Ngwane, George (2023) Protecting Minority Language Rights/ Proteger Les Droits des Langues Minoritaires, pp. 157, Spears Books, Denver, CO US$23
By Ngome Elvis Nkome, PhD*
Synopsis of the Book
This is another seminal piece of work by an erudite scholar, writer, Advocate, and Pan-Africanist, Mwalimu George Ngwane on a contemporary issue that straddles academic and professional disciplines such as law, ethnology, linguistics, literature, human rights, heritage studies, and languages. The author has demonstrated his unmatched knowledge and knitted experiences of identity, cultural heritage and minority intricacies in the world. His book entitled Protecting Minority Language Rights is not only timely but actually gives readers an insight into the origins, manifestations, frustrations and socio-linguistic rationale for protecting minority language rights in the world.
As a key promoter of Cameroon’s indigenous cultural and heritage rights, the author understands so well the pitfalls of national ‘unconsciousness’ in undermining official language rights, in a multi-cultural setting like ours. The author’s work is timely, problem-solving and scientifically relevant to academics, policymakers, human rights activists and other professional bodies. The author breaks new ground in this area of research in which many with myopic views have paid little attention to issues of minority language rights, which have the potential to create low-level conflicts at the national level. Few books have previously attempted to present such a detailed and concise account on language rights in Cameroon with alacrity.
Chapter-by-Chapter Review
The book is laid out in five chapters excluding the preliminary pages and the end matter. The opening chapter captioned Minority language rights as human rights: the global perspective, departs from a global discursive linguistico-legal frame of analysis. It examines with attention the rational principles which assert that language rights are tantamount to inalienable human rights and questions the place of minority languages from a rightist positivist global human rights perspective in lieu of existing UN Treaties, Conventions and all other international legal instruments. Quoting an authority, Rita Izsak-Ndiaye (Former UN Special Rapporteur) on minority issues, inter alia “language rights and linguistic rights are human rights that have an impact on language use, of state authorities, individuals and other entities…” Rita Ndiaye further states “language rights can be described as a series of obligations on state authorities to either use certain languages in a number of contexts, or not interfere with the linguistic choices and expressions of private parties” (pp.1-3). Ngwane highlights key human rights mechanisms or treaties on the rights of linguistic minorities that states have been called upon to promote and protect.
Concretely, he cites the following national and international language rights instruments: the various UN Human Rights treaty bodies, the Universal Periodic Review, the Forum on Minority Issues, the Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues and the Durban Follow-Up Mechanisms. In addition, regional human rights mechanisms, government, national human rights institutions have taken measures towards promoting the rights of minorities at national and regional levels.
Besides, language rights instruments are further espoused in Chapter One citing UN Gen. Assembly Resolution 47/135 as well as key principles including equality and non-discrimination as contained in specific legislative texts and articles dealing with Cultural Rights such as Articles 1-4 (1); 5 (1) as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of December 16, 1966 by UN Resolution 2200A (XXI). The Chapter also examines several articulations, pronouncements, texts, and legal frame works on minority language rights from a global point of view. This set the pace for subsequent discussions in the succeeding chapters of the book.
In Chapter Two, titled Minority Language Rights as Human Rights: From the African Perspective, the author situates his audience within the unfolding concept of minority language rights as perceived by continental human rights agencies, bodies or institutions in Africa. Among other things, the author contends that language rights in the context of many African countries, poses a charade as indigenous languages in most African countries have hardly received the needed legal linguistic protection and promotion. In comparative terms, colonial languages in Africa, especially English and French, are regarded as ‘national’ or ‘international’ languages. The author raises the argument that these languages are indeed minority languages because they are spoken only by a marginal fraction of the population.
The author presents the Cameroon experience as a befitting illustration of a multi-ethnic nation with over 250 ethnic groups with more than 250 languages. Sadly, none of the local languages in Cameroon has been aligned with any of the official languages (French or English). Meanwhile, in other African countries their indigenous languages enjoy the same status as their inherited colonial languages. In fact, the author devotes some pages to catalogue some countries in Africa which have adopted one or more indigenous languages which are aligned with national or official languages. Some of these countries include Setswana in Botswana, Amharic in Ethiopia; Kiswahili in Kenya, DRC and Tanzania; Sotho in Lesotho; Malagasy in Madagascar; Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba in Nigeria. The situation is preoccupying in the sense that many countries in Africa like Cameroon, Gabon, Niger, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Benin, etc., have not placed any of their indigenous languages on the same pedestal as their foreign languages. It is within this line of thought that the case of Cameroon could be analyzed and therefore explains why the colonial languages still dominate national life, diplomacy and the media space. By showing examples of countries that have adopted local languages in their political and diplomatic life, the author re-echoes the need for African countries including Cameroon to valorize their minority languages (colonial or indigenous) and treat them as human rights issues. Finally, the author raises the vacuum created by regional, national and local legislatures on the protection and promotion of local languages even if Articles 60 to 61 of the African Commission for Human and Peoples Rights provide some relief. He concludes by proposing that Africa needs to adopt a dominant language for the entire continent and encourages each country to establish a co-official language alongside one colonial language and the other, indigenous.
Chapter Three is case-specific, and it takes up the evolution of language standards in Cameroon, leading to the creation of the first-ever language Commission. Using texts, treaties and other legal documents, the author expertly evokes the historical metamorphosis of language standards in modern-day Cameroon and examines how these laws have had an indelible impact on protecting minority language rights in the country. In terms of linguistic rights, the English language has minority language status, while the French language became the official majority language right after independence. Other scholars that he cites allude to the fact that it is because of her complex colonial past that no indigenous language has been selected in post-colonial Cameroon as an official minority or even co-official language.
It has been asserted that Cameroon adopted a neutral policy in dealing with language issues to avoid unbridled national language conflict. While the author recognizes the efforts made by the government to address issues of minority languages he also presents the struggle and advocacy that the minority language community has gone through in order to give the English language the same service delivery and visibility as the French language.
In chapter Four, the author, examines Minority Language Rights as Human Rights: The Role of Language bodies or Institutions. Among other things, he sheds light as to why language right bodies are created and investigates their textual nomenclature and the scope that reinforces them. Beyond Cameroon, language bodies are known variously as Commission, Commissioner and Ombudsman, and their objective is to fill the gap that rights groups have been advocating for. Admittedly, the author reveals that language bodies have an objective to preserve the rights of linguistic minorities by monitoring the quality of the public service provided to them. However, language bodies also differ in their political and legislative contexts as well as other facets of their mission. Yet, there are some peculiarities with each language body which differ markedly – they operate under different legal regimes: parliamentary, semi-presidential or presidential systems. The author proffers a pedagogic synthesis of how countries with weak or non-existing language bodies could emulate the examples of renowned language bodies, their modus operandi, methods, mission and how these language commissions or commissioners may be transformed from mere advisory structures to disciplinary instruments with power to sanction. It is against this background that Cameroon’s National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism stands to benefit from the expertise of the author in reshaping, training and retraining of professionals and stakeholders in Cameroon. It must be mentioned here that the author’s broad and rich experiences in minority language subjects which he acquired at various reputed learned societies and institutions abroad notably: the Cardiff –Wales, Commonwealth Professional Fellowship at the Minority Rights Group International, London and a host of others could benefit the country in many ways to reform, redefine and preserve minority language rights in the country especially with regards to strengthening the Multicultural and Bilingualism Commission of which he is a member.
Lastly, chapter Five focuses on Minority language rights as human rights and questions what roles language bodies or institutions can play in enforcing the laws, standards, or policies that these bodies or institutions are called upon to implement. The chapter is a technical continuation of the previous one and opens with a rhetorical question: “Are all these international and national legal instruments related to minority language rights concrete legal documents or mere political statements?” The author continues with mind intriguing puzzles, amongst others, “do language bodies have the enforceable legal and regulatory instruments or provisions to penalize or persecute the non-compliance of language policy or standard towards minority language? Can routine sensitizations alone on the respect of language policy raise enough permanent awareness on and consistent compliance with minority language rights?”
Obviously, these questions and others are an eye-opener to language, heritage and members of language bodies on several fronts. The questions offer insights into how best established and nascent language bodies could better articulate favourable socio-linguistic and legal frameworks that enhance the nexus between minority language rights and human rights. The chapter highlights the challenges, weaknesses and efforts made by institutions, human rights agencies and other language bodies to improve minority language rights through proactive and environmentally friendly laws. The chapter recapitulates some salient proposals from a contextual perspective that the various shades of language bodies could take on board. Some of these include policies such as sanction, visibility, language standardization through the publication of posters, handouts, flyers, plaques and much more. In a nutshell, the chapter has espoused where the actual challenges lay and how these challenges could be mitigated through emulating best practices, reforming old ones and introducing new ones and making them more resilient and adaptable to the exigencies of each country with minority language rights violations.
Conclusion
This reviewer highly recommends Mwalimu George Ngwane’s book. It is expertly written with rare case studies of minority language rights violations; it raises thought-provoking questions and proposes helpful suggestions and recommendations that would greatly impact language bodies and instruments globally. Indeed, Ngwane’s Protecting Minority Language Rights undoubtedly unpacks the intricacies surrounding language rights, language bodies, and their diachronic and para-linguistic-legal frames. This book is recommended to human rights activists, cultural promoters, historians, jurists, linguists and language commissions. Ngwane is a terse researcher, policy Advocate and pan-Africanist who has established himself through his works as one of the most prolific writers and dependable voices in Cameroon’s literary, peace, and cultural studies. I am optimistic this book will satisfy the demands of all those who have the opportunity and privilege of buying and reading it.
*Ngome Elvis Nkome is a Lecturer at the University of Buea, Department of History and African Civilizations/Tourism, P.O. Box 565 Buea, SWR, Cameroon. Email: nkomengome@yahoo.co.uk
