As Cameroon heads towards national elections this Sunday, October 12, tensions are once again rising in the country’s English-speaking regions. On October 1, the self-proclaimed Federal Republic of Ambazonia marked its Independence Day, with Vice-President Dabney Yerima declaring that no French Cameroon elections would take place on Ambazonian soil.

He said that once those elections are concluded, Ambazonia will seek dialogue with Yaoundé as equals and on neutral ground. But what does this mean for the peace process, and how united are English-speaking Cameroonians behind the Ambazonian cause?

To discuss this and reflect on the significance of Ambazonia’s Independence Day ahead of the elections, my colleague Peter Ndoro spoke to Dabney Yerima, Vice-President of the self-proclaimed Federal Republic of Ambazonia. Peter began by asking him what October 1 meant.