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Southern Cameroons: IG won’t relent until French Cameroun culprits in Ngarbuh, Kumba massacre brought to justice

4, January 2021

Southern Cameroons: IG won’t relent until French Cameroun culprits in Ngarbuh, Kumba massacre brought to justice 0

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government, Dabney Yerima has once again censured the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime in Yaoundé for committing craven acts of terror against innocent Ambazonian civilians in Kumba, Muyuka, Ngarbuh, Buea and Bamenda vowing to prosecute the French Cameroun culprits including the Francophone Senior Divisional Officer for Meme.

In a televised speech on Sunday January 3, 2021 some two days away from the 3rd anniversary of the abduction of President Julius Ayuk Tabe, and 11 of his associates at the NERA Hotel in Nigeria in a flagrant disregard of international law, Vice President Dabney Yerima said French Cameroun’s continued terrorist acts in Southern Cameroons are being carried out in blatant violation of international law.

“Ngarbuh Massacre of 24 women and children in February by French Cameroun military, the torture, and murder of Journalist Samuel Wazizi whilst in detention in June, the beheading of Comfort Tumassang in Muyuka in August by French Cameroun militia, the October execution of seven schoolchildren in Kumba- a diabolic crime organized by the colonial SDO of Meme, the December outbreak of xenophobic violence in Fako County sponsored by rogue chief Monja Monja, were some of the low points of a gloomy year.”

“The Interim Government must continue efforts to establish concrete diplomatic breakthroughs with friendly and sympathetic governments. On Friday, 1 January 2021, US Senate Resolution 684 was passed calling on the government of La Republique du Cameroun to respect human rights and pursue genuinely inclusive dialogue towards ending the crisis between our nations. The Resolution was robust and a move in the right direction. We shall continue to explore all diplomatic tools available to us over the next twelve months. I want to register my appreciation to our comrades in the US who worked tirelessly to get this resolution to the Senate floor” Yerima added.

Emphasizing that all the Biya French Cameroun acts of lawlessness in Southern Cameroons are full show, the Ambazonia Vice President furthered that, the Southern Cameroons Interim Government won’t rest until it brings all those French Cameroun criminals responsible to justice.

Dabney Yerima also stated that “With regards to the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations, Ambazonia Intelligence Service (AIS) has briefed the Interim Government on sophisticated new strategies that would be employed to defend our national interest. We have informed French Cameroun and nations participating in this tournament that any attempt to bring its activities to Ambazonia would be considered a deliberate violation of our sovereignty, and our response will be prompt and definite.”

By Isong Asu

US: Nancy Pelosi re-elected as House speaker with slim Democratic majority

4, January 2021

US: Nancy Pelosi re-elected as House speaker with slim Democratic majority 0

Nancy Pelosi, the only woman to serve as US Speaker of the House, was narrowly re-elected to the position Sunday in a deeply divided new Congress that convened in the final weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency.

Pelosi, 80, faced a scare when five fellow Democrats defected and voted “present” or for someone else during the floor vote.

But the woman who is third in line to the presidency secured her fourth — and perhaps final — non-consecutive term as House speaker by earning 216 votes versus 209 for Republican leader Kevin McCarthy.

In a symbolic gesture beginning the 117th Congress, McCarthy formally handed the speaker’s gavel over to Pelosi, who raised it in triumph as Democrats cheered and applauded.

“We begin the new Congress during a time of extraordinary difficulty,” Pelosi told the chamber, noting the toll of 350,000 dead and 20 million infected by Covid-19.

“Our most urgent priority will continue to be defeating the coronavirus,” a masked Pelosi said. “And defeat it, we will.”

The vote took hours, as lawmakers were required to vote in groups of several dozen due to social distancing rules imposed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Pelosi has been Trump’s chief nemesis in Congress, and the two clashed bitterly over the past two years, particularly as she leveled impeachment charges against the president.

Trump was impeached in December 2019, but the Senate acquitted him early in 2020. His successor, Joe Biden, takes office on January 20.

With Pelosi scrambling to keep her post, it was a handful of progressive lawmakers and members-elect who have been critical of her leadership but ultimately voted for her on Sunday.

Among them was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most high-profile Democrats in Washington, and incoming lawmaker Cori Bush, who is the first African-American woman to represent Missouri in Congress.

There are normally 435 members of the House, but just 427 votes were cast Sunday as a few congressmen-elect are in quarantine due to Covid-19 and a tight House race in New York has yet to be formally decided.

One congressman-elect from Louisiana, Luke Letlow, died of complications from Covid-19 last week, days before he was due to be sworn in.

That leaves Democrats with one of the slimmest House majorities in two decades, 222 to 211 with two vacancies, as they navigate the remaining few weeks of Trump and carry into the Biden presidency.

On a day that was anything but conventional, Republican Chip Roy interrupted the swearing-in process to ask that the delegations from the six swing states where Trump has contested the election results not be seated Sunday as House members.

Pelosi dispensed with the effort by holding a vote that affirmed her right to swear in all members.

(AFP)

Rebels capture Central African diamond-mining city of Bangassou

4, January 2021

Rebels capture Central African diamond-mining city of Bangassou 0

Rebel fighters captured the southern diamond-mining city of Bangassou in the Central African Republic on Sunday, weeks after they were accused of an attempted coup and ahead of partial results from a tense presidential election.

At least five rebels were killed and two army soldiers wounded in the clashes in the Central African city of Bangassou, which lies on the southern border with Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSCA said in a statement.

Rebels, whom the government and UN say are backed by ex-president François Bozizé, launched an offensive last month after the constitutional court rejected Bozizé’s candidacy to challenge President Faustin-Archange Touadera in last Sunday’s vote.

Bozizé’s party officially denies he is working with the rebels, but some in the party have suggested they are working together.

The coalition of armed rebel groups, which control two thirds of the coup-prone country, launched an offensive on December 19 aiming to disrupt last weekend’s elections and “march on Bangui”.

They have been kept away from the capital so far by federal soldiers, UN peacekeepers and reinforcements sent from Russia and Rwanda.

‘They are everywhere’

But the rebels attacked Bangassou, about 750 km (470 miles) from Bangui, at dawn on Saturday.

“The rebels control the town,” Rosevel Pierre Louis, head of the UN peacekeeping force MINUSCA’s regional office in the city, told AFP. “They are everywhere.”

Government troops had “abandoned their position and are at our base”, he added.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it had transported 15 wounded in the fighting.

Bangassou resident Ismail said Sunday’s attack had been expected locally for around two weeks, and many had fled over the border to DR Congo.

“My children left, I stayed with my wife,” Ismail told AFP as gunshots could be heard over the phone.

Bangassou has previously been the target of brutal assaults.

Trying to ‘suffocate Bangui’

Rebel fighters also attacked Touadera’s hometown of Damara, about 80 km (50 miles) north of Bangui on Saturday, MINUSCA said.

Roland Marchal, a specialist on the Central African Republic at France’s Sciences Po University, said “the rebels thought they could reach Bangui, but they did not expect the arrival of the Russians and Rwandans”.

Conflict analyst Nathalia Dukhan said the rebels have adopted “a long-term strategy by securing the resources to suffocate Bangui”.

The landlocked country is one of the poorest in the world and among the most volatile, suffering coups and wars since independence from France in 1960.

In 2013, it spiralled once more into bloodshed when then-president Bozizé, who had himself seized power in a coup a decade earlier, was ousted by a mainly Muslim coalition called the Seleka.

Five years later,”anti-balaka” militiamen, drawn mainly from Christian communities, attacked the city, slaughtering dozens of Muslim civilians as well as 12 UN peacekeepers.

Country ‘at war’

In a year-end speech on December 31, Touadera said  his country “is at war” and that its “survival is threatened. We are going to win this asymmetrical war,” he added.

The capture of Bangassou comes on the eve of partial results being published for the presidential election.

Lack of security meant that voting did not take place in 29 of the country’s 71 sub-prefectures, while thousands were prevented from casting ballots or never received their voting cards.

Touadera’s party claimed victory, while a coalition of opposition groups called for the election to be annulled, claiming ballot stuffing and electoral rigging.

MINUSCA spokesman Vladimir Monteiro accused the opposition of making “false and baseless” allegations.

“Bizarrely, they don’t say anything about former president François Bozizé, an ally of the armed groups who are responsible for the current violence,” he tweeted.

On Sunday the UN mission said in a statement that the main armed groups “the UPC, the MPC, the 3R, the FPRC, the anti-balakas and former president Bozizé are responsible for these attacks and the grave consequences for the civilian population”.

The definitive results from the first round are not expected before January 18, and if there is no outright winner a runoff will be held on February 14.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)

Southern Cameroons: Yerima speaks, breaking silence and repositioning the Ambazonian Revolution

3, January 2021

Southern Cameroons: Yerima speaks, breaking silence and repositioning the Ambazonian Revolution 0

State of the Nation Address

Repositioning the Ambazonian Revolution

Happy New Year 2021 to all the people of the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia). We are mindful of the difficulties that many of you are enduring back in the forests, the burnt-down villages, the deserted towns in Ambazonia, the refugee camps in Nigeria, and the strange and hostile communities in French Cameroun. We are mindful of all the families that have lost loved ones over the last four years due to the brutality of the French Cameroun regime. The thoughts and prayers of the Interim Government of Ambazonia are with you and your families at this challenging time.

Today January 3, 2021, is two days away from the 3rd anniversary of the abduction of our leader President Julius Ayuk Tabe, and 11 of his associates at the NERA Hotel in Nigeria in a flagrant disregard of international law. To our leaders in detention, our restoration forces, and all our fallen heroes, I say your sacrifice to our nation shall never be forgotten.

On 11 February 1961, our forebears were lured into a bungled decolonization process by Great Britain and the United Nations. On 1 October 2017, after 56 years of subjugation and abuse, we, the people of Southern Cameroons, under the leadership of President Julius Ayuk Tabe, made a bold step to take our destiny into our hands. This decision was met with a declaration of war from the President of Cameroun Republique on 30November 2017. Since that declaration, more than 10,000 of our citizens have been executed, over one million have been internally displaced, 120,000 are refugees in Nigeria, Ghana and the Mexico border, and 550 of our villages have been burnt down.

2020 was a challenging year. The coronavirus pandemic, Ngarbuh Massacre of 24 women and children in February by French Cameroun military, the torture, and murder of Journalist Samuel Wazizi whilst in detention in June, the beheading of Comfort Tumassang in Muyuka in August by French Cameroun militia, the October execution of seven schoolchildren in Kumba- a diabolic crime organized by the colonial SDO of Meme, the December outbreak of xenophobic violence in Fako County sponsored by rogue chief Monja Monja, were some of the low points of a gloomy year.

The question in front of our nation during our lifetime is one of independence or extinction. French Cameroun’s continuous movement of armed men, militias, and heavy weapons of war into our territory is an obvious statement of intent. Are armies, guns, and bombs needed in our villages and towns if Mr. Biya had reconciliation in mind? Are we unwilling to be reconciled that brutality and murder must be employed to win back our love? Let us not delude ourselves, these actions from Yaoundé are the instruments of war. And it is a war that if our enemy wins, our subjugation is ensured forever.

Many of you have been advocating peace and a return to the status quo. It is natural to shut out reality and indulge in illusions of optimism. One of the best ways to judge the future is by looking at the past. Looking at the past 59 years, what gives anyone any hope that French Cameroun would be able to engage in constructive discussions towards a peaceful resolution of our struggle? The regime in Yaoundé knows not peace and dialogue. Its currency is violence.

Where it is safe to do so, the Interim Government is advocating for community schooling whilst the new Secretary of state for the Department of Education will work with international partners to facilitate schooling on online educational platforms and international communities where possible.

Chiefs and Fons must know that they remain the traditional fathers of our nation and must avoid being political footballs of our enemy. As traditional leaders, Fons and Chiefs have a special standing in the Ambazonian structure. Consequently, they must now stand with their people. Many traditional rulers did not take part in the regional elections, and on behalf of the nation, I want to thank them for their wisdom and courage.

This week, President Paul Biya of French Cameroon in his speech to his nation, spoke of the Republic of Cameroun, thus confirming to the world that we are two separate nations.  Let us rise this year with greater readiness and stand with greater determination to confirm our freedom. With regards to the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations, Ambazonia Intelligence Service (AIS) has briefed the Interim Government on sophisticated new strategies that would be employed to defend our national interest. We have informed French Cameroun and nations participating in this tournament that any attempt to bring its activities to Ambazonia would be considered a deliberate violation of our sovereignty, and our response will be prompt and definite. 

Today, I will be announcing a bold and ambitious program to deliver our freedom. We intend to restore security and confidence to our communities. If there is one message that comes through loud and clear over the last three years, it is that the overwhelming majority of Ambazonians are in support of this struggle. This plan re-strategizes and refocuses our struggle with clear actionable and achievable goals in 2021. This plan will focus on Defense, Diplomacy, Humanitarian, Finance, and Communication. Details of this plan will be made available in hard copies.

DEFENCE

The Responsibility to Protect populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing has emerged as an important global principle since its unanimous adoption at the UN World Summit in 2005.This Interim Government from this day of 2021, will be rolling out an innovative and dynamic plan to ruthlessly adhere to its Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Ambazonia.

We would be bold and resolute in taking our territory by launching OPERATION CAPHOT aka THE BIG RUBBER GUN. This operation specifically provides equipment and prepares our Restoration Forces for the next phase of this revolution. The Interim Government will build the necessary capacity through training and supply of sophisticated equipment to our Restoration Forces to reclaim, defend our territory, and protect our population.

DIPLOMACY

The Interim Government must continue efforts to establish concrete diplomatic breakthroughs with friendly and sympathetic governments. On Friday, 1 January 2021, US Senate Resolution 684 was passed calling on the government of La Republique du Cameroun to respect human rights and pursue genuinely inclusive dialogue towards ending the crisis between our nations. The Resolution was robust and a move in the right direction. We shall continue to explore all diplomatic tools available to us over the next twelve months. I want to register my appreciation to our comrades in the US who worked tirelessly to get this resolution to the Senate floor.

HUMANITARIAN

To focus and bring international awareness to the plight of our refugees, we have decided to create a separate humanitarian organization to coordinate with all private humanitarian initiatives for maximum impact. I am announcing the creation of the REKINDLE HOPE OUTREACH to engage the international donor community. The Interim Government can now state without equivocation that the plight of our refugees will be on the front pages and editorial boards of mainstream media in 2021.

DEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS

The Department of Home Affairs has worked on advancing our cause by developing Data Management Portals. The CR20 – Ambazonia Citizen Registration and Census Portal aims to present Ambazonians with a user-friendly system to capture and manage the data of Ambazonians across the globe in preparation for a possible referendum. The AR21 – Ambazonia Refugee Portal has been developed to manage the records of refugees and IDPs on G0, G1, G2. The system will enhance the work of our leadership and promote the operations of civil society organizations operating in these communities to give our refugees and IDPs the dignity they deserve.

FINANCE

We have worked hard to re-establish trust with credible institutions like the Bank of Ambazonia. The Chairman of the Transitional Restoration Council announced last year that a group of patriotic Ambazonians agreed to fund a complete and independent audit of the Ambazonian Foundation and Ambazonia Consulting Inc, two organizations that were responsible for mobilizing funds since the creation of the Interim Government.

The IG, in compliance with that audit request, ordered the Secretary of State for Economy and Finance to release all the information and documents necessary to facilitate and complete this process. Mr. Tabenyang Etchu has complied and submitted all the documents and is reporting to the independent auditor. I will call on all those who were involved with these two organizations to comply with the independent auditor so we can have closure on this matter that undermined trust in our structure.

The killing of our people has not stopped because of the mismanagement of prior resources. We must continue funding the prosecution of our fight for independence. The launching of OPERATION CAPHOT and the strengthening of our payment platforms will mark a new beginning backed by thorough accountability of the funds that will be raised. We respect those who want to remain anonymous and will provide secure channels for them to continue funding the revolution. To our most loyal and committed donors, we say thank you and promise to get it right as we have learned from the past.

COMMUNICATIONS

The Interim Government has decided to bring in an external professional firm with a global presence in 2021. I am excited to announce to you that, we have engaged the Services of a Media Relations PRfirm to work with us and improve our visibility in the global mainstream media.

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

The Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) is 45 000 sq km and has an estimated population of eight million people. It is bounded to the west and north by Nigeria, to the east by Cameroun, and to the south by Equatorial Guinea. This erstwhile UN Trust Territory under UK administration is the aggrieved victim of a bungled decolonization by the UN and the UK.

As a direct consequence of that incomplete decolonization, the Southern Cameroons finds itself under colonial annexation, occupation, oppression, spoliation, and a war of extermination by the adjacent French vassal state of Cameroun. This humiliation and indignity are unacceptable. The decolonization of the Southern Cameroons must be completed by the UN and the UK as a matter of international law and obligation. Decolonization is the only alternative to colonization.

The objective of the ongoing national liberation struggle of the people of the Southern Cameroons, under Cameroun’s hideous and ravaging colonial occupation and exploitation, is clear. The objective is to take back control of their territory, their lives, and their destiny.

Anything else that apologists of colonialism, propagandists, and conspirators may say is nothing but deceit, intoxication, and distortion.  If there is one permanent thing in human society, it is change. The Southern Cameroons Incomplete Decolonisation Question is not the inconsequential matter of marginalization, deprivation, neglect, or patronage sinecures. It is a political question. It is a fundamental issue that concerns the very existence of a people, their survival, their sovereignty, their territory, their identity, their dignity, and their humanity. Colonial annexation and occupation, like apartheid, cannot be reformed. It cannot be endured in whatever guise it is camouflaged. It can only be eliminated.

To end the consequences of colonial annexation and occupation, a subjugated people must first seek the political kingdom, turn the annexation inside out and take absolute control of their own state of affairs and shape their destiny. No subjugated people anywhere in the world have ever enjoyed freedom and the benefits of development. No people, not even animals, willfully subject themselves to extinction. The purpose of the plebiscite was not to procure the extinction of the Southern Cameroons through a transfer of the trust territory to Cameroun Republic, itself a trust territory barely decolonised twelve months earlier, or to any other country.

There is no warrant for that under international law. The plebiscite was primarily a vote for independence (that is, freedom from UK rule and UN international tutelage), and secondarily, a vote for federal political association with Cameroun. The territory of the Southern Cameroons was to be politically linked to the territory of Cameroun but not to become part of the territory of Cameroun. The federal political association involved the linking of the two federated states (the Southern Cameroons/West Cameroon, and Cameroun Republic/East Cameroun) at the level of the Federal Government, and not one federated state absorbing the other.  In legal terms, the Federation involved a dovetailing rather than a supersession of legal orders.

The restoration of the independence and statehood of the Southern Cameroons is legitimate and consistent with international law.  Any person, state, or organisation propagating the colonial apology and falsehood that the territory of the Southern Cameroons is part of the territory of Cameroun is hereby challenged to exhibit to the world at large the legal instrument by which Cameroun purportedly acquired title to the territory of the Southern Cameroons, when and how it did it. It is the historic duty of the people of the Southern Cameroons to leave a rich legacy for their descendants. 

No nation is born great. It is the citizens who through diligence, hard work, creativity, innovation and inventiveness, and patriotism make their nation great. All free nations and free peoples of the world are governed under a democratic constitution that they have framed and given to themselves.

TO THE PEOPLE OF LRC

Our peace is your peace and prosperity. There will be no tranquility in French Cameroun until the Southern Cameroons is free. Our quest for freedom will continue to shake the foundations of your homeland until justice emerges for our nation. Your government must commit to peace between our two nations and it must find a way to work with the constituted authority of Ambazonia.

The move that was made by the regime in Yaoundé in July 2020 by engaging with President Ayuk Tabe and other leaders in detention was commendable and a step in the right direction. We shall never negotiate out of fear but never fear to negotiate. States are made legitimate by people and the domination of La Republique du Cameroun over the Southern Cameroons ended on 1 October 2017.  As a people, we have the right to freely determine our international status and we reject the notion of returning to the status quo. 

DIASPORA

Fellow Southern Cameroonians in the diaspora, Millions of people have put their faith in the Interim Government and support our President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, and his vision for our nation. We cannot afford to let them down. We have become the prey of a hostile nation, but we must remain masters of our own house. United, there is little we cannot do. Divided, there is little we can do. Our Defense and Intelligence community ask only for your dedication and funds. If our self-defense forces are to succeed, it is vital that their equipment and training are the best. That is why we are moving ahead with OPERATION CAPHOT aka THE BIG RUBBER GUN

The last three years have exposed the incompetence in Yaoundé. It will take more than platitudes from Yaoundé to erase the memory of years of neo-colonial vandalism and genocide upon our people. That is why we did not engage in their so-called HD initiative. Many of us were born in hardship and abuse but have been groomed in civility. We are proud of our roots and are unwilling to accept subjugation anymore. Let the regime in Yaoundé and France know that we shall pay any price and meet any hardship to succeed. This much, the diaspora must pledge.

Fellow Ambazonians, this war for independence is worth it. In the end, we intend to build a Southern Cameroons where children are given a chance to reach their full potential irrespective of their background. A prosperous and peace-loving nation is our goal. That is the future and vision that our leader Sisiku Ayuk Tabe has. I am humbled by the support that millions of Southern Cameroonians have placed in the Interim Government at this challenging moment.

If we in this generation, cannot deliver freedom for our nation, we all would be guilty of betrayal. Now the trumpet summons us again as a call to donate financially and sacrifice our energy to this struggle against tyranny and oppression.

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the opportunity of achieving freedom. Let us welcome this responsibility rather than shrink from it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other generation.

My Fellow Ambazonians, your time to deliver freedom is now. I am ready. Are you ready?

If you are, come with me on this journey of Operation CAPHOT and Operation REKINDLE HOPE OUTREACH.

Stay safe during this pandemic.

God bless you.

God bless the Federal Republic of Ambazonia

Vice President

Dabney Yerima

Cameroon soldiers in Central African Republic: Peacekeepers abroad, but killers at home

3, January 2021

Cameroon soldiers in Central African Republic: Peacekeepers abroad, but killers at home 0

A Cameroonian soldier serving with the MINUSCA mission was killed over the weekend after his car crashed in the Central African Republic, the UN mission to the country (MINUSCA) has confirmed.

There is ongoing engagement within the mission and with mission commanders to ensure that rotations can take place as close as possible to the original planned dates in accordance with the directives of the UN secretary general.

Peacekeepers serve in harsh conditions and at great personal risk. Tragically some make the ultimate sacrifice.

The incident is another example of the risks that Cameroonian peacekeepers face in their engagement in the Central African Republic often at the risk of their lives.

MINUSCA currently has nearly 13,000 uniformed personnel serving the country’s five-year-old peacekeeping mission, aiming to restore security, and provide support for human rights efforts, following years of political upheaval in the Central African Republic.

However, the same military that is seeking to engineer peace in faraway Central African Republic is the same military that is killing its own citizens back home with impunity.

In the country’s northern region, army soldiers are killing young men and women under the guise of fighting Boko Haram insurgents.

In 2018, it took a BBC investigation for the government of Cameroon to admit that its soldiers were killing its own citizens indiscriminately when a video of how a woman and her baby were gunned down point blank by power-drunk soldiers.

Initially, the corrupt Yaounde government claimed that those soldiers were Malian soldiers, adding that the military fatigue and landscape were not Cameroonian.

But superior BBC technology clearly demonstrated that the government of Cameroon was replete with liars, criminals and assasins who would stop at nothing when it comes to sticking around the corridors of power.

But it is in Southern Cameroons that the country’s military has, indeed, demonstrated that it is an army of butchers.

Since 2016 when the country’s English-speaking minority started complaining about marginalization, some 6,000 Southern Cameroonians have been butchered by the thugs who make up the country’s military.

In certain cases, like in Kwakwa, army soldiers have killed old people in their homes as they resorted to a policy of scorch earth designed to intimidate the insurgents.

But their destructive and inhuman actions in many Southern Cameroonian towns and cities have only radicalized many, making it impossible for the military to bring about a fast, conclusive and emphatic victory it thought it would achieve in two weeks.

In Santa and Ngarbuh, the military clearly demonstrated for the international community to see that it had savages in its mist.

In Santa, the country’s territorial administration minister, Paul Atanga Nji, an ex-convict and a con man, engineered the slaughtering of 26 young men, hoping that the truth will not be found and the local population would rise up against the professionally trained Southern Cameroonian fighters.

His Machiavelian scheme fell flat on its face and the world condemned, in no uncertain terms, the brutality of the government.

But it was in Ngarbuh that Atanga Nji’s primitive bestiality was witnessed by the international community when 23 women and children were slaughtered by their own government just to prove a point.

The world reacted swiftly and its condemnation of such primitive behavior was fast. Again, the wretched and inhuman government falsely alleged that the killing of pregnant women and babies in Ngarbuh was the handiwork of Southern Cameroonian fighters.

The truth never hides. Once the pressure of the international community kicked in, the chronically corrupt government once more admitted that its unholy operations in that region were responsible for the deaths of 23 innocent women and children.

This is a government that is wont to speaking from both sides of its mouth. It is a government that sees the truth as a foreign concept. Its love of violence and falsehood has made it hard for genuine peace to return to Southern Cameroons.

It is, indeed, a miracle to see that the wild animals that make up Cameroon’s military are even sent to keep peace in foreign countries.

If their performance abroad is commendable, it is purely because they are guided by international law and the United Nations has a reliable surveillance system that ensures that those serving in its missions conduct themselves in a particular way.

Generally, Cameroonian soldiers cannot be trusted to engineer peace in any part of the world. They are a mirror image of the wicked and violent (mis)leaders who have simply outsourced violence to them. The world needs to keep a special eye on the Cameroon army.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Federal Republic of Ambazonia: Vice President Yerima to address nation

3, January 2021

Federal Republic of Ambazonia: Vice President Yerima to address nation 0

In the boldest repositioning since the start of the Ambazonian revolution, VP Dabney Yerima will be announcing three new policies later this evening. In his address, the exiled leader is expected to call on his people to be bold and adopt the responsibility to protect as a creed to shield their people and nation from the French Cameroun CPDM crime syndicate.

In his speech to the nation, the exiled Ambazonian leader would say “Today January 3, 2021, is two days away from the 3rd anniversary of the abduction of our leader President Julius Ayuk Tabe, and 11 of his associates at the NERA Hotel in Nigeria in a flagrant disregard of international law”. The Ambazonian leader would call on his people to stay focused in the months ahead and trust in the IG’s new course of action.

The Ambazonian Vice President will appeal to all Southern Cameroonians to remain calm in the face of xenophobic attacks sponsored by the regime in Yaoundé. He will say “the December outbreak of xenophobic violence in Fako County sponsored by rogue Chief Monja Monja, is one of the low points of a gloomy year.”

The speech is expected to be watched by an estimated 900,000 and will see the exiled leader rally the nation for a huge advance towards freedom. VP Yerima will also speak of unity observing that “The question in front of our nation during our lifetime is one of independence or extinction” and he will add that “this is a war that if our enemy wins, our subjugation is ensured forever.”

On the issue of the forthcoming African Cup of Nations, the Ambazonian Vice President will be strong and unequivocal with the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé and the tournament’s organizers.

With the Ambazonian struggle into its fourth year, the exiled leader will call on his country’s diaspora to support his new project aimed at supplying sophisticated equipment to the nation’s self-defence forces. He will say “Let the regime in Yaoundé and France know that we shall pay any price and meet any hardship to succeed. This much, the diaspora must pledge.”

The speech which is rich in content and bold on policy will be delivered live at 8pm Amba Time today 3 January 2021 on SCBC TV, Facebook, YouTube, Android and IOS app and Apple TV. It is expected to be followed by a panel discussion with five of the brightest minds in the Southern Cameroons political story.

By Isong Asu with files from VP Dabney Yerima’s Communication and Strategy Team

Niger: Scores killed in suspected militant attacks

3, January 2021

Niger: Scores killed in suspected militant attacks 0

At least 70 civilians in Niger were killed by suspected militants on Saturday, in the latest attacks to rock the landlocked Sahel nation’s troubled western Tillaberi region, security sources said.

About 49 villagers were killed and 17 people wounded in the village of Tchombangou, said a security source, who requested anonymity.

“The attackers came to surround the village and killed up to 50 people. The wounded were taken to Ouallam hospital,” a local radio station journalist said on condition of anonymity.

A second source, a senior official in Niger’s interior ministry who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said that around 30 other villagers had been killed in the village of Zaroumdareye.

Niger’s government was not immediately available to comment.

The attacks took place as election officials announced results for the first round of Niger’s presidential vote that put ruling party candidate and former government minister Mohamed Bazoum in the clear lead, with a runoff set for next month.

The vast and unstable Tillaberi region is located in the so-called tri-border area, a jihadist-plagued zone where the porous borders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso converge.

Four thousand people across the three nations died in 2019 from jihadist violence and ethnic bloodshed stirred by Islamists, according to the UN.

Seven Nigerien soldiers were killed in an ambush in Tillaberi on December 21.

Niger is also being hammered by jihadists from Nigeria, the cradle of a decade-old insurgency launched by Boko Haram.

Last month 34 villagers were massacred in the southeastern region of Diffa, on the Nigerian border, the day before municipal and regional elections that had been repeatedly delayed because of poor security.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)

Red cards as Uganda hold Cameroon in CHAN warm-up

3, January 2021

Red cards as Uganda hold Cameroon in CHAN warm-up 0

Uganda drew 1-1 with host country Cameroon in a fiery African Nations Championship (CHAN) warm-up match despite having a player sent off after only 12 minutes.

Ben Ocen was shown a straight red card following his reckless challenge on Alfred Meyong at Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, the 42,500-capacity national stadium in Yaounde.

Cameroon went ahead through Banga Bindjelme just a minute after Uganda were reduced to 10 men, but Milton Karisa levelled on 70 minutes and the home side had Basile Yamkam red-carded in the final minute.

Cameroon will face Niger and Zambia in other friendly matches as the central African nation prepares to host a major Confederation of African Football (CAF) male tournament for the first time since 1972.

The Nations Championship kicks off on January 16 in Yaounde with a Group A clash between Cameroon and Zimbabwe, and Burkina Faso and Mali meet later in the second half of a double-header.

Group winners and runners-up advance to the quarter-finals of a tournament reserved for footballers playing in their country of birth.

Source: France 24

Nations introduce lockdowns, curfews and school closures to fight Covid-19 resurgence

3, January 2021

Nations introduce lockdowns, curfews and school closures to fight Covid-19 resurgence 0

Countries across the world tightened restrictions on their populations Saturday to fight a resurgence in the coronavirus, as the European Union offered to help drug companies expand vaccine production to improve distribution “bottlenecks”.

From local curfews to alcohol bans and complete lockdowns, governments are trying to tackle a surge in cases.

The coronavirus has killed more than 1.8 million people globally since emerging in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.

But experts fear the worst is yet to come, predicting a sharp rise in infections and deaths after weeks of holiday gatherings.

French police booked hundreds of New Year revellers Saturday for flouting anti-Covid measures at an illegal rave.

In Bangkok, the city’s nightlife shut down following a ban on bars, nightclubs and restaurant alcohol sales, among a raft of restrictions aimed at curbing the kingdom’s rising virus toll.

Public schools in the Thai capital are to close for two weeks.

An outbreak last month at a seafood market has led to a resurgence of the virus in Thailand, with infections detected in 53 of the kingdom’s 77 provinces.

In Tokyo, the city’s governor on Saturday asked Japan’s government to declare a new state of emergency as the country battles a third wave, with record numbers of new cases.

And South Korea extended its anti-virus curbs until January 17 in the greater Seoul area, including a ban on gatherings of more than four people, which will be widened to cover the whole country.

Vaccine race

The soaring number of infections around the world means the race to vaccinate is set to dominate the coming year.

Delays in getting the vaccines in Europe were not the fault of the European Union, said the bloc’s health commissioner Stella Kyriakides.

“The bottleneck at the moment is not the volume of orders but the worldwide shortage of production capacity,” she said.

The bloc would help drug companies in their efforts to expand production, she added.

“The situation will improve step by step.”

India on Saturday staged nationwide drills to start one of the world’s biggest coronavirus vaccination programmes as its drug regulator prepared to approve the AstraZeneca-Oxford University shot.

In the United States, the vaccination programme has been beset by logistical problems, while the world’s worst-hit country on Friday passed 20 million cases.

The US has seen a worrying surge in coronavirus infections in recent months and on Saturday saw its highest number yet recorded in one day, with more than 277,000.

In Russia, health minister Mikhail Murashko said more than 800,000 people had received the domestically produced Sputnik V vaccine and that 1.5 million doses had been distributed throughout the country of around 147 million.

The Kremlin has held back on imposing nationwide virus restrictions, instead placing its hopes on the mass vaccination drive to end the pandemic and save its struggling economy.

The French government, facing the threat of a new wave of Covid-19 infections, lengthened an overnight curfew by two hours in parts of the country to help combat the virus.

The curfew will start at 6:00 pm, rather than 8:00 pm in parts of France, mainly in the country’s east. Paris has, for now, been spared the additional restriction.

‘We had to party’

The new French restrictions came as police booked more than 1,200 revellers Saturday when an illegal rave in northwestern France finally ended after more than two days of partying that saw clashes with police.

Around 800 of them were booked for flouting anti-virus measures, and the regional health authority in Brittany noted a “high risk of the spread of Covid-19” at the event.

“We knew what we were risking… we had to party, for a year everything has been stuck,” said a 20-year-old waitress.

Spanish police broke up another gathering Saturday near Barcelona, where 300 people had been partying for more than 40 hours.

And footballers were also among those caught breaking the rules, with Tottenham’s Erik Lamela, Sergio Reguilon and Giovani Lo Celso to be disciplined after a picture emerged of them attending a large party.

Norway, which has one of the lowest infection rates in Europe, on Saturday began requiring Covid-19 tests upon arrival into the country, after finding five cases of a new coronavirus variant that first emerged in Britain.

Denmark discovered 86 cases of the new variant, which is believed to be more contagious, while Vietnam also detected the strain.

The tiny British enclave of Gibraltar, off Spain, went into a 14-day lockdown Saturday. Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said the virus was spreading “more quickly than we can control it”.

Greece has extended until January 10 its strict two-month lockdown measures, ending an easing of restrictions over the holiday period.

In Lebanon, medics warned that hospitals are being overwhelmed by coronavirus cases, in the wake of end-of-year holidays.

But in Australia, the finishing touches were being put on a glitzy show at the Sydney Opera House Saturday, as the venue prepared to host an opera crowd for the first time since March following a virus hiatus.

Source: AFP

Football: Paris Saint-Germain name Mauricio Pochettino as new coach

2, January 2021

Football: Paris Saint-Germain name Mauricio Pochettino as new coach 0

French champions Paris St Germain have named former Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino as their new head coach after sacking Thomas Tuchel, with the Argentine signing a deal until June 2022, the Ligue 1 club said on Saturday.

Pochettino, who played for PSG as a defender in the early 2000s and also captained the side, has been out of a job since being dismissed by Spurs in November 2019, a few months after guiding the north London club to the Champions League final.

The 48-year-old Argentine said he was honoured to take on the role and that the Parisian club “has always held a special place in my heart”.

“I return to the club today with a lot of ambition and humility, and am eager to work with some of the world’s most talented players,” Pochettino, who has an option for a one-year extension in his contract, said in a statement.

“This team has fantastic potential and my staff and I will do everything we can to get the best for Paris Saint-Germain in all competitions.

“We will also do our utmost to give our team the combative and attacking playing identity that Parisian fans have always loved.”

Pochettino’s first game in charge will be a trip to St Etienne on Jan. 6 when the league resumes following the winter break.

PSG have 35 points from 17 games, one point behind league leaders Olympique Lyonnais and Lille, and are through to the last 16 of the Champions League where they face Spanish side Barcelona.

“The return of Mauricio fits perfectly with our ambitions and it will be another exciting chapter for the club and one I am positive the fans will enjoy,” PSG chairman and CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi said.

“With the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino, Paris Saint-Germain is committed to continue to build and move the club forward over the coming years.”

Tuchel, 47, was appointed PSG boss in 2018 and guided them to two Ligue 1 titles along with a domestic quadruple in his second season at the club.

The German, who led PSG to the Champions League final in August which they lost to Bayern Munich, was dismissed on Christmas eve following a 4-0 win over Racing Strasbourg with the side sitting third in the league standings.

PSG confirmed they had terminated his contract on Tuesday. Pochettino will take his first training session on Sunday.

Source: REUTERS

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