Cameroon’s House Speaker of National Assembly Cavaye Yeguie Djibril on Thursday laid the cornerstone for a new Chinese-funded parliamentary complex.

The new building will improve the working conditions of lawmakers and strengthen China-Cameroon relations, Djibril said here at the groundbreaking ceremony.

“The new architectural jewel will contribute to the beautification of the capital … This, once again, demonstrates the excellent relationship existing between our two countries,” he said.

“We thank the Chinese government for their continued support of our various developmental programmes,” he added.

Chinese Ambassador to Cameroon Wang Yingwu said at the ceremony that the construction of the new building was a reflection of the “rich and dynamic” relation between the two countries.

China will continue to support Cameroon in its quest for peace and development, Wang added.

The construction project came two years after a fire ravaged part of the parliament building in November 2017.

Source: Xinhuanet

It was, even by Vice President Dabney Yerima’s standards, a busy day – a meeting with representatives of the Denis Hurley Institute in the morning, a press briefing with the South African state television in the afternoon and a meeting with the Ambazonian community in Rustenburg by the evening.

Given this extraordinary schedule, it was no surprise to those listening to the Nsuhfor Dabney Yerima’s speech at the Denis Hurley Institute today that the Ambazonia leader appeared, as one Southern Cameroonian in South Africa put it, a little tired and grey.

Denis Hurley Institute is like the Department of Foreign Affairs for the South African Catholic Church and it all started with a message of hope to the people of Ambazonia and solidarity with President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe.

The leadership of the Denis Hurley Institute noted that more than 50% of Ambazonians in Ground Zero are Roman Catholics. Consequently, it is imperative for the Ambazonia Interim Government and the Roman Catholic Church to not only work together but collaborate to ensure justice is achieved for the people in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

A number of issues were also raised including the Ambazonia Restoration Forces; unity among Southern Cameroons exiled groups and education. Vice President Nsuhfor Dabney Yerima explained that Ambazonia Community schools are currently operational in many areas in Southern Cameroons under the protection and encouragement of the Ambazonia Restoration Forces and the Interim Government after a ban on all French Cameroun colonial education institutions.

Comrade Dabney Yerima assured the Denis Hurley Institute that the Interim Government understands fully the pain of Southern Cameroonians in Ground Zero and is committed to raising enough funds to equip the Restoration Forces, secure territory after territory, improve policing, train the Restoration Forces and guarantee every Southern Cameroons parent and child that schools are safe again without fear of rampant murder by French Cameroun terrorist Forces.

The Ambazonian Vice President appealed for humanitarian assistance from the Catholic Church in South Africa and revealed that the Interim Government recognizes the suffering and attacks on the Christian and Muslim churches in the so-called one and indivisible Cameroon.

By Ayuk Patrick

Boko Haram militants have killed at least 275 people this year in Cameroon’s Far North region despite government claims back in January that the Islamic extremist group had waned in the area, Amnesty International said Wednesday.

More than 80 percent of those victims between January and November were civilians, the international human rights group said following a two-week mission to the volatile area.

People in Cameroon’s Far North “are living in terror,” said Samira Daoud, Amnesty International’s Acting Regional Director for West and Central Africa.

Many of them have already witnessed Boko Haram attacks and lost family members or friends. They no longer ask whether there will be further attacks but when they will take place – they feel completely abandoned by the authorities.

Boko Haram’s decade-long insurgency began in northeastern Nigeria and has spilled across borders into Cameroon, as well as Niger and Chad. The group has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.

In recent years some fighters have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, creating a new threat. Amnesty said the resurgence in northern Cameroon comes after longtime President Paul Biya had called the group “a residual threat” back in January.

There was no immediate comment from the government though in the past it has sharply criticized reports from international human rights groups.

In 2014, Boko Haram drew the world’s attention with the mass kidnapping of nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls from Chibok. While many of the schoolgirls have since been freed, countless other people abducted over the decade remain lost to their loved ones.

Amnesty International said it interviewed women in northern Cameroon who also had been abducted by Boko Haram and had later escaped. They recounted having been forced to convert to Islam under threat of death.

“They were told that their villages could live in peace if all the inhabitants did the same and that they would be able to go home to collect their children,” Amnesty said, citing two women who had managed to get away in July.

Biya, who has been in power since 1982, has had to deal not only with Islamic extremist violence in Cameroon’s north but also with attacks by separatists in the country’s English-speaking regions.

Nearly 3,000 people have died since 2017 in fighting in those regions where English-speaking separatists say they have been been marginalized by the federal government. The violence has forced more than 500,000 people from their homes.

AP

The plane that transported Vice President Dabney Yerima touched down at the Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg yesterday at 9:45 am and he was welcomed by the newly elected leadership of the Ambazonian community in South Africa.

Upon arrival, the exiled leader held a 7 hour meet the people tour of Johannesburg and Ekuhuleni munipalities in Gutung Province where he met with a cream of Ambazonians professionals and entrepreneurs.

Comrade Yerima was full of praise for the Southern Cameroons community in South Africa for being the vanguard of the revolution. He pointed out that his mission to South Africa was not only to say thank you but to also to remind them of their responsibilities to own and redirect the revolution.

Dabney Yerima appealed to all Southern Cameroonians in South Africa to buy their AmbaFreedomBonds and also fund the revolution through other means. He emphasized that the new dawn Interim Government will not fail because of its new institutional principles of transparency, accountability and responsibility.

Vice President Dabney Yerima’s convoy that travelled to the Ekuhuleni municipality was led by the South African Police Service (SAP) and the South African Metropolitan Police Service (Traffic police). In the Ekuhuleni Municipality,  Yerima held very intensive and productive discussions with senior Ambazonian elites in Isando, Germiston,  Primrose, and Elsburg.

The Vice President was also at the Johannesburg Municipality and made stops at Braamfontien,  Turffontein , Hilbrow, Yeovile, and.Bramley.  He concluded the first part of his 10th of Dec 2019 working session by visiting the famous Black and White Ambazonia Cell in Johannesburg.

The climax of the South Africa trip came during a surprise visit to Chief Taka the 4th of Muea-Piyin’s palace.  He was traditionally decorated by Chief Taka the 4th with the title ‘Achefor ‘ (Meaning the closest friend of the Chief).

Dabney Yerima will be travelling today to Mafikeng in the North West province where he will be joined by the renowned Professor Carlson Anyangwe and the Secretary for Communications Milton Taka to speak to top ANC leaders and Ambazonians in a seminar on Decolonization and Justice for Sustainable Peace and Development in Africa at the Municipal Chamber.

By Ayuk Patrick in South Africa

Concrete action is needed to make the humanitarian response to the crisis in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon more inclusive of people with disabilities, Human Rights Watch said today on International Human Rights Day. In September 2019, the United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs made a commitment to make the humanitarian response more inclusive, but the commitment needs to be translated into action on the ground.

Violence has intensified since July 2019 in the North-West and South-West regions, escalating in August after a Yaoundé military court handed down life sentences to 10 leaders of the separatist Ambazonia Interim Government following a flawed trial. Human Rights Watch research and media reports indicate that at least 130 civilians have been killed in over 100 incidents since July, and thousands have been forced to flee. Given the ongoing violence and the difficulty of collecting information from remote areas, the number of civilian deaths – including of people with disabilities – is most likely higher.

“As the crisis in the Anglophone regions shows no sign of slowing, people with disabilities are struggling to find safety and face heightened risks of attacks, displacement, and abandonment,” said Shantha Rau Barriga, disability rights director at Human Rights Watch. “Cameroonian authorities and armed separatists should stop their abuses against civilians, while international organizations should fulfil their promises to those most affected by the crisis, including people with disabilities.”

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported in November that the humanitarian situation deteriorated, with over 656,000 internally displaced people in the Anglophone regions. Humanitarian access to people in need is difficult, with aid workers facing greater risks. In October alone, armed separatists kidnapped 10 aid workers, all of whom have been released. Another aid worker was killed in November.

On September 10, President Paul Biya called for a “national dialogue” to address the Anglophone crisis. The dialogue ended on October 4 with the release of hundreds of people arrested in connection with the unrest in the regions, as well as political opponents. However, violence has continued unabated.

Between September and November, Human Rights Watch interviewed 24 people with disabilities living in the Anglophone regions, their family members, as well as representatives of UN agencies and of national and international humanitarian organizations. Human Rights Watch research indicates that people with disabilities are more likely to be exposed to danger from attacks, including because of barriers to escaping and staying out of harm’s way, and because of the degradation of whatever support systems existed before the crisis.

Since the crisis in the Anglophone regions started three years ago, Human Rights Watch has documented the experiences of people with disabilities who were unable to flee to safety, or were killed, assaulted, and tortured by soldiers or armed separatists. New cases have been documented since August 2019.

In one case, on September 19, Cameroonian security forces searching for armed separatists attacked a locality called “Number One Water” near the town of Muyenge, South-West region, killing four civilian men, including a man with an intellectual disability. A witness to the attack said people fled when the military arrived and started shooting: “I hid in the nearby bush and I went back when things calmed down, the same day. I found four bodies on the ground and helped bury them. Among those killed, there was a man called ‘Jasper,’ who had an intellectual disability, which is the reason why he stayed behind. The military killed him in front of his hut. His body was partly burned, because the military also set his hut on fire.”

Dozens of cheering Southern Cameroons supporters have welcomed Ambazonia’s Vice President Dabney Yerima on his arrival in South Africa after announcing his now famous Amba Bonds Project in defense of the Ambazonia homeland.

Yerima flashed a victory sign as he met the jubilant supporters inside the Johannesburg airport.

He is scheduled to meet Southern Cameroons leaders in South Africa to discuss the formation of an Ambazonia army.

Dabney Yerima has promised a revival of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government and presently has a strong mandate to govern at a time of profound changes in the Ambazonia revolution and quest for an independent state.

Comrade Yerima also said that he wants to strengthen South Africa’s strategic partnership with the United States and Europe.

But critics worry the corruption scandal that rocked the Interim Government under the disgraced Ikome Sako could delay participation in the Amba Bonds Project.

 By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Ambazonia Vice President Dabney Yerima is set to make his first visit to South Africa since becoming leader of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government — making him the second serving Ambazonia prominent figure after President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe to land on South Africa shores.

Speaking exclusively to Cameroon Concord News, Southern Cameroons Communications Secretary, Milton Taka said Ambazonians in South Africa have reserved a warm reception for the vice president.

And it could prove a lucky charm for Vice President Dabney Yerima and his Amba Bonds Project, as President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe who visited the Republic of South Africa immediately after he was elected Interim President managed to get massive financial support for actions in Ground Zero.

Comrade Dabney Yerima will be welcome with open arms by the Southern Cameroons public when he arrives less than 30 minutes from now and he will be the first acting Vice President to visit South Africa, with his tour including visits to Johannesburg, Pretoria, Rustenburg and Cape Town.

By Soter Agbaw-Ebai