The so-called main opposition party in Cameroon, the Social Democratic Front declared over the weekend that the party was in favor of federalism-a demand formulated by the leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium. The SDF declaration was made during a National Executive Committee meeting that held on Saturday in Nkolfoulou in Soa in the outskirts of the nation’s capital.

The SDF believes that federalism could allow the country to emerge from the serious socio-political crisis in which it has been plunged since November 2016, the date of the beginning of the Southern Cameroons uprising led by teachers and lawyers in Anglophone Cameroon.

Under the guidance of Chairman John Fru Ndi, the SDF had advocated for federalism ever since 1997. The leadership has also proposed the opening of a frank dialogue as the only way forward towards resolving the Anglophone crisis.  The Social Democratic Front stated in the Nkolfoulou resolution that the Biya Francophone regime should release the detained leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium and follow with the immediate restoration of the Internet, whose cut has paralyzed activities in West Cameroon.

The idea of federalism has been rejected by the consortium of criminal gangs running the country. In a speech to the nation, Paul Biya, pointed out that the idea of federalism was divisive. For Biya, Cameroon is “One and Indivisible and will remain so.”

By Sama Ernest

The Chairman of the Social Democratic Front, SDF has said he will not support fleeing Hon Joseph Wirba. Speaking at the opening of the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at his Nkolfolou residence on the outskirts of Yaounde on Saturday March 25, Ni John Fru Ndi said Hon Wirba’s famous intervention in parliament on the Anglophone problem was the MP’s personal point of view.

“When he talked in parliament the way he did I congratulated him and told him he talked more on a personal point of view; using I not we,” the SDF chairman said about Hon ‘Joe’ Wirba. Fru Ndi disclosed that he cautioned the SDF Member of Parliament for Jakiri Special Constituency and told him that in the future when he’s talking, he should make sure that he’s talking as an SDF member.

“But he went and organized a rally in Nso, his other colleague MPs were not there, the Mayor of Kumbo was not there, the SDF electoral district chairman for Kumbo was not there, the divisional coordinator of the party for Bui never attended that rally. And so when all this is done, you want me to make a statement, what statement?” the SDF chairman said in relation to an appeal for support by the escapee SDF MP.

“When somebody does something and does not involve the party, should I just jump in and start supporting?  Is the SDF a place for opportunism where you come and start your own thing, running in your own direction or it is a place where we can sit down, discuss and agree that we are going in this direction and we find ourselves going?” Fru Ndi questioned further.

It should be recalled that Hon Wirba is on the run following a warrant of arrest for him. In a message on social media page, he has vowed to continue to the fight till the Biya regime recognizes and respects the rights of Anglophones in the country.

Cameroun Info.Net

The Anglophone problem is, without a doubt, very bad news to many Cameroonians, especially government officials, many of whom are losing both sleep and weight. Every blessed day comes with new apprehensions as the government and the protesting Anglophones stick to their positions.The Anglophone problem seems to be an effective weight loss program for government officials and this is being compounded by rumors of an impending cabinet reshuffle that may bring significant changes in the country. The current crop of ministers,according to Anglophones,has failed to deliver the results expected of it, especially as the crisis rocking the country was triggered by their inability to find reliable solutions to the issues raised by the Anglophone minority. It is also believed that the boastful and disrespectful rhetoric of the Minister of Higher Education, Fame Ndongo, and the condescending attitude of the Minister of Justice, Laurent Esso, are to blame for the violent escalation of the crisis.

From every indication, the Anglophone minority has lost confidence in its political elite; an elite that has gotten richer while the people have gotten poorer. Poor economic policies of the past decades have simply melted the middle class and the ordinary Anglophone is perpetually struggling to make ends meet. Anglophones hold that Prime Minister Yang Philemon, Peter Mafany Musonge and others who purport to represent them are simply feathering their own nests and that they clearly belong to the past. They contend that the region needs new leaders, as current leaders have fallen short of their glory. These leaders, they say, have been useful, but only to their families. While their immediate families are living in the lap of luxury, the ordinary Anglophone is stuck in grinding poverty, with many being unable to have access to quality health care and decent housing even when their region accounts for 60% of the country’s wealth. They argue that these services were readily available to all West Cameroonians prior to the region’s reunification with East Cameroon.

As both the government and the protesters remain frozen in their positions, many administrative officers in the Anglophone region are at their wit’s end. The current crisis playing out in the two Anglophone regions has become a permanent nightmare to administrative officers in the Anglophone regions. All efforts to tackle those fostering the strikes and civil disobedience have crumbled like a pack of cards. The strikes that are being run from abroad are hard to nip in the bud. The population is calling for a new political elite and the failure of the current elite to put smiles on the people’s faces has made the population to take its marching orders from the Anglophone Diaspora that is keen to play a key role in Cameroon’s politics. The Diaspora has been playing the government’s role for so many years. It has been providing education to many children. It has been paying the health bills of its loved ones even when the health facilities have declined over the years. It has been providing housing to desperate parents. And today, it is clear that he who has been paying the piperis finally seeking to call the tune. The Diaspora is behind the strikes and civil disobedience and the government’s inability to rein in the protesters is causing the conflict to metastasize like a malignant tumor.

The protesting Anglophones are digging in their legs and in some parts of the region; administrative officers have simply lost their authority. In Manyu Division, ghost town operations have been very effective as the people are upset with the arrest of Barrister Agbor Balla and Justice Paul Ayah, both of whom are prominent sons of Manyu Division. In Akwaya, whence hails Justice Paul Ayah, administrative officers have simply been fired by the people and the rule of law has been replaced by the rule of the people and this is not only giving the government a bad name, it is also sapping the economy of its vitality. The people of Akwaya have hoisted the Nigerian flag in strategic locations, claiming that they are now Nigerians till further notice.This explains how disaffected the people of this region are with the government. They want their son to be released, failure of which there will be no peace and reconciliation. Many hold that the government has neglected them for too long and they point to the lack of roads in their sub-division. They argue that to travel from their region to any other part of the country, they must first of all go to Nigeria before coming back into Cameroon due to the absence of roads. This has been a torn in their side for decades. Years of promises by politicians of the ruling party have not delivered any results and the region is permanently in the throes of an economic crisis as the people cannot even move their agricultural produce to the markets. Poverty seems to have taken up residence in this part of the country and rooting it out will take decades of hard work and determination.

For many Cameroonian administrative officers, this is not a good time to be transferred to the two Anglophone regions of the country, especially in the North West region where the people are reputed for their mercurial and explosive temperament. The governors of the North West and South West regions have lots of stories to tell in this regard. Ever since the Anglophone crisis began, they have been running all over the place like neckless chicken to douse the fire. But all their efforts and tricks have come to naught, as a peaceful demonstration that the government thought had been organized by some low-class, ill-behaved commoners has turned out to be a very hot potato in its hands.

However, after four months, there is enough evidence to prove that this situation will linger for a long time if the government does not make concessions. From every indication, the government has taken a powerful blow to the liver. Its failure to restore its authority in the English-speaking region is testimony to its inability to wrestle this issue to the ground. Anglophones are determined to change the status quo. They have successfully made the English-speaking region ungovernable despite the presence of heavily armed government troops. Schools are not functioning, courts have been closed, calls for ghost towns are being heeded and even the ruling party could not celebrate its thirty-second anniversary in the Anglophone zone. With courts closed,criminals are having one big party, as even policemen are scared to arrest them, especially when it implies going to chaotic and unplanned neighborhoods. Some uniformed officers even work with the criminals to make a quick buck. They rent out their weapons and uniforms to these men of the underworld for them to operate however they want in order to have another income stream. Poverty hardly breeds virtue. With meager salaries, many policemen cannot really make ends meet in an environment where food and healthcare costs are continuously and permanently escalating.

Though reeling from the blow it has taken to the liver, the government still has an opportunity to defuse the stalemate that has been created by its violent reaction to the strike that was started by armless lawyers calling for the practice of the Common Law in West Cameroon and Buea University students protesting against the imposition of a late fee payment charge. Current measures and actions have failed to retire the problem. Anglophones are hard to please and despite the indiscriminate and illegal arrests, the government has not been able to deliver a deadly punch to the strikers. Old tricks have also failed and money has not performed the miracle it usually performs. Skirting around the main issue in the hope that it will go away is not an effective conflict resolution strategy. If anything, it only keeps the parties apart and there is nothing that destroys a relationship like silence.

If this problem has to the solved, the government has to show a lot of goodwill. It must release Anglophone leaders and all those arrested over the last four months as a result of the strikes. It has to listen to the people in order to understand their grievances if this dark period of its history has to be relegated to the ash heap of history. This problem has already dented its reputation. If sustainable solutions are not sought, it will linger for a long time and it will continue to stalk the government and its administrative officers like a stubborn shadow. Lives have been lost, a whole region has been rolled back into the dark ages following the decision to disconnect the Internet and many West Cameroonians are fleeing the country, with Nigeria serving as the first port of call as the government continues to pursue its “pest control” policy. Anglophone lawyers, teachers, business people and even members of parliament who have shown sympathy to the striking Anglophones are all fleeing the country for fear of persecution. The government has turned the heat on them, as special military squads have been dispatched to the English-speaking part of the country to cow the people into submission. But this does not seem to be the ideal strategy. The results are mixed and the population is not yielding to any threats by the government.

With the situation deteriorating on a daily basis, both parties must understand that the negotiating table holds the solutions to this conflict. Since both parties lack confidence in each other, they should therefore call on the international community to mediate. The international community should step in to help Cameroon heal. The country is hurting. If the international community fails to play its role, it will carry a huge scar on its conscience if Cameroon goes the way of the Central African Republic. Cameroon already has a lot on its plate. Boko Haram has literally become a bogey man to the government in the north. Refugee problems in the East of the country are weighing down on the government. It will be preposterous for a fragile country like Cameroon to face another major threat in its Anglophone regions. The government may have the weapons. It may have the military men, but let it not forget that David did actually humiliate Goliath even though Goliath had huge muscles hanging loosely as if meant for destructive purposes. Wisdom should guide all actions and dialogue should be embraced by all the parties to spare Cameroon and Cameroonians the agony of an armed conflict.

By Dr Joachim Arrey

Contributing Editor

Cameroon Concord News Group

About the Author: The author of this piece is a keen observer of Cameroon’s political and economic landscape. He has published extensively on the country’s political and economic development, especially in the early 90s when the wind of change was blowing across the African continent. He has served as a translator, technical writer, journalist and editor for several international organizations and corporations across the globe. He studied communication at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom and technical writing in George Brown College in Toronto, Canada. He is also a trained translator and holds a Ph.D.

The appointment of Ngwane George Esambe as a member of the National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism has reportedly generated a political debate within the Francophone political elites in Yaoundé with some French speaking newspapers reporting that he was an advisor to the outlawed Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium identified by the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime as the main instigator of the Southern Cameroons Crisis.

A cream of Francophone elites however observed that by appointing Ngwane, Biya simply made a political gesture which has failed. George Ngwane has recently been profiled as one of the Southern Cameroons intellectuals who have never hidden his convictions particularly that of an independent state for Southern Cameroons. Some moderates inside the regime painted Ngwane as an activist and a pacifist who is also the founder of Africaphonie, a Pan-African organization working for the strengthening of democracy and economic development.

Some Francophone political commentators have however maintained that through his appointment, Paul Biya wants to use some of those who have been accused of dividing Cameroon to try to appease Southern Cameroonians.  Ngwane George is not a solid and popular Anglophone leader and therefore his presence in the commission is inconsequential, noted an ardent supporter of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium.

By Fru James

Chief Tabetando of Bachuo-Ntai village in Manyu Division, who recently boasted that he requested the Head of State to shut down internet services in Southern Cameroons, has been elected to replace former Prime Minister Peter Mafany Musonge as leader of the CPDM Senate Group.  The elections held on Tuesday, March 21, 2017 at the Palais des Congrès in Yaoundé.

 As Speaker of the Senate, there were no surprises. The candidature of the outgoing President Marcel Niat Njifenji proposed by the ruling party with a majority in the Senate had an express approval. He won 74 votes against 15 invalid ballots.

The new chairman of the CPDM Senate group is Chief Tabe Tando, Senator of the Southwest Region. He replaces former Prime Minister Peter Mafany Musonge, recently appointed to head the Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multicuturalism.

Chief Tabetando was born on the 29th of October 1950 in Bachou-Ntai, Manyu Division, South West region of Cameroon. Nfor Tabetando is a qualified Legal Practitioner who is the head of a Law Firm named and styled Equity Chambers in Douala, Cameroon since 1975. He was the President of the South West Chiefs Conference and a chartered member of the Central Committee of the ruling CPDM party in Cameroon.

He also moonlighted as the Vice President of the Cameroon National Forum of Chiefs/Fons/Lamidos. He was enthroned in 1977 as the paramount ruler of the Bachuo-Ntai Kingdom, in Manyu Division of the South West Region. Nfor Tabetando is also actively involved in the oil sector. He is the Founder and Executive Chairman of EurOil Limited.

By Sama Ernest in Yaounde

The National Communication Secretary of the Social Democratic Front, Denis Kemlemo, has announced an ordinary session of the National Executive Committee of the so-called main opposition party in Cameroon. The meeting will hold in Yaoundé, the nation’s capital on March 25^th 2017. The Yaoundé NEC meeting comes after that of Bamenda that took place on January 28, 2017.

Denis Kemlemo did not provide any particular reason for the holding of a NEC meeting in Yaoundé. But other SDF sources say the fact that all MPs and the Senators are currently in Yaoundé obliges the party to hold the NEC forum in Yaoundé. Although the agenda is not yet known, it is a well-established fact that the meeting will be to prepare for the next elections.

According to Denis Kemlemo, the commissions that were set up during the last NEC are functioning and are presently working on the reports that will be presented on March 25th. The different regional presidents will submit to the Secretary General of the SDF the results from the primaries of their respective regions. These lists are important not only for the NEC nominations but also for the scheduling of the delegations that will participate in the next party convention to take place on the 28, 29 and 30 of April 2017 in Bamenda.  It should be said that the elective convention of the SDF is planned for the month of April 2017.

By Rita Akana

Fitch Ratings, an international financial rating agency has hinted that two factors could affect Cameroon’s public policy. The international rating agency revealed that the two issues include “Who will succeed the 84 year old President of the Republic Paul Biya and the Southern Cameroons Crisis. For the agency, these two factors could affect the country’s public policy. The Fitch Ratings analysis echoed an earlier revelation by the New York Stock Exchange.

Cameroon was also the subject of a meeting of the Citigroup Inc., a major financial institution based in the United States. During the meeting, the financial experts of Citigroup analyzed Cameroon from a political and economic point of view and concluded that the impact of the barbaric acts of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram in the northern part of Cameroon has real implication on the political stability of the country.

The uncertainty of Cameroon has always been around what will happen on the political front after Mr Biya, especially since the country has no post of vice-president. Political commentators have little insight into how any potential political succession could play out. However, on a positive note, there seems to be a little more confidence in Cameroon, and constitutional means to solve the problem of succession are now well in place, even if political issues remain unresolved.

The president of the so-called Senate has 120 days to organize new elections to which he cannot present himself.  The Francophone political elites have exploited the Southern Cameroons crisis and reduced Prime Minister Philemon Yang and Senator Peter Mafany Musonge to ordinary politicians not fit to govern after Biya.

Moreover, local political sentiment seems to accept that with more than 300 ethnic and tribal groups in the country there is a strong history of politically negotiated compromise in case the post-Biya elections do not lead to a clear winner.  For Fitch Ratings, the International Monetary Fund should focus on the risks posed by post-Biya and the Anglophone crisis that has already lasted for several months with far reaching consequences on the economy of the country.

By Sama Ernest

Francophone media houses in Yaounde have once again questioned the where about of the Director of the Civil Cabinet at the Presidency of the Republic, Martin Belinga Eboutou. The Biya confidante has disappeared from the public eye of late and he is conspicuously absent from the Biya delegation in Rome.

Presidential press releases published recently such as the one announcing Paul Biya’s trip to Italy carried but the signature of the Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh and in some occasions, Joseph Le, who is currently deputizing for Martin Belinga Eboutou.

A sister publication, Cameroun Info.Net contacted the State House on the sudden disappearance of Martin Belinga but got a  laconic reply from the presidency saying the Minister was “simply unavailable”. Some sources say the Minister Director of Civil Cabinet is absent due to poor health.

77-year-old Martin Belinga Eboutou, took ill last year and was evacuated to Europe.  He returned safely in July 2017 and ended a rumor that had announced his death.

Here is the list of personalities who are currently with the Cameroonian dictator in Rome for a three-day state visit.

-Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, Minister of Public Works

-Louis Paul Motaze, Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development

-Jacques Fame Ndongo, Minister of Higher Education

– Mbella Mbella, Minister of Foreign Affairs

-Paul Elung Che, Delegate to the Minister of Finance in charge of the Budget

-Hamadou Moustapha, Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency of the Republic

-Mengot Victor Arrey-Nkongho, Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency of the Republic

-Joseph Le, Deputy Director of the Civil Cabinet

-Luc Sindjoun, Special Adviser

-Joseph Fouda, Special Advisor

By Sama Ernest with files from CIN

Southern Cameroon groups fighting for an independent state have reacted to the appointment of members into the so-called National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism in Cameroon by President Biya. The exiled leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium have appealed to Southern Cameroonians to isolate the Biya regime and its agents such as ministers, governors, SDOs and Dos.

The Consortium maintains the degree was a ploy for Biya to buy time and eventually stifle the people’s revolution. Prominent Southern Cameroonians contacted by our reporters have all observed that the government was unwilling to concede to any Southern Cameroons proposals for institutional changes to usher in genuine federalism. All what Mr. Biya and the CPDM was bent on doing, an operations manager of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium remarked, was to promote laws and policies that would continue to marginalized Anglophones and return the country to a one-party Francophone system.

Southern Cameroonians are now watching with concern the Biya’s Francophone Beti Ewondo government’s resolve to destroy the Anglophone identity by out rightly refusing the dialogue with the detained leaders of the Consortium and also rejecting the idea of federalism. The current Biya appointments of CPDM agents clarified a senior aide to the detained Chairman of the Consortium, Barrister Agbor Balla has not been welcomed by Southern Cameroonians and it is not any reliable means to defuse the political tension created by the Anglophone crisis.

The exiled leaders of the Consortium have warned Southern Cameroonians including CPDM political elites not to betray the struggle by accepting appointments from a man who has a track record of anti-Anglophone policies. The Consortium has uncovered a plan hatched by the Biya Francophone regime to destabilize Southern Cameroonians and have called on all Anglophones to resolutely fight against La Republique du Cameroun and its against the intrigues and malpractices of its cabinet ministers.

Citing the case of Southern Cameroonian detainees, the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium exile leaders bashed the regime for gross violation of human rights in Southern Cameroon.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

President Biya has finally appointed a new governor for the Center region. Following a series of decrees made public on Monday the 13^th of March 2017, the Cameroonian dictator appointed Paul Naseri Bea, the current Senior Divisional Officer for Wouri in the Littoral region as governor of the Center region, replacing the late Joseph Otto Wilson who died last year.

In another decree appointing Prefects, the Secretary General at the North West governor’s office, Absolon Monono Wulua was appointed Senior Divisional Officer for Momo Division in the North West.  It is important to include in this report that Paul Naseri Bea also hails from the Ndian constituency like his late predecessor.

By Sonne Peter