Collins Molua Ikome

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT COLLINS MOLUA IKOME

Ikome is a Cameroonian national currently residing in Germany. Before moving to Germany, I worked as a General Affairs Officer at the Buea Sub-Divisional Office, an administrative office under Cameroon’s Ministry of Territorial Administration. Through this role, I understood how governmental decisions are made particularly in times of crisis, notably during the outbreak of the Boko Haram insurgency and the Anglophone conflict. This experience helped build and shape my passion for conflict management. While in Cameroon, I was involved in local activism, especially on the intersection between youth participation in politics, governance, and peacebuilding. Under the banner of the Now Movement where I acted as one of the local coordinators for Buea in 2018, I met with several youth groups in and within Buea where I encouraged young people to register and vote during the 2018 Presidential elections in Cameroon. This was particularly daunting at the time as it was about this time that the Anglophone separatists picked up arms against government forces with Buea as one of the hotspots of the conflict. Good political leadership and good governance are invariably linked to positive peace and peacebuilding. Thus, I am a strong advocate for the effective participation of youths in elections, especially in the troubled Anglophone regions in Cameroon as the first step towards peacebuilding. Since moving to Germany, I have completed an MA in International Relations and Cultural Diplomacy, where I gained practical skills in soft-power diplomacy. I am also writing a thesis on MINUSMA for my second master’s thesis, investigating the rationale behind the Malian Junta’s decision to abruptly end MINUSMA. Also, I am passionate about research on the intersection of innovative technologies, media, and conflicts.