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7, September 2018

Anglican diocese of Cameroon celebrates ten years ⁰

A CELEBRATION of ten years of the Anglican diocese of Cameroon was held in the open air at the largest city in Cameroon, Douala, on 26 August.

The day dawned bright and dry, and 1500 worshippers celebrated a eucharist, accompanied by choral music, and a sermon by the Bishop of Ohaji Egbema, in Nigeria, the Rt Revd Chidi Collins Oparaojiaku.

The eucharist was celebrated by the Bishop of Cameroon, the Rt Revd Dibo Thomas-Babyngton Elango. He also invested 15 Knights — lay members who have contributed spiritually and materially to the development of the Church — during the service.

The Bishop preached in the centre of the quadrangle of open-sided marquees erected to shade the congregation from the sun. He commended the faithfulness of the Anglican Church in Cameroon, and congratulated the diocese on its achievements over the past decade. He reminded listeners that all things were achieved only by the grace of God.

The congregation responded with loud Amens of approval, and joined enthusiastically when he began an unaccompanied rendition of “Great is thy faithfulness”.

Sustained by a packed lunch of chicken and rice, the congregation enjoyed musical contributions from the diocesan choir, which sang an anthem by Handel, and by visiting choirs, which sang traditional African spirituals and modern gospel. The Boys’ Brigade provided percussive interludes. The service was long, and at points chaotic, but always joyful.

The Church of England link diocese of Chichester was represented by Canon Mark Payne, the Rector of St Pancras, Chichester, and Canon of the Cathedral of St Michael and All Angels, Douala.

Anglicanism was brought to Cameroon in the mid-20th century by an expatriate community of West African business owners, who set up churches, including what is now the cathedral. Cameroon was initially a missionary area under the Church of the Province of West Africa (CPWA). It was only in 2008 that it achieved full status as a diocese in the CPWA, and Bishop Elango was ordained and consecrated to the office of Bishop: the first Cameroonian to hold the position.

The diocese has now expanded to 28 churches across nine parishes, served by 16 full-time clergy and eleven catechists. The diocese has an ambitious and largely self-funded building programme of churches, clergy accommodation, schools, and a health clinic. In a country without a welfare state, this contribution to education and health care has a significant impact on the life chances of young people in particular.

The tenth anniversary comes at a time of significant civil unrest in Cameroon, as anger and frustration in Anglophone regions about perceived marginalisation by the Francophone majority spills over into violence. The Anglican Church ministers to both English and French speaking communities.

Culled from Church Times

7, September 2018

Twenty-seven bodies found after French Cameroun army attack in Menchum ⁰

Twenty-seven bodies were found in the Menchum County after the French Cameroun army carried out an onslaught in the Ambazonian constituency precisely in the Yemngeh locality some few kilometers from Zhoa sources have confirmed to Cameroon Intelligence Report, adding to concern about abuse by the Francophone security forces in their fight against Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces.

Our correspondent in Wum, the chief town in the Menchum County reported that the 27 bodies were found in two mass graves. The grim discovery was made after the French Cameroun army said in a statement that it had killed several Southern Cameroon separatist fighters in the area during an operation it carried out on Tuesday night.

Correspondingly, a senior Christian figure in Weh hinted that the first grave had 17 bodies and the second held 10. The regime in Yaounde has always announced an inquiry but regularly denies these accusations of summary executions.

Many innocent Southern Cameroons civilians were reportedly injured during the French Cameroun government attack in the Menchum County and many including women and children have all escaped into the bushes. The army destroyed the bridge linking Weh to Wum during the attacks and several houses were burnt down.

By Rita Akana in Wum

7, September 2018

British Airways website suffers data breach; 380,000 payments affected ⁰

Financial data has been stolen from potentially hundreds of thousands of British Airways customers who made online bookings in recent weeks, extending a run of embarrassing technological mishaps suffered by the UK flag carrier.

The thefts occurred during a data breach that affected bookings made on the airline’s website between Aug. 21 and Sept. 5, parent International Airlines Group said on Thursday.

Around 380,000 card payments were “compromised”, it said. In May 2017, the carrier suffered a massive computer system failure caused by a power supply issue near London’s Heathrow, which stranded 75,000 customers at Europe’s busiest airport over
a holiday weekend.

Its chief executive said at the time it would take steps to ensure such an incident never happened again, but in July it was forced to cancel and delay flights out of the same airport due to problems with a supplier’s IT systems.

IAG said the data breach had been resolved and the website was working normally, and that no travel or passport details were stolen.

It was communicating with affected customers but advised any others who believed they might have been affected to contact their banks or credit card providers.

The airline had launched an investigation and notified police and other relevant authorities.

(Source: Reuters)

7, September 2018

Africa Oil Week 2018 announces partnership with SuperReturn Africa ⁰

Africa Oil Week (AOW) has announced their partnership with SuperReturn. This new partnership offers delegates attending SuperReturn Africa, the continent’s biggest investor conference, access to Africa Oil Week on Thursday 8 November 2018.

For operators across the continent, raising capital remains one of the biggest challenges; whether it is funding exploration and production, or financing key infrastructure projects that will secure asset monetization for the long term. Africa Oil Week, in partnership with SuperReturn Africa, will now be able to offer an enhanced environment for operators to meet prospective financial partners, as well as ministers, senior government officials, national and independent oil company executives to exchange ideas and network.

In celebration of this exciting partnership, Africa Oil Week will be welcoming SuperReturn delegates to attend AOW on Thursday 8 November. The day will kick off with a live panel debate on ‘Global Funding Strategies and M&A for the African Upstream’ broadcast on CNBC Africa. Speakers confirmed for this important panel include Samaila Zubairu, President & CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Solomon Asamoah, CEO of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund and Paul McDade, CEO of Tullow Oil.

Following the live broadcast, AOW will host two breakout finance sessions addressing some of the key issues raised in the CNBC panel in greater detail, these include: the role of global finance in the African upstream and how to drive transactions in African infrastructure.

Through this partnership, AOW looks forward to welcoming the continent’s most active energy investors who will gain unrivalled access to the opportunities spread across Africa’s upstream oil and gas markets.

“We are really excited to announce this partnership with SuperReturn Africa. This partnership will allow us to continue to provide a business and intelligence transaction platform and meeting place for Africa’s upstream oil and gas markets.“ – Paul Sinclair, Conference Director, Africa Oil Week.

Africa Oil Week will take place at the CTICC in Cape Town, South Africa on the 5 – 9 November 2018.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Oil Week.

7, September 2018

Kenya: Gigiri police told to produce Cameroonian ⁰

The High Court has ordered the Officer Commanding Station at Gigiri police to produce a Cameroonian national who is being detained despite being released on Sh50,000 bail.

Justice Chacha Mwita directed that Peter Doccta be produced before court next week on Wednesday if he will not have been released from police custody.

But the DCI says Doccta’s current detention in police custody is for the purposes of ensuring his safe removal from the country since he is in Kenya unlawfully as a prohibited immigrant.

In a sworn affidavit, police officer Paul Mutethia says Doccta has not been detained incommunicado and is allowed to have access to lawyers.

Doccta was declared to be a prohibited immigrant by late Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery last year. The declaration was done after Doctta was found to be engaged in several criminal activities, including obtaining money by false pretenses from unsuspecting Kenyans. He did so by falsely representing himself as Peter Doccta Longa having magical powers to make money.

“His continued criminal activities of defrauding Kenyans, his presence in Kenya became a threat to the public interest and that of national security. As a result, he was deported back to his Cameroon. The deportation was done within the ambit of the law,” Muteithia says.

But in July this year, Doccta sneaked back into the country and made a false report at Parklands police station to the effect that he had lost his Cameroonian passport.

His passport had been stamped “prohibited immigrant” by the Immigration Department. The DCI now says Doccta’s unauthorised re-entry to Kenya was a clear disregard and violation of the law and should not be protected from the same laws he has sought to violate.

Source: The Star

6, September 2018

Former France international Jean-Alain Boumsong joins Cameroon staff ⁰

Cameroon-born former France international Jean Alain Boumsong has been appointed as part of the Indomitable Lions coaching staff.

The 38-year-old was born in Douala but went on to play 27 times for France

He will now work with Dutch coach Clarence Seedorf and assistant Patrick Kluivert.

The former Newcastle United and Rangers played has been working with the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) since June.

He has been heading up a committee charged with reforming Cameroon’s national set up as well as establishing an efficient technical team for the national teams.

Boumsong was appointed alongside former Indomitable Lions attacker Joel Epalle, who will be serving as Seedorf’s third deputy.

Epalle, 40, won a gold medal with Cameroon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and won the Africa Cup of Nations two years later.

The duo will be linking up with another former Cameroon international Bill Tchato, who was named team manager.

The team is preparing for a 2019 Nations Cup game against Comoros on 8 September in Mitsamiouli.

Culled from the BBC

6, September 2018

French Cameroun army kills three as tension ruins schools’ resumption in Bamenda ⁰

The Francophone dominated army on Wednesday said it had killed three Southern Cameroonian citizens in Bamenda. The French Cameroun army spokesman revealed that the killings took place on the same day that the education minister visited the capital of the Northern Zone, with tensions spiking as children return to school.

Didier Badjeck opined that those killed were separatist fighters operating in the Mezam County. He further pointed out that the three Ambazonians were in a car planning to assassinate the Minister of Education. The exiled Southern Cameroons government says the education system marginalises Anglophone pupils and has decreed a boycott of schools in the areas they lay claim to.

Numerous shots were heard Tuesday around the hotel where Education Minister Youssouf Adidja Alim was staying during a visit to the city to coincide with the reopening of schools. AFP reported that a source close to Minister Alim said the occupants of the vehicle had been “spotted and repelled” before they could reach the minister.

The war in Southern Cameroons has left more than 2000 Ambazonians dead and displaced about 200,000 people since late 2016. Years of resentment at perceived discrimination at the hands of Cameroon’s majority French speakers have led to almost daily acts of violence and retribution, triggering an army crackdown.

On Monday seven pupils and a headmaster were kidnapped by armed men at a school in Bafut, near Bamenda. Two students and the school head were freed on Tuesday, according to information obtained by AFP.

The Ambazonian Interim Government has said on social media that they could not guarantee the security of children who returned to school in defiance of the boycott.

Reported with files and extracts from AFP

6, September 2018

France-Afrique: Macron knows Biya will be president after October 7 ⁰

Looking at this flyer attached to this report, one must wonder what French President Emmanuel Macron will do if by some strange happenstance, Biya is not the president of Cameroon after October 7. Must Biya’s picture be included in the flyer? Will Macron still chair this forum with Akere Muna or Joshua Osih as president? Probably, Macron knows Biya will be president because in Cameroon, you cannot organize elections and lose.

What an irony. Fear of the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government and its many-tentacled security apparatus is greater now in French Cameroun than it was during the Ahmadou Ahidjo days. Why should that be when the Yaoundé regime has told the international community that it has generously offered dialogue with the English speaking people of Southern Cameroons now known as the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. However, anyone who has a mastery of the activities of the 85 year-old Biya and the barons of his ruling CPDM crime syndicate from the inside is aware that the Yaoundé regime’s generosity and dialogue is to be feared above all things.

When peaceful calls for some political adjustments and reform by Anglophone lawyers and teachers were met by crushing violence from the French Cameroun government, the Francophone regime thought all was over. The bravery of the Southern Cameroons lawyers and teachers in breaching the French Cameroun gendarmerie fear barrier even to take part in such demonstrations is beyond admirable. Ever since French President Emmanuel Macron instructed Biya in Abidjan, Ivory Coast to use force, more than three thousand Southern Cameroonians have been killed by troops loyal to the regime in Yaoundé, thousands of Ambazonians have gone missing, hundreds have been detained in prison some never seen again and some 50,000 have fled to neighboring Nigeria. The UN says 161,000 Southern Cameroonians have been internally displaced. Hundreds of Southern Cameroonians have been killed recently over the decision to stage the October 7 presidential elections in the territory not even because they were demonstrating against the Biya Francophone regime but simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The French sponsored French Cameroun counterfeit presidential election will be held on October 7 in Biya regime-held areas in French Cameroun- mindful of the fact that Boko Haram Camerounaise now controls part of the Far North region and part of the East region too is in the hands of the Anti Selaka rebel group from the Central African Republic. French Cameroun political elites including Biya and his gang know very well what it means. It is not so much an election – everyone including French President Macron knows the result after all – it is more like a head count of CPDM supporters. To be accurate, Macron knows Biya will be president because in Cameroon, you cannot organize elections and lose. To vote for anything other than the French Cameroun Monarch is to sign your own death warrant and that of your family.

ELECAM, the body responsible for guaranteeing Biya’s continued stay in power is in shambles. It is evidently clear that millions of French Cameroonians are not eligible to vote. Our London bureau chief who contributed to this report opined that Biya’s opponents may only win abroad if at all the embassies will host the dubious electoral process.

There are signs that the Francophone army is slowly but surely disintegrating on tribal lines. A senior military official from the Beti extraction reportedly told Southern Cameroonians and Northerners serving with the French Cameroun army that “If you are not for us, you are against us.” French Cameroonians living in France, the US, Germany, Canada, Belgium, Italy, Spain may dismiss the October 7 presidential election as plain fiction and a mockery of democracy. But fear is going to force thousands of French Cameroun civil servants and those operating in Cameroon’s funny private sectors in Douala and Yaounde to vote for Biya whose is currently enjoying himself in a Swiss Hotel in Geneva. For 35 years, the Biya regime has taken revenge on those whom it considered have betrayed it. In this October 7 presidential elections, even those who have done nothing and never taken sides will be at risk – all it takes is one fake security report written by one pro Biya security official who takes a dislike to you. It has already happened to several of many neutral Southern Cameroonians.

As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, the French government will use the presidential elections to its advantage. The October 7 presidential election plays beautifully into the French narrative of supporting “whoever is elected by the Cameroonian people” and legitimizes their unwavering support for Biya. More than 2 million Southern Cameroons and including some 4 million Fulanis in the Far North have lost their livelihood under Biya.

By Soter Agbaw-Ebai with files from Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai

6, September 2018

War of words erupts over delayed school resumption in Southern Cameroons ⁰

Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the Biya Francophone regime’s Minister of Communication has condemned the latest self defense efforts carried out by the Ambazonian Restoration Forces on Ground Zero. Mr. Tchiroma who is a chartered member of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate noted that Southern Cameroons self defense forces have committed “imprescriptible” crimes since 1 September 2018, to discourage students and teachers from going about their business.

Cameroon Concord News understands the Yaounde regime ordered its troops to assassinate young Southern Cameroons boys and girls believed to be members of the Ambazonia Restoration Forces accusing them of wanting to disrupt the smooth running of the new school year 2018-2019 in some localities of the southwest and northwest, shaken since October 2016, by socio-political demands.

The Ambazonian Interim Government said in a statement that they were not in the position to guarantee the safety and security of pupils and students within Southern Cameroons territory. Fighting recently claimed the life of the rector of a public school in the Ngo-ketundja constituency.

On Monday, September 3, 2018, 6 students from the Presbyterian Girls Secondary School in the locality of Bafut in the Mezam County were reportedly kidnapped as well as the director of the said college by soldiers dressed in French Cameroun army uniforms. On Tuesday, September 4, 2018 around 2 pm, armed men stormed Melim High School in Kumbo, Bui County, vandalized the administrative buildings and chased away teachers and pupils present in the school.

The so-called Cameroon government spokesman revealed that an attack on St. Joseph College in Sasse, Fako County was repulsed by the French Cameroun defense forces. Our sources in the Northern Zone hinted that the bursar of Government Technical College Bui who was going to his place of duty was attacked and his effects carried away.

The Ambazonian Interim Government has protested to the United Nations and the African Union against these barbaric acts and serious violations of Southern Cameroonians rights by the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime in Yaounde.

By Sama Ernest

6, September 2018

Trump staff says US officials working against ‘amoral’ president ⁰

Many senior members of US President Donald Trump’s administration are so alarmed by his “erratic” and “amoral” behavior that they are actively working to undermine him and protect the country from his worst impulses, according to an anonymous “senior official” in the White House.

“President Trump is facing a test to his presidency unlike any faced by a modern American leader,” the official wrote in The New York Times Wednesday.

“The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations,” the official wrote in an op-ed article entitled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.”

“The root of the problem is the president’s amorality,” the official said.

In the piece, the official described “early whispers” among members of Trump’s cabinet to take steps to remove him as president, but added they decided against it to avoid a constitutional crisis.

The official wrote that the root of the problem was that Trump is amoral and not moored to any discernible principles that guide his decision-making.

Asked about the column during a White House event, Trump called it a “gutless editorial,” bashed the New York Times as “failing,” and ticked off economic achievements that he said were proof of his leadership.

The unsigned piece appeared to reinforce the claims made in a new book by journalist Bob Woodward, excerpts of which were made public Tuesday, that describes a virtual cabal of high-minded White House and cabinet officials scheming to prevent Trump from taking decisions damaging to the US economy and national security.

The Washington Post, which obtained an advance copy of the book by the veteran chronicler of modern presidents, reported Tuesday that Woodward describes Trump manically pressing his staff for actions that could lead to major conflict — leaving them little choice but to disregard his orders.

The White House has condemned Woodward’s book as “nothing more than fabricated stories,” and Trump called it “a work of fiction.”

But the Times op-ed suggests that dissent and resistance inside Trump’s White House are even deeper than Woodward described.