NON-STATE ARMED GROUPS AND ILLICIT ECONOMIES IN WEST AFRICA

However, the overall growth of political violence Due to the rising number of uncoordinated armed groups, in 2023 and so far in 2024 in the Anglophone region signals the level of organization and leadership varies among the the increasing need for just and durable political settlements. [...] While a general outcry against the discrimination of had been perceived as neglecting economic development the Anglophone region was voiced by demonstrators and used in Anglophone Cameroon for decades, particularly in the to rally resistance in 2016 and 2017, deep divisions within the wake of a wave of sell-offs and privatizations of major Anglophone movement limited the development of a unified c. [...] Colonial and post-colonial divisions: 1960–2016 The grievances underpinning the Anglophone conflict stem secure Anglophone participation in national and political life from the end of colonial rule in 1960 and 1961 by France and by protecting and promoting the official use of the English lan- the United Kingdom, respectively, which combined the British guage, which would allow Anglophones a more s. [...] Secondly, as explored in more detail in the next In one case, the Yaoundé government reportedly examined section, another reason includes the loss of support for the bank account of an individual and found a diaspora trans- many factions of the armed groups among the Anglophone fer, which led to their prosecution and imprisonment in the Cameroonian population.119 Finally, the Anglophone diaspora D. [...] The levels of violence targeting ing the Yaoundé government – often referred to as ‘black civilians and tactics to limit the reach of Yaoundé created det- legs.’196 The term ‘black leg’ refers to those suspected collabo- rimental consequences, namely alienation and resentment rators with the police or military, an enemy of the Anglophone within the local communities and among the Anglophone diaspo.