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12, January 2021

US homeland security head resigns nine days before Biden’s inauguration ⁰

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told his staff on Monday he was stepping down, the agency said, a move that comes as his department coordinates security for the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration and after a deadly mob attack on the U.S. Capitol last week.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) press office said Wolf would leave his post at 11:59 p.m. on Monday.

Pete Gaynor, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will take over as acting secretary, the office said.

In an email to DHS employees on Monday, Wolf said his departure was due to court rulings related to his eligibility for the position.

“I am saddened to take this step, as it was my intention to serve the department until the end of this administration,” Wolf wrote.

The White House declined to comment.

Representative Bennie Thompson, the Democratic chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, said the motive behind Wolf’s resignation was “questionable” since a federal judge ruled two months ago that Wolf was unlawfully appointed.

The U.S. Secret Service, which is part of DHS, is the lead agency handling security around President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.

That effort is being closely watched after supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol last Wednesday in an assault that led to five deaths, dozens of injuries among law enforcement and the ransacking of lawmakers’ offices.

Wolf said earlier on Monday that due to the “evolving security landscape,” the Secret Service would begin its inauguration security operations on Wednesday instead of Jan. 19.

The FBI has warned of armed protests being planned for Washington and all 50 U.S. state capitals ahead of Biden’s inauguration, according to a federal law enforcement source.

A senior DHS official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the change in leadership would not diminish security for the inauguration.

Some high-level Trump administration officials have resigned in the aftermath of the Capitol incident, including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

(REUTERS)

12, January 2021

Ambazonia Interim Gov’t weighs in on Mautu massacre ⁰

The IG Statement: Massacre in Mautu but we must Resist

Yesterday, 10 January 2021, despicable barbarism was unleashed by the occupying forces upon our people in the village of Mautu, Fako County. The village of Mautu was invaded and ten men, women, and children were slaughtered as they went about their daily activities. Just two days ago, a young man called Clovis in the village of Njinikom was murdered by the French Cameroun forces. Our hearts bleed and our nation mourns the victims of these heinous crimes. They will never be forgotten.

The Interim Government of Ambazonia (The IG) has ordered an immediate investigation to ascertain the facts surrounding these massacres. As the facts are made available, The IG will be communicating these details to its international partners and human rights groups.

Unfortunately, these savage and unprovoked attacks perpetrated by French Cameroun’s BIR, in collaboration with other militias, on our innocent and defenceless civilian population has become endemic. We have irrefutable evidence that these crimes against humanity are premeditated and directed by leaders of the regime in Yaoundé. Make no mistake, these are not random attacks. These attacks are carried out with military precision. These attacks are designed to terrorize the civilian population and to deter prospective enlistment of self-defence forces. These attacks are also designed to evoke retaliation, but we shall not succumb to provocation or fear. We shall respond to these attacks at the appropriate time.

As a nation, the courage and resilience of our restoration forces to fight for our sovereignty is commendable. The time just before dawn is habitually the darkest moment. Throughout history, many involved in restoration movements have despaired and almost given up when times are challenging. But history teaches us that with persistence, many nations have won their liberation battles and, I believe that if we persist, we shall overcome. I believe that with perseverance, the actualization of the restoration of Ambazonia shall come to pass.

To the population of Buea, we are proud that many businesses remain closed during Ghost-towns. For the few shops that are now opening on these days, we are appealing that you observe this great initiative that has given our struggle great momentum. This war was declared on us and it is our responsibility to protect ourselves and our territory from the invading and lawless military of French Cameroun. No violent conflict ever ends in the battlefield. Wars always end on the negotiation table as the only place where sustainable peace and justice can be attained. French Cameroun shall come to this realisation soon.

The Interim Government of Ambazonia is hereby making an urgent call for Ambazonians to take the following dispositions

1. We all need to be strategic in our actions, pronouncement and must speak about our struggle as one to the world.

2. We must all work as intelligence-gathering officers for our restoration forces so that those within our communities who collaborate with these thugs from French Cameroun to discredit our revolution are brought to justice.

3. We must disregard mentors of internal division and stand together in our innovative and dynamic plan to ruthlessly adhere to our Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Ambazonia.

4. We need to be bold and resolute in taking our territory through OPERATION CAPHOT aka THE BIG RUBBERGUN.

Fellow Comrades, be neither discouraged nor distracted. Our time shall come. Our policy position is that the following confidence-building measures would create a conducive atmosphere for productive engagement with French Cameroun. We believe that the entire process would have to be underwritten by the UN and certain muscular States (America, Britain, Germany, and Russia). The key confidence-building measures that must be taken are:

(i) A UN humanitarian intervention in the Southern Cameroons. This necessary action will secure the safety of the people of the Southern Cameroons. French Cameroun forces must withdraw from the territory of the Southern Cameroons. Our IDPs, refugees and diaspora community must be able to return safely to the Southern Cameroons without fear of being killed by the regime in Yaoundé.

(ii) The release of all Southern Cameroons political prisoners being held by French Cameroun in various prisons and torture facilities.

(iii) An international fact-finding mission to investigate various crimes perpetrated in the Southern Cameroons.

For us, the adoption of these measures is critical for obvious reasons. French Cameroun has proven to be dishonest. It is a nation that has no respect for human lives and international norms. But we must continue our fight for freedom and justice with the believe that we shall overcome. We must remain bold and not succumb to intimidation or fear. We must keep resisting. We shall overcome.

God bless the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Thank You

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

11, January 2021

Yaoundé deploys troops as Ambazonia Restoration Forces threaten African Nations Championship ⁰

In Cameroon, one week ahead of the African Nations Soccer Championship, officials have deployed troops to protect players from across Africa as separatists vow to stop the games in restive English-speaking regions. The government is assuring football fans from across Africa that the games will be safe and that measures have also been taken to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The official song of the African Nations Championship (CHAN), by Cameroon singer Jane Mary Ihims, plays in markets and popular spots in Cameroon’s capital city, Yaoundé, ahead of the official kickoff of the tournament on January 16.

The local organizing committee of CHAN asked the song We Are All Champions to be played to keep football fans in the mood for the competition.

Thirty-one-year-old Telesphore Ndoumbe says he supports Cameroon and is looking for the team’s supporter’s T-shirt to buy.

“Football is a unifying factor in Cameroon and the world at large, so I am expecting that during this period, hatred, anger will subside,” Ndoumbe said. “And I think that will be the beginning of a new live that we are going to experience.”

Ndoumbe said he would be watching the matches in stadiums in Yaoundé and the games in other towns on TV.

CHAN matches will be played in Yaoundé, the coastal city, Douala, and the English-speaking southwestern town of Limbe.

Thomas Ndive Mulungo, president of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) in the English-speaking South West region, where Limbe is located, says people are anxiously waiting for the tournament to begin.

“The people of the South West region are passionate about the game of football,” Mulungo said. “With the facilities, the infrastructures we have today in our region, we are proud. It is not only the football in the field of play, but it has economic multiplier effects to the community and the host towns.”

But separatists have warned on Social Media that countries taking part in the championship should not go to the South West region. The separatists, in messages on Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp, say the English-speaking regions are crisis-prone and the safety of the teams cannot be assured there.

Bernard Okalia Bilai, governor of the English-speaking South West region, says measures have been taken to ensure the safety of soccer fans, officials and players from Africa and beyond. He spoke via a messaging app from Buea, capital of the South West region.

He says when the separatist crisis started in November 2016, the 20,000-capacity Limbe stadium hosted the Female African Football Cup of Nations. He says in 2017 and 2018, Cameroon’s national soccer team played against Gabon and Gambia in Limbe. He says the successful hosting of such international matches is indication that the security and safety of football fans from across Africa and beyond will be assured despite separatist threats.

Bilai added there are still some pockets of resistance from separatists fighting to create an English-speaking state in French-majority Cameroon. He said the military and police have been deployed to deal with separatists who fail to surrender.

Cameroon’s sports minister, Narcisse Mouele Kombi, says the central African country has also taken measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.

He says the African Nations Championship will be one of the world’s first major sporting events since the advent of COVID-19. He says in order to respect COVID-19 prevention measures, Cameroon will strictly apply recommendations from the Confederation of African Football and admit into each stadium only 25% of capacity. He says the number of spectators will be increased to 50% of each stadium’s capacity starting with the quarter finals level. He says besides keeping a distance of at least 1.5 meters, every spectator will be required to wear a face mask.

Cameroon will play in Group A with Mali, Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe, while Group B comprises Libya, DR Congo, Congo and Niger. Group C has Morocco, Rwanda, Uganda and Togo, while Group D has Zambia, Guinea, Namibia and Tanzania.

The African Nations Championship exclusively features players from each nation’s respective national champions.

CHAN will serve as a warm-up for Cameroon ahead of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations the central African state will be hosting.

Source: VOA

11, January 2021

African Nations Championship: Biya regime issues COVID-19 guidelines ⁰

Host Cameroon has issued COVID-19 guidelines for African Nations Championship (CHAN) that will kick off in the country in a week.

“In a bid to respect the COVID-19 protocol established by CAF and FIFA, CAF and Cameroon have agreed on the rate of occupation of stadiums during the competition as follows: 25 per cent for all group matches including the opening match and 50 per cent for all semi-finals and finals,” Cameroon’s Minister of Sports and Physical Education Narcisse Mouelle Kombi said in a statement released Saturday, adding that a special mechanism to mark the seats in all stadiums will be set up following the authorized occupation capacity.

Wearing of face masks will mandatory in stadiums and social distance will be strictly applied, he said.

“The non-respect of the measures shall expose defaulters to the risk of expulsion from stadium,” Kombi said.

The CHAN will run from January 16 to February 7.

The competition, in its sixth edition, is open to players in local leagues and Cameroon will host the finals for the first time ever.

Source: Xinhuanet

11, January 2021

Federal Republic of Ambazonia: President condemns French Cameroun attack on Mautu ⁰

“Sunday, 10th Jan 2021 will go down as another dark day in the history of our nation. 10 people, including a baby, were massacred in Mautu village in Fako. We condemn these reckless killings. Violence is cowardice. The perpetrators of these acts must be brought to book” Ambazonia President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe on Sunday slammed the Cameroon government army attack that targeted Southern Cameroons civilians.

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe’s condemnation appeared in a tweet message sent to the international community in which the Ambazonian leader said that the world should stand by Southern Cameroons and condemn these criminal and cowered acts.

He said that the people of Southern Cameroons are peace loving and called on the countries that support the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé to review their stances and stop supporting and financing terrorist acts across the entire Gulf of Guinea.

As the world turns its focus on the Trump-orchestrated drama in Washington DC, the Yaoundé government is taking advantage of the confusion to commit heinous human rights violations in the country’s two English-speaking regions.

On Sunday, government army soldiers descended on Mautu in Muyuka in the country’s Southwest region where it gunned down some ten innocent civilians, most of whom are women and children.

Donald Trump’s political miscalculations in the United States are empowering many dictators across the globe and this is very likely to result in devastating human rights abuses in countries such as Cameroon.

The government human rights abuses are on the rise in Cameroon and with the confusion in Southern Cameroons intensifying, army soldiers are killing civilians with impunity.

The government has a lot on its hands and its frustrations are mounting by the day. Besides the crisis in Southern Cameroons, Boko Haram is wreaking havoc in the country’s northern region where hundreds of soldiers and civilians were slaughtered last week.

But it is in the Eastern region that a huge storm is brewing. Russians are determined to elbow the French out of the Central African Republic where a French-sponsored civil war is spreading death and destruction in the country.

The fighting in the Central African country is gradually spreading to Cameroon and there is growing fear that the Russians might come to Cameroon to destabilize the corrupt Yaoundé government.

By Asu Vera Eyere and Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

11, January 2021

US Politics: Pelosi says House will proceed with legislation to impeach Trump ⁰

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday she would push ahead with efforts to remove President Donald Trump from office during the final days of his administration after his supporters’ violent attack on the Capitol.

Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, said there would be a resolution in the House of Representatives on Monday calling for the cabinet to remove Trump as unfit for office under the constitution’s 25th amendment.

If Vice President Mike Pence does not agree, “we will proceed with bringing impeachment legislation” to the floor of the House of Representatives, Pelosi said.

“In protecting our Constitution and our Democracy, we will act with urgency, because this President represents an imminent threat to both,” she said.

“As the days go by, the horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this President is intensified and so is the immediate need for action.”

Trump was already impeached once by the Democratic-controlled House — in December 2019 for pressuring the leader of Ukraine to dig up political dirt on Joe Biden.

He was acquitted by the Republican-majority Senate.

Though time is running short, Democrats likely have the votes in the House to impeach Trump again and could even draw some Republican support for the move.

But they are unlikely to muster the two-thirds majority needed to convict Trump in the 100-member Senate and remove him from office.

Trump’s successor Joe Biden is due to be inaugurated on January 20.

Source: AFP

11, January 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: The killing won’t stop ⁰

The killings in Southern Cameroons will not be ending anytime soon, especially as all the factions involved are determined to win on the battlefield though many experts have clearly indicated a military victory will never be possible.

For its part, the government has intensified its military efforts in the two English-speaking regions in the hope that by winning the war in those regions, it could focus on other insurgencies in the northern and eastern parts of the country.

On Sunday, government army soldiers descended on Mautu in Muyuka in the country’s Southwest region where it gunned down some ten innocent civilians, most of whom are women and children.

The government human rights abuses are on the rise in Cameroon and with the confusion in Southern Cameroons intensifying, army soldiers are killing civilians with impunity.

The fighting in the Central African country is gradually spreading to Cameroon and there is growing fear that the Russians might come to Cameroon to destabilize the corrupt Yaounde government.

Last week, Cameroon’s 87-year-old president, Paul Biya, had to dispatch the Secretary General at the Presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, to Equatorial Guinea to plead with Equatorial Guinea’s president to help secure the border between the two countries, an action which clearly highlights the fear ripping the government apart.

But it is not only the government that is committing abuses. Ambazonian fighters are also guilty of heinous crimes which must be condemned by the international community.

Yesterday, the principal of Government High School Ossing in the Southwest region, Mr. Ayuk Martin, was killed by reckless and trigger-happy boys.

Though the principal is being accused of betrayal and collaboration with the government, many observers in the war-torn regions point out that nothing can justify the killing of another human being. Such killings have been counter-productive and they have given the revolution a very bad name.

Also, another principal was shot in Tinto, a town some 50 km from Mamfe. The principal was shot in the leg and is now recovering in a local hospital.

But a manager with PAMOL, a state-owned oil-producing business in Ndian Division of the Southwest region of the country was killed on Sunday for cooperating with the government. Some workers of the institution were also amputated, an act which has generated swift and open condemnation.

Last week was indeed a disaster to the country’s military. The same insurgents attacked and killed three soldiers returning from a mission in Njikwa, Momo Division in the Northwest region with the Senior Divisional Officer (SDO). The Momo Divisional delegate of Communication was also murdered and she was the only civilian killed in the ambush. The SDO, who was the target of the ambush, survived and he is currently thanking his lucky stars.

Similarly, another ambush at Matazen checkpoint in the Northwest region brought down more than five gendarmes and three civilians last Friday, making the week one of the bloodiest for Cameroon’s military.

From every indication, if the international community does not step in, the killings in Southern Cameroons might not end, especially as some military and government officials are making huge proceeds from the confusion playing out in Southern Cameroons.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

10, January 2021

UK says on course for Covid-19 vaccination target as deaths top 80,000 ⁰

Britain is on course to have immunised its most vulnerable people against Covid-19 by mid-February and offering a shot to every adult by autumn, with some 2 million people having already received a first dose, its health secretary said on Sunday.

“Over the last week we’ve vaccinated more people than in the entirety of December, so we’re accelerating the roll-out,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC.

Britain is battling surging infections but is pinning its hopes on rapid immunisation to enable life to start returning to some degree of normality by the spring.

Hancock said around 2 million people had already received a first shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

“We’ve now vaccinated around a third of all of the over 80s, so [we are making] very, very good progress,” he said.

For the government to meet its goal of vaccinating more than 14 million people by mid-February, comprising the over-70s, the clinically vulnerable – the elderly or with pre-existing conditions – and health and social-care workers, it needs to deliver 2 million shots a week.

The current rate is around 200,000 a day, Hancock said.

Seven mass vaccination centres will open this week, supplementing almost 1,000 doctors surgeries and hospitals offering shots. Hancock said every adult would be offered a vaccine by the autumn.

In a bid to speed up vaccinations, the British government has changed its vaccine guidelines to allow a second dose of both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines to be administered up to 12 weeks after the first, instead of three weeks as originally planned.

However, Pfizer scientists have warned governments not to be overly confident that one dose would offer enough protection in the long term, saying there is “no data” showing that protection after the first dose is sustained after 21 days.

Surging cases

A highly transmissible new variant of the virus is surging around Britain and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has imposed a third national lockdown in England to try to stem the pandemic before the most vulnerable are immunised. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have imposed similar measures.

More than 80,000 people in Britain have died within 28 days of receiving a positive Covid-19 test, the fifth highest official death toll globally, and over 3 million people have tested positive.

England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said on Sunday the national health service in parts of the country was facing “the most difficult situation anyone could remember”.

Hancock did not rule out a tougher lockdown, saying he would “not speculate” on further restrictions, although he added that the “vast majority” of people were complying with current rules.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

10, January 2021

Raising the Death Penalty Bar in Southern Cameroons: Ossing School Principal Killed ⁰

In 2017, the US-based Interim Government of Ambazonia (The IG) announced that the death penalty still stands in the Southern Cameroons and the sentence would be used for those who commit high crimes and misdemeanor against the state. Amongst the crimes that The IG deemed publishable by the death penalty were treason, murder, large scale drug trafficking, espionage and being a senior member of French Cameroun’s CPDM crime-syndicate.

Over the last few months, Ambazonia Intelligence Service and Southern Cameroons law enforcement officers have zeroed in on Peter Mafany Musonge, Yang Philemon, Atanga Nji,and other high-value targets to implement the death penalty for their voluminous crimes against the state.

Concentration on high-value targets however does not mean that smaller targets are being ignored. Saturday, 9 January 2021 execution of the Martin Ayuk, Principal of Government High School Ossing, Manyu County came as no surprise to many familiar with the matter.

Speaking to Cameroon Concord News Group’s Global Headquarters in the United Kingdom, an Ambazonian commander with knowledge of the matter said “Martin has been attracting death to himself for a long time. He has been in consistent and persistent communication with the French Cameroun terrorist forces in Mamfe. We warned him countless times, but he was stupidly arrogant. He did not want to learn from what happened to Mathias Ako, the former Regent Chief of Ossing”

The Ambazonian Commander furthered that “Martin committed crimes of treason and espionage against the people of Ambazonia on many occasions and his actions led to the unlawful arrests and murder of many in Ossing village by the terrorist French Cameroon military. He called the terrorists military of French Cameroun to Ossing in December 2020 to confiscate many of Southern Cameroons self defense weapons that were safely stored in a farm in the forest in Takpa. He had to face the death penalty for calling the military to collect our weapons that cost us more than USD 10,000. Again, he was openly telling us that he had no respect for us as a self-defence force in an area we control. His action was unacceptable”.

The Ambazonian Self-defence commandant went on to add “we do use the death penalty in Manyu County in moderation and only in occasions that the evidence against the accused is overwhelming, and where there is no room for doubt.”

Over 6 000 people have died and close to half a million have been displaced. Multiple separatists groups have formed in Southern Cameroons.

At least six soldiers died and five more were wounded on Wednesday after a roadside bomb exploded in Momo County in the Northern Zone of Southern Cameroons.

By Bisong Ayuk with files from Ossing

10, January 2021

Support for Olympics hits new low in Japan ⁰

Support for holding the coronavirus-postponed Tokyo Olympics this summer has hit a new low in Japan, a poll found Sunday as the country battles a third wave of infections.

Just over 80 percent of those asked by Kyodo news agency said the huge global event should be cancelled or postponed again — a jump from around 60 percent in a December 6 survey by the same outlet.

Kyodo said the survey asked 1,041 participants nationwide, who were selected by random dialling.

Tokyo 2020 organisers have said another delay is out of the question and are insisting the Games will go ahead despite a state of emergency declared in the greater Tokyo area this week over a surge in Covid-19 cases.

In Sunday’s national telephone poll, around 35 percent of people told Kyodo they favoured outright cancellation, while some 45 percent said the event should be postponed a second time.

The month-long emergency in the capital and surrounding regions is less strict than harsh lockdowns seen elsewhere in the world and primarily targets restaurants and bars, which have been asked to close early.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said this week that Japan is committed to holding a “safe and secure” Olympics.

He said he believed the public mood will change when the country begins vaccinations, currently scheduled for late February.

But senior International Olympic Committee official Dick Pound told the BBC he could not “be certain” the Games will go ahead, because “the ongoing elephant in the room would be the surges in the virus”.

Public sentiment towards the Olympics in Japan has been less than optimistic for months.

Two polls in July showed the majority thought the event should be postponed again or cancelled, while a survey released in December by national broadcaster NHK found that only 27 percent of respondents supported holding the Games in 2021.

Source: AFP