In the English speaking region of Cameroon right now the people are protesting their rights, because they believe they are being discriminated upon by the French speaking region. The beginning of this issue started after World War 1 when these two regions gained their independence from Britain and France and then merged into Cameroon in 1961. The English speaking region is also protesting the 35 year rule of the current president Paul Biya. To respond to these protests the government is throwing tear gas and has even killed close to 17 people now. They also have banned gatherings of more then 4 people, ordered shops and bus stations to close down and forbade movement between divisions of its English-speaking region for three days to prevent planned protests. In the past they have also shut off the internet and electricity. I believe it is very terrible how protesting is handled in this country, and as I have been studying sub-Saharan Africa this seems to be a trend in many countries where the governments won’t tolerate it. It makes me thankful for our first amendment right in the U.S to have the freedom of speech and petition. I am also thankful for our limit on how many terms a president can run for and think it is not a very good system in Cameroon where the president has been in office 35 years.
