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20, April 2026

Biya regime prepares a CFA25 billion financing to restore Hilton Hotel ⁰

Cameroon’s state-owned hotel operator announced a major financing plan to overhaul one of its flagship assets in Yaoundé.

The Cameroon Hotels Corporation (CHC) has selected a consortium made up of Attijari Securities Central Africa (ASCA), AFG Capital, and Financia Capital to structure the fundraising for the renovation of the Hilton Yaoundé and its adjoining shopping center, according to an official statement.

The mandate, awarded after a restricted tender process, covers the arrangement of a financing operation whose total amount has not been formally disclosed. However, the financial terms offer a clear indication of its scale. The consortium’s fee has been set at 1% of the funds raised, including taxes, or CFA250 million, pointing to a target of about CFA25 billion. Sources close to the Ministry of Finance estimate the full renovation cost at around CFA30 billion.

According to the statement signed by CHC’s acting CEO, the ASCA–AFG Capital–Financia Capital bid ranked first in the process, with a technical score of 89.5 out of 100, a perfect financial score of 50 out of 50, and an overall score of 91.6.

The two competing consortia were eliminated during the selection process. EDC Investment Corporation–Forvis Mazars Cameroon failed to meet the minimum technical threshold of 80%, while Horus Investment Capital–CCA Bourse–EB Partners was disqualified due to a non-compliant bid bond.

CHC also noted that, during negotiations, the parties agreed to remove reimbursable expenses and other ancillary costs initially included in the financial proposal. The arrangers have been given a six-month mandate.

Beyond the procurement process, the operation carries strategic weight for the public company. The fundraising is intended to support a comprehensive modernization of the Hilton Yaoundé, a landmark property in Cameroon’s hospitality sector, which CHC aims to bring back to international five-star standards.

The move comes as competition intensifies in Yaoundé’s business travel, conference, and institutional events market. The renovation is meant to strengthen the hotel’s position against a growing private sector offering and rising expectations around service quality, infrastructure, and customer experience.

For CHC, the project is part of a broader effort to reshape the public hotel portfolio. Given the financial terms negotiated with the selected consortium, the group appears to be preparing one of the largest transactions seen in the segment in recent years in Cameroon.

Source: Business in Cameroon

19, April 2026

US: Trump’s approval rating at historic low amid concerns over economy, Iran war ⁰

A new poll has found that two-thirds of Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of inflation as well as the war with Iran, revealing emerging divisions within his Republican support base.

According to an NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey, Trump’s job approval rating has reached a new low, with only 37% of adults expressing approval of his presidency, while 63% disapprove—of which 50% disapprove strongly.

This marks the lowest approval rating recorded during his second term in the history of NBC News Decision Desk polling. Moreover, two-thirds of respondents voiced discontent with Trump’s approach to both inflation and the conflict with Iran.

The decline in Trump’s approval rating has been a consistent trend throughout his second term.

The latest findings show a deterioration in public perception of the president’s performance. Although Trump maintains substantial backing from his base, support among Republicans has waned compared to a prior poll conducted between late January and early February.

Currently, 83% of Republicans view him favorably, a decrease of 4 percentage points from earlier this year. Additionally, the proportion of Republicans who strongly approve of Trump’s job performance has fallen by 6 points, down from 58% to 52%.

Furthermore, a striking one-third of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction, while two-thirds feel it is on the wrong track—representing the most pessimistic perspective in Decision Desk polling since Trump assumed office again last year.

Source: Presstv

19, April 2026

Yaoundé launches “Trust for Peace” initiative to address rising social tensions ⁰

Yaoundé is set to launch a “House of Trust for Peace” initiative, aimed at addressing underlying social tensions in Cameroon through early intervention and mediation.

The project will be unveiled alongside the apostolic visit of Leon XIV, in a national context marked by persistent tensions, including the protracted crisis in the Anglophone regions, strains on social cohesion, and recurring mistrust between citizens, communities, and institutions.

At its core is a simple premise: open conflicts are often preceded by a gradual erosion of trust. The initiative seeks to intervene at this early stage, before tensions escalate into violence. It is led by Catharsis, in partnership with The Okwelians and the Catholic University of Central Africa (UCAC).

Inspired by the “Trust Tree” framework developed by Pierre Winicki, the project combines conflict prevention, early warning, and community-based mediation. It aims to address what its promoters describe as the often invisible roots of conflict—mistrust.

A network of local mediation hubs

The initiative goes beyond the creation of a single space in Yaoundé. It is designed to operate as a national label, to be deployed through a network of third places and social mediation hubs across the country.

The first phase will focus on identifying and certifying these spaces, which will serve as local platforms for dialogue and conflict prevention.

The long-term objective is to establish locally grounded mediation mechanisms capable of restoring dialogue in areas where tensions are already weakening relationships between communities and institutions.

Another key component is the training of 20 “trust for peace practitioners.” These individuals will be selected from regions exposed to tensions, including Buea, Douala, Maroua, and Garoua-Boulaï. They may include traditional leaders, religious figures, civil society actors, and administrative representatives.

Their role will be to identify early warning signs of tension, facilitate dialogue among local stakeholders, and intervene before disputes escalate into open conflict. The approach relies on proximity and local knowledge.

At the intersection of expertise and local engagement

The launch of the initiative coincides with broader calls for peace linked to the visit of Leon XIV. Its promoters see it as a way to translate these calls into concrete action through structured prevention and mediation tools.

The project brings together Catharsis, The Okwelians, and UCAC, combining expertise in trust-building, knowledge of local social dynamics, and academic support. Backed by an international foundation, it also aims to test a model that could be replicated in other contexts facing similar challenges.

Its effectiveness, however, will depend on its ability to deliver sustained results at the local level. Beyond its symbolic dimension, the initiative will be judged on whether it can foster practical mechanisms of dialogue capable of preventing the escalation of conflicts.

Source: Business in Cameroon

19, April 2026

Douala Port turns to PPP to rebuild its regional trade hub at Boscam ⁰

The Port of Douala has signed a public-private partnership (PPP) with Douala Terre-Port to rehabilitate and modernize the regional terminal at the Boscam quay.

The agreement, concluded on April 10, 2026, involves a total investment of CFA126.3 billion, fully financed by the private partner under a 30-year concession.

According to the port authority, the project includes the rehabilitation of the existing site, the development of a new 20-hectare platform, and, in an optional phase, the construction of a 700-meter quay. The initiative is also expected to generate around 500 direct and indirect jobs.

The Port of Douala estimates a projected return of 12.2% over the concession period, supporting the financial viability of the project.

Located on the left bank of the Wouri River, the Boscam quay was historically dedicated to sub-regional traffic. However, it gradually lost competitiveness from the 1990s due to silting and the accumulation of abandoned vessels. Cleanup operations in recent years have helped restore access to the site.

Through this project, the port aims to revive regional trade by promoting cabotage for goods and passengers between Douala and ports across the CEMAC region.

The initiative is also aligned with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), with the objective of facilitating intra-African trade.

In this context, the port plans to introduce simplified procedures for cargo and vessel clearance once the works are completed, in order to reduce operating costs and processing times.

The modernization of the Boscam quay is part of the port’s broader development master plan through 2050, which aims to strengthen Douala’s competitiveness in regional trade.

Source: Business in Cameroon

18, April 2026

Manyu: We must play as a team! ⁰

It is not unusual for people of Manyu descent to talk and openly demonstrate, albeit hypocritically, that they love each other. We have Manyu associations all over the world where we eat and dance as if without the other person, our lives will be incomplete.

Orally, our love of the land given to us by God is immeasurable but genuine love is never measured in words. It is measured by our actions and deeds, and an assessment of our actions as a people clearly falls short of our own expectations. We usually get deceived by our oral profession of love for Manyu. But if we scratch beyond the surface, we will always figure out that the foundation of our unity and love for Manyu is shaky. We have been paying lip service to the notion of Manyu unity for far too long and it is time for us to engineer a mindset shift.

The first crack in the dam always shows up when someone else is in the spotlight. The demon in our minds will always rear its ugly head when one of us is stealing the show. The taste of the pudding is always in the eating and, on many occasions, we have fallen short of our own expectation. Our ego is our worst enemy. It will, on many occasions, stand in the way of collective action. Nothing destroys unity like a bloated ego and nothing ruins lives like the love of the spotlight.

For decades, concerned Manyu citizens have been asking why our oral love cannot be leveraged to give Manyu development a shot in the arm.

Our formal education is supposed to inject a deep sense of humility and collective action in us, unfortunately it has only shattered our hope for unity. Many of us are usually unwilling to participate in flagship development projects because we do not like or agree with those who are leading the charge. We have the nasty habit of throwing away the child with the bath water because of our warp thinking.

We live in the permanent and morbid fear of project leaders being known. We feel diminished when others get known. We spend a lot of time and resources just to deny those among us who can lead our Division into a new and modern era. Gossiping and defamation have become our favorite sports. If we cannot get the prize, then none of us should have it.

Until we purge our minds of this negative mindset that has bred visceral hatred in us, we, as a people, will not make any giant strides forward. Progress, if not collective and generational, will not see the light of day, or if it does, it will not stand the test of time.

Over the last thirty years, real development has suffered in Manyu Division, though the Division’s human development index has grown exponentially. This unfortunate situation has been exacerbated over the last ten years due to the socio-political crisis which has killed many and left thousands in the throes of a devastating financial crisis.

Our towns and villages are today shadows of their former selves. At best, they look more like war zones waiting for a messiah with sound town planning knowledge and skills to step in to engineer a modern urbanization solution.

The Division’s economy has taken a nosedive, causing thousands of our young men and women to flee their ancestral land for greener pastures in other parts of the country or the world.

However, rather than focus on the issues which have strapped us to poverty and underdevelopment in Manyu Division, it will be smart for us to identify possible solutions which can help us detach our self from the claws of underdevelopment. Of course, our insidious disunity has constrained our ability to unlock Manyu’s sophisticated development potential but it is time for us to collectively face our demons in order to bring about transformative change in Manyu Division..

Manyu is blessed with many formally educated people in various domains. Our academic prowess and achievements have never been questioned. Our personal academic achievements speak to our determination to be at the zenith of the intellectual world. Many development experts are usually fast to point out that no community or country can make giant development strides forward without soundly educated minds.

Strangely, Manyu’s physical development achievements are at variance with the educational narrative that has become our hallmark.

Our villages are chaotic. Despite our high-sounding academic titles, development outcomes on the ground in our Division demonstrate that in spite of our academic titles, our minds are still bereft of that structural thinking that is born of deep philosophical thoughts.

The true proof of our educated minds is how we think and how we perceive collective action, leadership and the spotlight. We are chaotic naturally like most species on the face of the earth. We like to lead without having followed. True, reliable and experienced leaders are usually those who have learned the ropes and have humbly followed others who have shown the light for them to follow.

Strangely, most people of Manyu descent confuse academic achievement with leadership. We hold that if we hold high-sounding academic titles, then we are natural leaders. That is absolutely not true!

Leadership is about character. It is about selflessness. It is about playing by established rules to set the right examples so that others can follow without questioning the order of things. Leadership is the courage to serve and not the power to command. It is not about being in the spotlight. It is about playing a key role in joint efforts without seeking to crush others. It is about disagreeing without being disagreeable. It is not about hurting others just because we want to attain personal goals.

Our perception of leadership is warped. We think leaders know it all and when they make mistakes we become so disappointed. Leaders are humans. Until we see them as being fallible, we will not stop fighting them. We are supposed to support our leaders, especially our political leaders who are putting their best foot forward while playing our roles in whatever we are collectively doing. Every one of us has a role in Manyu’s development efforts and regardless of what we achieve, not all of us will be in the spotlight.

The objective should never be the spotlight but the development of our beloved Manyu. If we learn to shrink our ego, we will build solid teams which will deliver the development results we all are looking forward to.

Development, indeed transformative development, cannot only come from Yaoundé. As a community of educated men and women, we can change the negative development narrative which has characterized our Division for decades.

If we spend more time fighting our political and traditional leaders, we will be running all over the place like neckless chicken, thereby wasting valuable development time. Violent divisions only tear people apart. What is the benefit to the Division if we continue to openly challenge our ministers, Members of Parliament, Senators, etc, when we know that with our unwavering support, they can fight for us? We don’t appoint our ministers. The president does.

I hold that once somebody has been appointed as a minister, we should sink our differences and stand by him so that we can post some impressive development results.

We don’t have to love the person. We are not going to love every action of his. We must however understand the person is not infallible and, regardless of how united we are, we will never see everything in the same light.

We must learn to accept that when we disagree, we should avoid destroying our unity of purpose. By so doing, we will build a solid team which will help transform Manyu Division into the El-dorado we all have been looking forward to for decades. Everyone on a team must not be a star, even if everyone was a star; some stars would definitely outshine others. A word to the wise is sufficient!

Dr. Joachim Arrey

Executive Director, the Global Think Tank for Africa

18, April 2026

Douala: The Holy Father challenges wealth distribution amid rampant corruption ⁰

In a half-day visit to the economic capital of Cameroon Friday, Pope Leo offered the local population an extended reflection on the just and equitable distribution of resources in a country notorious for corruption.

In his April 17 homily at Japoma Stadium in Douala, the pope framed his message in the context of the day’s Gospel reading recounting Jesus’s multiplication of the loaves and fish upon discovering there was not enough food to feed the hungry crowd gathered to hear him preach.

Seeing the problem of inadequate resources, he said, “Jesus asks us today, just as he asked his disciples then: How will you solve this problem? Look at all these hungry people, weighed down by fatigue. What will you do?”

“This question is posed to each one of us,” Leo said, saying it applies to families trying to make ends meet, as well as the pastors of the church and to “those who bear social and political responsibility for the people and seek their well-being.”

Every person, strong or weak, rich or poor, has the same hunger, and nourishment is necessary in order to live, he said, asking, “where is God in the face of people’s hunger?”

Jesus offers his own answer to this question when he took the loaves and fish, gave thanks to God, and distributed them among the crowd.

“A serious problem was solved by blessing the little food that was present and sharing it with all who were hungry. The multiplication of the loaves and the fish happened while sharing: that is the miracle,” the pope said, saying, “There is bread for everyone if it is given to everyone.”

There is enough bread for everyone, Pope Leo said, “if it is taken, not with a hand that snatches away, but with a hand that gives.”

He highlighted Jesus’s act of gratitude to God before performing the miracle, saying this is what made the food abundant.

“It was not rationed out of necessity. It was not stolen in strife. It was not wasted by those who gorge themselves in the presence of those who have nothing to eat,” but rather, passing from Jesus, to his disciples, and then to the people, “the food increased for everyone; indeed, it was superabundant.”

When the crowds immediately declaring Jesus to be a prophet, Jesus, Leo said, “did not use those words for personal gain. He did not want to become king, because he had come to serve with love, not to dominate,” but to serve the good of all.

Pope Leo spoke on his third day in Cameroon, which is part of a broader April 13-23 tour of Africa that began in Algeria, and which will also take him to Angola and Equatorial Guinea.

He will celebrate Mass in the capital city of Yaoundé Saturday before flying to the Angolan capital of Luanda.

A consistent appeal

Pope Leo, whose very name and magisterium so far are seeped in issues of social justice, spent over two decades as a missionary in Peru, serving in the country’s most impoverished regions in the north during a massive financial and political crisis, leading to terrorism and widespread social instability.

Throughout the nearly complete first year of his pontificate, Leo has condemned income inequalities and the unjust distribution of wealth, saying in an exclusive interview for this journalist’s biography of his life, Pope Leo XIV: The Biography, set for publication in English later this month, that employers now make around 600 times more than their employees.

In that interview, he questioned extreme wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, noting that last summer Elon Musk was declared the first trillionaire in the world, saying, “What does that mean and what’s that about? And if that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we’re in big trouble. We have to talk about these things.”

Later, in a general audience Dec. 17, he condemned bloated, “out of control” investment portfolios of the extremely wealthy, while vast portions of the global population live in poverty.

“In the heart that true treasure is kept, not in earthly safes, not in large financial investments, which today more than ever before are out of control and unjustly concentrated at the bloody price of millions of human lives and the devastation of God’s creation,” he said on that occasion.

Continuing to drive this point, this time speaking from a continent whose lands are notoriously exploited by foreign powers and extractive industries for resources while their populations live in poverty, indicates this will be a consistent major talking point for the American missionary pontiff.

A message to Cameroon

Pope Leo’s visit to Douala for Mass took him to the economic capital of Cameroon, which is currently afflicted by violent protests and paralysis over President Paul Biya’s disputed re-election last October.

Barricades, looting, and violent clashes with security forces have afflicted the city for the past six months, threatening the national economy and general social stability in a nation already gripped by violence amid the ongoing Anglophone Crisis.

One of central Africa’s largest ports, Douala has been the site of its own spat of violence as authorities resorted to forceful measures to quell protests against Biya’s election, and the population is still reeling.

Some Cameroonians feared the papal visit could lend support to Biya, 93, who has ruled since 1982 and is the world’s oldest head of state. Pope Leo met with Biya privately on his first day in Cameroon.

Cameroon, notorious for corrupt practices such as bribery, embezzlement, and nepotism, is rich in natural resources such as oil, timber, cocoa, coffee and minerals, which for decades have been pillaged by both large foreign firms and local elites.

Some 600,000 people were expected to turn out for the pope’s Mass in Douala; however, the crowds were notably smaller, perhaps due to extreme heat and tight security.

Catholics in Cameroon make up around a third of the population of 30 million, and play a fundamental role in the country’s social life. After Mass, the pope is set to visit Saint Paul’s Catholic hospital before returning to Yaoundé, where he will meet with university students and professors.

Equality as rooted in love

In his homily, symbolically delivered in both French and English, the pope said Jesus’s multiplication of the loaves and fish was done primarily as an act of love for the people, which is why it is seen as a foreshadowing of the Eucharist.

“It shows us not only how God provides humanity with the bread of life, but how we can share this sustenance with all men and women who, like ourselves, hunger for peace, freedom and justice,” he said.

Each act of solidarity and forgiveness and every effort to improve one’s circumstances, he said, “becomes a morsel of bread for humanity in need of care.”

“Yet this alone is not enough,” he said, saying it must also be accompanied by acts of charity that feed the soul, forming the conscience and sustaining people “in dark hours of fear and amid the shadows of suffering.”

In this regard, Leo stressed the importance of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, which he said, “does not merely revive a distant memory; it brings about a ‘companionship’ that transforms us because it sanctifies us.”

The Eucharist, he said, is “a proclamation of hope amid the trials of history and the injustices we see around us.”

“By becoming man to save us, he chose to share in the simplest and most everyday needs of humanity. Hunger thus speaks to us not only of our poverty but, above all, of his love,” he said.

Pope Leo urged attendees to remember this whenever they see someone who lacks life’s basic necessities.

“Through their eyes, the question that Jesus posed to his disciples is repeated: ‘What are you going to do for all these people?’” he said.

He cautioned that being a true witness to Christ and imitating his love for others implies facing certain difficulties and obstacles, “from without and from within us, where pride can corrupt the heart.”

The pope then offered a special message to young people, who make up the majority of the African continent, telling them to be “the first faces and hands that bring the bread of life to your neighbors.”

He told youth to provide others primarily “with the food of wisdom and deliverance from all that does not nourish them but rather obscures good desires and robs them of their dignity.”

In this regard, Leo lamented that despite Cameroon’s wealth of natural resources, “many experience both material and spiritual poverty.”

“Do not give in to distrust and discouragement. Reject every form of abuse or violence, which deceives by promising easy gains but hardens the heart and makes it insensitive,” he said.

Pope Leo likewise told youths not to let themselves “be corrupted by temptations that waste your energies and do not serve the progress of society.”

He noted that Jesus carried out his ministry in spite of threats, persecution and urged them to continue proclaiming the Gospel even amid difficulty, saying, “Christian proclamation changes our lives, transforming minds and hearts.”

“Proclaiming the risen Jesus means leaving signs of justice in a suffering and oppressed land, signs of peace amid rivalry and corruption, signs of faith that free us from superstition and indifference,” he said, closing his remarks.

Source: Crux

18, April 2026

Douala: Pope urges Christians to reject violence at Mass that draws 120,000 people ⁰

Pope Leo called on Cameroonians on Friday to reject violence and be generous with their neighbours ‌during an event billed as the biggest of his four-nation Africa tour, with roughly 120,000 people flocking to a Mass he led in the port city of Douala.

Amid heavy security, some believers had made their way on Thursday to the city’s Japoma Stadium, venue of the Mass, and slept overnight outside on mats to hear Friday’s address from the pontiff, who has become outspoken on war and inequality and has drawn the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump.

By Friday morning, streets near the stadium were lined with crowds singing, dancing and holding umbrellas to shield themselves from the heat.

After arriving in Douala, Cameroon’s largest city and economic hub, by plane from the capital Yaoundé, Leo told the ⁠crowd that many in the country are suffering from “material and spiritual poverty” but he urged believers to reject violence as a means to get ahead, regardless of the hardships they face.

“Do not give in to distrust and discouragement,” the pope said, in an appeal made in English during a speech that was otherwise mostly in French.

“Reject every form of abuse or violence, which deceives by promising easy gains but hardens the heart and makes it insensitive.”

FORCEFUL REMARKS ON AFRICA TOUR

Leo, the first U.S. pope, has debuted a new, forceful speaking style on his Africa tour. In Yaoundé on Thursday, he said the world was “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants”, without naming anybody.

He has also this week decried violations of international law by “neocolonial” world powers and said “the whims of the rich and powerful” threaten peace.

Leo avoided overtly political messages on Friday.

Invoking the miracle of the loaves and fishes recounted in the Gospels, in which Jesus fed thousands with meagre resources, Leo said: “There is bread for everyone if it is given to everyone. There is bread for everyone if it is taken, not with a hand that snatches away, but ‌with a ⁠hand that gives.”

Carine Kemmoue, a medical doctor who attended Friday’s homily, said she saw a clear link between Leo’s message and his past statements critical of the war in Iran.

“I was very moved by the Pope’s message. When, I mean, he stands against positions like those of Donald Trump, for example, he is against violence,” Kemmoue said.

“I think that is normal for a man of God, since the Church promotes peace.”

After returning to Yaoundé on Friday afternoon, Leo met with students and professors at the Catholic University of Central Africa, which educates young people from across the region.

During the event, the pope referred ⁠to “the darker side of the environmental and social devastation caused by the relentless pursuit of raw materials.”

He drew a loud cheer when he said the continent “must be freed from the scourge of corruption.”

‘MOMENT OF JOY’ FOR CAMEROON’S CATHOLICS

Cameroon, a producer of oil and cocoa, faces grave security challenges, including a simmering Anglophone conflict in which thousands of people have been killed since 2017.

The country has been led for more than ⁠four decades by President Paul Biya, the world’s oldest head of state at 93. His re-election last October sparked protests by opponents who say most ordinary Cameroonians have little to show for his rule.

Crowds greeting the pope on his visit to Cameroon have been enthusiastic, lining the streets along his routes and wearing colourful fabrics featuring images of his face.

Bishop Leopold Bayemi Matjei called ⁠Leo’s visit “a moment of great joy” and said he hoped it meant God would bless Cameroon.

“Our country needs a lot of blessing, a powerful blessing, so that hope will come to rise again,” said the bishop, who leads the Church in Obala, about an hour north of Yaoundé.

Friday was Leo’s last full day in Cameroon. He is scheduled to travel to Angola on Saturday.

Source: Reuters

17, April 2026

Pope Leo XIV’s Visit to Bamenda: “A Moral Abdication – Generic Platitudes While Ambazonia Bleeds” ⁰

In the shadow of St Joseph’s Cathedral, where the blood of Ambazonian sons and daughters still stains the soil of the Northern Zone, Pope Leo XIV stood before a carefully staged “Meeting for Peace.” Amba forces, in a unilateral gesture of goodwill and restraint, had announced a three-day temporary cessation of hostilities to ensure the Holy Father’s safety and the dignity of his apostolic journey. Yet what the Vatican delivered in return was not prophetic truth to power, but a masterclass in diplomatic evasion – a torrent of lofty abstractions that left the structural genocide against the people of the former UN Trust Territory of British Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) untouched, unnamed, and unaddressed.

The Pope spoke of “peace,” of “fraternity,” and of the dangers of manipulating religion for “military, economic and political gain.” He lamented the “almost decade-long conflict,” acknowledged dusty feet on bloodstained yet fertile land, and urged conversion and neighbourly love. He praised interfaith efforts and a so-called Movement for Peace. Fine words. Empty ones. In the very epicentre of Yaoundé’s scorched-earth war crimes – where La Republique du Cameroun (BIR) occupation forces have, since 2016, carried out extrajudicial executions, systematic village burnings, mass rape, torture, and enforced disappearances – the Successor of Peter uttered not one syllable about the root cause: the criminal annexation of Ambazonia in defiance of UN General Assembly Resolution 1608 (XV) of 21 April 1961.

He never once named the crisis for what it is: the direct, predictable consequence of failed decolonisation. He never invoked the binding legal instruments – the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) Banjul Decision on Communication 266/2003, the 2019 Abuja Federal High Court ruling declaring the rendition of Ambazonian leader’s illegal, or the peremptory norm of the right to self-determination enshrined in the UN Charter and the 1966 International Covenants.

Not a word was spoken about the over 580,000 internally displaced Ambazonians, the “world’s most neglected displacement crisis” as declared by the Norwegian Refugee Council. Not a whisper about the Nera 10 and thousands of other political prisoners rotting in Yaoundé’s maximum-security dungeons in open defiance of Nigerian and African Commission rulings. No demand for an immediate, verifiable ceasefire monitored by a neutral AU/UN mission. No call for unfettered humanitarian access. No insistence on direct, unconditional negotiations between Yaoundé and legitimate Ambazonian representatives– in a neutral third country, with the full spectrum of outcomes, including total independence, explicitly on the table.

The 16-Point Peace Plan released by Ambazonian representatives in July 2025 – some concrete, staged, monitorable roadmap endorsed by the very legal instruments the Vatican claims to uphold – received zero mention. Not the immediate ceasefire. Not the unconditional release of all prisoners. Not the restoration of meaningful autonomy or explicit negotiation of independence. Not the independent truth and reconciliation commission. Not demilitarisation and international guarantees. Nothing.

Instead, the Pope offered the same toothless, Yaoundé-friendly mantra of “dialogue” and “national unity” that has enabled nine years of atrocious crimes. In his April 15 address to authorities in Yaoundé, he acknowledged “tensions and violence” in the Northwest and Southwest (Ambazonia) without once assigning responsibility to the Biya regime’s militias and or security forces – the same forces documented by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the U.S. State Department as perpetrators of summary executions, house-burnings, and the dumping of civilian bodies. He framed the crisis within Cameroon’s “richness of cultures and languages” – a deliberate linguistic sleight-of-hand that erases Ambazonia’s distinct colonial history and legal personality as a former UN Trust Territory.

This was not pastoral caution. This was political cowardice. While villages in the Northern Zone still smoulder and orphaned children crowd refugee camps in Nigeria, the Holy Father chose photo-ops over prophecy. He legitimised a regime that, just twelve days earlier on 4 April 2026, rammed through constitutional amendments restoring the vice-presidency without any guarantee of Anglophone representation – another cynical cheat exposed by The Guardian Post Cameroon as “Anglophones cheated again!”

The Vatican, which once confronted apartheid and mediated Latin American civil wars, has today chosen silence in the face of what the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect has warned is an imminent risk of atrocity crimes. A generic appeal for “peace” that refuses to confront the unacceptable marginalisation of Southern Cameroonians, the scorched-earth tactics of the occupation forces, or the legal foundations of Ambazonian statehood is not neutrality – it is complicity.

The people of Ambazonia expected courage. They received platitudes. They expected truth. They received diplomacy. They expected a shepherd. They received a politician in white.

The suffering of burned villages, raped women, orphaned children, and exiled leaders demands more than prayers. It demands prophetic denunciation. Today in Bamenda, that denunciation was absent. History will record this visit not as a triumph of peace, but as a shameful photo-op that allowed a genocidal regime to cloak itself in papal legitimacy while its war machines continue their work of annihilation.

About the Author: Dr Larry Ayamba is a former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the Ambazonia Governing Council (AGovC). He campaigned relentlessly for the decolonisation of the former UN Trust Territory of British Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia), represented the AGovC on the world stage, and authored its successful admission to the UNPO in 2018. Dr AYAMBA frames the crisis as a continuation of colonial annexation and continues to demand genuine dialogue – or the explicit restoration of total Ambazonian independence – as the only path to justice.

The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Cameroon Concord News Group

16, April 2026

US-Israel bombed 6 bridges – Iranian engineers rebuilt them in 96 hours ⁰

Iran not only survived the heaviest bombardment of its civilian infrastructure in modern history during the 40-day war of aggression imposed by the US-Israeli alliance but also achieved the rare engineering feat of restoring six major railway bridges and dozens of critical transport links in under 96 hours.

One key span near Qom reopened in less than 40 minutes, effectively neutralizing the enemy’s key strategy of paralyzing the nation through economic strangulation.

The ceasefire that took effect on April 8, 2026, after more than five weeks of sustained aggression, did not come a moment too soon for civilians.

But for Iran’s engineering corps, it came just in time to showcase a level of infrastructure resilience and readiness unmatched in modern military history.

While enemy war planners had explicitly targeted the country’s railway bridges, freeway overpasses, power substations, and even civilian airports to break supply chains and demoralize the population, the response from Tehran’s domestic engineering team fundamentally rewrote the rules of modern warfare.

Rather than crippling Iran, the aggression has demonstrated that the Islamic Republic can rebuild its most vital arteries faster than foreign adversaries can destroy them.

16, April 2026

The Holy Father is in Bamenda to preach a message of peace ⁰

Pope Leo XIV travelled Thursday to the western Cameroonian city of Bamenda to preach a message of peace in the epicenter of a separatist conflict that humanitarian groups have called one of the world’s most neglected crises.

Leo’s Camair charter landed at the Bamenda airport, where jubilant Cameroonians clogged the roads, blowing horns and dancing. They were overjoyed that a pope had come so far to see them and put a global spotlight on the violence that has traumatized this region for nearly a decade.

Leo is to preside over a peace meeting involving a Mankon traditional chief, a Presbyterian moderator, an imam and a Catholic nun. The aim is to highlight the interfaith movement that has been seeking to end the conflict and care for its many traumatized victims.

It wasn’t immediately clear if any of the separatist fighters, who announced a three-day pause in fighting to allow the pope safe passage, would attend.

The pope is also set to celebrate a Mass for the people of Bamenda, near the western border with Nigeria.

Leo arrived in Cameroon on Wednesday on the second leg of his four-nation African trip, the first by the first American pope. In his arrival speech, he demanded the “chains of corruption” in the mineral-rich country be broken and lectured President Paul Biya on the legitimate exercise of authority.

The 93-year-old Biya, the world’s oldest leader, has been in power since 1982 and claims to have won a disputed election last year that gave him an eighth term in office.

The conflict in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions is rooted in Cameroon’s colonial history, when the country was divided between France and Britain after World War I. English-speaking regions later joined French Cameroon in a 1961 U.N.-backed vote, but separatists say they have since been politically and economically marginalized.

In 2017, English-speaking separatists launched a rebellion with the stated goal of breaking away from the French-speaking majority and establishing an independent state. The conflict has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced over 600,000 others, according to the International Crisis Group.

The separatist movement is believed to be backed by several actors abroad. In December last year, a federal jury in U.S. convicted two individuals for conspiracy to provide funds and equipment to the separatist fighters. Belgian authorities in March also announced they had arrested four people as part of its investigations into Belgian residents suspected of being among the separatist leaders and raising money for them from Belgium.

Cameroon sits atop significant reserves of oil, natural gas, cobalt, bauxite, iron ore, gold and diamonds, making resource extraction one of the pillars of its economy.

While French and English companies have long dominated the extraction industry in Cameroon, Chinese companies have established a significant presence in recent years, particularly in the gold mining regions of the east.

On the eve of Leo’s arrival, separatist fighters announced a three-day pause in fighting. A spokesperson for the Unity Alliance, Lucas Asu, said the pause “reflects a deliberate commitment to responsibility, restraint and respect for human dignity, even in the context of ongoing conflict.”

He said the pope’s visit should remain “spiritual” and not be seen as endorsing any political authority.

Though the number of deadly attacks by separatists has decreased in recent years, the conflict shows no sign of resolution. Peace talks with international mediators have stalled, with both sides accusing each other of acting in bad faith.

Morine Ngum, a mother of three whose husband was shot dead in 2022 by Cameroonian soldiers while fighting as a separatist, expressed doubt that the pope’s visit and peace meeting would lead to meaningful change. She said any real progress must begin with those in power.

“Nothing is going to change,” said Ngum, 30. “This conflict has turned my children into orphans and me into a widow. Many families have been rendered homeless.”

Source: ABC News