Monthly Archives: January 2026

23, January 2026

Southern Cameroons Crisis: UN situation report ⁰

Between January and December 2025, at least 269 access constraints were documented in the North-West and South-West (NWSW) regions, with two humanitarian workers injured during this period.

Humanitarian activities are not possible on Mondays, which are declared “ghost town” days, and during lockdowns imposed by non-State armed groups (NSAGs). NSAGs enforced several lockdowns across the NWSW regions, including one to disrupt National Day celebrations on 20 May, another to obstruct the start of the school year in September, and a third aimed at disrupting the October elections. Additionally, in July, localized lockdowns in Ngo-Ketunjia, Donga-Mantung, and Bui fur ther restricted humanitarian access to these divisions.

Particularly in the SW, humanitarian partners faced bureaucratic impediments, resulting in operational delays and some denials to implement humanitarian activities in cer tain areas. The most affected divisions remained Lebialem and Ndian.

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) continued to be used by NSAGs, especially in the North-West (in particular in Bui and Momo), primarily to attack State security forces. Although humanitarian workers were not a direct target, the use of IEDs in highly populated areas and on main roads posed a risk for all civilians. At least 131 IED-related incidents were recorded, 97 in the NW and 34 in the SW.

Regarding attacks against education, 62 incidents were recorded in the NW and 19 in the SW. As for healthcare, 19 incidents were documented in the NW and one in the SW. Education-related incidents in the North-West remained consistently high throughout the year compared to the South-West, peaking sharply in the fourth quarter. In contrast, the South-West experienced fewer incidents overall, with occurrences more evenly distributed across all quarters.

A major challenge impacting the NWSW regions was persistent underfunding. This financial gap severely restricted the scale of humanitarian operations, hindering efforts to pre-position critical supplies, maintain sufficient staffing, and invest in the logistical and security measures required to overcome access constraints.

Culled from reliefweb

23, January 2026

Iran chief commander says ‘hands on trigger’ against any US and Israel miscalculation ⁰

The chief commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has warned enemies against any miscalculation, stressing that his forces have “their hands on the trigger” to implement the orders of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

“We warn the criminal, evil, and anti-human enemies, particularly the United States and the fake and racist Zionist regime, to learn from historical experience and what they sustained in the 12-day imposed war [in June] to avoid any miscalculation,” said Major General Mohammad Pakpour in a message on Thursday.

If they commit any miscalculation, they will face a “more painful and regret-inducing” fate, he added.

He emphasized that the IRGC forces have more firmly than ever beefed up the nation’s defensive power and the country’s security against the American-Zionist animosity and malicious acts.

In late December, Iran saw sporadic economic protests that were quickly hijacked by rioters incited by US and Israeli leaders and aided by their spy operatives on the ground.

US President Donald Trump openly and publicly encouraged violence by calling on armed rioters to take over state institutions and threatening military action against Iran if they were confronted.

In an opinion piece published by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Trump’s threats against Iran served as a direct incentive for terrorist cells to pursue a strategy of “maximum bloodshed” to drag the US into another war on behalf of Israel.

Source: Presstv

23, January 2026

Arrest of Issa Tchiroma’s photographer: shameful, disgusting and disgraceful ⁰

We of the Concord Group are expressing grave concern over the reported arrest and detention of the personal photographer of President-elect Issa Tchiroma Bakary. We understand Alpha was arrested in Garoua and immediately transferred to SED in Yaoundé. His arrest raises serious questions about respect for fundamental rights, press freedom, and the protection of individuals engaged in journalistic and documentary work.

For those who do not know, photographers and media professionals play a crucial role in documenting public life, ensuring transparency, and informing citizens. Their work—especially when linked to public figures—falls squarely within the scope of freedom of expression and the right to information, both of which are protected under national constitutions and international human rights instruments.

The arrest of Tchiroma’s photographer is connected to the lawful exercise of professional duties. Alpha’s arrest is a continuation of a vicious policy designed by the ruling CPDM crime syndicate to intimidate media workers and restrict the public’s access to information.

Arbitrary arrest and detention in the so called advanced democracy practiced in Yaoundé violates core principles of the rule of law. Any deprivation of liberty must be lawful, necessary, proportionate, and accompanied by due process guarantees, including access to legal counsel and prompt information about the reasons for arrest.

Minister Paul Atanga Nji’s targeting of a photographer for his professional association or for content produced in the public interest undermines freedom of the press and constitute an abuse of his authority as Minister of Territorial Administration. Paul Atanga Nji’s action also contributes to a climate of fear that discourages journalists from carrying out their work freely and independently.

The arrest of Mr. Alpha has reportedly sent a chilling signal to media professionals, photographers, and journalists who documented Issa Tchiroma’s presidential election campaign and his political life. When those behind the cameras in Cameroon are treated with contempt, society as a whole suffers from reduced transparency, weakened accountability, and diminished democratic space.

Cameroon Concord News Group is calling for an immediate clarification of the legal basis for the arrest and the current status of the photographer.

We of the Concord Group are also demanding unconditional release of the photographer since no credible, lawful charges exist.

We also call on whosoever is going by that title Minister of Territorial Administration to show full respect for due process and the rights of the detained individual and to prevent future abuses against journalists and photographers.

The arrest of Issa Tchiroma’s photographer, as reported, is deeply concerning and incompatible with democratic norms and human rights standards. Authorities must act swiftly to remedy this situation, uphold the rule of law, and ensure that no individual is punished for documenting public life. Protecting media professionals is not optional—it is essential to transparency, accountability, and justice.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman/Editor-In-Chief

22, January 2026

Biya regime vows support, security boost for Mbororos after Gidado attack ⁰

Grief remains acute in Gidado, a village in the Ndu municipality in Cameroon’s conflict-hit North-West region, following an attack overnight on January 14 that officially left 14 people dead, including women and children. Since the assault, the Mbororo community says it has been living in fear, amid kidnappings and other abuses.

On January 19, a delegation representing the community went to the Prime Minister’s Office at the Immeuble Étoile in Yaounde to raise its concerns with the government. The lamido of Didando, a traditional leader, described persistent insecurity. “Several members of the Mbororo community have since been kidnapped and released for ransom, or simply killed,” he said, adding that they were also “victims of all kinds of looting.”

In response, Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute condemned what he described as a “barbaric act” and announced full state support for the victims. The government also pledged to assist “all Mbororo families in distress” and to reinforce security in the region, according to statements reported after the meeting.

For the delegation, the exchange was presented as an important signal after years of violence. “We are republicans and we support the institutions. That is why we came here to bring this situation to the attention of the government,” representatives said before leaving the Prime Minister’s Office.

Mboscuda calls for probe into repeated attacks

The meeting follows earlier alerts from the Mbororo Social and Cultural Development Association (Mboscuda). The day after the attack, the organization issued a statement condemning what it described as “targeted, repeated” violence, including kidnappings for ransom and killings affecting its members.

Mboscuda says it has compiled statistics pointing to hundreds of victims and significant material losses. Its secretary general, Oumarou Sanda, has called on the government “to open an investigation” to identify those responsible and bring them before the courts.

Since late 2016, Cameroon’s English-speaking North-West and South-West regions have been affected by armed violence between government forces and separatist groups. In this context, long-standing land tensions between Mbororo Fulani herders and farmers from other ethnic groups have also contributed to insecurity.

Amnesty International France has noted that “Mbororo Fulani are perceived as supporting the authorities and, as such, are particularly targeted by armed separatists.” The Mbororo community is now awaiting concrete action from the state to restore security, prevent further attacks, and allow a return to more stable daily life.

Source: Business in Cameroon

22, January 2026

‘Frontier Market’ Economies Haven’t Lived Up to Potential Since 2010 ⁰

“Frontier market” economies—a cluster of mostly middle-income economies regarded as the proving ground for the next generation of economic superstars—have largely failed to live up to their potential in recent decades, a new World Bank study has found. On average, investment growth per person in the 2020s so far has been less than half the rate in the 2010s. Yet the experience of the top performers among frontier markets reveals lessons for the 56 economies currently in the cluster.

For global investors looking for opportunities beyond high-income economies, frontier markets constitute the middle of the range: they are generally less tightly integrated into global financial markets than emerging markets but more so than other developing economies that belong to neither the “emerging” nor the “frontier” classes. The creation of these two asset classes in the 1980s and 1990s—an initiative that was greatly aided by the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation—helped channel significant private investment flows into developing countries.

“Excluding a handful of economies that have become investment grade over the past 25 years, frontier markets may well be the biggest disappointment in economic development,” said Indermit Gill, the World Bank Group’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics. “People in frontier markets are, on average, better educated and live longer than those in other developing economies. The quality of their policies and institutions is better. Some of them are rich in natural resources. But they haven’t converted these advantages into advancement—and they remain the developing world’s lowest-hanging fruit.

Frontier markets today are home to 1.8 billion people—a fifth of the world population—and they are expected to add nearly 800 million more over the next 25 years, more than the rest of the world combined. More than a third of frontier markets are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Many frontier markets are rich in minerals that will be needed for new technologies concerning renewable energy, telecommunications, and consumer electronics. They often boast stronger institutions than other developing economies. In addition, they hold a special appeal for investors: over the past 25 years, stocks in frontier markets have moved largely independently of global financial conditions, which have explained only one in eight of the ups and downs in frontier-market stocks, far less than in advanced economies or emerging markets.

“These economies will play an important role in addressing the jobs challenge facing developing economies—they will account for nearly a fifth of the 1.2 billion young people in developing countries who will reach working age in the next decade,” said M. Ayhan Kose, the World Bank Group’s Deputy Chief Economist and Director of the Prospects Group. “The top-performing frontier markets have followed different paths. But they’ve converged on some common strategies—growth-friendly policies, investment-supporting infrastructure, better fiscal management, and an institutional environment that attracts private investment. The payoffs have been large: per capita income in the top quarter nearly quadrupled over the past 25 years.”

The typical frontier-market economy, however, has made little progress in attracting investment since 2000. Over the past 25 years, the growth rate of investment per person in these economies has ratcheted down, dropping to just 2% in the 2020s, less than half the rate in the previous two decades. Frontier-market economies today account for just 3.1% of global capital inflows, and less than 5% of global economic output.

Measured by laws on the books, frontier markets have made substantial progress in opening up their financial markets the past 25 years: they are now about half as open as advanced economies, up from about one-fifth as open in 2000. Actual financial-market development, however, has been sluggish. Domestic-currency markets, for example, remain relatively underdeveloped and domestic banks and financial institutions tend to lend less to private households and businesses than they do in emerging markets.

Greater fiscal discipline will be key to frontier markets delivering on their potential in the years ahead. Government spending as a share of GDP has been rising, but revenues have remained flat. The result has been a surge in debt burdens—and debt defaults. Today the typical frontier market spends more on net interest payments on its debt—about 2.5% of GDP—than is the case among emerging markets or other developing economies. Nearly 40% of frontier markets defaulted at least once between 2000 and 2024. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, frontier markets have recorded more defaults than all other countries combined.

Even so, some frontier markets have done better at navigating such pitfalls. Viet Nam, one of the world’s poorest countries at the turn of the century, now ranks among the 10 fastest-growing economies of the past 25 years. Rwanda emerged from civil war in the 1990s to become one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest economic success stories, relying heavily on tourism and other services. In addition, four frontier markets—Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Panama, and Romania—have attained high-income status since 2012. To make the most of their potential, these economies will need to do much more than simply open up their markets. They will need to develop them and create the institutional safeguards needed to manage them.

21, January 2026

US: Trump’s plane returns to air base after ‘minor’ electrical issue ⁰

US President Donald Trump’s plane was forced to return to an air base late Tuesday due to a “minor electrical issue” shortly after departing for Switzerland, the White House said.

US President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews on January 20, 2026 © Mandel NGAN / AFP

Air Force One returned to Joint Base Andrews out of an abundance of caution, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. It landed shortly after 11:00 pm (0400 GMT).

Journalists traveling with Trump reported that lights in the cabin went out briefly after takeoff.

Trump and his entourage will switch to another plane and continue the trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the US president was expected to face off with European leaders over his bid to seize Greenland.

With its classic blue and white livery, Air Force One is arguably the world’s most iconic plane and an instantly recognizable symbol of the US presidency.

Trump has long been unhappy with the current Air Force One jets — two highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft that entered service in 1990 under president George H.W. Bush.

Last year, Trump said his administration was “looking at alternatives” to Boeing following delays in the delivery of two new 747-8 aircraft.

In May, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth accepted a Boeing 747 that the Gulf emirate of Qatar offered to Trump for use as Air Force One.

The jet — worth hundreds of millions of dollars — has raised huge constitutional and ethical questions, as well as security concerns about using an aircraft donated by a foreign power for use as the ultra-sensitive presidential plane.

Source: AFP

20, January 2026

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: Supreme Court nears long-awaited verdict ⁰

The fate of the ten detained Ambazonian leaders, widely known as the NERA 10, will be decided on March 19, 2026, after Cameroon’s Supreme Court on January 15 concluded hearings in their long-running appeal case and adjourned proceedings for the delivery of judgment.

The hearing lasted nearly three hours, as defence lawyers urged the country’s highest court to grant liberty to the appellants, led by Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe. While the court did not issue a substantive ruling at the close of arguments, defence counsel cautiously welcomed what they described as a modest indication of judicial openness.

The legal team representing the appellants was led by veteran lawyer Barrister Eta Besong Jr., with prominent advocate Akere Muna among the counsel, alongside six other attorneys. Their submissions focused on challenging the legality of the proceedings that led to the life sentences handed down by a military tribunal in 2019, as well as the broader constitutional and human rights implications of the case.

At the end of the session, the presiding judge adjourned the matter to March 19, 2026, when the Supreme Court is expected to deliver its judgment.

The NERA 10 are central figures in the separatist movement that emerged in the North West and South West regions. They were arrested in Abuja, Nigeria, in January 2018 and subsequently extradited to Cameroon under circumstances that drew criticism from rights groups and international observers. Their extradition and trial have remained at the heart of persistent debates over due process and judicial independence.

In 2019, a military tribunal sentenced the group to life imprisonment on charges including terrorism, secession and hostility against the state. Since then, their lawyers have consistently argued that the military court lacked jurisdiction to try civilians and that the proceedings violated both Cameroonian law and international legal standards. These arguments form the basis of the appeal now before the Supreme Court.

The latest hearing follows an earlier adjournment on December 18, 2025, when the Supreme Court deferred the case to January 2026, further extending an already protracted legal process. At the time, defence lawyers warned against repeated delays, insisting that “justice deferred must not become justice denied.”

Source: panafricanvisions

20, January 2026

Former President Damiba extradited to Burkina Faso ⁰

Togo has arrested and extradited Burkina Faso’s former leader to his home country, after authorities in Ouagadougou accused him of plotting to kill his successor.

Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba – who came to power in a coup in 2022 before himself being overthrown by Ibrahim Traoré eight months later – is accused by the current regime of masterminding an assassination attempt against Traoré.

According to the Togolese justice ministry, Damiba was handed over to the Burkinabè authorities on Saturday.

It says as part of the deal, Burkina Faso promised to ensure “physical integrity, dignity and fair‑trial rights of Mr Paul‑Henri Sandaogo Damiba, and the absence of the death penalty”.

Among the charges levelled at Damiba by Burkina Faso’s military government are “criminal embezzlement of public funds, illicit enrichment, corruption, aggravated receiving of stolen goods and money laundering”, said Togo’s justice ministry in a statement.

No comments from Damiba on the charges have been reported and neither have the BBC’s calls to him been picked up.

Most serious are the murder plot allegations.

Earlier this month, Burkina Faso’s Security Minister Mahamadou Sana announced on state television that security forces had foiled a planned series of targeted assassinations aimed at destabilising the state, including what he called the “neutralisation” of Traoré.

Officials in Ouagadougou have repeatedly accused Damiba of orchestrating plots from exile. In late 2024, he was again named publicly as the head of what authorities described as the “military wing” of a broader conspiracy.

Damiba first seized power in January 2022, toppling the elected government of Roch Marc Christian Kaboré amid frustration over the state’s failure to curb Islamist violence.

But after just eight months, he was himself overthrown by Traoré, then a 34‑year‑old artillery officer who accused him of failing to deliver security improvements.

Since then, the Traoré-led junta has tightened its grip on the country, expelling French forces, adopting an assertive nationalist stance and recently reinstating the death penalty, including for crimes of high treason.

Despite promises to restore order, Burkina Faso remains mired in one of the world’s most severe security crises, with militant jihadist attacks continuing across large parts of the country.

The return of Damiba to Burkina Faso, under arrest and possibly facing a long list of criminal charges, is expected to escalate tensions within the military and political establishment.

Political observers suggest that repeated accusations, foiled plots and widening divisions within the armed forces will likely lead to questions about the stability of a government still confronting both a brutal insurgency and internal rivalries.

Source: BBC

20, January 2026

Paul Biya: the clock is ticking—not on his power, but on his place in history ⁰

For more than four decades, President Paul Biya has stood at the center of Cameroon’s political universe, defying time, pressure, and political gravity. Few African leaders have ruled as long, survived as many internal and external shocks, or maintained such tight control over the levers of power. Today, however, as Biya embarks on another seven-year mandate in his 90s, the central question confronting Cameroon is no longer whether he can govern—but how history will ultimately judge him.

The President has reaffirmed his vision. But time, not power, has become the decisive variable.

A Familiar Vision in an Unfamiliar Moment

In his New Year address and post-election speeches, President Biya framed his renewed mandate as a solemn moral obligation. Recalling the oath taken at his inauguration, he described his mission to build a “united, stable and prosperous Cameroon” as sacred, personal, and enduring. He emphasized continuity, loyalty, and resilience—values that have defined his long reign.

The speech catalogued achievements and aspirations: economic reforms supported by international partners, investments in infrastructure, energy expansion through the Nachtigal hydroelectric dam, solar power projects in the North, improved electricity transmission, road rehabilitation programs, expanded access to drinking water, and renewed focus on education, health, industrialization, digital development, and agro-food processing.

He spoke optimistically of macroeconomic stability despite global turbulence, highlighted increased public investment, and announced the takeover of electricity distributor ENEO as a decisive move toward restoring national energy sovereignty. Youth employment featured prominently, with 50 billion CFA francs allocated in the 2026 budget to finance youth-led projects.

Above all, President Biya returned insistently to one theme: unity. In a polarized political climate, he warned against hate speech, identity politics, indiscipline, and attacks on state authority. Cameroon’s diversity, he said, is not a weakness but its greatest strength.

The vision was coherent. The tone was confident. Yet the moment in which it was delivered is unlike any Biya has faced before.

A Mandate Secured, Authority Questioned

The October presidential election, though officially won by Biya, marked a political rupture. For the first time in his career, his victory margin barely crossed the 50 percent threshold. Gone were the overwhelming landslides that once symbolized invincibility.

More unsettling was the challenge from Issa Tchiroma Bakary—a longtime regime insider who defected from government barely months before the vote and emerged as Biya’s main challenger. Tchiroma’s outright rejection of the results sent shockwaves through the political establishment, revealing fractures within the ruling elite itself.

The election result carried a message that could not be ignored: President Biya remains in power, but the political contract between ruler and ruled is under visible strain.

For many Cameroonians, Biya’s new term inspires little optimism

Renewal Promised, Continuity Entrenched

Nowhere is the tension between promise and reality more evident than in the composition of Cameroon’s ruling class.

President Biya, now in his 90s, presides over a state architecture dominated by leaders of similar age. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the National Assembly—second and third in the constitutional order—are themselves drawn from the same generational cohort. Their absence from the recent traditional ceremony of presenting New Year wishes to the Head of State was not merely logistical; it was symbolic.

To many Cameroonians, it reinforced the image of an aging political elite increasingly disconnected from a country whose median age is under 20.

While Biya speaks of merit, balance between youth and experience, and renewal, key institutions remain anchored in permanence. Ministers have occupied the same portfolios for decades. Some positions remain vacant even after the death of officeholders. Others are held by officials widely perceived as ineffective, invisible, or more concerned with self-preservation than public service.

In this context, the promised government reshuffle—announced in Biya’s New Year speech—has taken on outsized importance. For many, it is no longer a routine administrative act but a defining test of seriousness.

Warning Signs from Within the System

The erosion of authority is not coming solely from the opposition. Increasingly, it is visible within the ruling CPDM itself.

Regional council elections that followed the presidential poll offered an opportunity for internal renewal. Instead, party leadership appeared more focused on preserving the status quo. Yet in a striking act of defiance, CPDM grassroots members in Biya’s own South Region rejected the party’s official candidate and voted for an alternative figure they considered more competent and visionary.

It was a rare public rebellion from within the president’s traditional stronghold—and a second wake-up call after the presidential vote.

Football and the Fracturing of National Identity

Perhaps the most powerful illustration of Cameroon’s fragmentation lies outside formal politics—in football.

For decades, football was Cameroon’s great unifier. The Indomitable Lions transcended ethnicity, region, language, and party affiliation. Victories were national catharses; defeats collective grief.

Today, that consensus has fractured.

When Cameroon plays, parts of the country openly root for failure. For some, the reason is partisan—hostility toward the regime. For others, it is personal and political—support or opposition to FECAFOOT President Samuel Eto’o or the Minister of Sports in their bitter and highly publicized feud.

Football, once the last neutral ground, has become another proxy battlefield in a divided nation. That a segment of citizens would prefer national defeat to symbolic victory speaks volumes about the depth of alienation.

The irony is painful: a sport that once federated the nation now reflects its fractures.

Issa Tchiroma Bakary, National President of the FSNC still disputes the results of the October 12 presidential election that gave Biya victory

Institutional Paralysis and Governance Fatigue

The Eto’o–Sports Ministry saga exposed more than sporting politics—it revealed institutional paralysis. As ministries clashed publicly, as authority was contested rather than coordinated, the absence of decisive arbitration from the top reinforced a growing perception that the system no longer self-corrects.

This dysfunction is echoed across governance. Presidential directives are routinely ignored. Accountability is selective. Impunity is normalized. Cameroonians increasingly hold President Biya responsible—not merely as Head of State, but as the designer and guardian of the system itself.

In his speech, Biya acknowledged that despite “appreciable progress,” living conditions have not improved enough. It was a rare admission, and perhaps an unintended indictment of the machinery beneath him.

Unity as Rhetoric and as Test

The closing passages of President Biya’s address were deeply personal. He reaffirmed his determination to remain worthy of the people’s trust, expressed confidence in Cameroon’s future, and insisted that “the best is yet to come.”

Yet unity, invoked so often, now demands more than words.

It demands reconciliation—through political gestures that heal long-standing wounds. It demands a sincere and courageous approach to the Anglophone crisis, where years of militarization have shown their limits. It demands trust-building, justice, and dialogue.

It demands institutional renewal, generational transition, and credible elections that command belief rather than compliance.

Legacy No Longer Deferred

President Paul Biya already holds what many leaders crave: longevity, authority, and historical stature. What he no longer has is the luxury of delay.

His final mandate has transformed legacy from a future abstraction into a present reckoning. The question is no longer how long he ruled, but whether he used this final chapter to repair institutions, renew leadership, and reunite a nation drifting apart.

History will not judge him by speeches alone.

It will judge him by whether unity was restored beyond rhetoric—whether in parliament, in government, in elections, and even on the football pitch.

The clock is ticking—not on his power, but on his place in history.

Culled from panafricanvisions

20, January 2026

Ngarbuh Massacre: Yaoundé Military Court convicts soldiers ⁰

The Yaoundé Military Court in Cameroon’s political capital has delivered a landmark judgment in the long-running trial over the 2020 Ngarbuh massacre, finding three members of the Cameroonian armed forces and one local Fulani militiaman guilty of murder, arson and destruction of property.

The verdict delivered on January 15, 2026, relates to the killing of 23 civilians, including 15 children and two pregnant women, during a military operation in the village of Ngarbuh, in Ntumbaw, Ndu subdivision of the North West Region. While the court has established the guilt of the accused, sentencing has been deferred to a later date.

The ruling is being widely described as historic, marking one of the rare instances in which members of state security forces have been held criminally responsible for grave human rights abuses committed during the Anglophone Crisis. For years, military operations and the actions of allied militias in separatist-affected areas have largely gone unpunished, fueling accusations of impunity.

The Ngarbuh massacre occurred on February 14, 2020, at the height of the conflict between government forces and English-speaking separatist groups seeking an independent state known as Ambazonia. According to investigations by human rights organisations, including Human Rights Watch, government troops accompanied by local Fulani vigilantes entered the village and deliberately targeted civilians.

Witnesses reported that homes were burned, property looted, and residents beaten, with no evidence of a significant clash with armed separatists at the time of the attack. The killings shocked both national and international opinion, drawing condemnation from rights groups, foreign governments and the United Nations.

Initially, Cameroonian authorities denied responsibility, claiming the deaths resulted from an accidental explosion during a confrontation with separatist fighters. However, mounting pressure forced President Paul Biya to establish a commission of inquiry, which later acknowledged that “uncontrolled” soldiers and local auxiliaries were responsible for the killings and had attempted to destroy evidence by setting houses ablaze.

The trial opened in December 2020 before the Yaoundé Military Court but was repeatedly delayed, raising concerns about the authorities’ willingness to fully address abuses committed by security forces. Proceedings were marked by slow progress, procedural concerns and limited involvement of victims’ families, prompting criticism from civil society groups and human rights advocates.

Despite these challenges, Thursday’s convictions have been welcomed as an important though incomplete step toward accountability. Many observers note that only low-ranking soldiers and a single militiaman were convicted, while questions remain about the role of senior commanders and the chain of command behind the operation.

Human Rights Watch reacted cautiously to the verdict, describing it as a partial advance toward justice while stressing that accountability should extend to all those responsible, including those who planned or authorised the operation. The organisation’s Central Africa researcher, Ilaria Allegrozzi, has consistently argued that justice will remain unfinished unless higher-ranking officials implicated in the massacre are also investigated and prosecuted.

For families of the victims, the judgment represents long-awaited recognition of the suffering endured by innocent civilians in the North West and South West regions.

Source: panafricanvisions