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Southern Cameroons War: Minister Atanga Nji cannot cross a bridge he destroyed

20, August 2020

Southern Cameroons War: Minister Atanga Nji cannot cross a bridge he destroyed 0

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government Dabney Yerima says French Cameroun Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji will again fail in new push to destabilize the Ambazonia resistance.

In a correspondence addressed on Tuesday, August 18, 2020 to the Francophone Governors of the two Southern Cameroons zones, the so-called Minister of Territorial Administration set out preconditions for the people of Ambazonia to acquire farming tools such as machetes, shovels, diggers and spades which the Yaounde based comedian claimed are often used by Ambazonia Restoration Forces to perpetrate killings.

Paul Atanga Nji observed that the escalation of violence and killings recorded in recent days in Southern Cameroons through the exacerbated use of edged weapons, has forced the French Cameroun authorities to pound their fists on the table.

The Paul Atanga Nji letter made public on Tuesday 18 August 2020 was sent to the Governors of the North-West region, Adolphe Lele Lafrique, and the South-West region, Bernard Okalia Bilai, to restrict the sale and use of farming tools.

The French Cameroun surrogate Paul Atanga Nji wanted by the Special Criminal Court in Yaoundé for corruption and fraud during his tenure at Post Bank also enacted preconditions to be met in order to acquire these objects from any shop in Southern Cameroons.

“By way of illustration, any person wishing to acquire a machete must obtain prior agreement from a Sub-prefect of his area of residence, and provide proof of an agricultural activity before any acquisition in a hardware store or a shop; the seller must identify the buyer, retain his telephone number, and obtain the location of his residence, not without requiring him to show his National Identity Card” Atanga Nji said in his ministerial order.

“French Cameroun is no longer a part of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia and the use of its colonial mechanism in Southern Cameroons has all been outlawed by President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe” Dabney Yerima told an Ambazonian think tank in Holland on Wednesday.

After the recent coup in Mali, the Biya French Cameroun regime is seeking to give the impression that it is in control of activities in Southern Cameroons by claiming that French and Southern Cameroons are one political entity.

This Biya Francophone regime’s new push comes after its military violence have failed to deliver the goods and the regime now uses young girls as spies and they have succeeded on several occasions to infiltrate the ranks of the Ambazonia Restoration Forces. An approach that has led to the death of many Southern Cameroons Self Defense fighters!

Restoration forces, for their part, have been sending a clear message to those who betray the revolution. Last week, a young lady was hacked to death in Muyuka, a town in the country’s southwest region where the insurgency has taken root. She had been accused of flirting with and spying for the military, an allegation that has been confirmed by the Cameroon Concord News Group correspondent in Muyuka.

Corruption, mismanagement and dictatorship have become French Cameroun’s hallmarks, with the country’s ruling party considering itself as the government.

The Southern Cameroons Vice President also expressed the Interim Government’s resolve to keep standing, with all power, against French Cameroun.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

African Union suspends Mali’s membership as international community condemns coup

20, August 2020

African Union suspends Mali’s membership as international community condemns coup 0

Military coup leaders in Mali faced a barrage of condemnation on Wednesday from international powers, with the African Union suspending the country’s membership a day after mutinying soldiers detained President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita following months of protests against his rule.

The chorus of disapproval included statements from the African Union (AU), the European Union and the United States demanding that the military leaders release Keita, Prime Minister Boubou Cisse and other officials detained on Tuesday.

Keita – under pressure from months of protests over economic stagnation, corruption and a continuing Islamist insurgency – said in a televised address hours after he was detained that coup leaders had given him no choice but to resign.

Jubilant crowds cheered the rebels as they arrived in central Bamako on Tuesday. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Bamako since June calling for Keita to resign over what they say are his failures to address security and economic woes.

Mali coup ‘diplomatic nightmare for France’

The mutinous soldiers who staged the coup, who have called themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, have promised a transition to civil political rule with elections to be held in a “reasonable amount of time”. In the meantime they have closed the country’s borders and announced a curfew.

A spokesman for the junta, Ismael Wague, said France’s anti-jihadist Barkhane force and the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali as well as forces from neighbouring countries were “partners for stability and restoring security”.

However, France and other international powers as well as the AU have denounced the mutiny, fearful that the fall of Keita could further destabilise the former French colony and West Africa’s entire Sahel region.

The AU has suspended Mali’s membership in response to the military’s seizure of power and the detention of the president, the bloc announced in a tweet on Wednesday. The suspension will last until constitutional order is restored, it said, demanding the release of the deposed president and other senior officials.

The current chairman of the AU, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, called for the “immediate return to civilian rule”.

An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council convened on Wednesday condemned the mutiny and urged the soldiers to release all detained government officials without delay. The 15 members “underlined the urgent need to restore rule of law and to move towards the return to constitutional order”, according to a statement.

‘Unconstitutional’

The influential West African regional bloc ECOWAS said it was sending a high-level delegation to “ensure the immediate return to constitutional order”. The 15-nation bloc – which includes Mali – also said that it would suspend the country from its internal decision-making bodies.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that “the fight against terrorist groups and the defence of democracy and the rule of law are inseparable”, referring to the situation in Mali.

“To leave is to provoke instability and to weaken our fight. It is not acceptable,” the French president wrote on Twitter, calling for power to be “returned to civilians,” for “milestones (to be) laid for a return to constitutional order” and for the Malian president and his prime minister to be freed.

French troops have been fighting in the country since 2013, after Mali asked it to help regain territory seized by Islamist extremists who had hijacked a Touareg rebellion in the country’s northern desert regions the previous year.

The French military succeeded in this initial task – but the jihadist insurgency has since spread throughout Mali and across the border to Niger and Burkina Faso.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced Keita’s overthrow in a statement on Wednesday. “The United States strongly condemns the August 18 mutiny in Mali as we would condemn any forcible seizure of power,” he said. “The freedom and safety of detained government officials and their families must be ensured.”

The EU condemned the events in Mali as “unconstitutional”.

“The European Union condemns the attempted coup d’état under way in Mali and rejects all unconstitutional change,” the bloc’s diplomatic chief, Josep Borrell, said in a statement Tuesday.

Neighbouring Algeria has also rejected the coup. “Algeria reiterates its firm rejection of any anti-constitutional change of government,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. It said Algeria was following with “concern” developments in Mali, with which it shares an almost 1,400-kilometre (850-mile) border.

Morocco also reacted to the coup on Wednesday, stressing the need for “stability” in Mali, calling for “responsible dialogue, respect for constitutional order and the preservation of democratic gains.”

In a statement shortly after the coup Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Malians to protect their democratic institutions and called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of Mali’s president.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on the events later on Wednesday.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)

US Politics: Kamala Harris accepts VP nomination

20, August 2020

US Politics: Kamala Harris accepts VP nomination 0

US Senator Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president on Wednesday, imploring the country to elect Joe Biden president and accusing Donald Trump of failed leadership that had cost lives and livelihoods.

The first Black woman and Asian-American on a major US presidential ticket, Harris summarized her life story as emblematic of the American dream on the third day of the Democratic National Convention.

“Donald Trump’s failure of leadership has cost lives and livelihoods,” Harris said.

Former US President Barack Obama told the convention Trump’s failures as his successor had led to 170,000 people dead from the coronavirus, millions of lost jobs and America’s reputation badly diminished in the world.

The evening featured a crush of women headliners, moderators and speakers, with Harris pressing the case against Trump, speaking directly to millions of women, young Americans and voters of color, constituencies Democrats need if Biden is to defeat the Republican Trump.

“The constant chaos leaves us adrift, the incompetence makes us feel afraid, the callousness makes us feel alone. It’s a lot. And here’s the thing: we can do better and deserve so much more,” she said.

“Right now, we have a president who turns our tragedies into political weapons. Joe will be a president who turns our challenges into purpose,” she said, speaking from an austere hotel ballroom in Biden’s hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.

Biden ahead in polls

Biden leads Trump in opinion polls ahead of the Nov. 3 election, bolstered by a big lead among women voters. Throughout the convention, Democrats have appealed directly to those women voters, highlighting Biden’s co-sponsorship of the landmark Violence Against Woman Act of 1994 and his proposals to bolster childcare and protect family healthcare provisions.

Obama, whose vice president was Biden from 2009-2017, said he had hoped that Trump would take the job seriously, come to feel the weight of the office, and discover a reverence for American democracy.

“Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t. And the consequences of that failure are severe,” Obama said in unusually blunt criticism from an ex-president.

“Millions of jobs gone. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before,” Obama said.

The choice of a running mate has added significance for Biden, 77, who would be the oldest person to become president if he is elected. His age has led to speculation he will serve only one term, making Harris a potential top contender for the nomination in 2024.

Biden named Harris, 55, as his running mate last week to face incumbents Trump, 74, and Vice President Mike Pence, 61.

Former first lady and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee who lost to Trump, told the convention she constantly hears from voters who regret backing Trump or not voting at all.

“This can’t be another woulda coulda shoulda election.” Clinton said. “No matter what, vote. Vote like our lives and livelihoods are on the line, because they are.”

Clinton, who won the popular vote against Trump but lost in the Electoral College, said Biden needs to win overwhelmingly, warning he could win the popular vote but still lose the White House.

“Joe and Kamala can win by 3 million votes and still lose,” Clinton said. “Take it from me. So we need numbers overwhelming so Trump can’t sneak or steal his way to victory.”

Democrats have been alarmed by Trump’s frequent criticism of mail-in voting, and by cost-cutting changes at the US Postal Service instituted by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump supporter, that could delay mail during the election crunch. DeJoy said recently he would delay those changes until after the election.

Democrats also broadcast videos highlighting Trump’s crackdown on immigration, opposition to gun restrictions and his decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord.

‘Disrespect’ for facts, for women

Nancy Pelosi, the first woman Speaker of the US House of Representatives, told the convention she had seen firsthand Trump’s “disrespect for facts, for working families, and for women in particular – disrespect written into his policies toward our health and our rights, not just his conduct. But we know what he doesn’t: that when women succeed, America succeeds.”

US Senator Elizabeth Warren, a leading progressive who ran against Biden in the 2020 primary, spoke to the convention from a childcare center in Massachusetts and cited Biden’s proposal to make childcare more affordable as a vital part of his agenda to help working Americans.

“It’s time to recognize that childcare is part of the basic infrastructure of this nation — it’s infrastructure for families,” she said. “Joe and Kamala will make high-quality childcare affordable for every family, make preschool universal, and raise the wages for every childcare worker.”

In her speech later, Harris will have an opportunity to outline her background as a child of immigrants from India and Jamaica who as a district attorney, state attorney general, US senator from California and now vice-presidential candidate shattered gender and racial barriers.

She gained prominence in the Senate for her exacting interrogations of Trump nominees, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Attorney General Bill Barr.

The Republican National Convention, also largely virtual, takes place next week.

Source: REUTERS

Makossa: Marthe Zambo at death’s door amid a battle with diabetes

19, August 2020

Makossa: Marthe Zambo at death’s door amid a battle with diabetes 0

Renowned Cameroonian musician Marthe Zambo is suffering from chronic diabetes and does not have the means to afford medication including paying her rents. Marthe Zambo made her current plight public in an interview with state radio and television CRTV on Wednesday, August 19, 2020.

The Makossa icon has lost weight and after numerous signals she incessantly flashed out to her fans all over the world, it is now evidently clear the woman with the nightingale voice is simply waiting to die.

The singer’s setbacks don’t only stop with her illness and her inability to foot her medical bills. In the next few days, she could be evicted from her home for unpaid rents.

 “I have too many problems. We call it Nanga Boko in our local Cameroonian parlance!  I don’t know where to go from here! I’m left to myself. I can’t pay my rents anymore,” she confessed.

It is vital to include in this report that on Saturday, August 17, 2019, Marthe Zambo and the late Mama Nguea, who died of diabetes, had received financial support from the Ministry of Culture following an appeal for help that the two artists had launched at the time. But it would appear that the token from the Biya regime was not enough to enable Marthe Zambo to take care of her basic needs.

By Rita Akana

Ambazonia Interim Gov’t weighs in on unlawful arrest of Barrister Ayukotang

19, August 2020

Ambazonia Interim Gov’t weighs in on unlawful arrest of Barrister Ayukotang 0

On Monday, 17 August 2020 at about 6pm, Barrister Ayukotang Ndep Nkongho, a member of the Interim Government of Ambazonia defence team was unlawfully arrested and is being detained at the gendarmerie station in Limbe ever since.

Barrister Ayukotang was commissioned to ascertain the facts surrounding the assassination of Bessem Blandine and two other children in Tiko, Fako County. The minors were shot by La Republique du Cameroun military while hunting for snails around their homes on Wednesday 12 August 2020. The Interim Government of Ambazonia has been briefed that the man of law had visited the parents of the executed minor and one of the injured who had a lucky escape from the attack. We are aware that he had gathered significant facts before his unlawful arrest.

As a government, the safety and security of our people and their legal representatives is our foremost concern. The Interim Government of Ambazonia through its legal representatives in Ambazonia and French Cameroun has made a formal request to the regime in Yaoundé to release Barrister Ayukotang Ndep Nkongho without delay. We must bring pressure to bear on the French Cameroun regime regarding this unacceptable harassment of members of the legal profession.

We face an enemy that is brutal and puts no value on life. The regime in Yaoundé has no respect for human rights, the rule of law, and international law.  The Interim Government of Ambazonia has today notified all international media organizations and our international partners about this unlawful arrest and detention of a member of the legal profession.

The Interim Government of Ambazonia will make regular updates on this matter and will continue to keep the international community informed on this matter.

   

Thank You

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

It will be in Biya’s best interest and legacy to talk to Sisiku Ayuk Tabe

19, August 2020

It will be in Biya’s best interest and legacy to talk to Sisiku Ayuk Tabe 0

A senior Southern Cameroons elite based in South Africa, Dr Patrick Ayuk has criticized the French Cameroun regime of President Paul Biya for sponsoring the arrest and forced extradition of the Ambazonian leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides from the Nigerian capital Abuja to Yaoundé saying it is in Paul Biya’s best interest to talk to the Southern Cameroons chief executive.

During a Cameroon Concord News Group event on Tuesday, Dr Patrick Ayuk opined on how the UN should intervene in the Ambazonia crisis and assist the two Cameroons move forward with several domestic and international issues, among them the terms of separation.

Dr Patrick Ayuk said the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé could have tried to fix what it viewed as the Anglophone problem with  the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a mediator instead of wasting millions of US dollars in staging an action now described by international actors as state terrorism.

One consequence of the Biya-Buhari Abuja blunder was the internationalization of the Southern Cameroons crisis, Dr Patrick Ayuk noted.

The Southern Cameroons academic who holds a PhD in Management and leadership from the North West University highlighted the devastating effect of the 4 year old war that is showing no signs of ending blaming it on failed and irresponsible leadership in French Cameroun and pointed out that only a UN Security Council resolution will be able to bring to a very important conclusion the crisis in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia.

The researcher at North West University and Founder and CEO of Global Leadership and Development Nexus also said the United Nations should thus return to the Milner-Simon Agreement as a means of restricting the casualties and preventing further conflict between the two Cameroons.

“I think it would be in Mr. Paul Biya’s best interest and his legacy to start talking to President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and to stop the senseless war that has radicalized thousands of Southern Cameroonians” Dr Patrick Ayuk added.

He, however, cast doubt on whether the Southern Cameroons Interim Government and its leadership would be receptive to that saying, “I think after Yaounde ignored the recommendations of the so-called Grand National Dialogue, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and the Ambazonia Interim Government may have moved on and adopted a tough position.”

Vice President Dabney Yerima of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government has increasingly signaled that he wants the United Nations to send a fact finding mission to the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Ambazonia: IG, Restoration Forces to adopt radical changes in approach to French Cameroun army

19, August 2020

Ambazonia: IG, Restoration Forces to adopt radical changes in approach to French Cameroun army 0

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government Dabney Yerima says the Federal Republic of Ambazonia and Ambazonia Restoration Forces will make some tough changes in approach to the French Cameroun occupying army after Yaounde’s recent massive arrest of innocent Southern Cameroonians in Muyuka.

“Recently, we are seeing all kinds of atrocities being committed by criminal gangs and the so-called Atanga Nji Boys in our homeland supported by the Biya French Cameroun child-killing regime, which is regrettable and calls for a firm response” Vice President Yerima said while briefing the cabinet about his decision to address a letter to the UN Secretary General Antonio Gutterres.

“The Ambazonian nation and its people including the Ambazonia Restoration Forces approach towards the French Cameroun occupying army will change drastically in the days ahead following its recent massive deployments in the Fako County and the arrest of hundreds of our young people in Muyuka” the Ambazonia Vice President  noted.

Comrade Dabney Yerima warned that Ambazonia Restoration Forces will no longer tolerate and would hold all Southern Cameroons CPDM elites accountable for the atrocities being committed by the Cameroon government military and the Atanga Nji Boys in Southern Cameroons.

“Mindful of the present circumstances that all right-thinking Southern Cameroonians all over the globe have express their hatred towards the Biya French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé, the activities of some Southern Cameroons political elites and traditional rulers who continue to work with the child-killing regime is a cause for great regret that require action” Yerima said.

The Ambazonia Vice President emphasized that it is not acceptable for any Southern Cameroons political elite or traditional ruler to continue to relate with Biya and his French Cameroun regime even after the 87 year old dictator completely rubbished what his own followers agreed during French Cameroun’s Grand National Dialogue.

Dabney Yerima wondered aloud why senior Southern Cameroons political elites could still be passing around as CPDM barons and agents after the French Cameroun regime has displaced, killed and imprisoned thousands of Southern Cameroonians and make it public via French Cameroun state radio and television CRTV and its sister publications including Vision 4 television channel.

By Isong Asu

Southern Cameroons War: UN Guterres Greenlighted Biya To Kill in Muyuka

19, August 2020

Southern Cameroons War: UN Guterres Greenlighted Biya To Kill in Muyuka 0

As more and more civilians have been killed by the Cameroon government of Paul Biya, absentee president for 37 years, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has been silent. And the UN Security Council has been failing, too.

Things have become so corrupt in the UN that August’s President of the UN Security Council, Indonesia banned Inner City Press from asking Cameroon questions at its Program of Work press conference.

On August 10 Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric, also violating quarantine, issued a rare for the UN statement on Cameroon – but one that has emboldened Biya and his army to kill more civilians. While refusing to answer Inner City Press’ written questions about the army’s abuses, Dujarric cited the “murder of a young woman in Muyuka in the South-West…We call on armed actors to refrain from attacks against civilians.”

Following this statement, on which Dujarric allowed no follow up questions from Inner City Press, Biya’s BIR has been burning down homes and killing entirely uninvolved civilians in Muyuka, and the UN has said nothing. These truly are Guterres’ murders.

 UK’s former UN Ambassador Karen Pierce, observed that  “Cameroon is not on the UN Security Council’s agenda, but there have been several serious discussions of events there, held at the UN. The UK has chaired ARRIA meetings on Cameroon and has also sponsored a resolution at the HRC.”

 Pro-Biya UNOCA Envoy Francois Fall continues to call “separarists” in British Southern Cameroons as ‘extremists.’

Culled from Inner City Press

Mali: Can Cameroon be the next?

19, August 2020

Mali: Can Cameroon be the next? 0

The Malian coup d’état of August 18, 2020, that flushed out the country’s former president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, has sent shock waves across the African continent, especially in Cameroon where the country’s authorities are also being accused of the same crimes and sins that brought about the humiliation of the Malian president.

Over the last five years, former president Keita and his collaborators had been accused of corruption, mismanagement and incompetence which had brought untold hardship to the hard working people of Mali, causing the military to intervene in order to clean up the mess.

But compared to the situation playing out in Cameroon, former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and his collaborators will surely be seen as saints. Their crimes pale in comparison to those committed by the Biya regime.

In Cameroon, corruption, mismanagement and dictatorship have become the country’s hallmarks, with the country’s ruling party considering itself as the government.

Mali has been dealing with Islamic terrorists for years and president Keita’s incompetence and inability to roll back the terrorists caused the population to see him as a square peg in a round hole.

In Cameroon, the country’s president, Paul Biya, is not only a square peg in a round hole, he is a dead square peg in a huge round hole that has been swallowing up the country’s limited financial resources.

Cameroon too has been dealing with a challenging insurgency in the country’s two English-speaking regions of the country for four years and this conflict is costing the country a pretty penny.

For close to four years, the country’s English-speaking minority has taken on the government, accusing it of marginalization and discrimination.

The conflict has hurt the country’s economy with many state-owned corporations located in the two English-speaking regions of the country winding up due to constant attacks of their facilities by restoration forces.

Rather than seek to address the issues that triggered the fighting, the country’s authorities have instead opted to play the ostrich, hoping that time would help them address the issues.

Over the last four years, the country’s military which is supposed to protect the country’s population has been killing civilians and burning homes in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

Thousands of Southern Cameroonians have been killed by the military, and thousands now live in the jungle out of fear for a military that is very pro-government.

The government’s heavy-handed approach has also caused restoration forces to adopt violence as a key weapon that will enable their message to get across.

Where the government’s military violence cannot deliver the goods, it uses young girls as spies and they have succeeded on several occasions to infiltrate the ranks of the restoration forces. An approach that has led to the death of many restoration forces!

Restoration forces, for their part, have been sending a clear message to those who betray the revolution. Last week, a young lady was hacked to death in Muyuka, a town in the country’s southwest region where the insurgency has taken root. She had been accused of flirting with and spying for the military, an allegation that has been confirmed by the Cameroon Concord News Group correspondent in Muyuka.

The said lady had been working with three other girls and a young man who had earlier been kidnapped. He was questioned and later killed by restoration forces. He was the one who betrayed the young lady and restoration forces felt she must be taught a lesson. Her three friends who have been sleeping with soldiers and betraying the people’s cause have all fled the region and are now hiding in Yaounde where they are protected by the corrupt and incompetent Biya regime.

But it is not only in the country’s two English-speaking regions that there is a problem. The country’s northern region has been facing threats from Boko Haram and this has left the government with a sticky situation.

The situation in the north is getting worse by the day, with northerners holding that they have been left out of the current political dispensation ever since the country’s first president, Amadou Ahidjo, left power in 1982.

Ahidjo who died more than a decade ago, was buried in Dakar, Senegal, and Mr. Biya and his collaborators have refused to let Ahidjo remains to return to the country of his birth.

This has irked northerners, with many of them holding that there must be revenge. In the 80s, the Biya regime engineered many fake coups with the intention of eliminating many Ahidjo supporters. Thousands of northerners were killed and several thousand also fled the country. Today, northerners are mobilizing to challenge the regime and if their plan materializes, the Yaounde regime will be left in a pretty mess.

With such a long catalog of issues, crimes and sins, the country’s government is losing sleep, fearing that the military might intervene to rid the people of Cameroon of an incompetent dictator who has nothing to show for his 38 years in power.

Though the country’s president has, over the last 20 years, reduced the country’s military into a violent tribal militia, it is still concerned that things could spiral out of control, prompting the military to take over power.

Tuesday’s coup d’état in Mali has left many francophone African leaders wondering, but it is the Yaounde regime that is very likely to lose sleep because of the huge skeletons in its small cupboard.

But can the Cameroon military ever act like the Malian military? Will the Cameroon military ever think that its loyalty is with the people and not with a bunch of incompetent kleptocrats who have worked very hard to ruin the country?

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Group Chairman/Editor-In-Chief

Mali: Mutinying soldiers say they have detained President Keita, Prime Minister Cisse

18, August 2020

Mali: Mutinying soldiers say they have detained President Keita, Prime Minister Cisse 0

A leader of the mutiny said both Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse had been detained by soldiers, sparking fears that a coup was in progress as witnesses said soldiers had surrounded Keita’s private residence.

A leader of the mutiny said both Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse had been detained by soldiers.

“We can tell you that the president and the prime minister are under our control,” the leader, who requested anonymity, told AFP.

Two security sources confirmed to Reuters that Keita had been detained.

Soldiers in Mali took up arms in the garrison town of Kati on Tuesday and detained senior military officers in an apparent mutiny, raising fears of a coup after several months of anti-government demonstrations calling for the president’s resignation.

FRANCE 24 Africa specialist Nicolas Germain said a highly placed source had confirmed the detention of the president and prime minister.

Earlier in the day an officer at Mali’s ministry of internal security, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press, described the chaotic scenes. “Officials are being arrested – it’s total confusion.”

In the nearby capital of Bamako, government workers fled their offices as armed men began detaining officials, including the country’s Finance Minister Abdoulaye Daffe.

President Keita, who was democratically elected, has broad support from former colonial power France and other Western allies.

About 100 of the protesters who have called for Keita’s ouster gathered midday in Bamako in a show of support for the mutinous soldiers.

The African Union said it “forcefully” condemned Keita’s arrest.

French President Emmanuel Macron has been in touch with regional leaders and has called for mediation, the Élysée presidential palace said in a statement.

The United States said it was opposed to any change of government in Mali, where French troops and UN peacekeepers have been working to stabilise the country amid an Islamic insurgency that took hold after a 2012 coup.

“The US is opposed to all unconstitutional changes of government whether in the streets or by security forces,” tweeted J. Peter Pham, the State Department’s special envoy for the Sahel region.

The West African regional bloc ECOWAS, which has been mediating Mali’s current political crisis, urged the soldiers to return immediately to their barracks in Kati, which is only 15 kilometres (less than 10 miles) from the presidential palace in the capital.

Prime Minister Boubou Cisse had earlier called for dialogue with the soldiers. “The government is calling for calm and makes itself available … to engage in fraternal dialogue in order to remove all misunderstandings,” he said in a statement. The prime minister also admitted that the soldiers may have “legitimate frustrations”.

Echoes of the 2012 coup

The unrest erupted Tuesday at the very same military barracks where the country’s 2012 coup originated. The overthrow unleashed years of chaos in Mali when the ensuing power vacuum allowed Islamic extremists to seize control of northern towns. Ultimately a French-led military operation ousted the jihadists but they merely regrouped and then expanded their reach during Keita’s presidency.

The president has faced growing criticism of how his government has handled the relentless Islamic insurgency engulfing the country once praised as a model of democracy in the region. The military faced a wave of particularly deadly attacks in the north last year, prompting the government to close its most vulnerable outposts as part of a reorganisation aimed at stemming the losses.

The fact Mali’s finance minister was among those targeted Tuesday bolsters the theory the mutiny was motivated by salary disputes, said Alexandre Raymakers, senior Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft.

“This remains a fast-moving situation, but initial indications point to the mutiny being within the national guard, with significant elements of the army still loyal to [Keita],” he said. “The mutiny is likely driven by a range of factors closely tied to the deteriorating military situation in central and northern Mali, rather than the ongoing political crisis. ”

(FRANCE 24 with AP and AFP)

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