About soter

Posts by :

1, July 2019

Fru Ndi released after abduction in Southern Cameroons ⁰

The leader of one of Cameroon’s main opposition parties was released by his captors on Saturday after being abducted by unidentified gunmen in the country’s restive Anglophone region a day earlier, his party said.

Separatist rebels have been battling government forces for nearly two years over perceived marginalization of English speakers by the central African country’s Francophone-dominated government.

John Fru Ndi, who heads the Social Democratic Front (SDF) and finished runner-up to President Paul Biya in the 2011 election, was taken from his home in the city of Bamenda on Friday, the second time in two months he had been kidnapped.

Jean Robert Wafo, an SDF official, said in a statement that Fru Ndi had been released on Saturday evening. He provided no details about who had taken him or where he had been held.

The SDF blamed his previous abduction in April, which lasted a few hours, on Anglophone secessionist rebels. The SDF has criticized Biya, who has served as president since 1982, for his handling of the crisis, but has not endorsed separatist demands for an independent English-speaking state.

The United Nations estimates the conflict has killed about 1,800 people and displaced over 500,000 since 2017.

Reuters

1, July 2019

Geneva: Swiss police fire water cannon, stun grenades at Cameroon protesters ⁰

Swiss police fired water cannon, tear gas and stun grenades at Cameroonian protesters outside UN headquarters in Geneva Saturday as the crowd surged towards a luxury hotel hosting Cameroon’s president.

About 250 demonstrators demanding an end to President Paul Biya’s rule squared off with dozens of police, many in riot gear, backed up by armoured vehicles.

The standoff turned violent when the crowd, many draped in Cameroon flags, started making its way towards Biya’s hotel, about 500 metres (1,600 feet) from a square outside the UN where they had gathered.

An AFP reporter witnessed police beating and kicking a protester on the ground.

Biya, 86, “has run his dictatorship for nearly half a century,” said rally co-organiser Robert Wanto, a Cameroonian national who has lived in exile for three decades.

“We are here to demand that Cameroon be allowed to enter the modern democratic era,” he told AFP outside of the UN’s European headquarters ahead of the protest.

Several hours before the rally started, about 30 protestors set up a stage with banners and graphic pictures of dead bodies apparently mangled by torture, with the message: “The people say no to Paul Biya”.

Cameroon’s embassy in Bern warned earlier this week that Cameroonian nationals living in various European countries were planning a “violent” protest against Biya on Saturday.

Geneva police told AFP it was expecting a “large” demonstration. Authorisation was granted but limited to the square outside the UN.

‘Ultimatum’ –

They were not granted permission to march to the five-star Intercontinental Hotel where Biya is believed to have been staying since Sunday.

But Wanto told AFP the demonstrators had given Biya an “ultimatum” to leave and if he remained at the hotel when the protest began, “we will march there”.

He pointed out that Biya had made it a habit to stay at the pricy Intercontinental during long visits to Switzerland, where he reportedly comes for medical treatment.

“He thinks it is OK to come here and spend billions of our money when our country is economically sick,” Wanto said.

Early Saturday, dozens of suit-clad men believed to be part of the president’s security detail stood around the hotel.

Several police vans were also parked outside the hotel and groups of officers had been stationed at regular intervals between the tall glass building and the UN square.

Over the past week, there have already been several scuffles with small numbers of demonstrators outside the hotel and even inside the lobby.

An attack on a Swiss journalist covering the events by men believed to be Biya’s security staff sparked a diplomatic incident, prompting the Swiss government to summon Cameroon’s ambassador in Bern on Thursday.

“The dictator must be senile to want to transport the violence he unleashes on his country on a daily basis to the soil of a democratic country,” Wanto said.

Cameroon, a former French colony, has faced a succession of crises and is wracked by a deadly conflict between separatists and government forces in its English-speaking west.

Opposition leaders have faced mass arrests, and rights groups claim detainees are tortured and many disappear.

AFP

29, June 2019

Europe: Deadly heatwave roasts as wildfires spread ⁰

Europe was bracing itself for a sweltering Saturday as the heat wave continued across the continent.

The Meteo-France weather service lifted its red warning but forecast a “very hot day” across a large central band of the country with the mercury expected to rise to 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) in some parts.

With France, Spain, Italy and parts of central Europe hard hit by the record-breaking temperatures, officials pleaded with people to take precautions.

France’s new record temperature of 45.9 degrees C (114.6 degrees F) was registered on Friday in Gallargues-le-Montueux, a village in the southern department of Gard near Montpellier, breaking successive records set earlier in the day, Meteo-France told AFP.

A visitor takes shelter from the heat under “Umbrella Sky Project” installation by Portuguese artist Patricia Cunha in Aix-en-Provence on June 28, 2019 as a heatwave hits France with temperatures that may exceed 45 degrees Celsius, a high never seen in mainland France. (Photo by AFP)

This is the same area where the previous high of 44.1 degrees Celsius was set in August 2003. Records began at the turn of the 20th century.

The weather service said the new high was comparable to August temperatures in California’s Death Valley.

Earlier Friday, the mercury rose above 44 degrees C in the southeastern French town of Carpentras. The town was deserted, with cafe owners contemplating empty terraces which would normally be packed.

“We have never seen this!” one exclaimed.

The new record makes France just the seventh European country to have recorded a plus 45-degree temperature, along with Bulgaria, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Greece and North Macedonia, Meteo France said.

‘Avoidable deaths’

Two deaths linked to the heat wave were reported in Spain.

A Spanish teenager felt dizzy while helping harvest wheat in the southern Andalusia region, took a dip in a swimming pool, and collapsed in convulsions.

Firefighters and emergency workers assist a woman suffering from the heat in Tours on June 27, 2019, during a heatwave. (Photo by AFP)

He was rushed to hospital in the town of Cordoba where he died, the regional government said.

A 93-year-old man collapsed and died on the street in the northern Spanish city of Valladolid, police said, giving heatstroke as the cause of death.

Heat-related deaths have also been reported in Italy, France and Germany, mainly among the elderly.

France remains haunted by the memory of the devastating heat wave of August 2003 which exposed the shortcomings of emergency services at the height of the summer holidays.

That year, nearly 15,000 people are estimated to have died because of the heat, many of them elderly people at home.

Tourists stand near the Trocadero Fountain in Paris during a heatwave on June 28, 2019. (Photo by AFP)

“I want to appeal to the sense of responsibility of citizens — there are avoidable deaths in every heat wave,” said French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.

Scientists warn that global warming linked to human fossil fuel use could make such scorchers more frequent.

Germany’s national weather service said the country experienced temperatures more than four degrees higher in June than the average, on one measure.

Fire hydrants uncapped

French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn warned people tempted to plunge into cold water, both young and old, to do so only in designated public bathing areas, adding that four people have drowned since the beginning of the week.

On Thursday, Buzyn lamented that despite a barrage of public health warnings on radio, TV and on public transport, some parents were still leaving their children in hot cars and joggers were out exercising in the midday heat.

A six-year-old Syrian child was seriously injured north of Paris Thursday after being catapulted into the air by water gushing from an open fire hydrant and then crashing to the ground.

The incident occurred in the multi-ethnic Saint-Denis neighborhood, where “uncapping” hydrants has long been used as a way to cool off.

A child cools off under water jets in a fountain during a heatwave in Montpellier, southern France, on June 27, 2019. (Photo by AFP)

In the Italian city of Milan, a 72-year-old homeless man was found dead at the main train station Thursday after falling ill in the heat wave.

A day earlier, four people died in Germany in bathing accidents.

Spanish inferno

In Spain, firefighters managed to halt the progression of a forest fire that broke out Wednesday in the northeastern Catalonia region and had burned more than 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres).

Catalonia’s forest service said the fire likely began when an “improperly managed” pile of manure at a chicken farm spontaneously combusted in the extreme heat.

Hundreds of firefighters backed by troops and aerial water bombers were hampered by roasting 44-degree temperatures and very low humidity.

This handout aerial picture released on June 26, 2019 by the firefighters of Catalonia, Bombers Generalitat Catalunya, shows a wildfire at Torre de l´Espanyol in Ribera d´Ebro, on the banks of the river Ebre, northeastern Spain. (Photo by AFP)

Spain’s north-east was on red heat wave alert denoting “extreme risk”.

The stifling temperatures have caused air quality to nosedive in some European cities, prompting local authorities to take anti-pollution measures.

In Paris, Lyon and Marseille, authorities have banned the most polluting cars from the roads in recent days.

(Source: AFP)

29, June 2019

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Gunmen kidnap Fru Ndi ⁰

Unidentified gunmen in Cameroon’s Anglophone region kidnapped the leader of one of the country’s leading opposition parties on Friday for the second time in two months, his party said.

Separatist rebels are battling government forces in English-speaking areas of the bilingual central African country, where the Francophone majority has long dominated.

John Fru Ndi, who heads the Social Democratic Front (SDF) and finished runner-up to President Paul Biya in the 2011 election, was seized from his home in the city of Bamenda by gunmen who wounded his bodyguard, an SDF statement said.

Fru Ndi’s current whereabouts were unknown, it said. Fru Ndi, 77, was also abducted in April in the town of Kumbo during a funeral procession and held for a few hours before being released. The SDF said Anglophone secessionist militants took him and tried to convince him to support their cause, though no one claimed responsibility.

The SDF has called for Biya, who has served as president since 1982, to step down in favor of a transitional government than can resolve the conflict.

But the party has not endorsed secession, angering separatists who turned to violence in late 2017 after the government suppressed peaceful protests against the Francophone majority’s alleged marginalization of Anglophones.

The United Nations estimates the conflict has killed about 1,800 people and displaced over 500,000 in less than two years.

Switzerland said on Thursday it had agreed to mediate talks between the two sides, although some of the separatists said they would not speak to the government until it ceased hostilities.

Cameroon’s linguistic divide harks back to the end of World War One, when the League of Nations divided the former German colony of Kamerun between allied French and British victors.

By Haggai Fung Achuo

29, June 2019

Swiss summon Cameroon ambassador over ‘unacceptable’ journalist attack ⁰

Switzerland said Friday it had summoned Cameroon’s ambassador over an “unacceptable” attack on a journalist in Geneva by men believed to be part of Cameroonian President Paul Biya’s security detail.

“Diplomatic procedures have been launched… Cameroon’s ambassador was summoned in Bern and the foreign ministry informed him that such incidents are unacceptable,” foreign ministry spokesman Georg Farago told AFP in an email. “Freedom of the press is protected and must be respected,” he added.

The ambassador was summoned on Thursday, a day after a journalist with the RTS broadcaster, Adrien Krause, was reportedly assaulted by a group of men outside Geneva’s luxury Intercontinental hotel on Wednesday.

He had been filming a clash between around a dozen demonstrators against Cameroon’s 86-year-old president Paul Biya, who has reportedly been staying at the hotel since Sunday, and men believed to be the president’s security detail, RTS reported.

The likely Cameroonian security agents suddenly attacked Krause, immobilising him and grabbing the bag containing most of his professional equipment, and also took his phone and wallet, it said.

After Geneva’s diplomatic police got involved and Krause filed a complaint over the assault, his property was returned to him.

Neither the Swiss foreign ministry nor Geneva police would confirm the identity of the attackers.

Farago meanwhile rejected reports that Biya’s security staff might enjoy diplomatic immunity.

“The people accompanying the president do not have any particular status and must respect Swiss law,” he said.

“Switzerland recalls that it is very attached to freedom of expression and of the press, and to the respect of the rules in public spaces,” he added.

Wednesday event came a day after some 40 protestors entered the Intercontinental and reportedly scuffled with Biya’s security staff in the lobby.

A large demonstration against Biya, who has ruled Cameroon since 1982, is also scheduled to take place in Geneva on Saturday.

The country’s embassy in Bern warned earlier this week that Cameroonian nationals living in various European countries were planning a “violent … protest against the presence of the Head of State, His Excellence Paul Biya, in Switzerland.”

“The embassy calls on the Cameroonian community in Switzerland and in neighbouring countries to turn their back on such demonstrations, which for some time have been an expression of hatred, violence and tribalism, which are all contrary to patriotism and love of Cameroon,” it said in a statement.

Source: AFP

29, June 2019

Ambazonia: IG’s Press Statement on Humanitarian Dialogue Facilitated Talks/Negotiations in Switzerland ⁰

Since September 22, 2017, our communities have been subjected to some of the most ruthless and systematic assaults the international community have witnessed anywhere in recent history. Initiated to suppress peaceful demonstrations for fundamental rights.

Today we have more than 2000 of our fellow citizens killed, more than 80,000 in refugee camps in Nigeria and the UN reports more than 4.3 million of our people are affected by the conflict. A situation the UN described as one of the fastest growing human displacement crises in Africa.

This is no sports. That anyone should go show up somewhere and provide the lobbyist of Cameroon with signature and documents so they can derail efforts by serious countries like the US to get our case as a standalone Item on the Agenda of the UN Security Council is not just shameful but treasonous.

It is because of the importance of the situation that we questioned the seriousness of the Switzerland based Humanitarian Dialogue when they ignored the questions we sent to them in reply to their invitation for the said meeting.

So let me be as clear as I can on this. NO I did not attend this meeting with Humanitarian Dialogue. And, no one from my team and our leadership behind bars led by President Sisiku AyukTabe attended that meeting. We had no representative there. Let me repeat this again. The one thing that we learnt from the Anti-apartheid struggle is that leadership behind bars is the sole target of any honest effort at negotiation.

The Cameroun government has thus far refused to do the bare minimum required for confident building towards any real negotiations. Which is: 1. To stop violating the inalienable rights of the people you hope to negotiate with; and 2. To allow an international independent Fact Finding Mission to establish the facts on the ground and to stop the killings.

We have heard the calls for dialogue without preconditions. These are not preconditions. They are trust building mechanisms we have seen deployed in most conflicts in the past several decades with relative success in reducing tensions, from East Timor, Sri lanka to Myanmar.

What does it mean to tell us to go into some room to have Talks/Negotiations with a Cameroun regime which has twice refused the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human rights access to investigate credible reports of international crimes?

What does it mean to tell us to go and have Talks/Negotiations with a Cameroun regime that continues to slaughter our people as we speak?

If Humanitarian Dialogue is serious about facilitating Talks/Negotiations and the Swiss government is serious let them tell Cameroun to Stop the killings, release all our political prisoners, who are being held in violation of their fundamental human rights, allow an independent international fact finding mission to establish the facts on the ground like in all other recent conflicts. But more importantly Humanitarian Talks/Negotiations should go to Kondengui prison and discuss with our leaders there about their plans for dialogue.

Again these are not preconditions. They are confidence building procedure. I will say this though. As far as this struggle is concerned.

It shall be Total Independence or Resistance Forever.

Yours truly,

Dabney Yerima Vice President

– Federal Republic of Ambazonia

28, June 2019

Pressmen and Press wars: Ambazonia’s Ray Baba takes on Dr David Makongo ⁰

Response to Dr. Makongo’s Appeal Note

Dear Dr. Makongo. I read your post on one of the fora to which I belong and felt compelled to address a few things.

While I share your pain and desperation for what our God-ordained revolution has been transformed into; I could not hold back on noting our collective contribution to the present quagmire. Of course, you are not exempted.

When the whole debacle was going down before, during and after the APNC stock-taking and Unity Convention in Philadelphia, voices like yours as well as the few journalists with large platforms instead of weighing in to steer public opinion to the right direction, either :

1) Sat on the fence , to avoid losing supporters/followers and to shield yourselves from surrogate criticism.

2) Avoided the topic completely by choosing to address other issues such as humanitarian assistance and the natural resources and minerals in Ambazonia.

3) Indirectly and subtly promoted the DIVISION knowingly or unknowingly , by supporting the now deposed Acting President Samuel Sako and promoting the idea of the existence of two IG in your posts and comments- thereby giving wings to the insuburdinate employee to fly higher in his resistance and gansterism against his boss.

You are part of those who contributed to the current mess we find ourselves in.

You mentioned Samuel Sako and heaped very flattering words , even attributing the success of the UNSC diplomacy to Sako.

Point of correction sir, throughout Sako’s entire tenure, the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia revolution cannot count A SINGLE diplomatic success that can be attributed to Sako. Am sorry to disappoint you.

The lone attempt which came after a long period of diplomatic drought and unproductivity; was the UN Decolonization commission meeting . A scam propaganda which as crooket and unbalanced as the crutches it stood on, was hanging on a concocted string of lies and public manipulation.

We all later on learned, with video evidence that Sako, Ayim et al were trying to no avail to attend the meeting under the banners of the Sahawi Republic and some deeper-life-revival-inteceding-holy maria-Olumba-Olumba church , RESPECTIVELY.

Other than that, the only other achievement or “mischievement” was Chris Anus threats and calls to attack UN establishments, Elad’s wild and barbaric attacks on Comrade in arms Chris Mesner; and a whole lot of wasted flight money to fruitless missions.

Therefore, attributing and using Sako’s name in the same sentence with the UN Security Council just to stroke his ego in the right direction and make him feel good; does not only smack of dishonesty, but is equally an insult to the hardwork of the valiant , humble and dedicated comrades outside of the IG who toiled sleeplessly for it to happen.

In summary, Sako and his cabinet have not produced any tangible Diplomatic results to the best of my knowledge. His cabinet has instead ALIENATED PAST AND OTHER POTENTIAL PARTNERS.

The same unproductive report can be said in the domains of Humanitarian Assistance and to a greater extend, Self defence – an area where Sako’s cabinet excelled in, in terms of division of groups by buying fighters with lofty-empty promises and the elimination of opposing and /or defiant Generals.

With all due respect comrade Makongo,
I would have expected a senior comrade like yourself to use sound judgement, hindsight and foresight to inform your stance, then use your good offices to lobby the illogical camp to reason.

Let me break this point down further. Any sound person with wisdom and with an Ambazonia First mindset will understand that;

A) Promoting or supporting the defiance, anti-revolutionary gangsterism and power drunk actions of ” Acting President ” Sako, against the constitutionally elected President (now communicado, armed with a team of 10 cabinet members, and strategically re-routed to the dungeons of LRC through divine engineering to be the Nelson Mandela and face of our revolutionary quest as a high-profile international political prisoner) was a bad idea.

B) Political prisoners and ground fighters are untouchable, and very respected groups of people in a Revolution. Any attack against them is treasonous and counter revolutionary. No soldier or comrade left behind principle of revolutions.

C)The International community unanimously recognize Sisiku as the “leader of the Separatist movement”. As such, it is our responsibility to STRATEGICALLY use his image, position and location as a springboard to gather more international support towards our cause.

Instead, key voices like yourself chose to stay mute, failed to caution Sako and his cabinet against the dangers of his ignorant and overzealous actions ( Unfit to rule, Compromised, Impeachment ) and silently watched the way Sako’s surrogates and his Blue and white social media army of blind followers DISRESPECTED, INSULTED, DEMEANED, DISCREDITED Sisiku, the recognized face of the revolution and the Ambazonian political ticket to freedom.

These surrogates and the Blue and white army of doom did all these attacks under the watchful eyes and silence of Sako. Actually Chris and Sako promoted the attacks and basked in the glory of it. Chris Anu even went as far as calling VOA to announce the bad news of compromise and impeachment , while Ayim ( Professor of Sports turned diplomat) dispatched diplomatic letters to foreign partners.

GREED for money , THIRST for power and the desire to go down history as those who NEGOTIATED the freedom (or cheap sale) of Ambazonia , is what motivated this long string of misguided, foolish and destructive actions; result of which we are seeing today.

Are these guys Statesmen?

Are they really ordained men of God?

Are they Pastors or revolutionary vultures?

Helas! Sir Makongo, your silence and diplomatic posturing (fence-sitting) let to this.

I will not encourage Honorable Wirba to get himself involved in this charade. I will advise Hon. Wirba to keep his name clean by staying far away from this toxic and useless politics in the diaspora, promoted by “pastors” and journalists. It’s not worth it.

*Diaspora wuna finish wuna fufu of foolishness, blind surrogacy and Greed for Power

Ambazonians in the diaspora , if you continue on this path , you will lose any leverage you may have earned in the past to use as bargaining chip for your freedom. Silence in times of injustice and danger is criminal.

Soon, the next big even will occur in some part of the world and ALL ATTENTION will be taken away from the crisis in the Cameroons to elsewhere.

We can keep fighting each other and comparing an ” Acting Unknown to the world President ” with the internationally recognized Political Prisoner and “Leader of the Saparatist Movement”

J.N Foncha, Endeley, Albert Mukong , Dr. Kevin GUMNE et al. Must be spinning in their graves at this almost lost opportunity to right the wrongs of history.

Lastly, by peddling the Idea of two IG’s, Sir, you become part of the problem of division and not the solution.

Revolution are progressive and dynamic events. We make changes and keep going while those who lost their position seek other patriotic ways of moving the revolution forward in odifferent capacities.

Many have done so, including myself. We dont fight for power in a revolutiin in which there is no payment or salary.

True Revolutionaries step aside or resign to protect the bigger image of the cause. We are not LRC, we are Ambazonians, a people with integrity and wisdom.

Helas!

Its unfortunate that we have very academically educated Ambazonians with PhDs and Doctorates, but who are politically and strategically illiterate .

There are NO two IG’s. There is one IG headed by Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe- international political prisoner and leader of the Separatist movement who leads (advices) from jail, assisted by Yerima Dabney who rules ( runs the day to day business) the IG in his physical absence.

Ambazonia shall rise from these ashes of division, peddled and promoted by Musonge and LRC , with help of weak and financially greedy enablers disguised in Ambazonian outfits.

Long Live the 13 Counties of Ambazonia

Shortlived the Silent voices and enablers

Total Freedom or Resistance Forever.

Ambazonia First.

Ray Baba.
Revolutionary Vanguard.

28, June 2019

Archbishop Esua Affair: Ambazonia Interim Gov’t weighs in on kidnapping ⁰

Fellow Ambazonians,

I bring you revolutionary greetings.

Following the unfortunate abduction of the Arch Bishop of Bamenda, The Most Reverend Cornelius Fontem Esua, on Tuesday the 25th of June 2019 whilst on a journey from Esu to Bamenda, The Interim Government launched an immediate investigation into the incident. Our immediate findings revealed that a group of unidentified men acting in the area without any authority or connection to our self- defence forces were involved. Upon ascertaining these facts, our self-defence teams were immediately instructed to do everything in their power to get him released.

I’m pleased to announce that this very unfortunate incident has come to an end. The Most Reverend Cornelius Fontem Esua is now safe at home in Bamenda.

I want to bring to your attention a recent statement by the Chairman of the SDF, Ni John Fru Ndi. He pointed to the existence and activity of rogue elements sponsored by La Republique du Cameroun in Ambazonia. The fundamental purpose of this infiltration and illegal activity by our enemy is to illegitimise our struggle in the eyes of the world by carrying out illegal and unlawful activities.

We condemn these illegal and unlawful activities in our country strongly.

We reiterate that it’s our duty to defend ourselves against the brutality of La Republique du Cameroun but your Interim Government condemns all acts of abduction and kidnappings in Ambazonia. All groups and self-defence forces defending life and property in the territory of Ambazonia must guard against any actions that our enemy will exploit to paint us to the outside world in a negative light.

I want to thank our brave self-defence forces for their continuous sacrifices in difficult circumstances. With their determination and God’s Blessings, we shall overcome.

God Bless the Federal Republic of Ambazonia
Short Live The Revolution
Long Live the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Sincerely,

Milton Taka
Secretary of State
Department of Communication & Information Technology
Interim Government Spokesperson

28, June 2019

Geneva: Tension as Biya men beat up journalist ⁰

A Consortium of Swiss lawyers have said in a statement that President Paul Biya’s body guards who travelled with the French Cameroun dictator to Switzerland recently do not benefit any diplomatic immunity, hence will face charges for assaulting a journalist.

The lawyers observed that “A president and his entourage can only enjoy diplomatic immunity when on official state visit”. Biya’s guards reportedly used excessive force during an incident at the Inter Continental Hotel in Geneva.

We understand France’s closest allies such as Switzerland are walking away from the regime in Yaounde as it is believed that Paris is supporting the Yaoundé government in its resolve to kill the people of Southern Cameroons. Many EU countries are insisting on Yaoundé calling for an inclusive dialogue that will help normalize things in Cameroon.

But Yaoundé has been indifferent to those calls. Many EU countries have already allied with the United States and Canada on how the Southern Cameroons crisis could be addressed. America’s determination and its ability to mobilize other countries, including some of Cameroons neighbors like Equatorial Guinea, have rattled the regime and its supporters.

Over the last two days, regime supporters, including the Speaker of the House and the Senate President have been shouting from rooftops that there is a global conspiracy to destabilize Cameroon. They blame this on Southern Cameroonians and government forces seem to have been irritated by the enormous pressure coming from Brussels and Washington D.C.

The last few days have witnessed massive killings in many villages in Southern Cameroons. In Ossing and Ndekwai in the Southwest region, government troops slaughtered more than ten innocent civilians in a situation many observers say was unnecessary. In Esu and Jakiri in the Northwest region, army soldiers beheaded unarmed civilians. The killings have intensified over the last couple of days as the regime suspects that international pressure may increase in the days ahead.

Army soldiers have also been burning homes and destroying food crops, believing that such tactics will cause the population to yield and betray the fighters. This strategy has been in effect for more than two years, but the Southern Cameroons population is very determined. Most southern Cameroonians are for independence and will not settle for anything less.

The Yaoundé government is really frustrated. Its international allies are walking away and this is creating brand new problems even in the North where Boko Haram remains a lethal threat. The withdrawal of American military support in the North has exposed Cameroon’s army soldiers to more attacks from Boko Haram.

A Cameroon Concord News Production

28, June 2019

Battle For Ambazonia: Switzerland’s Journey of Many Dangers ⁰

Switzerland has agreed to mediate talks between Cameroonian authorities and separatists in a bid to end escalating violence in the country’s Anglophone regions, the Swiss government said on Thursday.

A secessionist movement turned violent in 2017 after the government cracked down on peaceful protests by teachers and lawyers in the English-speaking northwest and southwest, which complain of being marginalised by the Francophone majority.

Cameroon, an oil, cocoa and timber-producing nation, has since experienced near-daily clashes between mostly French-speaking government forces and armed separatist groups.

“The aim of the meeting was to prepare the future peace negotiations.”

The FDFA declined to elaborate on which parties it had met and on the timeline for future talks.

The Cameroonian government was not immediately available for comment.

Ivo Tapang, spokesman for 13 armed groups called the Contender Forces of Ambazonia, told Reuters they would not speak to the government unless a cessation of hostilities was observed. “When the time is ripe for talks, we will invite Cameroon and not the other way round,” he said.

President Paul Biya is reported to be on holiday in Switzerland this week.

The United Nations estimates that about 1,800 people have been killed and more than 530,000 displaced within the West African country since 2017, with 1.3 million in need in the region.

Source: Reuters