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Biya speaks from both sides of his mouth

1, January 2019

Biya speaks from both sides of his mouth 0

Cameroon president Paul Biya says he is ready for dialogue with separatist elements to end the ongoing security crisis in the country’s English speaking regions. Biya in his New Year address to the nation said he was ready to engage with persons with goodwill to end the crisis that has been going on since October 2017.

“If my appeal to war mongers remain unheeded to, the defence and security forces will be instructed to neutralize them. I am aware of the situation and difficulties the rebels are putting the people in. “It will not continue,” Biya said. In other planks of security, the octogenarian stated that the security situation in the Far North where Boko Haram attacks are recorded had been stabilized.

It is the first time that Biya is speaking directly to the subject of dialogue. International partners and the church had long advocated this position as the only way out of the crisis.

There are no concrete clarifications on who exactly are the goodwill personalities Yaounde is willing to engage. Separatist leaders are currently facing treason and terrorism charges before a military tribunal.

The situation in the North West and South West regions worries me most…but I can assure You, it will not last for long.

President Paul Biya says he is aware of the difficulties of the population of the troubled North West and South West regions of Cameroon.

He has promised to hasten the decentralisation process and also enforce the activities of the bilingualism commission.

In the past, Biya’s Interior Minister, Paul Atanga Nji, has stressed that government was never going to enter any kind of dialogue with terrorists.

The crisis concentrated in the northwest and southwest regions have claimed scores of lives on the part of separatists and security forces. Civilians have also been killed in the line of fire.

Thousands of Cameroonians have fled the regions, some have crossed into the French side of the country whiles others fled into Nigeria.

Africa News

1, January 2019

Hidden history of presidential sickness: Ali Bongo tells Gabonese ‘I am now fine’ in New Year message 0

Gabon’s President Ali Bongo chose the auspicious occasion of a new year to address his citizens for the first time since suffering a stroke on October 24. The New Year’s message recorded in Morocco, was distributed via social and traditional media on Monday.

“It is true that I have been through a difficult period, as sometimes happens in life,” he said in a video recorded in Rabat, where the president has been recuperating since end-November. Today, as you can see, I am better and I am preparing to meet you again soon.

The 59-year-old leader has not been home to Gabon since he fell ill in Saudi Arabia more than two months ago. A lack of official news sparked fevered speculation that he was incapacitated or even dead.

A single photograph of Bongo and two videos without sound were published in the two months after his stroke, further fuelling rumours about his health.

Speaking straight to the camera in the new video, Bongo elocutes his message seemingly effortlessly, even as his head and hands display slight movement.

Fully recovered?

Seated at a table, the president’s lower body is not shown. “Today, as you can see, I am better and I am preparing to meet you again soon,” Bongo said in the video.

Presidency spokesman Ike Ngouoni told AFP: “This speech is proof that President Ali Bongo is fully recovered. His health problems are now behind him.”

The Bongo family has governed the oil-rich equatorial African nation for five decades. The incumbent replaced his father, who died in 2009.

Three opposition party leaders have called for an independent medical team to see Bongo in Rabat to assess whether he is able to perform his presidential duties.

Bongo was narrowly re-elected in 2016 following a presidential poll marred by deadly violence and allegations of fraud.

Africa News

1, January 2019

Acting President Sako Ikome addresses Southern Cameroonians-Full Speech 0

God bless you My Fellow Ambazonians,

Following the abduction of our President H.E. Sisiku Ayuk Tabe Julius and some members of his cabinet, I was mandated by our people to be Acting President and Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia; To fly their pride as a people above the tallest of mountains and sit it at the foot of the Mount Fako in Buea; To systematically and robustly prosecute a war that was already two months old as was declared upon us by the octogenarian President Paul Biya of La République du Cameroun on the 30th of November 2017.

One of my goals was to reunite forces within and between all our great freedom fighters at home and abroad. To harness a collective momentum in the actualization of our independence restoration movement, and to plant our flag at the Prime Minister’s lodge in Buea in due time, peradventure, if God forbid, our President H.E. Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe would yet be in captivity.

Today, I stand before you in the ranks of this high office as YOUR humble servant. You all deserve the right to our Ambazonian nationhood. Your dignity, SAFETY and sovereignty are my primary responsibilities.Every day, I wake up to the humiliation and genocidal onslaught against you, my people, by the evil gangster colonial regime. I feel the urge deep down in my bones to free you from the almost 6 decades of recolonisation, till the last drop of my blood. Your hopes and aspirations of realizing a totally free and prosperous nation of Ambazonia, is a crusade that triggers my willingness for absolute commitment. My unflinching commitment therefore, towards this dream – the Ambazonian dream, is sustained with that insight that I am only one out of over 10 million Ambazonians, and one Ambazonian cannot be as wise as all Ambazonians put together. That’s why I am here to work with you on how WE should do it, as one people, one nation, and one unstoppable and insurmountable force.

As we enter 2019 with great expectations and robust energy-efficient strategies, I will seek to offer a more inclusive political leadership in the diaspora and a coordinated command structure on Ground Zero to be established by the 13 county self-defense structures on GZ while we enthusiastically complete the final rounds of this fierce conflict. But before I get into the nuggets of how we will do that, permit me to present a review of the year 2018;

This same time last year 2017, President Sisiku told us that 2018 will be “the year of Recognition and Home Coming” and it’s been so indeed. I am not here for a presidential campaign with high praises of our achievements, even in the face of difficulty but I am looking deep into your hearts to tell you straightforwardly, and without fear of contradiction,

that like NEVER BEFORE the year 2018 has been a hectic and challenging year for the people of Ambazonia.

As Martin Luther King, Jr. said;

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”

In the midst of all the complex wartime Challenges in 2018 the Interim Government of The Federal Republic of Ambazonia under my humble leadership has stood tall, with unwavering integrity or resolve, poised and focused on prosecuting the war against our one true enemy, the evil tyrant dictator Paul Biya and his cohorts. During this year, we have taken major strides to raise international awareness about our plight and cause, thereby taking the people of Ambazonia closer to Buea than ever before.

HE Sisiku Ayuk Tabe had staked this lofty goal on the foundation of unity which to him then, and to us now, is very important in our struggle to reach Buea as soon as possible. Like never before, our people are more galvanized in their resolve to liberate homeland. Despite our every effort to defend homeland to the best of our ability and according to the means available, our enemy – the annexationist regime led by Paul Biya and his terrorist forces have been evilly versatile in unleashing their carnage on our people. They have escalated their genocidal apparatus against our people, devising new strategies in their ambition to exterminate us, but at every turn God has fought for us, exposing their diabolic schemes ahead of execution, thereby minimizing our losses.

They have been continuously burning our villages and towns, executing or unlawfully incarcerating any Ambazonian male that they feel can defend our homeland, and these concentration camps have debilitating inhumane conditions on purpose perhaps, to cause as many deaths as possible. They even plotted to eliminate our leaders and disappear their corpses incommunicado but their plan was exposed before they could execute it; they plotted to indiscriminately mass execute large populations of our Southern zone under the guise of vaccinations against unfounded epidemic outbreaks, and failed yet again. Even after our people escaped and took refuge in a foreign land, they sought to eliminate them with poisoned provisions in the name of humanitarian relief. We thought their strategy to exterminate every male Ambazonian was an unsubstantiated threat, until they started actually shooting our boys as young as 10 years of age.

Since Dictator Paul Biya declared war on our people more than one year ago, more than 8000 of our compatriots have been killed, some of them massacred and buried in unidentified mass graves. Bodies are still being discovered as we speak. More than 4000 are jailed in dungeons called prisons scattered around La République du Cameroun and in

Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia.  Just a few days ago we had some of our own roasted in Bali and Big Babanki respectively. United Nations Commission for Human Rights estimates that more than 436,000 Ambazonians are now internally displaced as of November 2018, while the Human Rights Watch Report of the 19th of July 2018, estimates the number of Ambazonian refugees in Nigeria to be more than 50,000.

In less than a week from now, we will be commemorating one year since our President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and 9 of our leaders (Dr. Nfor Ngala Nfor, Deacon Tassang Wilfred, Dr. Fidelis Nde Che, Dr. Henry Kimeng, Prof. Awasum, Dr.Cornelius Kwanga,

Barr. Elias Eyambe, Dr. Ogork Ntui, and Barr. Shufai Blaise Berinyuy) were abducted from Nigeria and taken to La République du Cameroun, then jailed for 11months incommunicado. In the days ahead, we will decree the 5th of January every year to be “The day of Justice for all ” for our community. We will therefore set aside that day to demand justice for all in the spirit of gratitude to God Almighty. Our leaders’ next appearance in the colonial kangaroo court is in 10 days time.  The videos and images of their previous appearances in court should however encourage us all to remain fortified. They are our inspiration as we continue this journey of no-return to Buea.

Anytime, we feel the urge to give up let him remember our brave compatriots – Amigo, Ivo, Tiger, Bearbear, Beltus and others. If we remember our valiant commanders and commandos, as we doff our hats to those in the battle field in Lebialem, Mezam Boyo, Manyu, Fako, Menchum, Momo, Meme, Ndian, Bali, Bui, and Ndonga Mantung at this moment, how can we even linger around the thought of giving up? Let us think of Mancho Bibixy, Penn Terence, Patrick Ndangoh and all those heroes languishing in colonial prisons and other detention centers in La République du Cameroun and The British Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia. Let us think of our mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children who spent their Christmas in deplorable conditions in bushes, without shelter, food, or medicine. Let us think of the numerous compatriots who have fled homeland and are refugees in neighbouring Nigeria, or other neighbouring countries and the world at large.

My Dear Ambalanders,

When you gave me the leadership baton of this revolution early this year, I categorically told you that we will move on fully to the self-defense phase of this revolution in response to the massacre of our people by the ruthless colonial regime. I therefore asked you compatriots at the beginning of my tenure, to partner with me by sowing a revolutionary seed financially through the My Trip To Buea project. You responded to my call. Though we did not reach the threshold amount we agreed on, I want to tell you all thank You once more for answering the call to invest in our liberation.

Even though we had only about a third of what we requested, you will agree with me that we have changed the phase of this revolution in all aspects: We have been able to galvanize our community self-defense structure which was mostly concentrated in a few counties like Manyu and Lebialem to our entire national territory.

Through the Ambazonia Self-defense Council (ASC), we have been able to bring together our brave volunteer compatriots to defend homeland in all the 14 counties of the British Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia. Our self-defense forces grew more than tenfold as many brave compatriots voluntarily enlisted to protect their communities.

Thanks to MTTB For the first time in our colonial history, we were able to stop the colonizers from celebrating their so-called 20th May national day and many so-called official celebrations in our territory; The economic sabotage escalated, costing the colonizer billions of francs CFA more to keep up with the war they waged on us. We were also able to stop La République du Cameroun from organizing elections, (both Senatorial and Presidential), in our territory. They lost the last vestige of legitimacy in our territory.

Our diplomatic strides have been steady and productive, without attracting the noise that is characteristic of social media publicity. You all have witnessed a significant positive shift in positions at the international scene concerning our struggle in 2018.

From the United Nations, the United States Senate and House of Representatives, the UK House of Lords and Commons, the Bundestag, to the Canadian Parliament, and other European Governments the cries of our dying people are rattling the consciences of some ladies and gentlemen in power. Through our diplomacy of force and our tireless advocacy, the organizing body of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) was able to see reasons why the blood thirsty regime of neighbouring La République du Cameroun should not enjoy the glory of hosting Africa’s most prestigious tournament. They probably came to this very difficult decision after Paul Biya, despite being the most protected African tyrant-leader cancelled campaigning in our territory during his last presidential bid citing “security concerns.” Who will be more secure in our territory, a football tourist or an incumbent president?

I must recognize the efforts of well-meaning Ambazonians, who, through their actions and sense of patriotism also contributed to achieve these diplomatic successes and many others. I must also use this opportunity to caution other well-intentioned Southern Cameroonian/Ambazonian social media activists, and surrogates whose excesses, and failure to apply wisdom, discretion, and sound judgement, are doing more harm to our campaign than good. All good things deserve to be well done, so I say thank you and keep up the good job until we reach Buea. Remember that it is not everything that the ears hear and the eyes see that should be vocalised, share or forward, especially within our context where we are not in control of many of the actors on GZ. Otherwise you, with your own hands, will destroy the house that you’re so rigorously trying to build.

You honour Ambazonia by your best effort service to its people. I am thinking of my close collaborators some of whom spend sleepless nights to do the heavy lifting in terms of strategies that keep this revolution alive. And most importantly, our compatriots both in GZ and the diaspora, we say thank you for your resilience and support. This revolution is yours and therefore, despite the shortcomings that may arise in the way we serve you, NEVER GIVE UP, until we liberate our great nation The British Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia.

On the AGC – Anglophone General Conference here is our position. This is supposed to be a meeting of all British Southern Cameroonian leaders to chart a common position before we face the adversary.

We want to reprimand those compatriots who have blatantly chosen to disregard the will, desires and aspirations of all, going about purporting to organize this all-inclusive pre-negotiation conference in Buea instead, just to technically exclude the diaspora, thereby dancing to the wish of our oppressors. That kind of endeavor, though well intentioned is futile and will only promote the peril of our people. We will resist any such enterprise in 2019 with all our energy. Any such conference will only have a chance of seeing the light of day if the Diaspora is at the table and agrees on the venue.

Finally, let me use this opportunity to address some strange Southern Cameroonians especially on Ground Zero who are nurturing and propagating a separation of GZ from the Diaspora, for flimsy reasons. Look around you and tell us how feasible is your calculation? We cannot fight for power before we fight to take control. Open your eyes and see who your true enemy is and point your rage in the right direction lest we shoot ourselves in the foot and wonder why we cannot run to buea.

We must come to the realization that the International Community is watching – International Community,  friendly Nations, internal and external investors are watching closely. The IG cannot afford to tolerate or admit acts of kidnapping, or terrorising our own people. I wish to reiterate on this, All such atrocious activities are prohibited on GZ moving forward.

Any other Armed group operating both on GZ and in Diaspora which has publicly acknowledged perpetrating, or supporting any such acts in Guzang or Munyenge etc should consider the implications, issue disclaimers with regards to their involvement in these acts and restore discipline. Otherwise they will remain blacklisted by every true Ambazonian to save our revolution.

The IG frowns at any individual or armed group which amounts to a desecration of our genuine endeavor in liberating Ambazonia and will treat such acts as enemy acts. I repeat all kidnapping for ransom, killing of the innocent, killing of fellow AMBA soldiers and all forms of organized criminality on ground zero by whosoever is severely prohibited. We should pursue the perpetrators out of our counties.

The IG is not out there to police political organizations or nationalist movements and groups prosecuting this revolution but the IG would hold armed groups to account for whatever act they present or confess to. Self defense should not be seen to be carried out by diaspora organizations. The people of Ambazonia on GZ are the ones defending themselves. Our diaspora labels on GZ with CEOs in the diaspora are a problem in our revolution. None of us recruited anybody into self defense – the people spontaneously enlisted themselves to fight. Why own anybody because you helped him and why take responsibility for actions you are not in control of? If we had the powers we will ban all these names of defense groups originating from the diaspora and let our forces on GZ only organize themselves. By owning self defense groups we implicate ourselves in the diaspora before the international community just like LRC.

On the humanitarian front:

Your Interim Government through the Department of Health and Social Services has continuously assisted our IDPs and Refugees in Nigeria, thanks to your generosity and those of our partners and friends. We must also recognize the good humanitarian works initiated by goodwill organizations towards assisting our IDPs and refugees. We applaud Churches, The Ayah Foundation, Unity Foundation, CHRI, MAFAC, Victoria Relief Foundation, Keeping It Real Foundation for their contributions towards our countrymen, women and children in refugee camps in Nigeria and west Africa.

Also worth appreciating is the hospitality of our neighbours- especially the leaders and people of our Border states with  Nigeria, and other West African Countries  for hosting our fleeing compatriots, as well as the United Nations High Commission for Refugees for the commendable job they are doing. We will not fail to recognize the contribution of unbiased, professional journalists and media houses around the world, who have shed more light on the sufferings of our innocent people.

My dear Compatriots,

We picked up from where H.E. President Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe left his vision of unity – a vision he clearly articulated in his 2017 end of year address. We have worked so hard to bring the frontline Nationalist groups under one umbrella or to work together, so that we can all contribute in a collaborative manner, in order to liberate our homeland in the shortest possible time. We merged the Canada Collaborative Initiative with the All Ambazonia Consultative Council (AACC) held on the 18th and 19th of August 2018 in Washington, USA; where all our frontline leaders met to brainstorm on the way forward for our revolution.

The outcome which you are all aware of, was not sustainable given that some of our compatriots chose to put egos and personal interests before the collective spirit and wishes of our people. Early This year we will give another try For all our willing political organizations (non defense groups) in the Diaspora to establish a framework to face the international community as one voice. ACORN is at the center of this initiative.

My Dear People,

Notwithstanding, this is not a time to give up. Your Interim Government will never give up!  Your Interim Government will continue to find ways of collaborating with all compatriots even those who have decided to take different routes towards Buea, but, we will spare no effort to shame and exclude ALL sellouts and This includes all online saboteurs using lies and  propaganda, intimidation tactics, and violent rhetoric against Ambazonians whom they disagree with. Even in our quest for a better collaborative structure we should as a collective take on all avowed enemies of our revolution within and without if we must get to Buea sooner than later.

The ongoing Local Government Areas (LGA) Peace Plan Initiative crafted by some of the finest Ambazonians serving you is the way forward. The main objectives are; galvanizing our people in the grassroots to be active in terms of mobilising financial resources, taking active part in the management of the affairs of their various LGAs and that of the IG through their elected LGA representatives. By now, each Ambazonian is supposed to have joined his/her LGA. Please, do so if you have not yet identified and joined your LGA!

Early this coming year, the structures of the Ambazonia Commission for Reconciliation and Negotiations (ACORN) and the Ambazonia Stakeholders Strategic Congress (ASSC) initiatives which I announced in October, will be fully functional. I appeal to stakeholders – made of Statesmen, Leaders, Experts and Representatives of Nationalist groups and organisations to exhibit their high sense of patriotism, by actively responding the invitations of the commission. ACORN is the General Assembly of all our political movement leaders in charge of pursuing reconciliation amongst our leadership and prepare the ground for eventual Negotiation with French Cameroon as a united front.  It will be another opportunity for us to channel our collective resources towards liberating homeland.

To quote Mahatma Gandhi as also frequently quoted by H.E Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, “1st they will ignore you, 2nd they will laugh at you and then they fight you”. They laughed us to scorn when Our teachers and Lawyers called for national strike actions, They mocked at us and called us two (2) cubes of sugar, they called us rats, they called us dogs when we came out on 22nd September and followed suit to slaughter our unarmed youths in the streets on the first of October 2017, but when they saw our resolve on October 1, 2017, they declared war against us.

Now they are incurring heavy costs, and are running out of resources to prosecute this senseless war they declared on us, but I tell you what with about 30,000 Amba warriors ready to defend themselves and our communities from the big evil we are only warming up now, just getting started. We all 8M strong Ambazonians have been condemned by this brutal annexationists to fight for our homeland or live without a nation we call ours. We will shift the game plan from a defensive strategy to an offensive strategy, Ambazonia will be hotter for the occupier in 2019. Rest in the confidence that we have been an uncrackable nut to La République and we will stay on this path for the longest time to their greatest dismay, should they continue to avoid dialogue without preconditions, as recently prescribed by members of the UN Security Council.

2019, will be “The year of Dynamic Reclamation of our national territory”.

In this vein, we have programmed to ensure, secure and escalate our offensive apparatus, while maintaining and improving our defensive apparatus. The final phase of this fierce conflict in 2019 is not going to be made of grandiose promises. There is a fine line between promising and delivering. Rather than make wishful promises, we will adopt policies that we can all work together to implement.

I believe in setting goals and coming out with realistic plans and strategies to achieving those goals. In this regard the Ambazonia Strategic and Planning Committee made up of some of our best strategic minds is currently working on our Ambazonia Dream Plan. As pioneer-visionaries that we are, we have the duty to invest our goals until they become a reality. Some of you will be solicited to help. Having to do with The Amba Peace Plan initiative, the IG has opted to temporarily suspend the 20% remittance by the Local Governments that was supposed to be for the central government community policing.

Also considering the stakes involved, we have reached out to some of our traditional authorities soliciting their collaboration to facilitate the establishment and running of educational institutions within their communities in Ambazonia which are not under the constant harassment of French Cameroun’s armed terrorists. We are hoping that as we give our people the unique opportunity to take responsibility, our community authorities should take the advantage to restore the pride of their local governments that was desecrated by the occupier.

On the security arena  we are already in the process of re-instituting our Mobile Wing Police Force. This is the main security institution that we inherited from our forefathers before colonial president Ahmadou Ahidjo came to override it with his barbaric colonial Gendarmerie.

We shall not be deterred by the reluctance in collaboration with our interim Government that we face in house, we will continue to extend a hand of fellowship to all but we shall maintain the policy of zero tolerance to anyone or armed group involved with any criminal activities. The phenomenon of kidnapping for ransom, chopping of limbs, beheading, or mutilation of corpses by anyone to our own people is not Ambazonian and does not fall in line with our Interim Government’s self-defense rules of engagement neither has it ever been perpetrated by our genuine Restoration Forces. The IG therefore, has taken particular interest in these very disturbing acts and is poised to stem the tide of such and other criminal activity with the creation of the Mobile Wing Police Force. Atanga Nji’s militias and Biya’s  forces masquerading as “unidentified gunmen”, and criminal elements parading as “Amba boys” should take special notice.  Even in the middle of a brutal war we will not tolerate war criminals of any sort throughout our national territory.  This year the security of our people will be a major focus of this Interim Government.

The IG encourages a cordial relationship between our people and our self-defense forces on GZ. We cannot be seen to be inflicting pain on our own. I strongly believe that collaboration amongst all defense forces under our newly established County Defense Councils will also limit unwarranted fears, chaos, friendly fires, and anarchy within our ranks. I also urge our counties and local governments not discriminate when providing resources to our boys on the ground provided they are for good.

I have gone through the court case against us. It is laughable indeed. My brothers and I are not afraid to appear in any court for this just course. I wish to caution the plaintiff to properly identify us as British Southern Cameroonians any day we meet in court, so that we can start from from there. This is not Sako’s, Tapang’s,  Akwanga’s,  Ayaba’s or Boh’s trial, This is the trial of the British Southern Cameroon’s by LRC in America. Let’s start rallying to put up the big fight. We are in this together!

Dear brothers and sisters,

It is wrong to say we don’t need a government now because we had one in before we were cruelly annexed. Restoration of our sovereignty must involve the restoration of that government that was illegally dissolved. There’s no award for the best group or individual, our divide only helps our delay. We must jointly identify the need to minimize the pain on our people in GZ. This leads me to the  Ambazonia Stakeholders Strategic Congress initiatives;

The Ambazonia Stakeholders Strategic Congress-ASSC has tentatively fixed a date for the last weekend of February. Accredited Country heads and Coordinators will participate. When these LGA administrators would have been fully constituted they will join with all accredited Country heads and Coordinators as an assembly. The Interim Government has proposed to sponsor a bill for the Amendment of the constitution to recognize that assembly as our Lower House Of The Restoration Council. It is therefore illegal for anyone to officially present any group of people at this time  as a “Parliament” of Ambazonia. The process of electing LGA admins must be transparently democratic and involve people who are wholly committed to the restoration of our sovereignty. This is why we must be careful who we elect or nominate to represent our communities.

On another note, we cannot overemphasize this point; the IG is not against private enterprising be it cryptocurrency marketing or any other initiative that truly strengthens the economic viability of our people, but we will not jeopardize the general interest of Ambazonia. Our economic experts have liaised with the individuals who came up with the lofty idea of the AmbaCoin cryptocurrency but in the absence of acceptable collateralization and proper regulation to protect the interest of all Ambazonians, the Interim Government has refused to endorse the project as presented. We hope that each and every private economic initiative will communicate their vision and purpose accurately, concisely and with all honesty to allow Ambazonians to make well informed decisions on their investments, and let it also be known that the resources of Ambazonia will not be put for sale or mortgaged by any private group of individuals. The IG may partner with this initiative subsequently if it’s initiators meet proper regulations in due time.

My Fellow Ambazonians,

I will not be the wicked and lazy servant who hid his master’s coin in the earth. As a caretaker and steward of this office and with your help we shall work hard to multiply the success our President H.E Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe registered before his abduction. We shall not idle around and continue to water down our wins.

Our best can be seen by the many challenges we have faced, the turbulence of 2018 have strengthened us. It is in human nature to disagree with each other, to prove ourselves, but what we should guard against is the spirit of hate, we should correct each other with love without which, we shall not be different from the tyrant oppressor we are kicking out.  We are in a revolution where everyone is looking up to whoever provides a working solution, and in the desire to search for solutions we anxiously defend personal beliefs and discard the interest of our people.

If this was my revolution I would prosecute it differently, I would take a lot of things into my hands, I would be tempted to do little or no consultation, but no! This is the people’s revolution. Let us convert every negative energy into a thoughtful process. We might not undermine the dark clouds ahead of us, but with a mighty fist we can plunge through with courage.

My dear people,

Let us not misconstrue these intermittent hiccups we encounter as we journey towards Buea to be representative of the future of Ambazonia. No! That will not be the case…we will never become a South Sudan or Eritrea post-independence.

Remember, the pangs of a woman in labour always end with the birth of a beautiful baby that brings smiles to all – That is the Ambazonia we will have- A beacon of democracy and prosperity in Africa and the rest of the world. Those who are quick to liken us to Eritrea or South Sudan should look at Hong-Kong, South Korea, Japan, how they have emerged from the ashes and chaos. Except, the world is trying to judge us by the colour of our skin and not the content of our character. For 57 years we have sufficiently demonstrated, even to the acknowledgement of our enemies that British Southern Cameroonians are a very enterprising and peace-loving people whose love for Ambazonia is unparalleled. We will NOT therefore afford to take our country back then destroy it for any reason under heaven. This is our direct assurance to the international community and investors in Ambazonia.

We are Ambazonia! Where the security of our people will be a priority enabled by a well-structured army- ready at all time to defend our territorial integrity. An army whose foundation will be laid by the present brave compatriots defending homeland; and a police system built on the principles laid down by our forebears in the 60s.

We are Ambazonia! A country where justice will not be for the rich and powerful but for every Ambazonian  irrespective of class, under a  judicial system built from the foundation of the common law and the unique Ambazonian identity.

We are Ambazonia! A nation with a producer-centered economy – A country where trade deals will be open, pegged on fairness no matter the partners involved, and all revenues generated from our rich human and natural resources will be used to invest in infrastructure and the welfare of our people.

We are Ambazonia! A nation whose rich human potentials presently scattered around the world as well as GZ, will be maximized to the best of their abilities and its sustainability guaranteed by an exemplary educational system designed to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Currently, the Department of Education and Strategic Collaboration is at the finishing stages of a detailed curriculum that will be applicable in our schools hopefully from September this year. Let’s not forget that this revolution was sparked by the outcry of our teachers and lawyers against the deplorable educational and judicial systems our people were subjected to.

We are at the verge of partnering with special educational service providers who will facilitate the teaching of our children in refugee camps using our new curriculum. We are also envisaging the implementation of our new curriculum in our schools in selected communities via our newly  instituted Local Government Area authorities, once the environment for learning by our curriculum becomes more feasible.

In closing, I declare 2019, The year of “Dynamic Reclamation of our national territory and our place in the community of nations” from colonial rule. From every Local Government Areas, to our urban cities, we shall not only fight with our every might to protect our people – old and young – from this colonial monstrosity, we shall chase the occupier and all her vestiges out, and shall take total embrace of our territory as the only legitimate heirs of the land. Ambazonia shall be for Ambazonians and never forget that WE, ARE, AMBAZONIA!

Victorious New Year 2019,

Long live Ambazonia

Short live the war

And May God bless the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Dr. Samuel Ikome Sako

Acting President of British Southern Cameroons/Federal Republic of Ambazonia

31, December 2018

Malta rescues 180 refugees as weather deteriorates 0

Malta has pulled 180 refugees to safety from two boats in distress, while 49 more were stuck in limbo at sea as the weather worsened in the Mediterranean.

An army patrol boat picked up 28 refugees from a dinghy some 71 nautical miles southwest of Malta before plucking another 152 people from a wooden boat to the south.

The rescues followed the recovery by Malta Sunday of 69 refugees on a wooden boat which had run into trouble.

Meanwhile, the UN’s refugee agency said time was “running out” for 49 people rescued by NGO boats but denied a safe port in Europe, some of whom have been stranded at sea for over a week.

The NGOs — the German Sea-Eye and Dutch Sea-Watch — called for “an immediate solution for those being held hostage by European States, who are denying them a safe port.”

“With the weather conditions forecast to worsen this evening, a solution must be found by the end of 2018 in order to prevent placing people’s heath at further risk,” they said in a joint statement.

The German-flagged Professor Albrecht Penck ship has 17 refugees from West Africa on board who were rescued on Saturday in international waters off Libya.

At the same time, the Dutch-flagged Sea-Watch 3 has 32 refugees rescued on December 22و including three young children, three unaccompanied adolescents and four women from Nigeria, Libya and Ivory Coast.

While Italy, Malta, Spain and the Netherlands have refused to accept the Sea-Watch 3 refugees, several German cities have offered to take them in.

On Saturdayو a government spokesman said Germany would only accept some of the refugees if other European countries also agreed to do so.

Last week, a newborn baby and his mother were helicoptered from a boat to Malta.

“The negotiations over which country takes them in must happen only once those rescued are brought safety to land,” UNHCR special envoy Vincent Cochetel said.

More than 1,300 refugees have died trying to reach Italy or Malta via the central Mediterranean since the beginning of the year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The Italian interior ministry said Monday that the number of 2018 arrivals in Italy was down over 80 percent compared with 2017 at just 23,370.

The biggest number came from Tunisia, followed by Eritrea, Iraq, Sudan, Pakistan and Nigeria.

In mid-2017, departures from Libya dropped after a controversial deal between Italy and the war-torn North African country.

A campaign against the NGO rescue organizations peaked in June this year with far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini’s “closed-ports” policy aimed at ending all rescue operations, including military ones.

(Source: AFP)

SOBA UK Appoints Danbro as its Accountants and deploys an innovative Cloud-based Accounting System

31, December 2018

SOBA UK Appoints Danbro as its Accountants and deploys an innovative Cloud-based Accounting System 0

Fellow Sobans,

On 22nd September 2018, the General Assembly of SOBA UK met at St George’s Park, Burton Upon Trent under the theme “Together we Succeed” and committed to modernising its financial systems.  SOBA UK is pleased to announce the successful appointment of the UK Accounting firm Danbro as SOBA UK’s Accountants.

Danbro Accounting will provide accounting services, supply and manage a cloud-based accounting system for SOBA UK. The financial data migration phase to the new cloud-based accounting system was recently completed. The Executive Treasurer and Financial Secretaries have been getting to grips with this fantastic new proprietary tool and are excited about the prospects of providing robust financial reporting to our members.

Why is this important to SOBA UK?

  • Members commitment – Members voted to modernise our financial systems and reporting.
  • Automatic reporting – Automatic reports (P&L, Balance sheet, Transactions by Categories etc) can be produced directly from the cloud-based system.
  • Increased activity – SOBA UK’s financial activities have increased greatly over recent years and there is a need for a proprietary solution for easy and instant reporting.
  • Securing data – SOBA UK’s financial data and analyses will be held securely on the system for future members. There is no more use of Excel Workbooks located on private computers.
  • Improved productivity – This will free up time for the executive team to spend on core association activities and engaging with members.
  • Greater accountability – There will be more accountability through independent reviews of SOBA UK accounts by Danbro.

What will the UK accounting firm Danbro do for SOBA UK?

  • Supply and manage the cloud-based system.
  • Provide annual accounts for our members.
  • Deal with correspondence from HMRC and other agencies.
  • Act as the corporate secretary for SOBA UK as would be required.

SOBA UK is excited about this great new development in the association, with the management team looking forward to working with Danbro to provide greater financial insights to both members and other agencies.

Best wishes for 2019.

Kind regards,

Mr John Bawak General Secretary, SOBA UK On behalf of SOBA UK Members

Counter Signed by Mr Ayuk Akoh-Arrey, FIA President, SOBA UK

Counter Signed by Mr Bime Lafon Vice President, SOBA UK

Southern Cameroons Crisis: A review

31, December 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: A review 0

The Southern Cameroons crisis that started in October 2016 following a strike by teachers and lawyers calling for better working conditions and the protection of the Southern Cameroons educational and social culture will continue in 2019 as the country’s authorities are in no mood to seek peaceful and long-term solutions.

In its third year, the crisis has already consumed more than 5,000 lives, including some 2,000 army soldiers sent to the region with clear instructions to shoot and kill. Despite honest and frantic calls by the international community for a peaceful resolution, the country’s president, Paul Biya, also known as the “monarch” has continued with unwavering determination with his reckless and dangerous military campaign.

Today, the region is awash with weapons and the crimes against humanity are simply mind-boggling. Government forces have been killing young Southern Cameroonian males, many of whom have nothing to do with the insurgency that is playing out in the region. The real fighters are in the jungles of Southern Cameroons, but since army soldiers cannot go to the jungles, they have been killing innocent civilians to prove to their Yaoundé bosses that they are mopping up the region.

Their brutality has not only been against young healthy males, but also against the old and disabled who cannot escape to the bushes where most of the population is hiding. In so many villages in the region, many old and disabled residents have been burnt to ashes, as the government’s collective punitive expedition has no limits.

This approach to solving problems adopted by the government predicated upon intimidation is only radicalizing more young Southern Cameroonians who understand that their best bet is to join the insurgents who are doing a great job at giving army soldiers a run for their money.

It should, however, be mentioned that the insurgents are not any saints by any standards. Besides defending themselves and protecting the population, they too have been committing gross human rights violations, sometimes even killing people they suspect of collaborating with the Yaounde government. This approach is sowing fear among the population and it is causing many critics to question the rationale behind the insurgency if its objective is to strike fear in the same people the insurgents claim they must protect.

With law and order completely down, the rule of the gun is prevailing in the region. Even army soldiers are using the occasion to make fast cash. They have been arresting young Southern Cameroonians and threatening to take them to Yaounde or even kill them if their parents do not pay for their release. The soldiers have been asking for huge sums of money and this is upsetting to the local population which holds that the insurgents are totally right to challenge the establishment whose hallmark is corruption.

But some fake insurgents (fake Amba boys) are also making hay while the sun shines. With guns within everybody’s reach, some young men have constituted themselves into groups and they are kidnapping civilians to acquire money. Their main targets are Southern Cameroonians living abroad who are in the region to either bury their loved ones or to spend the holidays with their families.

The fake “Amba boys” are sometimes a creation of the Territorial Administration Minister, Paul Atanga Nji, who is using them to infiltrate the real insurgents. But not all of his undercover agents are honest. Many have turned out to be rogue elements and they have been wreaking havoc on the local population and this is causing a lot of indignation among the population.

Some of these rogue elements have been arrested by the real insurgents known by the population as “Amba boys” and they have had to confess, but in a world ruled by impunity, many of these rogue elements get killed as their crimes have gone well beyond money.

They sometimes betray the real insurgents and after an operation by government forces which usually results in the killing of many real fighters, there is usually a round of revenge and even relatives of the rogue elements sometimes get targeted by the real fighters. This is the messy situation that the war declared by Biya and implemented by the Defense Minister, Joseph Beti Assomo, and Territorial Administration Minister, Paul Atanga Nji, has created in the region.

Besides human life that has been destroyed by the warring factions, the country’s economy has also taking a punch to the liver. The Southern Cameroons crisis has really been a true nightmare to this once-upon-a-time oasis of peace. It has indeed been a millstone around the neck of the government which has used all the resources available to it to quell the insurgency, but to no avail. Government authorities are still very worried although they have been putting on a brave face, especially as the fighting is robbing the country of much-needed financial resources and stability.

Their fear was all the more justified when the Confederation of African Football (CAF) withdrew the hosting rights of the African Nations Cup in 2019 from the country due to insecurity and corruption. Southern Cameroonian fighters had clearly expressed their determination to disrupt the event and they were quick to advise CAF of their decision and this had a huge impact on the withdrawal of the hosting rights from Cameroon which had many crises to manage at the same time.

Cameroon’s political authorities are still living in fear. They fear that Southern Cameroonians might walk away from the union that was hastily stitched together in 1961 between West Cameroon and East Cameroon. Southern Cameroonians have continued to hold that the union was predicated upon lies right from the beginning and for there to be peace, the country must be split. Walking away from that ‘political marriage’ implies Southern Cameroonians will be taking with them about 60% of the country’s wealth and this is no good news for the Yaoundé government that is already cash-strapped. It has indeed been bled by two years of fighting and there is no end in sight.

Southern Cameroons is blessed with many resources, including oil, gas, diamond and timber. Its rich sub-soil has brought lots of economic benefits to the country. For almost 50 years, the Rio Del Rey estuary has been the source of more than 90% and at times 100% of all of the country’s hydrocarbons, specifically oil.

The region’s waters are also home to large fish stocks. Its forest is home to unimaginable fauna and flora and it is not in error that the world also knows the country because of the Korup National Park which straddles Manyu and Indian Divisions. This region is also known for its fertile volcanic soil and this explains why agriculture is one of the many activities that have been yielding huge foreign earnings to the country. Many of the country’s neighbors have their food supply from this region.

While the country has been raking in millions of dollars from the region’s oil, the residents of the region have been tied up in degrading poverty. The country’s lone refinery (SONARA) is located in Southern Cameroons, precisely in the Southwest port city of Limbe formerly known as Victoria, but the natives of the region have been reduced to sorry spectators of events in their own region.

From every indication, the Southern Cameroons crisis is an outcome of this injustice. More than 90% of the refinery staff are Francophones and to add insults to injury, staff of the refinery have their own neighborhoods that are well designed and very clean. Besides, petroleum products are more expensive in the region than in any other region of the country.

This economic apartheid that has been around since 1977 when oil was discovered in Ndian Division is one of the many reasons why Southern Cameroonians hold that a clear break with Francophone Cameroon will be the ideal solution and they are willing to sacrifice their lives so that future generations will not have to deal with the same issues. This same mentality will surely continue in 2019 and Cameroon will continue to be in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

The Southern Cameroons crisis has hit the Yaoundé government like a ton of bricks. The country’s economy is suffering. Its Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) seem to be out of service. State corporations located in Southern Cameroons are already feeling the heat. Pamol, a palm oil production corporation located in Lobe, a small town in Ndian Division, finally shut its doors in 2018 as the fighting between Southern Cameroonian fighters and army soldiers took a turn for the worse. This revenue stream has stopped flowing and Yaoundé is really ill-at-ease.

Pamol’s closure was indeed bad news for the government. More than three thousand Pamol workers are still unemployed and living in permanent fear, as the fighting between the warring factions rages on. Schools and courts in the region have been closed for more than two years and it is increasingly obvious that the Yaoundé government has lost control of certain parts of the two English-speaking regions.

But it is not only Pamol’s closure that caused the government nightmares. The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), one of the country’s major employers, also went through a rough patch. 2018 was indeed a bad period for this national corporation and this situation might not improve in 2019. Some of the corporation’s factories had closed shop, while the fighters deliberately set some of its infrastructure ablaze as part of their economic sabotage campaign. Malende, a small town located some 6 km from Muyuka, witnessed huge unemployment rates. The corporation’s rubber factory was set ablaze in 2018 by some unidentified men and this hit CDC like a ton of bricks.

In other plantations, many workers have simply deserted. The fighting is disrupting economic activities in those plantations and many workers hold that it is better to quit than be caught up between the devil and the deep blue sea. The fighting, coupled with the derisory salaries the corporation pays to its workers, made CDC unattractive and this actually eroded the government’s tax base.

Similarly, 2018 was a nightmare to government coffers. Government revenue took a nosedive, as the national oil refinery located in the Southwest region also faced some major challenges. While falling global oil prices were spreading pain and suffering among oil exporters, the declining oil output and constant attempts by Southern Cameroonian fighters to bring down the country’s lone oil refinery left the government in a huge messy economic quandary.

In 2019, Cameroon will continue to be in the spotlight for the wrong reason. The country’s president, Paul Biya, will soon be addressing the nation. He will continue to talk tough regarding the crisis and this does not augur well for the country and its economy which is in the throes of a severe crisis.

The government is yet to understand that this conflict will not be going away anytime soon and that no military action will sweep the frustrations and anger of the people away. The people’s determination to go the distance is there and it will only continue to morph as the government changes its military tactics. The more people the government kills in the region, the more insurgents it will create and the more money the Diaspora will mobilize to continue to make the region ungovernable.

The government must understand that cleaning up the mess it has created in the region will be a long haul. Southern Cameroonians are determined to walk away, and they are in no mood to talk with the Biya regime which is noted for speaking from both sides of its mouth. They have clearly stated that Biya is the problem and that if he continues to be in power, then there are no chances for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. This message will be clearly articulated in the end-of-year speech to be delivered by the Interim Government’s president, Sako Ikome, who will be addressing Southern Cameroonians from Washington, D.C. on December 31, 2018.

The ball is in the government’s court. It knows that it cannot kill Southern Cameroons through military action. Southern Cameroons is an idea and not just a location. While different factions of the fighters have recently been at each other’s throat, the government must understand that its brutality will only go a long way in uniting these disagreeing brothers. The Yaoundé government stands to gain if it sounds a note of peace and unity and Mr. Biya’s speech to the nation today is a huge opportunity which should not be missed.

By Kingsley Betek in Yaoundé and contributions from correspondents in London, UK, and Toronto, Canada

31, December 2018

President Assad ‘has decisively won’ war in Syria 0

Leading British daily the Guardian says 2018 has ended on a note of triumph for the Syrian government amid the US decision to withdraw troops and a race among Arab states to restore ties with Damascus. 

US President Donald Trump has announced a rapid troop withdrawal from Syria. The Guardian said the decision has “ended any potential threat originating from an indefinite American presence inside Syria’s borders.”

Last week, the UAE reopened its embassy in Damascus, which it had closed in 2011. Bahrain followed suit and other countries, including Kuwait, are expected to re-establish ties in the coming year. And the Arab League is reportedly poised to re-admit Syria, seven years after expelling it.

According to the Guardian, these developments come five months after the Syrian army made arguably its most consequential gain against terrorists since the foreign-backed war erupted, when it took control of Dara’a in the southwest.

Dara’a, the birthplace of foreign-backed sedition, had been the last stronghold of militants. Its return to the government fold removed any viable threat against the state, either politically or militarily, near the capital.  

“Taken together, the military and diplomatic developments over the past six months leave no room for doubt: Assad has decisively won the conflict,” the Guardian wrote. 

After the surrender of militants in the south, two regions had remained outside the government’s control and both were under the protection of foreign powers, namely Turkey in the north and the US in the east.

The two NATO countries had arrangements with Russia about operating in those zones to avoid confrontation, which meant that any further military advances had to be approved by Moscow.

Damascus and its allies saw these areas as sanctuaries for hostile forces that could become entrenched, and whose mandate could change to fighting the state.  

“Trump’s sudden decision has ended that problem,” the Guardian said. The Syrian government “no longer faces the threat of an indefinite American presence in eastern Syria,” the paper said. 

Last week, residents of Manbij appealed to the Assad government to retake the city near the Turkish border after the US withdrawal and by Friday Syria’s military had arrived at the frontline in the predominantly Arab town west of the Euphrates river.

Under the US protection, YPG militants used to control the city but Turkey is concerned about continued dominance of the Kurdish group near its borders.

Turkish officials have frequently stated that they would welcome a government takeover of YPG-controlled areas if that involved removing the militants from those areas. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey would have “no business in Manbij if the YPG terrorists leave”.

On the diplomatic front, the UAE proposed normalizing ties with Damascus in 2016, but that plan was snubbed by the Trump administration. According to the Guardian, senior Emirati officials began to refloat the idea of restoring ties with Assad earlier this year, encouraging its Saudi and Bahraini allies to do the same.

“The nature of this conflict, then, has changed drastically, with influential Arab countries now using their diplomatic capital to enable the regime to restore control over Syria,” the paper said.

“Countries that once funded the opposition fighting against Assad are working hard to strengthen him in the hope that he becomes less reliant on their rivals,” it added.

Jordan has already reopened its borders with Syria, meaning that Damascus now has trade ties with all its neighbors except Turkey.

“Trump’s withdrawal has ended any potential threat originating from an indefinite American presence inside Syria’s borders. It has also effectively killed off any political challenge to Assad through the political process in Geneva – once an objective of the US presence in the country,” the Guardian wrote.

“Restoration of ties with Arab neighbors will consolidate the military gains made over the past six months,” it added. 

According to the Guardian, since the government took over Aleppo in late 2016, few have questioned Assad’s recovery, but until recently many still doubted his ability to re-emerge as a regional player with normalized relations with other countries.  

“The past year now suggests that he has a real chance of doing just that. There will be many people in the region – and beyond – willing to help,” the paper said.

Source: Presstv

AFCON 2019 Security Issue: Another Own Goal By CAF

31, December 2018

AFCON 2019 Security Issue: Another Own Goal By CAF 0

Egypt and South Africa are the only countries that met Confederation of African Football’s December 14, 2018 deadline to show interest in hosting the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2019. The decision on who wins the hosting rights is expected to come up on January 9, 2019. This is going to be barely six months to the event in June. The decision to host arose when Cameroon was stripped of the hosting rights after it was originally awarded in 2014. CAF had claimed that Cameroon’s unpreparedness and the insecurity arising from the Boko haram insurgency and the Anglophone separatists group were reasons it denied the country from hosting AFCON 2019. I think CAF’s decision is unfair.

Taking the contentious issue of security for instance, what measure of insecurity is enough to withdraw the hosting rights from a candidate that had been awarded and how close to the tournament can this decision be made? Bigger events like the Summer Olympics in Munich 1972 and Atlanta 1996 are remembered for massacres of Jews and bomb blast during the respective games, yet they weren’t considered unsafe to host future events. Even AFCON 2010 staged in Angola witnessed a terrorist attack on the Togo national team bus while on its way to the competition by a Cabinda separatist group similar to the Bamenda separatist group in Cameroon. Then, Togo pulled out against CAF’s insistence. If CAF could demand Togo to partake in an event that they feared for their lives and encouraged other nations to stay behind, why use insecurity as an excuse to strip Cameroon of the event?

However, which African nation is safe? Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon are battling Boko Haram insurgents. Libya remains without a central government after Gaddafi. Kenya and Somalia are battling Al-Shabaab. West Africa is battling ISIS. Central African Republic is still on fire. The Congo wars have never really ceased. The same goes to Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. Separatist groups abound in Angola, Cameroon, Morocco and South Sudan just to mention a few. Elections spark violence in African nations, so triggering the insecurity clause will mean AFCONs will be taking place outside the continent. I didn’t even mention Ebola. In fact, sports governing bodies often refuse to move tournaments from previously rostered venues over security or political issues to make a statement that sport is a unifying tool that transcends unhealthy differences.

Enter Cameroon’s unpreparedness. When Cameroon was granted AFCON 2019, the event was a 16-team event to be played in the traditional months of January-February. All of a sudden CAF’s new leadership felt that Africa’s football showpiece be expanded to 24 teams and moved to June-July to align with the European football offseason. Nothing is wrong with expanding AFCON, but why the immediacy considering that qualifiers had already begun for a 16-team event? That is akin to changing the rules of the match in the middle of the match. This same argument and suspicion goes to FIFA’s plan of expanding the 2022 World Cup to 48 after awarding Qatar on a 32-team platform. So Cameroon is now made to change plans. More matches, more hotels, more stadia, more ground workers and they will now have to consider the rains. Yes, the rains.

Because Europe is increasingly becoming the hub of football, more and more tier one players gravitate there to ply their trade. This means that for AFCON to showcase its finest, participating nations have to call up Europe-based professionals. For this reason, there is usually an exodus of African players during the midseason to participate in AFCON. This irritates European club sides because they are made to do without their best legs during the weeks of the competition and worse if the players return with injuries. This has made CAF tinker with the scheduling of AFCON over time. Older ones can recall it used to be in March-April before it stabilised at January-February which I believe is the best compromise. Besides being in the African dry season, it also corresponds with when most European leagues take a brief winter break.

However, these European football oligarchs have cornered CAF into an unforced foul of moving AFCON to the European summer. Did CAF consider that AFCON will now have to muscle TV time with the oldest international football competition Copa America (South America’s Nations’ Cup)? Did they also ponder that the June-July date clashes with FIFA Confederations Cup, a competition for continental champions? Does it mean the African champions would have just few weeks or days to prepare for that event? With preseason friendlies becoming progressively essential and the expanding International Champions Cup, the problem of clubs releasing players for AFCON will not go away just like that. African players will be doing all to secure their shirts and transfers will be on at that time.

June-July is the peak of the rainy season in sub-Saharan Africa. Compelling prospecting AFCON hosts to build roofed arenas to avoid shifting matches due to rains is practically impossible for African countries. Besides, football festivals like AFCON are not narrowed to the field of play. There are several other out-of-field events and drizzles will dampen the excitement of the event. Except CAF is saying AFCONs will only be hosted in North Africa and Southern Africa which is apartheid.

Boca Juniors and River Plate just played the finals of Copa Libertadores (South America’s Champions league) in November while Son Heung-min will be leaving Tottenham Hotspur for three weeks in January like other Asian footballers to captain South Korea in the 2019 Asian Cup. So what is the big deal about aligning with the European calendar? What is most important is that there is orderliness in schedules. Actually, the angst expressed by European clubs when there is a flight of African players in January publicizes AFCON.

Asking Cameroon to now host the 2021 edition does not break the ice on the farrago of chaos created. Will Cote d’Ivoire that was initially handed 2021 and Guinea 2023 now prepare for 2023 and 2025? Shouldn’t Egypt or South Africa be given right of first refusal after losing the 2019 bid?

Aligning with European football calendar is not what Africa needs, it is aligning with European football character. Africa can’t continue to run football with a national team bias, it is club football that is the soul of the game. Creating parallel AFCON for home-based players or the obsolete staging of the event every other year has only left African football behind. A quadrennial AFCON like other continents in my opinion will be a better deal. This will not only give prospective hosts more time to prepare but also reduce the number of low-ranked teams that drop out in the middle of the qualifiers. Also the duplicated African Nations Championship (biennial nations’ cup for home-based players) should be dropped so that CAF and its affiliates can invest in local leagues which are the tributaries that supply national teams. This way the best of Africa will be in the continent and would not continue to be tossed to and fro by Europe.

Culled from ThisDay

30, December 2018

Chris Anu is Cameroon Concord Person of the Year 0

Today, Cameroon Concord News and Cameroon Intelligence Report are pleased to announce the winner of this year’s Cameroon Concord Person of the Year.   He is the Communication Secretary of the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Chris Anu.

The winner was overwhelmingly elected by thousands of participants from among a list of four individuals comprising Paul Biya of neighbouring French Cameroun, Cardinal Christian Tumi, Barrister Agbor Balla Nkongho and Chris Anu, the Communication Secretary of the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.   The participants in their thousands overwhelmingly voted Communication Secretary Chris Anu as the Cameroon Concord Person of the Year. Most of the participants explained their choice and vote in messages sent to the head office of Cameroon Concord News Group.

Cameroon Concord News Group is please to share with its readership world-wide, the critical characteristics which the respondents have consistently identified as the qualities of leadership that impelled them to vote for Communication Secretary Chris Anu.  The respondents held the candidates to the highest standards of stable universal leadership in conflict management. Focused, consistent and inspirational leadership were also critical attributes considered.

Most of the voters stated that Communication Secretary Chris Anu, is humble, passionate, steady, deliberate, probable, sincere and confident in his stewardship to his people. His dedication to the defense of his people is unwavering, undivided, and unassailable. He is a respectable, knowledgeable and effective communicator. He is a respectable voice and strong symbol of the Ambazonian war of self- defense and liberation.

Cameroon Concord News Group has critically examined the performance of Communication Secretary Chris Anu. Prior to his appointment by His Excellency President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, Chris Anu was a successful communication expert, news media owner and practitioner; in addition to many successful respectable professional pursuits.  He did not embrace the struggle for gain or for sentimental reasons.  He did so out of conviction.

The genocidal war which arch criminal enemy Paul Biya the demented neo-colonial President of French Cameroun declared against armless peace-loving people of Ambazonia, is fought in several battlegrounds; at home and elsewhere world-wide.  A critical background is the Federal Republic of Nigeria from where the President of the Interim Government of Ambazonia, nine members of the Interim Government and hundreds of Ambazonian refugees were abducted and handed over to the terrorist regime of French Cameroun.  The deportation of hundreds of thousands of Ambazonian refugees from their ancestral homes are residing under dire conditions in Nigeria.  Thousands of Ambazonian civilian settlements have been systemically torched and their subsistence economy pillaged and destroyed.  The visit by Chris Anu to Nigeria after the abduction of His Excellency Sisiku Ayuk Tabe brought international spotlight to the plight of these Ambazonian victims.  In this regard, he is an unchallenged fearless general leading from the front in the Ambazonia war of liberation against internal and external enemies of Ambazonia.

He is a fearless crusader for the liberation of Ambazonia. In critical moments in this struggle, he confronted the enemies of Ambazonia single handed. He so doing, he saved the train of freedom from being derailed.  When the President of the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia His Excellency Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and nine members of the Interim Government were abducted in a joint terrorist operation carried out by operatives of the Nigerian Directorate of State Security commandeered by Babagana Muganu and led by Duara Lawal and the Presidential Special Operations Unit of French Cameroun forces,  Chris Anu, promptly moved to Nigeria and organized international press conferences that pressurized the execution squad to spare the lives of our leaders. The French Cameroun Special Operation Unit has been consistently used to eliminate real and perceived enemies or former allies to protect the devilish world of the crime syndicate in power. This is the unit that was deployed to abduct and assassinate the Bishop of Bafia in French Cameroun.

Thanks to Chris Anu, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Nigeria issued a press statement stating that the abductees were legally in Nigeria under the protection of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, thus protected under the United Nations Convention for the Protection of Refugees (1951).  This press release provides unimpeachable evidence of the UN responsibility for the safety of the leaders of Ambazonia and others similarly placed.  The inability of the UN to secure their release and sanction Nigeria and French Cameroun for the abductions, the same criminal methods employed by Boko Haram they profess to be fighting with international support and assistance, makes the UN complicit by default in the criminal conduct outlawed by international law.

The energetic condemnation of the criminal conduct of Nigeria and French Cameroun, at the Nigeria seat of power, alarmed and embarrassed the Federal Government of Nigeria and the corrupt political cartel within the immediate political environment of President Buhari. Buhari equivocated on the release or rendition of the Ambazonia leader, members of his government and several citizens to French Cameroun. The amount of money offered to Buhari enabled him to rekindle his dwindling chances of seeking a second mandate in the forth- coming elections against the backdrop of stiff opposition within his own APC party from party leaders who wanted to hold him to his promise to serve only one term was too enticing for him to ignore. President Buhari opted for the money but denied going along with the execution within the territory of Nigeria of the abducted leaders.

The force of the well-publicized pressure put on by Chris Anu forced Babagana Mugano the National Security Adviser to President Mohammadu Buhari and the corrupt ethnic power cartel surrounding the Buhari Presidency to make a rare public statement admitting to perpetrating the crime.  French Cameroun through Boko Haram abduction- for -ramson go-between Isa Tchiroma Bakary was similarly pressured to call a press conference to confirm the rendition of the leaders to French Cameroun.

The theft of part of the money intended to corrupt the Buhari ethnic political cartel, had serious consequences for the handlers of the corrupt deal.  Paul Biya was constrained to remove and conceal in his immediate proximity, his longtime mystical devil worshipping soul mate Martin Belinga Eboutou for misappropriating a sizeable part of the booty putting him in conflict with Buhari.  Buhari on his part scapegoated his director of the State Security Service, Duara Lawal for stealing part of the money among a plethora of scandals, corrupt deals, and criminal acts which Buhari sanctioned but needed to sacrifice this zealous executioner to whitewash his tainted credentials.

The forced shameful public admission of criminality by Nigeria and French Cameroun saved the lives of our leaders and with it the Ambazonian revolution.  While Chris Anu waged this battle from the Nigeria front, time seemed to stand still for many within the struggle who claimed to be frontline leaders with several decades experience in the battle for the liberation of Ambazonia. Many of them failed to confront the combined assault of French Cameroun and Nigeria united to crush the Ambazonia revolution through the abduction and the rendition of our God given leader His Excellency Sisiku Ayuk Tabe at a critical moment in our young nation’s history.

Many did not realize the lethal effect and symbolic impact of the abduction, assassination or rendition of the only leader who has gone down in history for mobilizing millions of Ambazonians on September 22, 2017 to come out with peace plants to call for the restoration of the independence of Ambazonia and declaring it on October 1, 2017.  The corrupt deal was intended to destroy this symbol of the Ambazonia statehood and the spirit of the revolution.

Chris Anu denied the enemies their moment of glory and rendered the continued holding in captivity of the President of the Interim Government of Ambazonia, members of the Interim Government and hundreds of thousands of Ambazonian citizens by French Cameroun in complicity with the endemic corrupt cartel within the immediate power cycle of President Buhari, poison chalices that will with time determine their own fates. Thanks to Chris Anu, the Ambazonia liberation, the President and members of the Interim Government will outlive the Biya and Buhari presidencies and the corrupt power cartels sustaining them.

Communication Secretary Chris Anu has come under constant attacks by some opportunists, profiteers and power mongers who hoped to gain from the abduction of the President and members of the Interim Government to make fortunes out of the liberation war and the ferocious genocidal enterprise preplanned by French Cameroun and supported by the Buhari presidential god fathers of political Islam and their French Cameroun co-conspirators.   They fault Chris Anu for pre-empting their adventure by going to Nigeria when it was considered unsafe by many people and confronting the united resolve of the enemy and their co-conspirators to eviscerate and destroy the Ambazonia revolution and the symbol of its independence from within and outside of Ambazonia. They have not and may never forgive him.  Rather than succumb to their pedestrian tactics, Chris Anu has remained steadfast and focused on serving the Interim Government and the people of Ambazonia with undivided loyalty. For this and more, he merits the Cameroon Concord Man of the Year award.

He is respected by his peers world-wide. He is an articulate counter-point to enemy propaganda.  He is a strategist and an admirable public face of the liberation struggle.

Early in this struggle, Communication Secretary Chris Anu articulately and promotionally, defined the guiding principles of Ambazonia self-defense war. He cautioned Ambazonia soldiers to be disciplined and to protect civilians.   A majority of Ambazonian soldiers have prosecuted the war humanely and protected Ambazonia civilians from the genocide and the rape of our girls and women by French Cameroun terrorist forces.

Unlike some Ambazonia leaders, Chris Anu does not believe in self-engineered or pedantic publicity.  It has become a common fixture of the Ambazonia liberation struggle for some supposed leaders to make lengthy political addresses which are high on self-inflated rhetoric without any reasonable record of field achievements to support.  True revolutionary leaders do not make political speeches. They are engaged in shock and awe discreet guerrilla warfare to surprise, isolate, incapacitate and destroy the enemy.   Chris Anu is not one of these armchair leaders.

He has succeeded in helping the Interim Government to hold together a very complex web of hundreds of thousands of Ambazonians worldwide who are working behind the scenes to help move towards victory to Buea a reality.  He has demonstrated through this quality that he knows the quality human resources that Ambazonia has and the sensitivity of securing critical information that allows them to participate fully in the armed liberation struggle without putting their identities out for neophytes, disrespectful power seekers and profiteers to destroy.  He knows so well that there are millions of Ambazonians in Ground Zero and in the Diaspora who strongly support the Interim Government and strongly want the Interim Government to stay focused on GZ actions, the protection of our civilian population, care for our refugees and a discreet sustained diplomatic effort to secure our total liberation and hold Paul Biya, his terrorist forces, and his entire genocidal crime syndicate network to account.

His handling of the Batibo situation and distancing the Interim Government from the crimes committed by the Cho Ayaba gang was enormously satisfying to the people of Southern Cameroons. The actions of these men including Ntumfoyn Boh Herbert were going to cause more harm to the revolution.  The Reboot Conference Ambazonians have all become a turncoat of our struggle.

Cameroon Concord News Group congratulates Communication Secretary; the Honourable Chris Anu for the well-merited recognition accorded him by an overwhelming majority of participants. Cameroon Concord News Group thanks all those took part in this poll and wishes all our readers’ world -wide, a very merry Christmas and a rewarding prosperous new year.  With Cameroon Concord News Group’s man of the year, Communication Secretary Anu and the demonstrable resolve of all Ambazonians, 2019 will bring more successes to the liberation struggle. Cameroon Concord News Group strongly calls on all Ambazonians, friends of Ambazonia, and the International Community to support the Ambazonia liberation quest more robustly.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman/Editor-in-Chief

Biya Regime Suspending Pay for 25,000 ‘Ghost Workers’

30, December 2018

Biya Regime Suspending Pay for 25,000 ‘Ghost Workers’ 0

Cameroon says it is suspending the payment of wages to 25,000 civil servants who it says may have died or left the country, but payments to whom continue to defraud the state.

Cameroon Finance Minister Louis Paul Motaze says after a census of employees taken in April, the government realized it was losing hundreds of millions of dollars every year to people claiming salaries as state workers.

Motaze says some had died but their deaths went unreported. Others had abandoned their posts, or were drawing double salaries with the help of fellow workers.

He says authorities have started removing such workers from the state’s payroll.

“An average of 310,000 people were concerned and after this census, we did not see more than 25,000. That means we are going to suspend them.”

Motaze did not say how much money the government will save by eliminating the fictitious state workers.

Minister of the Civil Service Joseph Le says this year’s census of state workers was very efficient because police tracked down some 8,000 workers who were living in Europe and America.

“You cannot continue paying a salary to somebody who does not exist. There are some who never work here in the country. They stay abroad and when it (the census) started, many Cameroonians came from abroad just to sign their presence here and [went] back. This should stop.”

The government says some of the illegal workers previously lived in the country’s restive English-speaking regions, where fighting between government forces and separatists has killed nearly a thousand people.

This is not Cameroon’s first purge of so-called “ghost workers.” The country said in 2015 it was cleaning its payroll of 10,000 dead or fictitious employees, who cost the treasury some $12 million every month.

However, lawyer Akere Muna, founder of the Cameroon chapter of the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International, says corruption is widespread in Cameroon and targeting “ghost workers” will not entirely solve the problem.

‘Cameroonian civil servants do not live from their salaries. They live from a system where they have put toll gates everywhere. You cannot get people who are thieves to look over thieves.”

Muna said whistleblowing is the key to fighting graft, but that many people are afraid to come forward as they feel it is too dangerous or ineffective.

Source: VOA

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