About

Mission Statement and Principles of Unity

ARTICLE-1

Mission statement

We the Ambazonia Liberation Party (ALIP) have decided, to end the scourge of occupation of our territory by the regime of Cameroun, and to serve as a catalyst that will spur our people in the struggle to restore our sovereignty and independence, and fight for our emancipation. We will serve as the antithesis to the power structure of the neo-colonialist regime of Cameroun, as we struggle to liberate ourselves. We will develop and encourage new ways, of conducting the business of our people’s emancipation, that subscribe to the principles of democracy, transparency and grass roots’ participation in decision-making processes. Thus getting rid of the static hierarchies that have served but the few who, through treachery, managed to get themselves at the top of these hierarchies.

We want to put the cult of personality worship to rest. This cult that has created the mentality of first stressing “who-should-be-the-leader”,

rather than what is to, be done. For who can argue, that for over 20 years since the first real moves were made in the direction of changing the oppressive status quo, we are still trapped, here today, in the muddy waters of “who-should-be-the-leader”.

Thus the ALIP have asked for a revolutionary process of participatory democracy, by which we will go about our liberation, certain that never will we be traded again for personal interest. This entails putting up structures and progressive processes, which will enable all of us to work together, discuss together, decide together and prosper together. Structures and processes that eliminate the possibility of neither the regime of Cameroun nor any other regime to mortgage us and our collective destiny.

ARTICLE-2

A: Principles of Unity

1. The ALIP is based on the principles of Equality and consensus organizing, recognizing the importance of grassroots participation in deciding the destiny of their people.

2.The ALIP considers the participation of ordinary citizens in the decision-making processes of society, a prerequisite to the building of a durable, free and just society.

3. The ALIP recognize the importance of establishing set-processes towards eliciting social change: from interpersonal relationships to group dynamics, ALIP shall strive, therefore, to the collective organization their members and be committed to the principle of consensus decision-making and the development of a direct participatory democratic process that is transparent to its membership. Where each person’s commitment and contribution is about the ideal of developing a better society and not a reason to Lord it on the others. Where, each person’s role is a duty and not a position of authority to exact obedience.

4. The ALIP recognize that a prerequisite for participation in the decision-making process of each local party cell is the contribution of an individual's effort and resources to the local group.

5. The ALIP shall be committed to the development of non-hierarchical and anti-authoritarian relationships: to develop a pattern and practice, consistent with the mission and purposes of the Party, and to be each other keeper.

6. The ALIP shall be committed to the principle of human equality, and shall not discriminate neither on bases of tribe, place of Birth, place of origin of parents, sex, religion or any other, what-so-ever. Concomitantly, all shall work together collectively to decide policy in regards to dealing with those who spread hate, based on tribe or any of the above. Everybody shall be judged by the content of their character and not background.

7. That, while taking threats to members’ security into consideration, the ALIP shall be opened to everybody in the community (neighbourhood) to participate in its work if they so wish to.

8. That, the ALIP, while recognizing the vast and varied cultural traditions within our society, shall be committed to building diversity along all socio-cultural lines within our society.

B: Membership Criteria

ARTICLE -3

Membership in the Party will require the individual to AGREE in conscience and in practice to the Party Mission Statement and Principles of Unity.

ARTICLE-4
1. Membership to any particular Party Cell shall be determined by the members of that particular cell, as they know their locality and those residing therein, better. New Cells to the Party shall be confirmed by the Spokes-Council.

ARTICLE-5
We understand that the struggle to restore our independence, to regain our dignity, respect, and right of self-determination have set many people advocating under different groups with different approaches. Thus we claim no special privileges in advocating our people’s rights but rather, see ourselves as an ally to groups and individuals who seriously mean business, in ending the nightmares of the current occupation of Ambazonia by Cameroun. It is in this spirit that the ALIP mourns the martyrs of our struggle. It is with the same spirit that ALIP recognizes that it is intimately linked with the thousands of families who have lost their ones to this cause, under the banner of one or another of these groups. Known and unknown, they must be recognized as freedom fighters, whose legacy ALIP will seek to continue in a more structured, coherent and methodical fashion.

C: The Party Structure

ARTICLE -6

The ALIP is composed mainly of the: Cells, Committees, Working Groups, Spokes-Council and the Congress.

-The ALIP recognizes the following definitions as valuable to its organizational structure:

6(I): A Cell

The Cell is the most basic part of the Party.

-a). Each cell shall make every effort to have a minimum of twelve (12) members,
-b). Each Cell shall have a decision-making policy that is in alignment with the consensus decision-making principles, in line with the frame of internal-functioning-document.
-c). Each new cell shall be launched by the Spokes-Council to become a full part of the Party.
-d). Each Cell shall delegate a spokespersonn to serve as a bridge between the Cell and the spokes-council on a two-year rotation base. The Spokespersons also make decisions for their Cell at the Spokes-Council, since they are better informed about their Cell positions on issues and local reality.
-e). New party members can either join an exxisting cell or initiate a new cell, if there is no cell close to them. Normally, cells are encouraged to work together with cells closer to their milieu.

-f). Cells in a geographic region shall network themselves in chapters, to make their mobilization efforts more effective.

-g). The Cell shall make decisions on issues that have to deal mainly with their constituency, since they have a better capacity to implement Party policy in their constituency.

6(II): Party Committees

Party Committees are groups formed and approved by the Spokes-Council to engage in work, directly related to the development and sustainability of the party, to include, but not limited to; Committee for Internal Relations, Financial Committee, Committee for Support of Victims of the struggle, Committee for Communication, Committee for Public Relations etc.

-a). The Party Committees shall make decisions on behalf of the Spokes-council (party) on the issues placed under their competence.

-b). Party Committees are generally made up of four persons; delegated by the Spokes-council to handle the work of the Committee in question. The four members of the Party Committee can further buffer their work by inviting other individuals to support their work. The four persons must not necessarily be members of the spokes-council as it is most important that the task of the Committee is done, but they must be members of the party, thus bound by the values of the party as spelt in the Manifesto.

The work of the Party Committees is facilitated by an Ambassador (messenger) who is responsible for coordinating the work of the Committee as a RESPONSILITY in the task-sharing effort in the Committee but NOT as a POWER position. The Ambassador (messenger) position rotates within the Committee on 6-months bases, thus enhancing skill sharing. Decision-making policy of a committee must be in alignment with consensus decision-making principles in line with the frame of internal-functioning-document.

-c). Party Committees have a life Span of 2-years, after which the Spokes-council will delegate four new persons for the Party Committee in question.

6(III) Role of Ambassador (messenger) of a Party Committee

-He facilitates the work of the Party Committee.

-Co-ordinates the compilation of the work of the Committee into a document, which the Ambassador then presents to the Spokes-council.

-Compiles the agenda of Committee meetings, including reports of pending tasks and inputs to the Agenda by other 3 Committee members.

- Facilitates discussions in the Committee using as a frame internal-functioning-document.

- Presents the next Ambassador, delegated by their Committee, to the Spokes-council at the end of his/her 6-months as Ambassador for the Committee in question.

6(IV) Party working groups

Party Working groups are setup to handle very specific tasks within a GIVEN TIME FRAME, which is determined at their inception, by either the Congress or Spokes-Council. At formation a Coordinator is delegated to facilitate the work of the working group. The number of persons in a working group is decided at formation depending on the task.

-The Party Working group shall make decisions on behalf of the Spokes-council on the subject delegated to them by the Spokes-council.

6(V) The Spokes-Council

-a). The Spokes-council is THE MAIN DECISION-MAKING BODY of the Party: It is composed of spokespersons delegated by each cell.

-b). The SPOKESPERSONS their main is to take local proposals to the Spokes-Council, as well as take discussions from the council to their local CELL for discussion.

-c). The spokespersons together in a consensus manner make decisions on the running of the party (in the Spokes-council). In the Spokes-council, decisions shall be made on consensus while emphasis is reached on the fact that all Spokespersons confirm that they, as well as their Cell do UNDERSTAND what is being decided.

-d). Decision-making policy at the Council is to be in alignment with consensus decision-making principles USING AS A FRAME internal- functioning-document.

-e). All the main decisions on the day to day running of the party, are made either directly by the spokes-council or by Party Committees, and or Party Working groups set up by the Spokes-council.

-f). The Spokes-Council is also responsible for the main preparation for the party congress together with the hosting Cell(s).

-g). The Spokes-council shall adapt, or initiate, the creation of Committees or Working Groups in order to make decisions and implement specific tasks and projects for the party.

-h). The Spokes-Council shall also confirm the official launching of new cells.

-I). Proposals are brought from the cells, wworking groups and committees by their spokespersons and or Ambassadors, respectively, to the Spokes-council. These proposals if adopted by the SPOKESCOUNCIL, are then submitted to the cells and committees by the spokes-council for implementation.

-j). The Spokes-Council will meet once every six months, or whenever need be, at a time that is reasonable for all regional cells. Meetings shall make use of all possible communication tools, if there is no possibility for it to be face to face. Every effort shall be made to notify everyone, at least two weeks in advance.

-k). If a cell or any individual disrupts the Work of the party, the Spokes-council will put together a Working Group to investigate the incident and make proposals to the Spokes-council on the nature of the sanction to be applied. Namely; warning, serious warning or expulsion from the Party.

-l). The Spokes-council shall alone be responsible for decisions on strategy and tactics to attain the liberation of our territory. This shall include everything that has to do with the respect of human dignity, which is at the centre of the values we uphold, of anti-tribalism or discrimination of any sort. The Spokes-council is also alone responsible for the sustenance of participative democracy, which is at the foundation of our wish to revolutionize attitudes and relations to duty and power. For that is the main way to guarantee that a few for the purpose of personal benefit do not hijack our destiny, as a people again.

6(VI) There shall be a Party Congress every four years.

But in the Case of an Emergency, the Spokes-Council could call an Emergency Congress or postpone the holding of a congress. During the Congress, evaluation of the work of the past years is done and the tasks and challenges for the coming years preceding the next congress are carved out.

The spokes-council shall create a working group to prepare every congress. And the working group shall be made up of delegates from the hosting cell and the spokes-council. The task of the working group will include organising; location, resources, and facilitation of Congress. Their tasks shall also include deciding; the number of Plenary sessions that will take place and workshops, who will facilitate (moderate) which plenary, when the honorary delegates will address the Congress, security/lodging of delegates, and sorting out the strategic importance of all the activities at the Congress to the overall liberation.

D: Decision-Making

ARTICLE -7

1. -The ALIP adopts the model of Consensus for all decisions at all levels in the Party. Our frame is Formal Consensus as spelt-out in the internal-functioning-document. Yet it is up to each Cell, Committee, working group, and the Spokes-Council to determine how consensus will be implemented by them.

1. -The ALIP, in what concerns information flow within the party, is supposed to be adaptive to an “All-channel-network-approach”, whereby coordination and communications take place between as many groups as possible, in order to enhance flexibility, prevent lethargy and redundancy, and develop mutual assistance within the Party. In other words, maximum communication and resource flow is to be encouraged between cells, Committees and the Spokes-council and not centralized or restricted from one particular group to another.

ARTICLE -8

1. The ALIP recognizes that, in order to function as a Party that empowers and is empowered by the people, it needs to develop a flexible, fluid and effective decision-making structure, which will harness the energy of individuals and groups at the local levels.
2. The ALIP recognizes the following groups empowered to make decisions that directly affect the party at the different levels: Cell, Party Committee, Party Working Groups, the Spokes-Council and of course the Party Congress.
3. The ALIP recognizes that there is an important need for a Spokes-Council, where spokespersons from each Cell are represented to make decisions that affect the whole party. It is also recognized that careful discussions and deliberations are necessary, in order to decide what constitutes a decision that affects the whole party.

ARTICLE-9

Committees are:

-Committee for Support of Victims of the struggle

This Committee has the following tasks:

1- To gather information on victims of the struggle. That includes their names or names/contacts of their families; especially for those in jail, those who died and those who have been maimed as a result of this struggle of ours.

2- To make contact with these victims or their families on the one hand, to publicize their case and to mobilize support for them on the other hand.

-Finance Committee

1-This Committee is responsible and audit of party funds.

2-It keeps a record of all the financial transactions of the Party, as well as where other resources of the Party like Computers and other equipment are located.

3- This Committee, thinks-up policy for fund-raising and mobilization of other resources.

4-This Committee, handles requests by cells, Committees or Working groups for funds, from the main accounts of the Party, which request are considered in the back-drop of what other requests exist, what funds are available, as well as the possibility of mobilizing new funds.

5-All Cells, Working groups or Committees who decide to make any direct appeal to any individual or institution for funds in the NAME OF THE PARTY MUST, first discuss that with this Committee.

6-This Committee keeps a report of how much was requested and how much was made available for the particular request. This information is further reported to the Spokes-council.

-Committee for Public Relations (PR)

1-This Committee has the task to manage the image of the Party.

It drafts and issues press releases; press statements on behalf of the party and prepares party members for interviews and similar processes. Thus ensuring that the message from the party is coherent and not contradictory.

2-It has to investigate new ways of doing PR for the party. It takes responsibility for keeping a newsletter on the party.

3-This Committee is also responsible for putting together our history in an undistorted manner.

-Communications Committee

1-The main task of this Committee is to Coordinate Communication within the Party; especially among the Spokespersons who normally bring the information to their Cells.

2-It collects all proposals/requests sent to the Spokes-council. It puts a dateline for cells to send in amendments to the proposal and sends the proposals to the various Cells through their Spokespersons. The dateline is 21 days after the proposals are sent out to the various cells, through their spokespersons. After the dateline, if there was no veto, the proposal is rewritten to include proposed amendments from other cells and is then adopted. For technical reasons and in the case of very complicated issues, the dateline can be postponed.

3-For proposals, where there already exists a solution within the confines of the Party, the Communication Committee will respond to such requests, by pointing to the viable response-information and copy all Cells, since the misunderstanding could be the case elsewhere.

-Committee for Internal Relations

1-Helps support in launching new party cells by providing the individuals or groups wishing to launch a New Party cell, with information, as to how the party functions and also try to organize contact between the new Cell and other existing Cell(s) close to them geographically.

2-When those interested in launching the new Cell in the process of communication with this Committee, indicate that they have understood how the Party functions, they’ll then fill in a copy of the Cell membership form and send it to this Committee. This Committee will then present the New cell for confirmation to the Spokes-council with the name of their first Spokesperson. Confirmation will be done within 21 days of the presentation. During time this Committee will have to communicate any concerns from the Spokes-council to the new cell for clarification and answers.

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