More secret meetings are still being held at the Unity Palace to find Dion Ngute’s replacement.

Dion Ngute, who became Prime Minister some three years ago, is viewed by the French and Cameroonian authorities as having fallen short of their expectations because he has not been able to douse the fire in the Southwest region.

He was brought in as Head of Government to help disconnect the Southwest Region from the separatist movement that is still tearing the country apart, as a strategy to roll back the revolution.

“Dion Ngute has failed as a Prime Minister. He is a nice person. He is mild mannered and very friendly, unfortunately he has not been able to establish  communication lines with Ambazonian fighters so that some of them could be convinced to down their weapons and return to a state of law,” a source at the presidency told Cameroon Intelligence Report.

“Many people are thinking that Dion Ngute could be replaced by Elung Paul Che, but many others wonder if he has any leverage over the Ambazonia Interim Government and its majority Amba fighters, many of whom pay allegiance to the Southern Cameroonian Diaspora,” he stressed.

“We need peace in Cameroon and many Cameroonians hold that if the post of vice president is created, it should be given to someone who can talk to the Diaspora and has much leverage over the separatists,” he underscored.

“We are hearing that the president and his men are seriously looking abroad for someone with vast knowledge and experience who can help  change things on the ground. The intelligence community has it that many Southern Cameroonians working in international organizations have much leverage as they help to finance the fighters. Bringing one of such persons into government might cut the fighters off some of their finances, making it possible for them to come to the negotiating table,” the source, who is a senior government official, said.

“The focus is now on Southwesterners in international organizations. The hawks in government hold that someone who is moderate and not tainted by the corruption in Yaoundé could be a welcome relief. The search for a real Southwesterner is even extended to some who are on retirement and the key factor here is they must be capable of talking with both the separatists and federalists,” he said.

“The hawks in government know that the mismanagement in Cameroon has put the government at odds with major global development finance institutions. They think that bringing someone from the world of finance and development will help the government to clean up its image,” the source added.

“There are a few Northwesterners who could be considered for this position, but it is feared they will not be supported by pro CPDM Southwesterners in Yaounde and that they lack the cloud that can help to bring the separatists back to the fold,” he pointed out.

“The African Development Bank, the African Union and the UN have some good Southwesterners. They are knowledgeable, they have been in the civil service and have been connected to the struggle in different ways, but their handicap is that they are loose cannons and electrons which cause doubts in the minds of the government hawks,” he stressed.

“I have been reliably informed that government delegations are currently in Abidjan and Addis Ababa to gather more intelligence on some people whose names are on the list. Things are moving very fast and change is really in the offing,” our source pointed out.

“Change is coming to Yaounde and it is bringing with it a lot of confusion and fear. We only hope we will get the right people. We need people who are trust-worthy. People who can silence the guns in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon,” he said.

“While the French keep on pushing for the return of Abouem à Tchoyi, Cameroonians clearly think that Anglophones deserve the position of vice president and the next president should come from the English-speaking minority,” he furthered.

“We don’t need to ruin our country. We just need someone who will unite the country and bring about development in the country,” he concluded.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The long-awaited cabinet reshuffle will soon be released and many southwesterners will end up being unhappy, as Dion Ngute is on his way out.

Though hated by Southwest separatists, the current prime minister, Dion Ngute, has his supporters who think he should still be in government. But Biya and the international community think differently. He has not been up to the task a source at the UN told the Cameroon Concord News Group’s editor-in-chief.

According to the international community and France, Dion Ngute has outlived his usefulness. The Biya government thought Dion was capable of disconnecting the Southwest region from the separatist movement, but the Ndian Division native has not been able to unite Southwesterners for more than three years. On the contrary, he has been a lightning rod for controversy.

The Southwest Diaspora is totally against Dion Ngute as it is being publicly alleged that he has not done anything for his people. He has not been to his native Ndian since he became the Prime Minister.

Also, Dion has never sought to talk to the Southwest Diaspora which has been financing the fighting in his region of birth and this makes it hard for the dying Biya regime to keep him as the Prime Minister, a source told the Cameroon Concord News Group.

According to a source at the country’s Presidency, Dion’s fate has been decided and he will be promptly replaced by a Francophone, presumably by someone from the north who is expected to calm down northerners who have been planning to slaughter Betis once Biya disappears.

Dion’s departure has been made a lot easier by the need to appoint a vice president who will succeed Biya in the event of a vacancy.

A Cameroon Concord News Group source at the Presidency has said that the Biya regime is still looking for a Southwesterner who will be capable of serving as a vice president. For now, it is hard to find a credible Southwesterner at home.

The source added that the French are insisting on an establishment Southwesterner but most credible and presidential Southwesterners are out of the country. They are working abroad and many of them are not loyal to the government.

The government is looking at Southwesterners in international organizations, especially those who can have an influence on separatists.

The French are worried about losing Cameroon and they hold that a moderate Southwesterner could help calm down tempers in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

The Source hinted that a list of Southwesterners in international organizations such as the African Development Bank, the African Union, the United Nations and the World Bank is being studied at the Presidency.

Many names have been floated but the fear is that will those in international organizations be capable of protecting those who have been very loyal to Biya over the last forty years?

While it is difficult to find a very reliable Southwesterner at the international level, the French are suggesting that Abouem à Tchoyi could also make a good successor because of his deep understanding of the government and the Anglophone problem  which is tearing the country apart.

Abouem à Tchoyi has served as governor in the two English-speaking regions of the country and he understands the issues. He is supported by Anglophones because he knows the issue, but he is from the center region and this makes things complicated, the source said.

Currently, a few names from the African Development Bank and the United Nations are being analyzed. The fear is that those being considered are loose electrons. Will they be able to work according to French dictates? the source asked.

There is tension at the Unity Palace. Most Betis who are close to the regime are scared. Any Anglophone is feared. They know many Anglophone Cameroonians feel hurt and may not give the Betis the protection they need at this time.

For now, the die has been cast for Dion Ngute. Cameroon needs to remain united and indivisible and only an Anglophone vice president can make that happen.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

President Paul Biya is set to replace the Dion Ngute cabinet that was appointed to resolve the crisis in Southern Cameroons.

Cameroon Concord News sources hinted this after the President had a valedictory meeting with some top barons of the ruling CPDM party at the Unity Palace on Tuesday.

According to our sources, Biya has indicated that he would immediately form a government that will oversee a peaceful transition to the new generation.

He reportedly thanked some of the ministers including Prime Minister Dion Ngute for their services to the nation, expressing confidence that giving the experience they have garnered in the services of government, they are equipped to help Cameroon again when the need arises.

This item is still developing

By Rita Akana in Yaoundé

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima has raised a finger against global inaction in the face of French Cameroun government crimes in Southern Cameroons, asking why the European Union and the US are yet to impose sanctions on Yaoundé even after the Biya regime reportedly signed a military agreement with Russia amid the war in Ukraine.

“If there are plans to prevent the ongoing genocide in Southern Cameroons, we demand that the US and its European allies impose severe sanctions on La Republique du Cameroun.  The EU imposed punishments on Mali and the Central African Republic harboring Russian mercenaries and no punishment on the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé now allying with Moscow while it practices ethnic cleansing and genocide in Southern Cameroons” Vice President Yerima said.

For over five years, the Francophone dominated army have repeatedly attacked Southern Cameroonians clamoring peacefully for the creation of an independent state of Southern Cameroons.

The United Nations says more than 5000 Southern Cameroonians including women and children have been killed with the crisis showing no signs of ending. Cameroon government army soldiers have kept up their violations on every Southern Cameroons County cracking down on solidarity protests throughout the entire Southern Cameroons.

By Asu Isong

The Cameroonian Defense Minister flew to Moscow to sign it, in complete secrecy and in the midst of the Ukrainian conflict. It was not supposed to be known, but the press gave an account.

Cameroon has been experiencing a bitter conflict, since 2016, in the two Anglophone provinces of the country that demand independence from the central state and then has to contend with the increasingly bloody incursions of Boko Haram in the Far North.

The current agreement, much broader and more organic than the previous one, albeit in generic terms, raises not a little perplexity precisely because it is not specific, as in the case of Mali and the Central African Republic, the supply of weapons, but only that “other areas of cooperation can be considered”. And it is precisely this clause that causes debate and creates perplexity because the “other areas of cooperation” can enter the employment and deployment of the Wagner Company, Russian mercenaries already employed in areas of conflict on the African continent.

Culled from ruetir.com

 It might interest our Anglo-Americanophobes and Russophiles that between 2015 and 2022 Russia has concluded military pacts with 73 states and one regional organization (ASEAN): 30 countries in Africa; 32 countries in Asia & Middle East; 5 countries in Latin America; 3 countries in Europe; and 3 countries in North America.

The African countries that have a military pact with Russia are: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cameroun, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Congo-Kinshasa, Egypt, Eswatini (aka Swaziland),  Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

We see here the typical Africa mimicry, herd or sheep mentality. We saw that same mentality on display when China purported to offer ‘free money’ to African countries. Rulers of most of these countries hurriedly trooped to Beijing and lined up in a hall like school children with the beggar’s bowl to collect the money. None of them bothered to read the fine prints. Shortly afterwards they started complaining about China demanding its ‘pound of flesh’ or sovereign property in lieu. It shall not be long before one hears similar distress calls regarding Russia.

These are the only African countries (24) that have so far escaped the Russian snare: Namibia, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mauritania, Seychelles, Comoros, Somalia, South Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Gabon, Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Liberia, Algeria, Eritrea, Western Sahara, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Uganda, Tunisia, and Djibouti.

In recent days, Joseph Beti Assomo, Cameroon’s defense minister, made a discreet but remarkable visit to Moscow to sign a new military cooperation agreement between the two countries. This symbolic trip comes at a time when the Kremlin has relaunched its offensive in Ukraine.

On 12 April, Cameroon and Russia signed a new military cooperation agreement. Joseph Beti Assomo, the presidency’s minister delegate in charge of defense, had left Yaoundé the day before for Moscow, where he met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoogou. The latter, who is part of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, initialled the 13-page document on Russia’s behalf.

These frenetic Russian military pacts worldwide from 2015 to 2022 cannot be touted as a response to the claimed Western ‘imperialist’ conspiracy against Russia which uninformed minds advance as so-called ‘justification’ for Russian invasion (which Russia continues to deny), genocide, and the massive and wide destruction of Ukraine. Russia of course lost the UNGA vote formally designating it as aggressor, lost the UNGA vote suspending it from the Human Rights Council, and lost the ICJ case against it – all these diplomatic and legal defeats just within seven weeks.

By Prof Carlson Anyangwe, Cameroon Concord News and The Africa Report

Cameroon under the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo was a nation that offered good employment opportunities and social security to its well-educated population.  When President Paul Biya took over, the country became a place of so little hope that people left in droves.

From widely acclaimed man of rigour and moralization to a despotic dictator, Paul Biya’s 40-year rule of Cameroon has been one of Africa’s most prominent and successful failures.

Skilled at gaining an advantage, especially deceitfully over his opponents, the 89-year-old Paul Biya has outmaneuvered his political opponents for decades.  He sidelines everyone within his ruling CPDM party and government except his right-hand men in the army, the gendarmerie and the police force. It is extremely difficult to depose him.

For more than three decades, Biya has inspired other leaders in the Sub Saharan region to emulate his tactics and extend their rule by manipulating the constitution and suppressing opposition through violence and intimidation.

Biya’s current violent war in Southern Cameroons is typical of his signature action — and it has devastated Cameroon’s agricultural production, transforming what had been known as Cameroon’s breadbasket into a battle field and creating thousands of refugees.

Biya declared war against the English speaking peoples of Southern Cameroons in ringing rhetoric and stated that Cameroon remains one and indivisible. Today and as I write, it does not matter that the war in Southern Cameroons is claiming the lives of thousands of innocent civilians including army soldiers. What is more important is that billions of FCFA including Covid-19 funds injected into the war  is simply going to Biya’s army generals, Cabinet ministers, cronies and blood relations to his wife, Chantal Biya.

Millions of both French and English speaking Cameroonians have migrated to the West and in neighbouring African countries, and it is routine to find a former High Schoolteacher working as a carer or security agent in Europe or North America.  Thousands of Cameroonians are in Germany, France, UK, Holland and Belgium including the USA. And those who have stayed behind have coped with an unprecedented unemployment rate and tourism has dried up to a trickle.

Biya has this foolish Francophone mentality of believing that even the economy would do what the head of state wants.  His ruling CPDM regime is struggling to manage a dilapidated education and health services while Biya, his family and his closest allies are amassing world-class fortunes.

His Beti Ewondo gangs both in the army and in government have made Cameroon to become one of fear as a result of Biya’s far-reaching domestic spy network, the CENER. Hundreds of opposition supporters have been killed or disappeared in Douala and Yaoundé. Many more including Southern Cameroons detainees are being tortured.

It is very hard to remember that Biya once enjoyed praise for instituting rigour and moralization into Cameroonian politics.  He is now known as a leader who marginalizes critics and restricts freedoms. Human rights groups and the Holy Roman Catholic Church have documented and condemned several killings including the murder of Bishop Balla of the Diocese of Bafia which now remains the darkest stain on Biya’s record and a scar that plagues the country.

Tarnished by the killings currently going on in Southern Cameroons, Biya still has strong backing from the French and he has constantly been using the army, the police and the security network to keep the people subservient.

Biya family’s lavish ways has become outlandish, even to the French Cameroun’s jaded public. The growing outrage among Cameroonians at the excesses is finally spilling over to the military. He is going to fall in a very quick and sad way.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

89 year-old President Paul Biya who has served as head of state since 1982, has too much blood on his hands, said Cameroon Concord News chief political analyst Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai.

Agbaw-Ebai, the current Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the Concord Group, made the remarks during an editorial meeting on Wednesday while commenting on the Francophone media coverage of the crisis in Southern Cameroons and Biya’s current bill of health.

Soter Agbaw-Ebai, who fled the CPDM crime syndicate in 1998 as a correspondent with the Herald newspaper pointed out that Biya is a finished man and will be leaving the Cameroon political stage soon.

“The people of the two Cameroons are already speaking of Biya in the past tense” Agbaw-Ebai said. “But not as a force for goodness and decency” Agbaw-Ebai opined.

“Biya is a political disaster that has been around for a long time but French speaking Cameroonians look at important issues only at surface level” the Concord chairman noted.

“To condemn Biya’s failed policies means you are not patriotic. To say he is doing so many bad things and killing thousands of English speaking Cameroonians, the blame will be shifted to his entourage- no Francophone political commentator looks at Biya’s regime with objectivity” Agbaw-Ebai revealed.  

“Biya is responsible for, and takes pride in, the deaths of thousands of innocent Southern Cameroons civilians. But just for a few FCFA and a FIFA world cup qualification, everyone in Yaoundé is coming out of the woodworks, especially Francophones, to praise him rather than be honest about how horrible his administration is for peace in the two Cameroons” Agbaw-Ebai added.

“Biya served under the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo as prime minister and was a favorite of so many and after he took office in 1982, he has presided over the Lake Nyos disaster, the numerous Bamenda bloodbaths, the Boko Haram insurgence and the war in Southern Cameroons among many other CPDM atrocities” Agbaw-Ebai concluded.

By Chi Prudence Asong in London

Cameroon is an amalgamation of former French and British territories combined into a single country in 1961. The North-West and South-West Regions (NWSW) of Cameroon are home to most of the country’s English-speaking population (Anglophones), roughly 20% of the total population.  The Anglophone Conflict stems from 2016 when Anglophone teachers and lawyers mounted protests demanding better representation in Cameroon’s legal and educational systems.  What started as peaceful protests quickly turned violent as demonstrators clashed with security personnel.  Cameroon President Paul Biya’s response included deploying U.S. trained special forces[2], curfews, and implementing regional communications blackouts. In 2017, Anglophone protestors switched tactics from wanting increased representation to demanding an independent state.  On October 1, 2017, Anglophone separationists unilaterally claimed independence from Cameroon creating the Federal Republic of Ambazonia which would be led by an interim government.

Ambazonia is now in quasi-civil war albeit with limited recognition from President Biya in Cameroon’s capital Yaoundé.  He maintains that the conflict is a terrorist/criminal issue, which he promises to resolve through bureaucratic maneuvering and force[3].  The struggle continues to grow deadlier, with more improvised explosive device attacks taking place in the first five months of 2021 than all other years of the conflict combined[4]. The situation continues to deteriorate with separatists beginning kidnap for ransom operations and the Cameroonian state conducting cross border operations of questionable legality into Nigeria. The Cameroonian government’s harsh tactics against its citizenry prompted allegations of human rights abuses.

The magnitude of the crisis and numerous filmed events obtained by international aid organizations lends strong credence to the allegations.  As a result of the abuses, the U.S. cut military aid to Cameroon in 2019[5]. The U.S. is in a difficult position as Cameroon is a key ally against Islamist terrorism in the region, through their contribution to the Multi-national Joint Task Force and allowing U.S. forces to operate from bases in the country[6]. 

Little is likely to be resolved in the immediate future.  The government is unable to claim victory, and the separatists have not gained and held ground, leading to in-fighting[7]. The separatists seek to change their fortunes through an alliance with Nigerian separatists and the purchase of weapons from foreign powers[8]. Another element to consider is President Biya.  At 89, Biya is the oldest elected official on the continent and the second longest serving.  Many, if not most, Cameroonians do not know life without Biya.  He has no intention of ceding power, and more importantly does not have any clear succession plans.  Disorganization from Biya’s hospitalization, death, or cessation of power may give Amabazonia the relief it needs to find better footing.

For a country battling Islamist terrorists in the north and separatists in the south, the death of an autocrat may be the final straw.  The U.S. would be well advised to consider response options to the Anglophone crisis beyond advocating for human rights. If the U.S. continues to ignore the Anglophone crisis and does not develop solid response options, it risks ceding regional leadership and allowing the problem to spiral. Considering the NWSW regions’ coastline and other natural resources, the area will draw international attention for cocoa, oil, or an Atlantic Port. In 2019, China wrote off a substantial portion of Cameroon’s debt[9], and is building the region’s largest deep-water port[10].  China is presumably ready to and willing to fill any partnership void caused by U.S. inaction.

There are several possible outcomes.  The first, already underway, is the continued stagnation of the crisis.  With neither side moving towards peace and conflict increasing, the growth of criminal activity, extremism, and continued human rights abuses is likely.  Combined with other regional instability and increased piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, the equivalent of a West coast Somalia is an unattractive prospect. 

Second, should the crisis escalate, and Cameroon prove ineffective at containing the situation, say in the case of Biya’s death, would regional intervention be justified?  Is the U.S. prepared or able to, with Leahy Law requirements, support regional action to stabilize the area?  How would the U.S. react to Nigeria retaking the Bakassi peninsula under the premise of a responsibility to protect intervention?

Given the vast uncertainty facing Cameroon post-Biya, the U.S. and international community should not be shocked by renewed claims of Ambazonian independence. Should Anglophone Cameroonians coalesce, they may prove more capable at maintaining security in the region than Yaoundé. The Anglophone Cameroonians would then have a solid footing for seeking recognition, which could prompt additional calls for succession from groups like the Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta in neighboring Nigeria. As evidenced by recent events, a country seeking de jure recognition has the potential to disrupt the international order, in this case that could occur in an already unstable region which could prove disastrous for U.S. regional efforts.

The current situation is the culmination of bad international politics in the 1960’s which amalgamated peoples regardless of their language and culture.  The crisis will not be resolved as is and risks creating a generation of disenfranchised, displaced people nursing a grievance.

Culled from realcleardefense