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Ambazonia: Interim Gov’t to boost intelligence and self defense cooperation among Amba Fighters

11, July 2020

Ambazonia: Interim Gov’t to boost intelligence and self defense cooperation among Amba Fighters 0

The Southern Cameroons Interim Government has announced plans to boost Ambazonia intelligence services and also to improve cooperation among all self defense groups defending the homeland against French Cameroun aggression and occupation.

“The Interim Government has decided to invest in the newly created Intelligence Department within the framework of strengthening communication among all self defense groups in Ground Zero” the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Dabney Yerima said on Thursday during a presentation to members of the Ambazonia Southern Cameroons Pillars in the United Kingdom (ASCAP UK).

Yerima informed the Southern Cameroons UK think tank that there was an urgent need for Southern Cameroonians in the diaspora to support the Interim Government’s efforts geared at intelligence gathering and sharing among Ambazonia Restoration Forces in Ground Zero. He also praised ASCAP for their generous donations to Ambazonian refugees and detainees both in Nigeria and in French Cameroun.   

Vice President Yerima pointed out that the creation of an intelligence department by the Interim Government increases the will of Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces to work together in the face of French Cameroun army onslaught.

“The leader of the Ambazonian nation, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe made it very clear to the French Cameroun government recently that the people of Southern Cameroons do not want French Cameroun soldiers on their soil, and our response as an exiled government is the creation of an intelligence department” Dabney Yerima added.

Yerima also said the intelligence department envisages boosting communication among all Ambazonia Restoration Forces and he furthered that soon and very soon French Cameroun leaders will realize that the solution to Yaounde’s security and economic problems is through negotiation with the people of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, and not through military deployment.

By Isong Asu in London

Ambazonia: IG warns of consequences if Yaoundé role in murder of Mamfe mayor proven

11, July 2020

Ambazonia: IG warns of consequences if Yaoundé role in murder of Mamfe mayor proven 0

The Southern Cameroons Interim Government says Ambazonia Restoration Forces in the Manyu County have hinted the Manyu Liberation Council that it is still early to make public the French Cameroun connection behind the killing Mayor Ashu Ojong Prisley of the Mamfe Rural Council. The Interim Government statement also noted that there will be consequences if it is proven that the French Cameroun civil administrator and the commander of the French Cameroun army in Manyu have been involved.

“The Manyu Liberation Council has been working behind the scenes on this matter and it is too early to make any conclusion regarding the assassination of Mayor Ashu” Secretary Tabenyang Brado informed the Ambazonia war cabinet late yesterday.

The Southern Cameroons Secretary of the Economy noted that “If the Manyu Liberation Council concludes that French Cameroun security apparatus have been involved, they will announce it to the people of Southern Cameroons, and there will be of course unimaginable consequences.”

A fortnight ago, Secretary Tabenyang Brado gave all Manyu French Cameroun surrogates including Chief Tabetando and Minister Victor Mengot a deadline to state their case as regards to the Eshobi incident that led to the killing of the mayor of Mamfe.

On Thursday, Southern Cameroons Vice President assured the cabinet that the Manyu Liberation Council will soon complete its work and will determine and announce at an appropriate time, the French Cameroun agents behind the action that killed Mayor Ashu Prisley.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Professional scamming in the Southern Cameroons struggle at unprecedented levels

11, July 2020

Professional scamming in the Southern Cameroons struggle at unprecedented levels 0

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government Dabney Yerima has told a cream of Ambazonian elites in Germany and Holland that professional scamming and unhealthy politics in the war of liberation in Southern Cameroons has reached extraordinary levels.

“The war in Southern Cameroons has entered a crucial phase! 32,500 Southern Cameroonians killed, 550 Southern Cameroons villages burnt, 125,000 refugees, 1.4million IDPs and 3,000 still detained, yet some so-called front line leaders are feeding Ambazonians with fake draft reports that has reached unprecedented levels, bearing my name and that of Samuel Atem who died four years ago and Mami Epale in Kake-Kumba” Dabney Yerima said in an address to a high-level zoom meeting grouping prominent Southern Cameroonians in Western Europe.

The draft for war sent out by the disgraced former leader who misappropriated funds donated by the people of Southern Cameroons via the scheme My Trip To Buea revealed that Pastor Ikome Sako has now banked the following amount into his IG account:

1. Manyu County                                65,000

2. Bui County                                      45,500

3. Ngoh Kentunjia County                82,975

4. Kupe Muanenguba                         87,195

5. Fako County                                  120,860

6. Mezam County                              420,437

7. Lebialem County                          267,810

8. Momo County                               645,774

9. Donga Mantung County             150,000

10. Ndian County                              114,555

Total                                           $2,000,106

                                           (XAF 1,000,053,000)

Vice President Yerima noted that this shameful and disgusting action is a cheap and primitive design to give Ambazonians the impression that there are two rival seats of power in Southern Cameroons, namely the internationally-recognized Ambazonia Interim Government headed by President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and another group based in Maryland USA known as the Sako-IG.

In the past couple of days, frustrated Southern Cameroonians passing for Sako supporters and  con-men noted for their hunger and poverty in the US and French Cameroun have pushed for the draft for war agenda on social media while ignoring the sufferings of the Ambazonian people.

All attempts to bring about unity among smaller Southern Cameroons groups by the Ambazonia Interim Government have so far failed.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Boxing: Carlos Takam Wins Decision

10, July 2020

Boxing: Carlos Takam Wins Decision 0

Carlos Takam physically suffered more than he bargained for in taking a short-notice assignment, but one where his career will benefit moving forward.

The 39-year Cameroonian heavyweight prevailed via unanimous decision over Jerry Forrest in their 10-round main event Thursday evening at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Judge Max DeLuca had the bout 98-92, with judge Patricia Morse Jarman scoring the contest 97-93 and Dave Moretti a little closer at 96-94 all in favor of Takam, who stepped into the main event on just two weeks’ notice.

The makeshift main event came on relative short notice for both boxers. Forrest was originally due to face Jarrell Miller, the disgraced unbeaten heavyweight who threw away yet another big opportunity after once again providing a dirty drug test through pre-fight random testing.

Luckily for Forrest, the DiBella Entertainment-promoted heavyweight was able to keep a fight date on Top Rank’s show. In came Takam, who was previously training for another ESPN bout only for the opportunity to fall through when scheduled opponent Oscar Rivas suffered an elbow injury and was forced to withdraw.

“The preparation for this fight was not easy,” the 39-year old Takam admitted to Bernardo Osuna after the bout. “I was supposed to fight June 14 veruss Rivas but Mr Rivas could not fight because he had an injury. My promoter (Joe DeGuardia, Star Boxing) called me and said he had a fight for me.

“I checked out Jerry Forrest and said, ‘OK, let’s go.’ He asked if I was sure. I told him I’m ready to fight anybody.”

The lack of full preparation for one another showed in an awkward opening round. Takam—who represented Cameroon in the 2004 Olympics—put his size advantage to use, his well-proportioned 245 ¾-pound frame used to outmuscle his southpaw foe whom he outweighed by 20 pounds.

Both boxers looked sharper in round two. Takam bounced on his toes while Forrest came forward in hopes of working his right jab. Takam’s long left stick was enough to keep the Virginia-bred heavyweight on the outside for much of the frame. Forrest closed the gap, connecting with a left hand which forced Takam—a 39-year old Cameroon native now based out of the greater Las Vegas area—to clinch. Takam closed the frame with a sweeping right hand upstairs.

carlos-takam_2020_07_08_225815

Forrest grew tentative in round three, struggling to pin down a mobile Takam and failing to let his hands go. A similar pattern played out in round four, where Takam mixed it up between infighting and bouncing on his toes on the outside. Forrest was unable to time the rhythm of the 39-year old contender, resulting in his falling well behind.

Takam continued to outwork a reluctant Forrest in a sloppy round five marred by frequent clinching. A cut over Takam’s eye seemed to have dulled his own attack, though his simply remaining active was enough to continue banking rounds.

Forrest connected with a left hand in round seven, a point in the fight where he seemed poised to turn the tide. Takam shook off the blow, but his own offense was dulled as the sight of his own blood and the pain of a suspected fractured cheek bone appeared to have affected his performance in the second half of the fight. 

Takam effectively circled away from Forrest’s left hand throughout round eight, Action continued to be sorely lacking in the slow-paced main event, with neither fighter letting their hands go in the later rounds. Takam scored the best punch of the frame, connecting with a right hand as Forrest dropped his left hand low.

Round nine was marred by frequent clinching as the pair of heavyweights fought through fatigue. Takam fought behind a flicking jab, while Forrest moved forward but did little once he made his way inside.

Forrest was given the marching orders by head trainer Anthony Chase to go for the knockout as the bout entered the 10th and final round. Instead, it was Takam who took the initiative, connecting with lead right hands, Forrest fought behind a range-finding jab, hoping to land a straight left behind it but never pulling the trigger. A left hand finally connected for the 32-year old southpaw late in the round, but lacked any follow-through as Takam was able to clinch and recreate distance.

Takam led in every statistical category according to Compubox. Takam landed 106 of 455 punches for a 23% connect rate, including 30 body punches. Forrest—seven years Takam’s junior—landed 70 punches out of just 321 thrown for a 22% clip as he falls to 26-4 (20KOs), suffering his second loss in his last three starts.

A narrow defeat by Forrest to Jermaine Franklin last July was met with dispute by most observers, although the Newsport News native remains without a signature win while leaving Vegas with a lot of regret.

Meanwhile, Takam advances to 39-5-1 (28KOs), The win is his fourth straight win after suffering back to back knockout losses to unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua and fellow former title challenger Dereck Chisora.

While another title shot is in his sights even in the twilight of his career, the veteran contender wouldn’t mind making use of his prior training camp as a springboard to such a fight.

“I want to get me Oscar Rivas,” Takam suggested of his next opponent. “I want anyone in the top five at heavyweight or a world title shot if that materializes.”

BoxingScene.com

Cameroon Single Mothers Protest Forced, Early Marriages

10, July 2020

Cameroon Single Mothers Protest Forced, Early Marriages 0

In western Cameroon, hundreds of single mothers protested this week against the cultural practice of forced marriage. The women, who say their parents forced them into early marriage, called on authorities to help end the practice, saying it too often ends in broken families.

Twenty-year-old single mother Metombemb Aicha has been leading protests against the forced marriage of teenage girls in western Cameroon. 

Around the towns of Foumbot and Foumban, parents often force their girls to marry early, believing that tying the knot after the age of 14 brings the family bad luck.  

Aicha says their protests at local palaces and in public urged Cameroonian authorities to put a stop to the cultural practice.   

Aicha says most of the 300 people protesting were 14 years old when they were forced to marry men they did not know. She says some single mothers among the protesters decided to leave their homes with their babies after their husbands brought home other wives. Parents should allow young girls to choose their husbands, says Aicha, to stop the pain that forced marriages are inflicting.  

Aicha formed the group Noun Sisters to support single mothers who leave these marriages and to push for an end to the tradition, practiced among Cameroon’s Muslims and in villages. The group says the girls should be allowed to go to school. 

The protests were sparked when a widowed, 17-year-old mother was last week being forced to marry her dead husband’s brother.  

The marriage was called off after the demonstrations.  

But local officials say they should protect cultural practices of their forefathers, including forced, early marriage.

Foumbat palace official Ousmanou Mefirou says early marriage ensures that girls are married with their dignity as virgins. According to cultural norms, if a girl is a virgin, the groom’s family gives her family more gifts as a so-called bride price. Her parents are also praised as model members of the community.

Mefirou says their tradition holds firm that a girl has no say on whom her husband should be. He says when a girl is 14, her father contacts the parents of a potential husband and they discuss the possibility and date for the marriage. Tradition also holds that a man who sees a girl he wants to marry should inform his parents, says Mefirou, not the girl.

But Cameroon’s district-level officials say they oppose forced, early marriage. 

Foumban district official Julien Gael Kono says the government is bent on eradicating such harmful traditions.

He says forced marriages are rampant all over Cameroon but, more concerning in the west of the country. He says in these mainly Muslim communities, there are misconceptions that boys should make their choices while girls stay at home to prepare for early marriage. Since they are finding it difficult to convince people that boys and girls should be treated equally, says Kono, they will start punishing those who abuse their rights.

Cameroonian authorities say six out of 10 girls in these communities are forced to marry before the age of 16. Last year, Cameroon’s National Institute of Statistics, citing the U.N., said nearly one-third of girls were married before their 18th birthday.

But in eight out of 10 of the forced marriages, the wives end up leaving their husbands before turning 18.  

Source: VOA

Yaounde reports over 980 cholera cases, 45 deaths since beginning of 2020

10, July 2020

Yaounde reports over 980 cholera cases, 45 deaths since beginning of 2020 0

A cholera outbreak has sickened at least 983 people and killed at least 45 in Cameroon since January, health authorities said Thursday.

The cases and deaths were recorded in four of the 10 Cameroonian regions, authorities said, warning that cases could increase in the rainy season from March through September.

According to the state-run newspaper Cameroon Tribune, the Littoral Region, where the country’s commercial capital Douala is located, has reported 563 cases so far, the highest caseload among the regions, while the capital Yaounde is the least affected with just three cases.

The South Region has confirmed 344 cases over the past six months, followed by the Southwest Region with 73 cases. The statistics do not include those from the country’s northern regions, where cholera is a common occurrence as a result of floods during the rainy season.

Health officials have blamed the outbreak for difficulties to access portable water sources, non-compliance with hygiene measures and the absence of latrines especially in rural areas.

Authorities are working to launch a nationwide hygiene campaign and a mass vaccination campaign to help contain the spread of the disease.

Source: Xinhaunet

Biya regime forcing civilians to do guard duty

10, July 2020

Biya regime forcing civilians to do guard duty 0

Soldiers in Mozogo, in the Far North region of Cameroon, have forced civilians to perform local night guard duty to protect against attacks by the armed Islamist group Boko Haram, Human Rights Watch said today.

At the beginning of this forced labor, from mid-March to late April, 2020, soldiers beat or threatened those who refused to perform the tasks, although Human Rights Watch was told that for now, following denunciations by local nongovernmental organizations and the National Human Rights Commission, the beatings appear to have stopped. However, people in the town report that they continue to live in fear of beatings resuming, and that the forced labor and threats continue.

“The Cameroon authorities should immediately stop forcing civilians to perform night guard duty and instead protect civilians through lawful means,” said Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Cameroonian authorities should investigate the reported beatings, threats, and forced labor and members of the security forces found to be responsible should be brought to justice.”

Boko Haram has since 2014 waged a violent campaign against civilians in the Far North region. The Cameroon army started to forcibly mobilize civilians after a February 4 Boko Haram attack, during which its fighters burned an estimated 40 homes in Mozogo and killed 2 civilians, one of them a blind man, who was killed and then burned inside his home.

In April and May, Human Rights Watch interviewed 15 people by telephone who have been forced to perform night guard duty under threat. Six had been beaten for initially refusing to join. Human Rights Watch also spoke with 12 Mozogo residents who witnessed but had not been subject to the forced labor, 4 victims and witnesses of other alleged military rights violations, and 4 representatives of local human rights groups.

Human Rights Watch shared its research findings on June 9 with Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, the secretary-general and Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, the Civil Cabinet director, both at Cameroon’s Presidency, requesting responses to specific questions. Human Rights Watch also followed up with a senior official from the Presidency on June 18. Cameroonian officials have yet to respond.

The civilians who were forced under threat to perform guard duty received no compensation and were put in harm’s way. They were not trained, were unarmed, and were told to run back to town to alert the army if they saw Boko Haram fighters approaching. Human Rights Watch has been monitoring local media, including Sembe TV, L’Oeil du Sahel, and reports by nongovernmental groups, for accounts of attacks by the militant Islamic group. This monitoring indicates that since January, Boko Haram has carried out over 200 attacks and raids in the Far North region, killing at least 126 people.

Mozogo residents said the military unit based in Mozogo – the 42nd Motorized Infantry Battalion (BIM) – worked with local authorities to compile lists of about 90 men and at least one boy who were required to join the night guard duty and displayed these lists in public spaces. They identified at least 12 locations in and around Mozogo as posts for night duty and assigned nine civilians to each location. Those who did not willingly comply were sought out in the neighborhoods and threatened with death and beatings. Some were beaten in public.

According to victims, witnesses, and residents, at least 40 people were threatened with death and beatings or were beaten for refusing to take part.

A 38-year-old man said that a soldier beat him after he initially refused to perform night guard duty in early April: “A soldier came to my house around 10 p.m. He asked why I skipped my duty. I said that it was not my job. So, he forced me to do push-ups and hit me several times with the flat end of a machete. Then he took me by force to the river to serve guard duty.”

Once the civilians were on duty, it appears, the soldiers usually stayed until midnight, then left the civilians alone to guard the areas without any means of protection and communication. The civilians said that they would generally stay from 7 p.m. until around 3 or 4 in the morning.

A 28-year-old man who was forced to serve as a night guard for at least two months, described the forced labor: “They said everyone whose name is on the lists needs to go, but they don’t pay us anything, they don’t give us anything to protect ourselves. If Boko Haram attacks Mozogo, we will be the first targets.”

At least 40 men fled Mozogo after soldiers threatened them. A 23-year-old university student said he fled to Maroua, 100 kilometers away, after being beaten and forced into guard duty. “If I wanted to be a soldier, I would have joined the army,” he said. “But I chose to study. I do not want to spend my nights in dangerous locations and face Boko Haram fighters.”

The night guard system in Mozogo has no legal framework and those forced to perform it are not only untrained, but also lack the necessary experience and supervision needed to perform the dangerous security tasks demanded of them.

Boko Haram continues to wreak havoc in the Far North region, carrying out abusive attacks, often indiscriminate and sometimes directly targeting civilians. The attacks have included suicide bombings in crowded civilian areas; kidnappings, including of children; and widespread looting and destruction of civilian property. As a result of Boko Haram’s abuses, over 297,000 people have fled their homes and are internally displaced across the Far North region. Cameroon also hosts approximately 113,000 refugees who have fled Boko Haram’s attacks in Nigeria.

In the face of such atrocities, the government of Cameroon has the legitimate duty to protect civilians, but it must do so while upholding its human rights obligations under domestic and international law, Human Rights Watch said. Cameroon has ratified both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the 1930 International Labour Organisation (ILO) Forced Labour Convention No. 29, which prohibit the use of forced or compulsory labour.

Human rights groups have reported widespread human rights violations and crimes under international humanitarian law by security forces, including extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, incommunicado detention, systematic torture, and deaths in custody. Witnesses, victims, and residents have reported that security forces in and around Mozogo continue to commit other abuses, including extortion and sexual violence.

“Cameroon security should address threats posed by Boko Haram in a way that respects rights and wins the trust of the population,” Mudge said. “That trust has been broken by a climate of near total impunity for the military’s abuses.”

Soldiers from the 42nd Motorized Infantry Battalion have been based in Mozogo since at least the beginning of 2020 and have forced civilians to perform local night guard duty since mid-March. When people refused to perform this duty, soldiers beat them or threatened them. In April, the National Human Rights Commission visited Mozogo and raised concerns with local authorities about this practice. Local human rights groups echoed this call saying it is illegal and puts people at risk. While reports suggest that the beatings have stopped, people continue to report threats, and participate in the duty out of fear of abuse at the hands of soldiers.

Abuses Related to Forced Guard Duty

Beatings

A 33-year-old man said he was beaten by a soldier in April for arriving late to his night guard duty.

I had a family emergency and went to the hospital to assist a relative. I arrived late for the night guard and a second-class soldier beat me up. He slapped me several times. I was in pain for two days; my ears were hurting so much. He told me not to tell anyone what had happened.

A 25-year-old farmer said he was beaten by soldiers in mid-March and forced to perform the night guard duty:

Several soldiers came to my neighborhood late in the evening. They were looking for men whose names were on the lists. My name was on the list. The soldiers approached me and said, “You are going to spend the night by the river and carry out the guard duty. If you do not agree, you’ll pay the consequences.” I replied that I did not want to go, so they slapped me several times in my face and forced me to go. Since then, I have no other choice by to go. I do not want to be beaten again.

Threats

A 43-year-old man said that he was threatened by soldiers in mid-March when he refused to join the night guard duty for health reasons:

A BIM officer came to my neighborhood and asked me why I did not go to perform my night guard. I explained to him that I had been sick, and the doctor had recommended me to rest. [The officer] replied: “If you don’t go, I am going to kill you, I’ll cut your throat.” Two days later, another solider came to my home, broke the door, and threatened to beat me if I didn’t carry out the night guard duty. It is only thanks to a neighbor, who interceded for me, that I was not beaten up.

A 17-year-old boy told Human Rights Watch that he is living in hiding to avoid night guard duty.

 When I learned my name was on the list, I got scared. I did not want to go and spend the night by the river because it is dangerous. Between March and April, the soldiers came three times to look for me at my place. Since then, I hide. I am afraid that if they find me, they will force me to go and if I refuse, they’ll beat me up.

A 24-year-old student said he was forced to carry out a night watch guard following repeated threats by a soldier in mid-March.

I was on my motorbike outside my home at 9:30 p.m. when a soldier came, accompanied by a member of the vigilante committee. He ordered me to carry out the night guard duty by the river. I refused and I told him I am student, not a soldier. He replied: “You’ll go, or we will force you to go.” I asked him if I could speak with his boss, who came and let me go. But since then, I fled Mozogo and now live in Maroua.

Culled from Human Rights Watch

UK declines participating in EU Covid-19 vaccine scheme over concerns of delays

10, July 2020

UK declines participating in EU Covid-19 vaccine scheme over concerns of delays 0

The British government has decided not to join a European Union coronavirus vaccine scheme because of concerns there could be costly delays in securing the vaccines, The Telegraph reported Thursday, citing sources.

The European Commission is expected to be notified on Friday, the report said.

UK business minister Alok Sharma is believed to have withdrawn from the plan after failing to get “sufficient assurance” that the UK would receive the number of vaccines it needs on time, the report added.

The officials believed that signing up to the scheme could delay the rollout of a successful vaccine in the UK by up to six months as talks on distribution took place, the report said, citing government sources.

The decision comes a week after officials in London and Brussels said Britain was in discussions with the EU about whether it would join a plan by the bloc to secure supplies of potential vaccines against COVID-19.

(REUTERS)

Coronavirus stalks cells of Cameroon’s crowded prisons

10, July 2020

Coronavirus stalks cells of Cameroon’s crowded prisons 0

On the morning of April 24, Fritz Takang became so breathless he could barely walk across the cramped cell he shared with 60 inmates at the main prison in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde.

That night, he said, he was evacuated with five others to an apartment complex that was being used to quarantine suspected COVID-19 cases.

Near dawn the following morning, Takang, 48, heard a fellow inmate in distress in a neighbouring room. With no doctors present, he said, he went to the man’s bedside and laid a hand on his feverish forehead. Moments later, the man died.

“I prayed for him before the last breath,” Takang, a pastor, said. “I asked God to soften his pain.”

Correctional facilities worldwide have been fertile ground for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Africa’s prison population of more than one million is especially vulnerable because of overcrowding, malnutrition and limited healthcare, health experts say. Patchy testing and reporting have frustrated efforts to track and contain its spread – both behind bars and in the community.

Authorities in Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa and Kenya have reported outbreaks in their prisons.

Cameroon’s government has not publicly acknowledged infections inside its correctional facilities, although President Paul Biya signed a decree on April 15 to de-congest prisons in an effort to contain the virus.

About 1,800 inmates were freed by May 8, according to preliminary figures from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. The government has not provided numbers.

Hundreds of cases of COVID-19 were recorded among the inmates released from five prisons dotted across Cameroon’s central region in April, according to government data seen by Reuters which has not been made public.

Some were allowed home before their test results came in, while others were released with little or no screening to determine if they could be at risk of spreading the virus into the community.

Yaounde Central Prison, where Takang is held, was the worst hit, according to the data. The prison did not reply to requests for comment.

Behind its mouldy walls, the virus appears to have swept through packed, squalid cells, overwhelming its ill-equipped infirmary, according to interviews with over a dozen current and former inmates, four prison officials and two lawyers.

Some asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals. Prisoners are not officially allowed to possess phones, but many do.

More than 31 inmates have died there since the beginning of April, compared with the usual one or two a month, a senior prison official told Reuters, adding that none were tested for COVID-19.

A Cameroon health ministry spokesman declined to comment, as did officials at the prison authority and a leading official in the coronavirus response. The justice and communications ministries did not respond to questions sent via Whatsapp, email and in person.

Two sources present at recent health ministry briefings that were not open to the press said the government has made efforts to stem the spread of the virus in prisons, often struggling with limited resources and manpower.

“I am sure a thousand people are infected,” Takang said in a croaky voice from an isolation bed at the Cameroonian Presbyterian Church Hospital in Yaounde, where he was taken on April 25. “You cannot leave your room without passing a hundred people. It is a horror.”

‘TICKING TIME BOMB’

The inmate population exceeds prison capacity in 42 of the 47 African countries and territories where data is available, according to the World Prison Brief, a database compiled by the Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research (ICPR) at Birkbeck, University of London.

In Europe, prisons are over-full in 17 of 57 countries and territories.

“This is a ticking time bomb. Prisons in Africa are already struggling to provide the most elementary standards of sanitation,” said Catherine Heard, director of the World Prison Research Programme at ICPR.

Cameroon has around 15,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, one of the worst infection rates in sub-Saharan Africa, with more than 350 deaths.

Of 832 samples collected from inmates released from five prisons in April, 358 tested positive for COVID-19, according to the unpublished government data – 16% of the national total at the beginning of May.

The majority of positive samples came from Yaounde Central Prison, Cameroon’s largest, where the infection rate of those released and tested was 58%. Its population is still around 3,000, three times capacity, said the senior prison official.

Many who tested positive were quarantined. But dozens were allowed home before their results came back or without being tested, according to three prisoners released in April and May, and a guard who oversaw releases.

“I signed my release papers; they opened the gates and let us out,” said one inmate who said he was freed on May 22 with 15 others without testing.

Others fled quarantine, the guard said. He could not say how many.

CRAMMED CELLS

Takang spent two weeks in hospital before returning to prison. A vocal supporter of Cameroon’s Anglophone separatist movement, he has been confined there for over a year on charges of sponsoring terrorism, which he denies. His trial is ongoing.

His test result for COVID-19, seen by Reuters, was negative. He tested positive for malaria and typhoid, he said.

While he was in hospital, inmates and prison staff said they noticed an unusual number of people with coughs and fevers. Inmates cut up bed sheets and old t-shirts to make masks, they said.

“There is fear everywhere. Everyone has the feeling that they are next,” said Mancho Bibixy Tse, a 36-year-old inmate reached by phone.

The prison infirmary, made up of a dozen metal beds with thin mattresses, overseen by one doctor and a few nurses, was quickly overwhelmed. By mid-April, patients lay three to a bed, said three inmates treated there. Patients bought medication from outside the prison – if they could afford it.

In late April and early May, authorities disinfected cells and stopped prison visits, staff and inmates said.

Inmates, prison staff and their families were given the anti-malarial drug chloroquine, although there is no firm evidence to show it is effective against COVID-19.

Disposable masks and buckets of water and soap were placed in cell blocks so inmates could wash their hands.

But overcrowding makes social distancing impossible, some inmates and guards said. In some quarters, hundreds of men share one pit latrine. Dozens are crowded into cells of no more than 25 square meters.

“I am lucky that I am in a room with just 15 people. Some rooms you have to walk over (sleeping) bodies to get out,” said Tse.

When an inmate dies, their family has 24 hours to collect the body, the senior official said, no small task in a country the size of Spain with threadbare transport links.

Of the 31 who died in April and May, the official said, only four were collected. The rest were taken away by authorities for burial.

Deaths have continued since, the official said, but he has stopped counting.

Culled from Reuters

Biya regime propaganda lockdown meant to undermine Ambazonia Interim Government

10, July 2020

Biya regime propaganda lockdown meant to undermine Ambazonia Interim Government 0

Southern Cameroons Vice President Dabney Yerima has defended a statement made public yesterday by his office on the lockdown reportedly announced on Ground Zero saying French Cameroun and their Southern Cameroons surrogates will not succeed in undermining the majority following of the Ambazonia Interim Government by spreading lies.

In this week’s Amba cabinet briefing, the exiled leader rejected the lies and rumors concocted in Yaoundé and recently spread about the Ambazonia policy of lockdown unveiled by President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe after the declaration of independence.

Yerima observed that by announcing a Lockdown which was to start this Friday 10 July 2020, French Cameroun agents knew they were walking on broken bottles. The VP also pointed out that the Ambazonia Interim Government has established a transparent roadmap for getting Southern Cameroonians to Buea via the Amba Bonds scheme and a principled guideline for Ambazonia Restoration Forces which will go operational throughout the homeland.

Comrade Dabney Yerima said the Federal Republic of Ambazonia is expected to emerge as Africa’s leading democracy and economic power after the war of liberation with French Cameroun.

Yerima dismissed as lies the information that spoke of a lockdown in Ambazonia beginning today circulating in pro French Cameroun media houses which was announced by a fake group sponsored by French Cameroun’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji.

By Chi Prudence Asong

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