Autochthony and allochthony in Cameroon: a distraction not a solution

Oscar Njiki argues that the Constitution guarantees equality for all citizens. Rights depend on citizenship, not origin. Autochthony is a cultural identity, not a legal privilege.

1) Can a Cameroonian citizen be considered autochthonous everywhere in Cameroon?

No. Autochthony is not a universal quality granted by citizenship. It is rooted in memory, lineage, and history. Owning land, settling there, and investing is not enough to become autochthonous. Indigenous peoples maintain an ontological relationship with their lands: those lands are an extension of their identity. Customary rights do not pass through simple commercial transactions; they vanish at the moment of sale.

One cannot be autochthonous everywhere.

2) Must one be autochthonous to feel at home?

No. Citizenship transcends autochthony. Every Cameroonian is at home anywhere in Cameroon. The legitimacy of one’s residence depends not on origin but on membership in the national community. Being Cameroonian means having the right to live in Yaoundé, Bangangté, Maroua, without any condition of autochthony.

Every Cameroonian citizen is at home everywhere in Cameroon.

3) Is an autochthonous person at home everywhere in their own village?

No. Even within a village, space is structured by property ownership. Each person owns their lands, houses, and fields. Autochthony does not authorize trespassing or appropriating others’ possessions. A non-autochthonous owner is at home in the autochthon’s village, because possession establishes a right recognized by law.

Autochthony does not grant all rights to autochthons; allochthony does not strip rights from non-autochthons.

4) Does an autochthon have more rights in their village than a non-autochthon?

No. The law is one and indivisible. The Constitution guarantees equality among citizens. Rights do not vary by origin but by citizenship. Autochthony is a cultural identity, not a legal privilege.

Autochthons and non-autochthons are equal before the law.

5) Exception: the law reserves certain functions—such as mayor of a city or president of the regional council—for autochthons. But for other elective offices—deputies, mayors, councilors—no condition of autochthony is required.

The law reserves two positions for autochthons, but all other elected posts are open to all citizens, autochthons and non-autochthons alike.

In the end, the debate on autochthony and allochthony is a dead end. It locks citizens into fragmented identities and distracts from what truly matters: our shared future. What counts is not competition over origins but convergence of destinies. Autochthony and allochthony should not be weapons of division; they are cultural realities to be integrated within a single, indivisible Republic.

We must all look in the same direction, as children of one nation, not as rival micro-states within the country. Cameroon’s future will not be built on fragmentation, but on unity, solidarity, and a shared sense of common destiny.

— Oscar Njiki