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High-profile journalist kidnapped in Southern Cameroons freed

24, February 2019

High-profile journalist kidnapped in Southern Cameroons freed 0

Cameroon Association of English-speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ) said Friday the president of the Northwest regional chapter of the association Ambe Macmillian Awa, who was kidnapped Thursday by “unknown gunmen,” has been released.

“He was released today Feb. 22 by 11 am. He is doing well and in good health. He was not tortured by his captors,” Fongoh Primus Ayeh, secretary general of CAMASEJ Northwest, told Xinhua.

He said, Awa was interrogated by government forces after his release. “We still don’t know who kidnapped him and why. Journalism is not a crime,” he said.

Awa, who is also secretary general of the Northwest chapter of Cameroon Journalists’ Trade Union, is the first high profile journalist to be kidnapped since an armed conflict started in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon in November 2017.

Kidnappings have become widespread in the two troubled Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest since the start of this year.

Over the weekend, some 170 students and their teacher were kidnapped in the Northwest. They were released later following negotiations.

Xinhua

24, February 2019

Sudan appoints new vice president, premier 0

Sudan’s Defense Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf has been appointed as the first vice president of the country.

Ibn Auf will take office while remaining as the defense minister, the presidency announced on Saturday, adding that Mohamed Tahir Ayala, the governor of Gezira state, is to be appointed as the new prime minister.

The new appointments came after President Omar al-Bashir declared a one-year nationwide state of emergency on Friday.

Bashir, who has set up a caretaker administration, has replaced all the state governors with military officials.

The country’s dire economic situation has prompted protesters to take part in mass anti-government demonstrations in the past months.

The protests started after food and fuel prices increased and shortages started to plague the country.

The anti-government protesters demand an end to the decades-long rule of Bashir over the country.

Witnesses say police have used live munition to disperse the protesters in some cases.

Earlier this month, Ibn Auf, who previously served as the head of the military intelligence, made an effort to ease tensions by saying that the younger population who participated in the recent protests had “reasonable ambition.”

In November, Bashir said he would support Ayala in the 2020 presidential election if he decided to run.

Presstv

23, February 2019

Cameroon’s Dictator Heads to Europe Leaving the Country on Fire 0

Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, and first lady, Chantal Biya, are scheduled to leave Yaounde, Cameroon, for Geneva, Switzerland, on bord a chartered aircraft tomorrow February 24, 2019.

The luxurious airplane, which has been rented for tens of millions of taxpayer’s money, will also take the reclusive leader to France. He is expected to spend several weeks in Geneva where he will be seeking medical attention.

Meanwhile, the Brigade Anti-sardinards (BAS) – a Diaspora-driven initiative designed to raise awareness of the despicable military, economic and political situation in the country – which had issued a warning to the Intercontinental Hotel in Switzerland, which hosts Mr. Biya and his large entourage each time he is in Geneva, have begun taking positions across continental Europe, particularly in Switzerland, to disrupt Mr. Biya’s health tourism program.

More than 100 members of the BAS are already in Geneva while hundreds more are expected to leave Germany, Belgium and France today evening to ensure that the Cameroon leader does not know any peace during his time in Europe.

Mr. Biya and his entourage are very likely to face lots of protests in Geneva as the country’s Diaspora is prepared to give the dictator a very bad name for his brutal killings in Southern Cameroons and the imprisonment of Maurice Kamto, the country’s opposition leader.

It should be recalled that Mr. Biya had declared war against the country’s English-speaking minority in 2017 and since his declaration of war, more than 3,000 civilians have been killed by Mr. Biya’s army, more than a million civilians have been displaced, with more than 400,000 seeking refuge in neighboring Nigeria that is collaborating with the Yaounde government in its determination to slaughter as many Southern Cameroonians as possible.

Meanwhile, more than 170 villages have been burnt down by soldiers who are out on a collective punitive expedition which is only making the secession of the English-speaking minority a likelihood.

It has been reported that the Cameroon strongman and his government are seeking to change his itinerary given that they are aware of the protests waiting for them in Switzerland and France.

The profile picture attached to this report is a photo of the airplane rented for the presidential couple and their itinerary. More will be yours in the days ahead.

By Soter Agbaw-Ebai in the United Kingdom

23, February 2019

Mount Cameroon Race of Fear: Ambazonians can no longer accept Biya’s primitive dictatorship 0

The people of Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia can no longer accept France-Afrique’s primitive old school dictatorship imposed on the country by the government of the 86 year old President Paul Biya. Biya has only accepted controversial constitutional amendments that guaranteed his continued stay in power in French Cameroun with the support of some Southern Cameroons criminal gangs.

Biya has been in power for 36 years now and both French and Southern Cameroons have been more of a dictatorship than anything else. This generation of Southern Cameroonians is more educated and the primitive old school dictatorship is not working anymore.

The corrupt Francophone Beti Ewondo despot keeps on blaming everything on different elements, but the truth of the matter is that this generation of Ambazonians is not standing for it and they will keep on sustaining the war in Southern Cameroons until and unless they get a result that they want-which is simply an independent state of Southern Cameroons.

Citizens of both La Republique du Cameroun and Southern Cameroons are suffering, while, he (Biya) thinks he can call the shots and dictate what is going on including the policy without any opposition or disagreement.

How can a government be reveling in denial and self-delusion by pretending that things are normal in Southern Cameroons? The French Cameroun’s Minister of Sports and Physical Education Narcisse Mouelle Kombi presided at the official launch of activities to mark the 2019 Mount Cameroon Race of Hope in Buea. But the heavily militarized event looked more like a military parade and a hostage situation.

The Biya regime should stop playing the ostrich because images like these only further reinforce Cameroon’s beleaguered image as a country bedevilled by insecurity where bizarre things are happening and this only scare foreign investors.

By Sama Ernest

US to deny visas to Congo-Kinshasa officials over election misconduct

23, February 2019

US to deny visas to Congo-Kinshasa officials over election misconduct 0

The United States has made good on its threat to penalise individuals that undermine electoral processes, announcing on Friday that it would deny visas to officials that were involved in election misconduct in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Washington said it wanted to send a clear signal of the need for accountability in the conflict-torn nation but stressed that it will still work with the controversially elected new president, Felix Tshisekedi.

The United States said it would reject any visa request from five senior Congolese figures as well as their immediate family members over “involvement in significant corruption relating to the election process.”

They include Corneille Nangaa, president of the Independent National Election Commission, Constitutional Court president Benoit Lwamba Bindu and Aubin Minaku Ndjalandjoko, president of the National Assembly.

The State Department said it was also imposing visa restrictions on an unspecified number of other military and government officials over human rights abuses related to the election.

“These individuals enriched themselves through corruption, or directed or oversaw violence against people exercising their rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression,” the State Department said in a statement.

“They operated with impunity at the expense of the Congolese people and showed a blatant disregard for democratic principles and human rights,” it said.

A rigged election?

The United States and other international players had been holding their breath for the December 30 election, which ultimately marked the first peaceful transfer of power in sub-Saharan Africa’s most vast country since independence from Belgium in 1960.

Martin Fayulu, a former oil executive, alleged widespread fraud and accused Tshisekedi of collaborating with outgoing president Joseph Kabila.

Despite recognizing concerns over the election, regional and world powers led by South Africa quickly coalesced behind Tshisekedi in hopes of preventing greater instability.

Fayulu had accused Nangaa, the election chief, of breaking the law to help engineer the election results. Nangaa hit back after the country’s powerful Catholic church raised doubts about the election, saying it was in no position to know the vote tallies.

The opposition leader had earlier also accused Kabila of stacking the top court to have his way with the election. Kabila was constitutionally barred from seeking a third term and won praise for eventually stepping down — but he stayed in power even after his second mandate ended in 2016.

Fayulu has maintained that he is the elected president of the resource-rich nation and has maintained pressure, tweeting on Thursday,

“I say it and I’ll repeat it — I will not let Joseph Kabila take the destiny of an entire people hostage.”

The State Department, however, said that its actions were “specific to certain individuals.”

It said the United States was committed to working with the new government “to realize its expressed commitment to end corruption and strengthen democracy and accountability, and respect for human rights.”

AFP

23, February 2019

Security under the spotlight as Nigerians vote in presidential election 0

An attack in northeastern Nigeria by suspected Islamist militants just hours before polls were set to open in Nigeria’s presidential election Saturday underscored the challenges confronting Africa’s most populous nation.

Nigerians began voting for a new president Saturday after a week-long delay that has raised political tempers, sparked conspiracy claims and stoked fears of violence, including terrorist attacks and post-electoral unrest.

Just hours before polls were set to open, suspected Islamist attacked a northeastern Nigerian town, forcing residents to flee.

“We have fled, along with our wives and children and hundreds of others,” Ibrahim Gobi, who lives in the town of Geidam in Yobe state, told Reuters by telephone. “We are right now running and hiding in the bushes.”

Around the same time a Reuters witness said blasts were heard in Maiduguri, the capital of the neighbouring state of Borno.

Northeast Nigeria has been hit by the decade-long Boko Haram insurgency with attacks in recent months carried out by offshoot Islamic State in West Africa Province.

Crowded presidential race

Some 120,000 polling stations were due to open across the country, from megacity Lagos and the oil hub Port Harcourt in the south, to ancient Kano in the north and the country’s rural heartlands.

The 2019 presidential campaign has been a crowded one, with 70 challengers running against incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, including the main opposition party candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

The election, due to be held a week ago, was postponed around five hours before polling stations were set to open and there are concerns that the delay may hurt turnout. The electoral commission blamed logistical factors for the delay and denied political pressure was behind the decision.

Presidential elections in 2011 and 2015 were also delayed over logistics and security concerns but Buhari on Friday urged Nigerians “to go out and vote”, promising that there would be adequate security for the ballot.

Economy tops campaign agenda

The biggest challenge facing Nigeria’s next leader is revamping an economy struggling to recover from its first recession in 25 years, which it slipped into in 2016 as crude prices crashed and militants attacked energy facilities in the Niger Delta. Crude sales make up 90 percent of foreign exchange earnings.

“Instability is a rising concern but a weak economy is being felt in all sectors and country-wide so we believe it will be the preeminent voter concern,” Benedict Craven, analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit, told AFP.

Buhari’s critics say his much-touted focus on rooting out corruption may be offset by his handling of the economy. Despite the president’s campaign against graft, there have not been any significant convictions in his first term.

Nearly a quarter of the workforce is unemployed, much higher than when Buhari, a former military ruler who was later elected president, took over in 2015. The cost of living has also risen rapidly, with inflation of 11.37 percent in January – just short of a seven-month high reached the previous month.

Buhari is the flagbearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) while Atiku spearheads the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Both candidates have promised to address Nigeria’s economic problems. The pair are both Muslims from the north of the country.

The south has favoured the PDP in the past, while the north is Buhari’s stronghold. The number of eligible voters stands at 72.8 million people. To be declared winner, the candidate with the most votes must have at least one quarter of the vote in two thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states and the capital. Otherwise there is a runoff.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)

23, February 2019

Algeria: Clashes erupt as protesters rally against Bouteflika bid for 5th term 0

Protesters clashed with police as thousands demonstrated in Algiers on Friday against a bid by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika for a fifth term in office.

Algerian protesters running in a street as police in riot gear fired tear gas and set up a security cordon to block access to the presidential palace by the demonstrators who responded with stone-throwing. (AFP)

“The president has failed during his fourth terms, so trying to win a fifth one, which means the continuity of failure, he’s also disabled,” said one protester.

Eighty one-year-old Bouteflika announced earlier this month his plan to seek a new term in April’s presidential elections in spite of doubts over his health condition.

Protests were reported by local news in other Algerian cities on Friday. Another demonstration is expected in Algiers on Sunday.

US: Trump says ‘witch hunt’ must end as Mueller prepares to file report

22, February 2019

US: Trump says ‘witch hunt’ must end as Mueller prepares to file report 0

US President Donald Trump has condemned an investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into possible collusion between his 2016 election campaign and Russia as a “witch hunt” in a new tweet, calling for it to end amid reports that it is coming to a close.

“Highly respected Senator Richard Burr, head of Senate Intelligence, said, after interviewing over 200 witnesses and studying over 2 million pages of documents, ‘WE HAVE FOUND NO COLLUSION BETWEEN THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA.’ The Witch Hunt, so bad for our Country, must end!” Trump tweeted on Friday. 

Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said recently that the panel has not found evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential.

According to reports, Mueller could file his report on his investigation with the Department of Justice next week. Trump announced in November that his personal legal team would compile a “major Counter Report” to Mueller’s findings.

Robert Mueller has disputed a report that President Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen said Trump directed him to lie to Congress. Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion and has long called for end to the probe. Moscow has also denied any interference in US elections.

“After two years and millions of pages of documents (and a cost of over $30 million) no collusion!” Trump tweeted in December.

In another previous tweet Trump had called the probe the “greatest witch hunt” in the US history. “This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history.”

Presstv

Cameroon league authorities to pay outstanding money to clubs after Fifa intervention

22, February 2019

Cameroon league authorities to pay outstanding money to clubs after Fifa intervention 0

An impasse over salary arrears between Cameroon league authorities and players’ representative body sucked in Fifa

The Cameroon Professional Football League (Lfpc) has agreed to pay 84 million FCFA ($145 205) meant for settling outstanding player salaries to 24 Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs following an order by world football governing body Fifa.

A stand-off between Lfpc and the National Union of Footballers of Cameroon (Synafoc) over the non-payment of the money saw the latter reporting the matter Fifa and FIFPro.

According to Cafonline, Fifa secretary general Fatma Saoura wrote to new Cameroon Football Federation boss Seydou Mbombo Njoya ordering him “to take the necessary steps urgently to ensure that the salaries and bonuses due to the players of these 24 clubs, in accordance with the relevant contractual obligations, be paid in the near future.”

The situation had created a deep crisis in Cameroonian football and caused a delay to the start of the league. Synafoc is headed by former Real Madrid and Chelsea utility player Geremi Njitap.

The outstanding money dates back to two years ago and some Ligue 1 teams are set to receive $5185 each, while Ligue 2 clubs will get $3457.

Goal.Com

UN moves fast into Southern Cameroons

22, February 2019

UN moves fast into Southern Cameroons 0

A UN report has detailed how it plans to deploy its staff in Cameroon. The report slams the government and armed groups in the country’s two English-speaking regions for the deteriorating humanitarian situation. See excerpts from the report.

“The deployment of humanitarian actors to the field continues. A further allocation of CERF to Cameroon will in part support humanitarian activities in the North-West and South-West regions.As of 7 January, donors had provided 35 per cent of the US$15.2 million required as per the emergency response plan, according to the Financial Tracking Service (FTS). This amount constitutes the $5.1 million CERF allocation under the rapid response window. Additional contributions were received by other donors but not yet reported on FTS,” the report says.

“The Humanitarian Response Plan will be launched on 20 February 2019. The number of people estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2019 has increased by 31 per cent compared to 2018, from 3.3 million to 4.3 million. The number of people who will be targeted for assistance has also increased from last year, from 1.3 million to 2.3 million. This increase is mainly attributed to emerging needs in the North-West and South-West regions. More than a quarter of people targeted by the response (28 per cent or 820,000 people) lives in the North-West and South-West regions, which are now priority areas of intervention. Sectors need US $ 93 million – or 31 per cent of the total appeal – to support 437,000 IDPs in these two regions, the West and Littoral, and 376,000 vulnerable host communities due to forced displacement and disruption of social and health services,” the report points out.

See Cameroon Intelligence Report for a detailed report on UN plans to deploy in the Northwest and Southwest regions.

By Kingsley Betek

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