediator, not an actor in the armed conflict.
He also intervened and secured the release of two police officers taken hostage by separatist fighters in Ekona, led by “General” Sagat, in March 2023. He says he was actively communicating with Sagat just days before the military ambushed and killed him in July this year.
Okha Naseri Clovis has presented Tambe Tiku’s dialogue with Ambazonia fighters as though it were a taboo undermining State efforts to combat separatistism in the Anglophone regions.
Tambe Tiku views community dialogue, now launched in the North West and South West Regions, as the formalisation of a process he and other community leaders have championed for years using personal resources. He has strongly advocated for government funding for the process.
“I am talking with those boys. They will tell you, ‘Pa we don hear. Abeg send we something for credit,’ you will send. The day I went to release the police people, they claimed later I spent 20 million. No. I had 100,000 with me. I gave them 90,” said Tambe Tiku.
Attempt to Undermine Community Dialogue?
Clovis’ outings on Tambe Tiku, observers say, risk undermining efforts by the rights defender and other community leaders to diffuse community tensions.
While launching the community dialogue in Buea on September 28, the Prime Minister encouraged community leaders and the civil society to talk to separatists and encourage them to drop their arms.
Contrary to Clovis’ views, Dion Ngute viewed community dialogue as talking with separatist fighters to diffuse tensions. He acknowledged that there were leaders with him in the hall who regularly spoke with separatists and encouraged this to continue with a view to encouraging their surrender and the protection of civilians.
Who Is Tambe Tiku?
Christopher Tambe Tiku is one of the most prominent advocates of human rights in the Cameroonian government circles. He was born on April 11, 1967, in Ossing, Manyu, South West Region.
He holds a Bachelor of Law from the University of Yaoundé in 1992 and a Master of Law from the University of Hull, England, in 2004.
Before his appointment as a member of the Electoral Board, he served as Head of the B. Sooknanan & Associates Law Firm in Lesotho (1998-2002), Executive Director of Christ Debt and Legal Consultancy (PYT) Ltd in Lesotho (2001-2003), Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Law at the University of Buea (2010-2023), and Regional Head of the Cameroon Human Rights Commission in Buea.
Tambe Tiku is the author of several research papers, reports and other publications.
He has been a member of the Electoral Board of Elections Cameroon since 2015.
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