Since 2016, for people in the restive English-speaking parts of Cameroon, each new year comes with the expectation of an end to the drawn-out separatist conflict. However, gratuitous violence rages on as the bloody war – which has so far killed over 5,000 people – continues unabated.

Barely two weeks into 2022, some nine workers at Cameroon’s largest agro-industrial company, the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), came face-to-face with death. They were toiling at the Sonne/Likomba Rubber Estate, one of CDC’s rubber plantations near the port town of Tiko in Southwest Cameroon, when gunmen abducted them, despite military protection. The kidnappers, who later claimed to be members of the Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards (one of several armed militia groups fighting to establish an independent, English-speaking state called Ambazonia) held them for 10 days in an undisclosed location.

The victims, including a lactating mother, were tortured, forced to carry assault rifles and grenades for the rebel fighters, and sing the national anthem of Ambazonia. In a video which was circulated on social media and seen by Equal Times, the plantation workers looked visibly hungry and dejected. Thankfully, they were eventually released without bodily injuries.

When their colleagues at the same estate were previously attacked at work, on two different occasions, the armed separatists beat them with machetes, inflicting serious bodily injuries. On one occasion, attackers asked six CDC plantation workers to place their fingers on tree trunks before chopping them off.

From the onset of the Anglophone crisis, separatists have been disrupting CDC operations as a form of economic sabotage. The CDC, which is engaged in the production of rubber, banana and palm oil for export, is the second biggest employer in Cameroon after the civil service.

Prior to the conflict, the state-run CDC was an important revenue stream for the government. The corporation generated 58.39 billion francs CFA (approximately US$101.8 million) from produce sales in 2016, according to CDC officials. But then, protracted fighting between increasingly bold armed separatists and government troops has forced the CDC to grind to a near-halt, seriously eroding the revenue base of the corporation. Since CDC plantations and factories are largely located in the troubled English-speaking Southwest region of Cameroon (one of two regions snared in the conflict, alongside the Northwest region), the conflict has dealt a heavy blow to the agricultural sector, and the CDC in particular, with its low-income plantation workers bearing much of the brunt of the chaos.

In 2016, before the outbreak of the conflict, CDC tells Equal Times that its workforce stood at 20,595. But as of 31 December 2021, this number had dropped to 15,505 workers, with about 50 per cent of the manpower on unpaid ‘technical leave’.

By 2019, only seven out of CDC’s 29 production sites were fully operational. Twelve had been shut down while 10 were partially functioning. This had an adverse impact on production capacity. For rubber, annual production fell from about 16,000 tons in 2016 to 4,507 tons in 2020. Palm oil production dropped from 22,375 tons in 2016 to 8,493 tons in 2020, while banana production fell from 113,858 to 6,178 tons over the same period.

Severally CDC processing plants have suffered from arson attacks. Meanwhile, separatists have also pitched their logistic and training camps in some plantations, forcing workers to abandon the farms. The disruption in activities saw CDC’s revenue plummet, and the company has since continued to default in the payment of its workers’ wages.

Quest for survival

As the fighting persists, many CDC workers have been caught in the crossfire. No fewer than 20 workers have been killed on and off duty since 2016, according to CDC trade unionists. Others have been exposed to violence as the corporation is unable to provide them with adequate security. Amid the insecurity and unpaid wages, some CDC workers, not keen to wait and see if the precarious situation will ever subside, have fled the country.

Twenty-nine-year-old Douon Basilise joined the CDC as a farm labourer in Tiko in 2014. She then rose to the rank of process control overseer, a position she held between 2016 and 2017 at CDC’s banana section. But insecurity and the uncertainty over wages was very bad for her morale.

“In September 2018, I met Amba fighters [armed separatists of the Ambazonia Defence Forces] on the field. As they approached me, I left everything in the changing room at Benoe Estate and took to my heels. I had to run for my life,” Douon discloses. That was the last time she ever set foot on a CDC plantation. With support from her family and friends, she ventured to the United Arab Emirates where she is currently exploring other opportunities.

Douon has described the working conditions of CDC employees, especially those in lower categories, as “extremely pathetic”. Not only do these workers often work additional jobs to make extra cash but they also live in dilapidated housing structures in camps that lack basic amenities.

Jonas Ebini Mbengtarh is another banana worker who has experienced the thorny issue of unpaid salaries at the CDC. He was owed 11 months of wages before being furloughed in September 2018. “My stay at the CDC was not the best,” Mbengtarh tells Equal Times, adding that he also contemplated embarking on a perilous journey to Europe.

“I was flat broke when I left the CDC. I decided to work in building construction sites as a general labourer for a meagre 2,500 francs CFA [approximately US$4.30] a day,” Mbengtarh says. He did this for 14 months to take care of his ageing parents and fiancée, before re-joining the CDC when the corporation restarted banana production.

For ordinary workers of the CDC, such as general labourers, the seemingly intractable situation means they have to lay their hands on anything they can to eke out a living. Some have heavily indebted themselves to get basic necessities such as food and clothing for their families, while others have resorted to additional menial jobs under extreme working conditions just to put food on their table. Some still work for the CDC though the corporation still owes them months of outstanding wages.

CDC in tight corner

Gabriel Mbene Vefonge, national president of the Cameroon Agricultural and Allied Workers Trade Union (CAAWOTU), which has over 2,500 CDC worker-members, says the situation is regrettable. Vefonge, who amongst other trade unionists had a meeting last October with the Prime Minister to discuss the issue of unpaid salaries, says the government is yet to give any concrete answers regarding full payment.

Vefonge also says that he regrets that socio-political tensions in Cameroon had caused an economic giant of CDC’s standing to fall to its knees, with several plantations currently in ruins. “CDC, over its more than 70 years of existence, has never gone through this kind of financial stress,” he says.

According to the workers’ representative, “working today as a CDC worker is a nightmare because all CDC workers are afraid to be killed while at their workplaces by unidentified gunmen. Their security and safety at work is not guaranteed, even with the presence of state security”.

Franklin Ngoni Njie, general manager of the CDC, acknowledges that “insecurity continues to be one of our major challenges”. He also tells Equal Times that the social climate at the CDC is currently tense, and that workers’ morale is not at the best as a result of the many months of salary arrears.

“Since May 2018, the corporation became unable to honour her commitments and has thus accumulated huge debts with workers – 27 billion francs CFA [approximately US$47 million],” Njie says.

The precarious situation has pushed CDC workers to go on several strikes in the plantation areas and in the capital city of Yaoundé.

Njie says the company is using its limited means to make payments to the workers who are actually working but did not specify the number. The corporation is also making efforts to offset its debt, he says. “The last time that the corporation successfully paid salaries and wages promptly to all its workers, amounting to 2.2 billion francs CFA [US$3.8 million] was in April 2018. Numerous reports have been made to the government on the explosive social climate in the corporation arising from the indebtedness to workers. From May 2018 to June 2021, a total of 20 billion francs CFA [US$34.8 million] has been paid out as salaries and wages, of which 11.74 billion francs CFA [ US$20.4 million] was received in 20 installments as grants from the government,” the GM says.

Njie also tells Equal Times that the corporation has provided 100 per cent medical coverage to its workers injured or maimed while at work, while those incapacitated have been redeployed to other duties. He also notes that while the coronavirus pandemic also affected production capacities, particularly for rubber and bananas, the CDC was still able to provide health coverage to its workers.

Culled from Equal Times

Cameroon said France had signed a deal valued at 150 billion CFA francs ($262 million) to support its budget.

The French Development Agency loan will finance projects up to 2024, Alamine Ousmane Mey, Cameroon’s minister of economy, planning and regional development, said in Yaounde. He didn’t describe the type of projects to be funded.

The loan represents France’s contribution to a three-year arrangement between the Central African nation and the International Monetary Fund. Last year, the IMF approved about $690 million of support for Cameroon to help its economy recover from the pandemic.

Source:  Bloomberg L.P.

Francophone army soldiers deployed to Southern Cameroons have been escorting several convoy of tanker trucks carrying stolen Ambazonia oil from the city of Victoria named by the Biya French Cameroun regime as Limbe.

Last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Ambazonia Interim Government cited local sources from the Fako County as saying that so many convoy of French Cameroun tanker trucks loaded with Southern Cameroons oil were transferred to Douala.

According to the Ambazonia Interim Government report that was made public by Vice President Dabney Yerima, the oil was taken from Southern Cameroons main oil refinery in Cape Limbo in Limbe. Yerima added that Southern Cameroons stolen oil has often been transferred through the Victoria-Tiko Highway to Douala in French Cameroun.

The Southern Cameroons Vice President further said that a convoy of 54 military trucks carrying logistical equipment belonging to the Biya French Cameroun military entered the Bakassi area via Ndian County and have been participating in smuggling Southern Cameroons crude oil.

Soldiers of the Francophone military regularly smuggle Ambazonian oil to French Cameroun. The regime in La Republique du Cameroun has stationed forces and equipment in Fako and Ndian in the Southern Zone of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, with Yaounde claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the Bakassi area from falling into the hands of Nigwerian terrorists and Amba fighters.

The Ambazonia Interim Government, however, says the unlawful deployment is meant to plunder Southern Cameroons resources.

By Isong Asu with files from Fon Lawrence in Victoria-Limbe

A Pro Biya prosecutor has issued a travel ban against the CEO of the L’Anecdote Group, Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga, who is among the top officials of the ruling CPDM party widely blamed for the unprecedented corruption in Cameroon.

The Judge issued the travel ban against Amougou Belinga, who has been at the center of investigations at home and abroad into his conduct launched after it was revealed the controversial Francophone business tycoon had several nasty deals with prominent Cameroon government ministers.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands the judge imposed the ban as part of a Cameroon government investigation into the Amougou Belinga business empire, whose existence has come under public scrutiny. CIR’s chief intelligence correspondent in Yaoundé hinted that the next stage of the Amogou Belinga probe would be questions to the CEO at the Special Criminal Court.

A judicial source said the travel ban was pursuant to an end of year declaration by the 88-year old President Biya over alleged financial misconduct deep within government circles.

The source said the Amougou Belinga probe will include investigating alleged fraud and complaints about the CEO by journalists working for his private TV Channel in addition to looking at CAMPOST’s financial engineering operations involving Minister Paul Atanga Nji, Minister Issa Tchiroma and Minister Laurent Esso.  The source added that the Special Criminal Court had summoned Amougou Belinga for questioning over the case but the exact date of the session had yet to be publicly disclosed.

Amougou Belinga’s investments in France are also being investigated on suspicion of money laundering and illicit enrichment, among other allegations including dubious state subsidies.

When the big man arrived at the Yaoundé-Nsimalen airport to board an Air France flight to Paris, he was told by police officers carrying a ban on leaving the country that he could not enter the plane.  His travel documents, including a Central African Republic diplomatic passport, were taken away from him.

The Beti-Ewondo businessman reportedly protested and threatened to fight but he left the scene and return home after he was informed that Martin Mbarga Nguélé, the Delegate General for National Security was about to order his arrest.

Cameroon’s economy has been in a free-fall state since President Biya announced a massive anti corruption campaign more than a decade ago.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Eight employees of the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), the largest employer in the two Cameroons after the Francophone dominated civil service, were reportedly arrested last week Thursday on the Tiko-Douala road by Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards for defying Interim Government orders which prohibits any work in state-owned plantations in the entire Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that seven workers and a tractor driver were picked up by Amba fighters after heavy exchange of gunfire with troops loyal to the Biya Francophone regime in Yaounde.

A CDC official who confirmed the incident to our Fako correspondent noted that “There are Cameroon government soldiers everywhere. We don’t know how these Amba fighters do it, because there are soldiers everywhere. We don’t know where they were stationed, to the point of succeeding in taking the workers away.”

The CDC Head Office in a poorly worded statement stated that “It is difficult to know in which direction the employees were taken, let alone where they are being held, if they are still alive. It is also difficult to know the identity of the kidnappers. But in all likelihood, they are alleged separatist militiamen, who have often been used to this type of crime.”

It has been a long time since Amba fighters in the Fako County staged attacks against CDC employees. This latest Amba action has put the CDC back into a state of psychosis as it tries to recover from the horrors of the Southern Cameroons crisis.

By Fon Lawrence in Tiko

About a fifth of every beer sold in Cameroon is a Guinness. This is outstanding for a beer that arrived relatively late on the Cameroonian drinking scene. According to Guinness Cameroun S.A, the stout was introduced to Cameroon at the start of the 20th-century by European traders who docked with bottles of the black stuff on board their ships.

It was an instant hit and Guinness Ltd, the London-based parent company at the time, started exporting to Cameroon to meet the growing demand. In 1967, Guinness Cameroun S.A was incorporated and a depot opened in the port city of Limbe to supply the local market. Three other depots quickly followed in other parts of the country, and by 1969 the decision was made to open a brewery in Douala. The brewery started serving Cameroonians homemade Guinness in 1970.

When TV launched in Cameroon in 1985, Guinness took advantage of the platform to run ads that not only charmed viewers but touted the beverage as the embodiment of strength. First, it was good for you, as in good for your health and mood, and then it brought out the power in you.

Advanced Settings

Those old enough to remember often talk about when Guinness was sold in pharmacies. People would run to the bar after donating blood, and women would demand a pint or two while recovering on the delivery bed. People who didn’t drink Guinness would occasionally take it for stomach trouble. Conversations like these have taken the beer from regular drinking spaces into the lives of the non-drinking public. Of course, the company ties its success to something simpler: the quality of its product.

“Guinness Foreign Extra Stout is successful in Cameroon because of its heritage and quality,” explains Guinness Cameroun S.A’s Communications Manager, Jeanne Nji. “The quality of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout has not changed. The recipe remains the same, and our consumers are delighted with this same great taste.”

At the turn of the millennium, Guinness pushed the dialogue even further when they introduced Michael Power, a Bond-like character whose inspirational monologues accompanied an action-packed series that aired on TV and radio across Africa. Once again, Cameroonians were hooked.

Guinness also has a long association with the Mount Cameroon Race of Hope, a grueling foot race to the top of West Africa’s tallest mountain and back. The race is held annually and broadcast on national television.  Sponsorship of sports tournaments like the English Premier League works well in a football-mad country. The company takes on local causes and rewards its consumers with free bottles, cars, and cash during promotions. Ad campaigns like “Made of Black” and “Made of Greatness” target young consumers with aspirational messages that highlight their desire for self-expression.

Even stronger than the ads is the legion of cult followers who wouldn’t touch another beer with a stick. These ultra-fans are fiercely loyal and like to brag about how long they’ve stuck to the Guinness brand. For some, it’s an essential part of family tradition—having been passed down from their grandparents to their fathers—and something they hope their kids will carry on. There are even collectors among them who refuse to part with old Guinness bottles and crowns. These are the people who only go to bars and events that serve Guinness or carry their crates along.

Cameroon is currently ranked fifth in Guinness consumption, just behind the United States, which is 13 times bigger with over 30 million people of Irish descent. Cameroon doesn’t celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, but it shows its affection for Guinness in many other ways. One of the reasons Cameroon lost its fourth place to the U.S. is because Diageo (Guinness’ parent company) is trying to diversify its market by offering locally made premium wines and spirits and a range of lagers across Africa.

Guinness Cameroun S.A has a long history of experimenting with variations of Guinness like Guinness Smooth, Guinness Chocolate Stout, and Guinness Triple Black—a dark spirit that first launched in Cameroon in 2018. Guinness Triple Black was made to mark the company’s 50th anniversary in Cameroon.

It’s just as well that the unbelievers are being offered alternatives, especially in parts of the country where some drinks are banned. When civil war broke out in Cameroon in 2017, there were calls for Southern Cameroonians to boycott beer brands that put money into the pockets of the government.

Some independence fighters trying to enforce the ban have allegedly maimed or killed people for selling or consuming what they now consider contraband in the war zone. There’s a whole new set of people drinking Guinness or Guinness products because it’s the safe thing to do.

In other places, the fighters have taken the less violent route by placing tariffs on banned beers, but the most lucrative business comes from smugglers bringing in Guinness from neighboring Nigeria to satisfy the growing market.

Nigeria is the second-biggest consumer of Guinness globally, the kind of neighbor you want in times of desperate need. Nigeria and Cameroon are two of only six places where Guinness owns and runs its breweries. These two markets lead a continent where 40% of the world’s Guinness is brewed and sold.

Nigerian Guinness Foreign Extra Stout is cheaper, but Cameroonians think it’s weaker and aren’t keen on the taste. Blindfold a Cameroonian fanatic, and the disappointment on their face will tell you they’re drinking the neighbor’s poor substitute. Still, many would rather suffer the slight discomfort than drink any other beer.

Culled from Fodors.com