Editorial

19, May 2026

Killing of 4 soldiers in Muyuka: Biya must recognize that peace cannot emerge from silence and denial ⁰

The killing of four Cameroon government army soldiers in Muyuka, a town some few miles away from Buea the chief city in the South West region is not just another tragic headline; it is the direct consequence of failed leadership and a regime that continues to prioritize military responses over genuine and meaningful dialogue.

For years, voices of reason—including His Grace Archbishop Andrew Fuanya Nkea have urged President Biya including prominent members of his Beti-Bulu tribal cabinet to sit down with the jailed Southern Cameroons leaders and pursue a negotiated settlement. Yet those appeals have largely fallen on deaf ears.

We of the Cameroon Concord News Group are of the opinion that every fresh attack, every ambush and every death whether civilian or military, underscores the bankruptcy of a Francophone teleguided strategy rooted almost exclusively in force.

Cameroon government troops are being sent into a war that cannot be won at gunpoint, while communities remain trapped between Ambazonia violence and government crackdowns. The aftermath is a malicious cycle where retaliation breeds more resentment and resentment is fueling more bloodshed.

Archbishop Andrew Nkea of the Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province and other religious and civil society leaders have repeatedly said that genuine dialogue is not a sign of weakness but of political maturity. Their position reflects a simple reality that conflicts driven by historical grievances, marginalization, and mistrust do not disappear through military operations alone. Ignoring calls for talks only deepens the divide and prolong the suffering.

Yaoundé’s refusal to engage credible Southern Cameroons voices such as Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides also sends a very dangerous message that political grievances can be ignored indefinitely while security forces bear the human cost on the battlefield. The four soldiers who lost their lives in Muyuka are victims not only of Ambazonia bullets but also of political inertia at the highest levels in Yaoundé.

The so-called one and indivisible Cameroon now stands at a crossroads. Continuing down the current path only guarantees more funerals in both English and French Cameroun, more displaced families in Southern Cameroons and a nation further fractured. Biya and his men must recognize that peace cannot emerge from silence and denial. Genuine negotiations, however difficult, remain the only realistic path toward ending the Ambazonia crisis.

The crisis in Anglophone Cameroon has outlasted Cavaye Djibril, Amadou Ali, Marcel Niat, Chief VE Mukete, Jean Baptiste Bokam, General Mpay and Chief Tabetando!! It will definitely outlast Biya. Until leaders in Yaoundé accept this truth, the bloodshed will continue and more soldiers, civilians, and innocent lives will pay the price for a war that dialogue could have helped contain long ago.

To this I put my name

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

13, May 2026

Colonel Hamad Kalkaba Malboum: Cameroon mourns a guardian of national pride ⁰

The President of the National Olympic and Sports Committee of Cameroon is no more! Retired Colonel Hamad Kalkaba Malboum died today in Yaoundé, the nation’s capital. No details have been released regarding the circumstances of his passing. But family sources have hinted that his funeral is scheduled to take place in a few hours at the Etoudi Mosque in Yaoundé. The nation is not mourning only a sports administrator but a builder of dreams, a guardian of national pride and a giant of African sport who has travelled to the land of his ancestors aged 76.

Colonel Hamad Kalkaba Malboum was a gentleman par excellence who believed in the Anglo-Saxon tradition of integrity and he carried the Olympic spirit not as a title but as a calling. To be sure, he stood at the crossroads of discipline and vision, blending the firmness of a Cameroonian soldier with the heart of a mentor. Under Colonel Hamad Kalkaba’s leadership, Africa’s sporting movements found not only integrity and dignity but also direction. He believed and fervently too that sport could unite tribes, generations and nations and he dedicated his whole life to making that belief real.

From stadiums in Douala, Buea, Bamenda, Garoua and Yaoundé to international Olympic assemblies, Colonel Hamad Kalkaba Malboum’s voice carried the hopes of African athletes. Kalkaba fought endlessly for the recognition of African sport on the world stage, ensuring that the dreams born on dusty training grounds could shine beneath Olympic lights.

But far beyond the medals, the international congresses and the titles, Colonel Hamad Kalkaba Malboum will be remembered for something deeper: his unwavering faith in the Cameroonian youth.

Colonel Kalkaba saw potential where everyone saw limitation.

Colonel Kalkaba inspired courage where others saw obstacles.

Colonel Kalkaba reminded the world that excellence belongs to Africa too.

Colonel Hamad Kalkaba Malboum left something behind that is very difficult to describe but the world is very much aware!

Even in death, Colonel Kalkaba’s legacy lives on:

in every Cameroonian athlete who dares to dream,

in every African flag raised in international competition,

and in every young sportsman or woman who now believes the world stage is within reach. Colonel Kalkaba did not merely lead institutions. Kalkaba shaped destinies.

May Yaoundé remember Colonel Kalkaba’s footsteps.

May Cameroon honour Colonel Kalkaba’s sacrifice.

May Africa never forget his service.

And may his soul find eternal peace among the champions he inspired.

Born on November 11, 1950 in Kawadji near Kousséri, he served as President of the National Olympic and Sports Committee of Cameroon since 1998, President of the African Athletics Confederation (CAA), and Vice President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) since August 2015.

He replaced Lamine Diack following the death of Primo Nebiolo and lost the presidency of the International Military Sports Council in 2014. In 2024, he was elected President of the African Olympic Sports Confederation.

Rest well, Colonel! Your race was long, your finish was honorable and your legacy is immortal.

To this I put my name

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

13, May 2026

FECAFOOT new headquarters and the CPDM ribbon-cutting republic ⁰

Yaoundé, the nation’s capital where potholes have tenure, blackouts arrive more regularly and more reliably than ambulances and the entire population can name football clubs in Europe, North America and in the Gulf States before they can name a functioning public establishment, the Biya led regime today demonstrated once more its unmatched mastery of ceremony-the inauguration of the new building to host the Cameroon Football Federation.

The event can best be described as a source of shame attended with the gravity usually reserved for May 20 celebrations, Indomitable Lions victory parades or the discovery of potable tap water in the Far North Region.

The building seen here on the photo attached to this editorial will house the entire governing body of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) – a very noble achievement for a country that has participated in six FIFA World Cup finals.

Today’s ceremony in Yaoundé clearly reveals that the missing ingredient in our Francophone dominated Cameroonian football is not youth investment, honest and transparent administration, functioning local championships or unpaid players and coaching staffs. No. It is buildings. Magnificent ultra-modern buildings!

All of Cameroon except the 92-year-old President Biya was involved in today’s FECAFOOT new office party.

The presidency of the republic in the words of artist Maxi Manorh was “fully represented”! Cabinet ministers answered present. Deputy cabinet ministers came. Ministers delegated by ministers from the presidency and the prime minister’s office attended. Traditional rulers arrived. Barons of the ruling CPDM party were visible. Security entourages multiplied around the vicinity like unpaid invoices in the Ministry of Finance. Somewhere in the convoy was Ahmad Ahmad former president of the African Football Confederation who ousted the late Issa Hayatou.

The ceremony was planned with the sole and ill-disguised intention of making Cameroonians to put behind them the painful failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada-USA with the organizers insisting that the national anthem must be delivered in English. (See copy of program).

As usual, speeches flowed including that of CAF President Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe with the usual high-tempo soccer match enthusiasm for obvious facts. In one of the dirtiest capital cities in the world, the FECAFOOT building represents progress. Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe whose kinsmen have been slaughtering hundreds of black African migrants in his native South Africa praised the vision of modern football governance in Cameroon while seated beneath an air conditioner likely more efficient than FECAFOOT itself.

Every speaker on the public address system praised the leadership of Samuel Eto’o because in Biya’s Cameroon, no public staircase can simply be a staircase. It must symbolize emergence 2036, corruption, Special Criminal Court, resilience, appointments, decentralization and probably a big thank you to the Head of State.

Just outside the so-called new FECAFOOT building, ordinary Cameroonians watched the show with the weary expertise of citizens who have seen too many ribbon-cutting in Biya’s continued stay in power and zero outcomes. Ever since Biya took office, buildings are opened with fireworks and abandoned with silence.

What is laughable here is not that a new befitting FECAFOOT headquarters now exists in Yaoundé. Every serious football federation needs one. The comedy is the large scale of the political pilgrimage surrounding today’s inauguration event involving Prime Minister Dion Ngute, Higher Education Minister Fame Ndongo, Minister of Sports and Physical Education Mouelle Kombi Narcisse and a former CAF president banned from football activities. A country capable of mobilizing the political and administrative class to admire a building and the office furniture somehow still struggles to mobilize basic services with the same urgency. Perhaps Cameroon’s genuine national sport is not football but attendance. Name them: attendance at ceremonies, attendance at launches and attendance at commemorations of previous ceremonies. A CPDM MP or cabinet minister can miss parliamentary sessions, miss his or her children’s graduation ceremony; even miss family funeral rites but never the laying of a foundation stone as they often put it in their local parlance.

Meanwhile, on a playground some few meters away from the new FECAFOOT building producing the next generation of football talent, boys and girls are still playing on dusty environment with improvised goalposts and dreams larger than the budget for the inauguration refreshments.

But at least for now there is a FECAFOOT headquarters from which Samuel Eto’o and his progressive forces can discuss the condition of the dusty fields in the country.

A great leap forward.

To this I put my name

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

11, May 2026

There are reasons why Israel has been President Biya’s key ally since 1984 ⁰

In October 2025, Cameroon’s 92-year-old authoritarian president, Paul Biya, secured another term in elections widely regarded as undemocratic and fraudulent. For 42 years, Biya has ruled Cameroon through repression, violence, the detention of political opponents and journalists, and widespread corruption.

Yet Cameroon remains one of Israel’s most important partners in Africa, while Israel has been one of President Biya’s key allies since 1984.

The official website of Israel’s embassy in the Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé, presents a polished version of bilateral relations. It states that “the Republic of Cameroon and the State of Israel have maintained cooperative ties since Cameroon’s independence in 1960. Cooperation was temporarily suspended in 1973 (with the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War), when many African countries severed bilateral relations with Israel. In 1986, Cameroon was among the first African states to renew diplomatic ties with Israel.”

On the resumption of relations, the official account offers little detail. It notes that in 1986, Israel’s ambassador to Cameroon, Gadi Golan, said the two countries were “jointly engaged in a human-scale enterprise,” pursuing “direct and practical cooperation in line with the needs of a century nearing its end.” It also highlights a visit that August by Prime Minister Shimon Peres to Yaoundé, described as a mission to restore diplomatic ties. Peres reportedly brought emergency medical supplies and personnel to assist victims of a devastating volcanic gas disaster that killed thousands of Cameroonians.

Partially declassified files from Israel’s State Archives tell a different story. As in other African countries, the renewed relationship was driven less by humanitarian concerns and more by Israeli military assistance aimed at helping Biya consolidate power during a critical period – following a failed coup attempt and amid fears of his predecessor, Ahmadou Ahidjo, and his supporters. The cables confirm reporting published over the years while adding new details.

A Foreign Ministry review dated September 20, 1985, states that contacts began in March 1984, during a visit to Cameroon by the ministry’s director-general, who met Biya. “In April 1984, there was a failed coup attempt. The coup was suppressed and a purge was carried out.” In June 1984, “a large security delegation arrived in Israel, headed by the president’s military secretary, and was received by then–Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir.”

The following month, an Israeli delegation – including military and intelligence personnel – traveled to Cameroon. Agreements reached with Biya included appointing a representative for Israeli interests in Cameroon, Israeli assistance in training the presidential guard, intelligence cooperation, and large-scale arms purchases. “All of the above agreements were implemented,” the document notes. Immediately after the meeting, “as a gesture of goodwill, Cameroon transferred $12 million to an account of the Defense Ministry.” Golan arrived in Yaoundé in late August 1984, accompanied by a large delegation from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and military industries.

In an October 23, 1984 cable, Golan – who initially served as head of the Israeli interests section attached to the Belgian embassy, before being appointed ambassador following President Paul Biya’s official announcement of the renewal of relations in August 1986 – reported that he had met with Samuel Missomba, head of the local internal security service, the National Documentation Centre (CND). Missomba told him that Cameroon required Israeli assistance “in establishing an intelligence-gathering system, as well as help in setting up units for operations abroad to collect intelligence or carry out missions against training camps of supporters of the former president in neighboring countries,” and also assistance in “monitoring the activities of the former president and his supporters.”

In a December 28, 1984 cable, the Foreign Ministry Africa Department director reported that CND chief Missomba told him at a dinner that two training courses would be conducted in Cameroon by Israel’s Mossad. In another cable dated May 24, 1985, Golan reported that he had met with Missomba, who said that participants in the Mossad training told him they had “never studied or even come into contact with the material being taught to them – it is an entirely new world for them,” and that a second cycle of the program had been scheduled. According to a cable Golan sent on December 26, 1986, Israel also conducted an intelligence course for the unit responsible for the protection of Biya.

A Foreign Ministry review from September 5, 1985, states that “military and intelligence assistance is being provided on a significant scale, with the Cameroonians paying in advance for services and equipment.”

According to an October 30, 1986 cable from the Israeli mission in Yaoundé, Biya approved sending security personnel to Israel for counterterrorism training. A November 28, 1986 cable reports that the head of the president’s office signed an extension of contracts for Israeli military advisers. An earlier cable, dated February 25, 1986, indicates that 11 IDF officers were involved in training Cameroon’s presidential guard and army.

Between October 26 and 29, 1987, a five-member delegation from a newly established intelligence service, the National Centre for Studies and Research (CENER), visited Israel to meet with the Mossad. In a November 20, 1987 cable, Golan wrote that Missomba – who had been appointed to head CENER and took part in the visit – said he was “deeply moved” by his time in Israel, including meetings with the Mossad chief and the prime minister.

A September 11, 1987 cable included a list of four Cameroonian officers set to travel to Israel “to examine electronic equipment for counterterrorism.”

According to a Foreign Ministry review dated December 11, 1987, “an IDF delegation is training the presidential guard and instructing at the parachuting school. The trained units have received advanced Israeli-made military equipment worth $40 million, paid in full in advance,” and the president had “an Israeli adviser on intelligence matters.”

In a December 19, 1987 cable, Golan described a meeting with Biya, who “expressed satisfaction with the development of cooperation with the Mossad” and sought advice on a successor to Missomba. According to Golan, Biya said that CIA officials had advised against appointing a police or military figure. He asked Golan’s opinion of Missomba’s deputy; Golan replied that the deputy had made a good impression during a visit to Israel.

Between January 10 and 17, 1988, a delegation led by Cameroon’s police commissioner and senior police officers visited Israel. According to a summary of the visit prepared by Foreign Ministry Africa Department director Benaad Avital, agreements were reached on training Cameroonian police – both in Israel and in Cameroon – in counterterrorism and firearms use, as well as in the operation of communications equipment purchased from Israel. Earlier, in a cable dated December 17, 1987, Golan noted that almost all of Cameroon’s police communications equipment was Israeli-made.

Most Foreign Ministry files on Cameroon remain classified. In 2018, however, we – a group of 76 Israeli human rights activists – petitioned the Supreme Court of Israel to revoke export licenses for arms supplied to the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), known in Cameroon as “the Israeli unit,” which was found to have committed serious crimes against civilians in opposition areas. Our petition was based on verified evidence from Cameroonian journalists and opposition activists showing that Israelis had trained and advised the unit, whose soldiers used Israeli weapons including Galil, Galil ACE, Tavor rifles, and Negev machine guns. The court imposed a gag order on the case.

Just as President Biya has relied on Israel, Israel has also relied on him personally to maintain the stability of their bilateral relationship. How relations between the two countries will evolve after a change of power in Cameroon remains an open question.

Source: m.thewire

8, May 2026

President Biya will attempt to go to Heaven illegally ⁰

In a conversation a cream of Cameroon Concord Group reporters had with Cardinal Christian Tumi, the great man of God observed that the Almighty Father will ask President Paul Biya what he did with the lives entrusted to him.

Cardinal Christian Tumi walked among us and like the Master Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace; Tumi made himself of no reputation but made millions of Cameroonians to know that they can live this life and that they can walk this path with Jesus. Biya said in the presence of this reporter and the late Dr Martin Belinga that Tumi never came to him for anything. Cardinal Tumi has met HIM and he is now with HIM.

However, if the gates of Heaven had an immigration desk, Cameroonians could imagine President Biya arriving with the confidence of a man who has outlasted half the world’s political calendars.

Biya after seeing Marcel Niat, George Tabetando and Joseph Owona will attempt to jump the queue but will be ordered back by angels of the Lord.

“Purpose of visit Mister President of Cameroon?” Saint John Paul II would ask.

“Retirement,” Biya would reply.

At that point, all the Angels and Saints including Marcel Niat, George Tabetando and Joseph Owona standing within a five-cloud radius would burst into serious laughter. Retirement? From CPDM politics in Cameroon? That’s like a mosquito in Douala announcing it has retired from biting ankles.

Saint Peter and Saint John Paul II would immediately call an emergency meeting. Not because President Paul Biya is standing on the front line! Saint Peter and Saint John Paul II have seen a Cameroonian head of state in the person of Ahmadou Ahidjo, traditional rulers like Fon Angwafor and VE Mukete, cabinet ministers including custom officers and taxation officials from ENAM before — but because President Biya’s entry documents would probably be older than some constellations.

Saint John Paul II would whisper to Cardinal Tumi, “Didn’t Biya govern Cameroon during the era when fax machines were considered advanced technology?”

Cardinal Tumi would answer, “Yes, and somehow he still managed to govern mostly from the InterContinental Hotel in Switzerland.”

The conversation between Cardinal Tumi and Saint John Paul II would turn uncomfortable shifting to the many ordinary Cameroonians whose lives were marked by hardship, political repression, conflict, corruption and tragedy during decades of Biya’s rule. President Biya still standing at the pearly gate is now being told that Heaven, unlike CPDM politics, insist on accountability before admission.

Saint John Paul II will pull out an enormous ledger handed to him by Cardinal Tumi and say:

“Mister Biya, we have reports here from students beaten for protesting, villagers displaced by the war in Southern Cameroons, journalists silenced, families grieving children lost in several unrest and you’re trying to jump the queue and enter through the VIP gate?”

Biya would allegedly smile the smile of a confident successful man who survived every cabinet reshuffle under the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo and later became head of state.

“I have diplomatic immunity.”

To which Saint John Paul II would respond:

“Sir, during my time as Pope John Paul II, I visited Cameroon and reminded you that Heaven is eternity and does not recognize constitutional amendments.”

Biya will then attempt to enter Heaven illegally not by forcing his way through the gate or climbing a fence but by turning to Marcel Niat, George Tabetando and Joseph Owona and asking them to form a committee to study whether the gates of Heaven should remain closed pending a Grand National Dialogue and consultations extending until 2087.

Impatient angels would begin pushing Saint John Paul II to attend to the 14 Southern Cameroons civilians killed in Ndzerem-Nyam village and the 2 government soldiers in Big Babanki.

We of the Cameroon Concord Group are of the opinion that Cameroonian leaders may escape elections, critics or history books rewritten by CPDM loyalists, but eternity is a place where political power no longer bends the rules. In that courtroom above the clouds as painted recently in Cameroon by the Holy Father Pope Leo, titles disappear, entourages vanish, and every ruler including leaders of the Church must answer the same question:

“What did you do with the lives entrusted to you?”

To this I put my name

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

6, May 2026

Cavayé Yéguié Djibril: both a builder and a barrier ⁰

The passing of Cavayé Yéguié Djibril at the age of 86 marks more than the death of a man; it signals the fading of a political era that shaped modern Cameroon for over three decades.

For 34 years, Djibril presided over the National Assembly, a tenure unmatched in the country’s history and rare across the continent. From his election to the speakership in 1992 to his removal in March 2026, his authority became synonymous with institutional continuity—some would say stability, others stagnation.

An editorial assessment of his life must begin with this central fact: Djibril was not merely a parliamentary figure; he was an embodiment of the political order that crystallized under President Paul Biya. Loyal, durable, and unyielding, he represented a system in which longevity was both a credential and a shield. His career stretched from the single-party state into the multiparty era, yet the essence of governance changed little under his watch.

There is, undeniably, a case for respect. Djibril rose from modest beginnings in the Far North to become one of the most powerful figures in the republic. He mastered the mechanics of survival in a demanding political environment and ensured that the National Assembly remained a predictable pillar of state authority. In a region often marked by volatility, such predictability has its defenders.

But respect must not obscure reality. Under Djibril, the legislature seldom fulfilled its potential as a counterweight to executive power. Critics long argued that the Assembly became ceremonial—more a chamber of endorsement than of scrutiny. This perception hardened during moments of national strain, particularly the Anglophone crisis, when parliament failed to emerge as a forum for meaningful national dialogue.

In that sense, Djibril’s legacy is inseparable from the limitations of the institution he led. He did not merely preside over a subdued parliament; he became its defining feature. Stability, in his hands, often meant silence.

The timing of his death adds a poignant, almost symbolic dimension. Removed from office after decades of apparent permanence, he died mere weeks later—a reminder that even the most entrenched political figures are ultimately subject to the same abrupt transitions they often resist.

Cameroon now finds itself at a generational crossroads. Djibril’s passing, alongside the recent departure of other long-serving figures, underscores a slow but unavoidable shift in the country’s political architecture. Whether that shift leads to renewal or merely reconfiguration remains uncertain.

In the end, Djibril leaves behind a paradox. He was both a builder and a barrier: a man who sustained institutions, yet one who, in the eyes of many, prevented them from evolving. His life invites neither simple praise nor outright condemnation, but a sober reckoning.

By Rita Akana

Yaoundé Bureau Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

26, April 2026

Dr Joachim Arrey says Biya should pick Victor Mengot or Philemon Yang as Vice President ⁰

Dr Joachim Arrey of the Global Think Tank for Africa has reflected on selecting a Vice President, noting that Minister Victor Mengot and former Prime Minister Philemon Yang have positive qualities that he thinks they deserve to be appointed. Dr Arrey in this soul-searching conversation with Soter Agbaw-Ebai hinted on their moral conviction and ability to find common ground even amid complex political issues.

Cameroon Concord News: We have not heard from you for a long time, especially after the presidential election. What is your assessment of the country’s political situation?

Dr Joachim Arrey: Thank you, Mr. Editor, for granting me the opportunity to share my political perspective with your audience. Allow me to point out that the pre-election and post-election periods were challenging to our country and despite the pockets of violence which resulted in the destruction of property and loss of life, it can be stated that the people of Cameroon have understood that violence does not address any issues. I hold that political disagreements can be addressed at the negotiating table and not in the battlefield. Yesterday’s adversaries can still be on the same team in a win-win political coalition and partnership. The opposition might have contested the results of the presidential election but once the results were declared, most Cameroonians felt that it was time to move on. The tasks of nation building do not require continuous instability and many Cameroonians have understood that and that partially explains why the post-election violence did not last. Moreover, the government is open to the idea of talking with the opposition to ensure that the country does not get caught up in a circle of violent destruction and killing. Those who do not understand government processes and procedures might think that the government does not want to talk with the opposition. Such discussions always take place out of the spotlight and, since we are talking about the formation of a new government, some opposition leaders could also be brought into government with a view to appeasing the opposition. Such a measure will reduce tensions, and reset our country to the path of economic growth. If this happens, it will not be the first time that the government will be working with opposition leaders. As Cameroonians, we must always pray for peace and security in our country, and we should shun violence as it will only undermine our development efforts.

Cameroon Concord News: Regarding political stability and continuity in the event that there is a vacancy at the highest level of government, who, in your opinion, can be the vice-president following the legislative branch’s adoption of the bill on the appointment of a vice-president?

Dr Joachim Arrey: Thank you, Mr. Editor, for bringing up this issue. As you know, many Cameroonians have, for a long time, expressed their concern about the possibility of violence in case there is a vacancy at the highest level of government. The concerns are legitimate and the legislative branch of government has demonstrated that it understands the people’s plea by adopting the bill on the appointment of a vice president. There were a few contrary opinions which, of course, are normal. As Cameroonians, we do not always have to be on the same wave length. Disagreement is part of the game of democracy and disagreement is as old as man. Sometimes, it helps to enrich the democratic debate, making it exciting and interesting. However, at the end of the long and impassioned debates, our law-makers had to play their role. They were elected to represent us and their vote is final and irreducible.

With regard to who can be the new vice-president, I have a few names in mind and if I could make any recommendations to the powers-that-be, I would do it without hesitation.

First on my list will be Minister Victor Mengot Arrey, not because we share the same name (Arrey) but because he has been in the corridors of power long enough to understand the issues and has the necessary experience to occupy such a position. When you take a look at his temperament, you will figure out that he is a calm, controlled and focused individual. He has been serving the head of state and the country for close to two decades as the Minister in charge of special duties at the Presidency and he has done that without any blemish. He has never been involved in any social or financial scandal, and a person with a clean moral record is a great asset to our country, especially during trying financial and economic times like the one we are currently going through. Cameroon needs a unifier, a team player and a person who understands the issues and has the mental and intellectual capacity to provide much-needed solutions. Mr. Mengot fits that mould and will surely make Cameroonians proud.

Second on my list is former Prime Minister Yang Philemon whose leadership qualities and credentials are unquestionable. As a high commissioner in Ottawa, Canada, Mr. Yang demonstrated that the credibility and reputation of our country were paramount. He facilitated processes at the high commission for all Cameroonians regardless of their statuses. It should be underscored that Mr. Yang was a minister at 28 and even at that age, he rose above all the challenges he had to deal with. From Ottawa, he returned to the presidency as a key collaborator of the president and later served as a Prime Minister. His most recent position was as the President of the UN General Assembly. His performance was exceptional. He is a symbol of efficiency, selflessness and patience.

Cameroon has many wise and efficient resources. Cameroon needs someone who will keep our country out of troubled waters and Mengot and Yang are experienced hands that can deliver the goods.

Cameroon Concord News: I am impressed with your analysis of our country’s politics and your analyses tie in well with what many Cameroonians think. However, I would like to take you to Manyu Division which has recently lost its senator. Senator George Tabetando Ndiepnso is no more and he was the lone senator representing Manyu. What is your assessment of his time at the Senate?

Dr Joachim Arrey: I knew Senator George Tabetando who also doubled as the chief of Bachou-Ntai, his native village, way back in 1975 when he was a young, lean and brilliant lawyer who earned the respect of many. He was a model to some of us who had great admiration for lawyers. His lawyering skills were world-class and I was proud of him in that regard. I also heard he did well at EUROIL, an oil and gas institution which created hundreds of jobs for Cameroonians. Regarding the Senate, I would like to mention that Senator Tabetando has done his fair share at the Senate. For most of his time at the Senate, the two English-speaking regions of the country were caught up in a socio-political crisis which made it hard for most Manyu politicians to demonstrate what they were capable of doing. Also, it should be pointed out that it is very challenging to assess a particular politician as the system cultivates team players and not individual stars. However, I vividly remember how Senator Tabetando went down on his knees in Mamfe town, pleading with the sons and daughters of Manyu Division to come out of the bushes during the socio-political crisis in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon. That action of his spoke of a man who had the interest of his people at heart. It also spoke to his humility. He loved Cameroon and never wanted a divided Cameroon. He believed in unity and felt that political issues could be better addressed at the negotiating table rather than in the battlefield.

Cameroon Concord News: Senator Tabetando is now gone and there is a huge political vacuum in Manyu Division. Do you see any young and dynamic Manyu son and daughter who can step into his shoes?

Dr Joachim Arrey: Again Senator Tabetando was a political asset to his Division. He loved his people and cared about the Division’s future. His death is a big loss to all of us. However, it should be pointed out that Manyu Division is blessed with incredible human resources who can effectively play the role the former senator was playing. There are young, dynamic and competent Manyu men and women who also want to lead the Division politically. They want to leave their mark on the Division and I think the vacancy created by Senator Tabetando’s death is a huge opportunity for some of those men and women to take Manyu Division to a new and different level. Senator Tabetando and those who preceded him in death and office have actually laid a solid political foundation and it will be incumbent upon the young generation to build on that foundation, drawing on their experiences. The young generation has a huge responsibility – that of doing better than those who preceded them.

Cameroon Concord News: 2028 is fast approaching and the people of Manyu do not yet know of anyone who will run in the Senatorial elections. Many people of Manyu descent hold that you are a fit for that position. Can you tell the people of Manyu that you will run in the 2028 Senatorial election, especially as Senator Tabetando is dead?

Dr Joachim Arrey: Mr. Editor, I would like to point out that this is a moment of grief for the people of Manyu Division who have lost their son in the person of George Tabetando. In my view, it will be preposterous of me to trigger a competition at this critical time when we all should be working hand in glove to give Senator Tabetando a befitting burial. However, I would like to indicate that we are still two years away from the senatorial elections and I must point out that Manyu will have the type of representation it deserves at the Senate. Like many other potential candidates, I would like to point out that I have the sound intellect that the position requires. I have profound and unwavering love for the people of Manyu, know that I can do whatever it takes to make Manyu a better place than I met it and I will always bend over backwards for my fellow brothers. I am truly and proudly Manyu. Let me point out that I am weighing my options and I will make my intentions known when the time comes. I hold that if given the rear opportunity to serve my people, I will do it without hesitation. We, the people of Manyu, must be ready and willing to serve our Division. Manyu’s development depends on us the sons and daughters of Manyu. I will never hesitate to pull my fair share of the weight if called upon. Let me indicate that you will be the first to know whether I will be in the race when the right time comes. Always bear in mind that like many others, I have the right credentials for such a position. With more than three decades working in Cameroon’s private sector, Canada’s private sector and having worked for international development finance institutions, I have the ability to work with other sons and daughters of Manyu to bring about sustainable development in our Division. I have sound knowledge of the challenges facing our people and I have a huge capacity to mobilize resources for development purposes. However, I will make my intentions known at the appropriate moment.

Cameroon Concord News: Thank you, Dr. Arrey, for your time.

Dr Joachim Arrey: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to express my views on our country’s current political situation.

22, April 2026

Cameroon PhD nuisance: academic dwarfs and jokes on steroids ⁰

On February 28, 2026, the US and Israel launched a war against Iran. The war was expected to be short and decisive. It has proven to be anything but a cakewalk. Following a two-week ceasefire that ended today, President Trump now finds himself in an awkward strategic predicament. Opposite him stands Iran, a nation subjected to forty-seven years of sanctions, yet one that has nonetheless cultivated a remarkably sophisticated indigenous missile and drone capability. That capability is not an accident; it is the product of sustained domestic investment in technical education. Iran’s success in this conflict is tied to a large cohort of PhDs trained in fields such as science, nuclear physics, mathematics, and engineering. For over four decades, economic isolation was meant to constrain Iran, yet it has instead compelled self-reliance, yielding technological capacities that now present a tangible challenge to US military dominance.

In Iran, the world is witnessing what a strong cohort of PhDs can do for a nation. But by some strange happenstance in Cameroon and deep within the Cameroonian diaspora, PhD has become something of a national embarrassment bordering on farce. The recent anxiety around doctoral inflation prompted the 92-year-old Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces President Paul Biya, to instruct the country’s Minister of Higher Education, Professor Jacques Fame Ndongo, to clarify that only state universities are authorized to award doctorates.

Minister Fame Ndongo also warned that students enrolling in offshore online programs do so entirely at their own risk. The concern from the head of state is not difficult to understand in a country with weak infrastructure and unreliable internet connectivity. With poor internet connectivity, how can any genuine student conduct credible online doctoral research?

The minister’s intervention reads as an indictment of an industry that has turned the highest academic qualification into a purchasable title. In Cameroon, the doctorate has become a kind of lifestyle accessory like a watch or Smartphone. The flourishing trade in imported and distance-learning PhDs has become a recurring topic in Aghem, Bakweri, Nso, Manyu, Mankon, Metta, Bakossi, Oroko, Lebialem, Bali, Nkwen and Bafaw culture and development meetings, wake-keeps, naming ceremonies and social gatherings stretching from Toronto to Maryland and from London to Amsterdam. The PhD palaver in Cameroon is now a diaspora community fixation. In fact, it is an inside joke that has ceased to be funny.

Gone are the days when Cameroon’s intellectual landscape was defined by scholars whose achievements carried unquestioned weight and global respect, with figures like Dr Ako Defang Mengot, forged in the rigour of Harvard University and Professor Bernard Fonlon, whose doctorate in Literature from Sorbonne University reflected both depth and distinction. Today, we have Professor Carlson Anyangwe of Walter Sisulu University, who is grounded in the scholarly tradition of the University of London. For these giants, a PhD was a culmination of intellectual discipline, sacrifice and original contribution to knowledge. Today, that standard has fallen miserably and what remains is a hollow imitation of excellence, where the appearance of intellect is celebrated but its substance is increasingly rare.

Distance-learning institutions have emerged offering doctorate programs as easy to enrol in as gym memberships. In Cameroon diaspora circles, individuals with a questionable grasp of written or spoken French and English now brandish doctoral titles acquired from mushroom online colleges in the US, Pakistan, India and many obscure parts of the globe. The subjects’ and doctoral theses are often as weightless as the process bearing little relation to serious scholarship aimed at advancing knowledge or improving society.

Now, contrast Cameroon with a country like Iran, where the expansion of doctoral education has been rapid but not frivolous. Iranian universities have, over the past two decades, produced large numbers of PhDs in engineering, medicine and the natural sciences. These are not disciplines one typically completes online while working in care homes in Minnesota or Leicester. Iran faces its own challenges like bureaucratic hurdles and the ever-present tension between academic freedom and state oversight. Yet even critics would concede that a PhD in electrical engineering, nuclear physics, drone technology, or molecular biology is not a vanity exercise. One either knows the material or not as the laws of physics and science remains unimpressed by titles.

This editorial is not suggesting that only STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) deserves doctoral attention. The humanities and social sciences have long produced insights as vital as any laboratory breakthrough. The issue is not the field, but the standard. A rigorous PhD in philosophy or Law from an accredited institution is no less demanding than one in physics. A superficial PhD in any discipline, however, remains precisely superficial.

The purpose of PhDs in Cameroon is not intellectual contribution but to cause people headaches at wake keeps, birthday parties and village meetings where the title “Doctor” is utilized to polish egos. A few years ago, the preferred social currency in Manyu, a constituency in Cameroon, once renowned for academic aptitude, was the title of Sessekou. That of the Nso people was Shey! Today, it is a doctor.

Sadly, in Cameroon circles at home and in the diaspora, a PhD is now a lightweight, portable social accessory. In Iran, it remains closer to what it was always meant to be, a demanding intellectual apprenticeship culminating in a contribution to human knowledge.

President Paul Biya’s intervention is an attempt to restore credibility to doctoral qualifications within the Cameroon community at home and abroad. It is a reminder that a PhD was meant to be difficult, time-consuming, and profitable to society.

In Iran, whatever one thinks of its politics or strategic posture, doctoral education has not been reduced to a public spectacle. It’s PhDs in engineering, physics, mathematics and related fields are not ceremonial titles but functional assets embedded in the architecture of modern warfare. In the ongoing conflict, Iran’s indigenous missile systems, drone swarms, and electronic capabilities are not improvised miracles; they are the downstream product of sustained technical training and research culture. In that sense, the PhD is not a vanity badge but a component of national capability translated from university auditoriums into battlefields. We thank the Head of State for his timely intervention on this matter of national emergency.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

21, April 2026

Senator Chief Tabetando leaves behind not just a record, but a reckoning ⁰

Early this morning, Hon. Victor Mengot, Minister of Special Duties at the presidency of the republic made public the passing into eternity of His Royal Highness Chief Barrister Tabetando CPDM Senator for the Mamfe Central Sub constituency. The late political figure also moonlighted as the traditional ruler of Bachuo-Ntai village.

Minister Victor Mengot posted “Dear Comrades, it is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing into glory of the last standing senior politician of his generation. Senator Nfor Tabetando passed on this night after a protracted illness. May his soul find solace at the bosom of the Lord.”

The journey of Senator Chief Tabetando to the land of his ancestors invites not just mourning, but reflection on a life well spent and a life that seemed to straddle ambition and duty, power and responsibility, legacy and contradiction.

There are prominent Anglophone political and academic figures that pass through the Cameroon political and business spaces like brief weather but there are those like Chief Tabetando who alter the atmosphere itself. Chief Tabetando’s voice hin und zu unyielding, unexpectedly conciliatory but carried across chambers and communities alike. Whether Cameroonians both Francophones and Anglophones agreed with him or not, it was extremely difficult to ignore him!

Ever since his passing, tributes have been flowing with predictable reverence from Manyu citizens at home and in the diaspora. Words like “icon,” “pillar,” and “visionary” appear readily in the public lexicon of grief. However, we of the Cameroon Concord Group think that a more honest remembrance of His Royal Highness Chief Tabetando demands we resist flattening him into something too polished. The Supreme Leader of the Bachou-Ntai people was not carved from marble; he was shaped in the friction of real business and politics, where ideals meet compromise and conviction meets consequence.

As a student of the great Chief Emmanuel Tabi Egbe, His Royal Highness Chief Tabetando rose, as many admired Anglophone leaders do, from circumstances that required resilience. His early struggles so often cited in his speeches were not merely narrative decoration; they informed his instincts, his alliances, the Chief’s sense of what was worth fighting for. This begs the question: Did Chief Tabetando remain anchored to those humble beginnings, or did the machinery of political power in Yaoundé slowly redraw his compass? The answer, depending on whom you ask from both sides of the river Moungo, is both.

Frankly speaking, there were moments when His Royal Highness Chief Tabetando embodied the highest aspirations of public service, championing policies that spoke to equity, advocating for voices long sidelined in both the South West and North West regions. And there were other moments, harder to reconcile, when his silence over the Cameroon government teleguided killings in Southern Cameroons spoke louder than any speech he gave. These contradictions do not diminish Chief Tabetando’s legacy; they define it. To remember Chief Tabetando truthfully is to hold both the light and the shadow.

Death has a way of clarifying what life obscures. It strips away the immediacy of political rivalry and leaves behind a more enduring question: after Chief Tabetando, what remains? Not the headlines, nor the victories, but the imprint on people’s lives including the hundreds of well-paid jobs created in Euroil, medic care for all in his Bachuo-Ntai Kingdom, roads built and the laws passed or blocked during his time in the Senate.

Perhaps the deeper, more uncomfortable reflection is not about His Royal Highness Chief Barrister Tabetando alone, but about the Cameroon political system in Yaoundé that shaped him. Political and business elites do not emerge in isolation; they are products of collective expectations, pressures, and permissions. In examining Chief Tabetando’s life, we are also examining ourselves—what we reward, what we tolerate, what we demand.

There is a great temptation in moments like this to seek closure. To be sure, to wrap a life in a neat conclusion and declare it either triumph or cautionary tale! But His Royal Highness Chief Tabetando resists that simplicity. Chief Tabetando’s story feels unfinished not because of its abrupt end this morning, but because his life story asks questions that outlive him.

What does it mean to serve your people with integrity when compromise is inevitable? How does a great political elite wield power without becoming defined by it?

And when the final reckoning comes—as it does for all—what measure truly matters?

As he passes into eternity, His Royal Highness Chief Tabetando leaves behind not just a record, but a reckoning. Not just memories, but mirrors.

And perhaps that is the most enduring legacy of all.

To this I put my name

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

17, April 2026

Pope Leo XIV’s Visit to Bamenda: “A Moral Abdication – Generic Platitudes While Ambazonia Bleeds” ⁰

In the shadow of St Joseph’s Cathedral, where the blood of Ambazonian sons and daughters still stains the soil of the Northern Zone, Pope Leo XIV stood before a carefully staged “Meeting for Peace.” Amba forces, in a unilateral gesture of goodwill and restraint, had announced a three-day temporary cessation of hostilities to ensure the Holy Father’s safety and the dignity of his apostolic journey. Yet what the Vatican delivered in return was not prophetic truth to power, but a masterclass in diplomatic evasion – a torrent of lofty abstractions that left the structural genocide against the people of the former UN Trust Territory of British Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) untouched, unnamed, and unaddressed.

The Pope spoke of “peace,” of “fraternity,” and of the dangers of manipulating religion for “military, economic and political gain.” He lamented the “almost decade-long conflict,” acknowledged dusty feet on bloodstained yet fertile land, and urged conversion and neighbourly love. He praised interfaith efforts and a so-called Movement for Peace. Fine words. Empty ones. In the very epicentre of Yaoundé’s scorched-earth war crimes – where La Republique du Cameroun (BIR) occupation forces have, since 2016, carried out extrajudicial executions, systematic village burnings, mass rape, torture, and enforced disappearances – the Successor of Peter uttered not one syllable about the root cause: the criminal annexation of Ambazonia in defiance of UN General Assembly Resolution 1608 (XV) of 21 April 1961.

He never once named the crisis for what it is: the direct, predictable consequence of failed decolonisation. He never invoked the binding legal instruments – the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) Banjul Decision on Communication 266/2003, the 2019 Abuja Federal High Court ruling declaring the rendition of Ambazonian leader’s illegal, or the peremptory norm of the right to self-determination enshrined in the UN Charter and the 1966 International Covenants.

Not a word was spoken about the over 580,000 internally displaced Ambazonians, the “world’s most neglected displacement crisis” as declared by the Norwegian Refugee Council. Not a whisper about the Nera 10 and thousands of other political prisoners rotting in Yaoundé’s maximum-security dungeons in open defiance of Nigerian and African Commission rulings. No demand for an immediate, verifiable ceasefire monitored by a neutral AU/UN mission. No call for unfettered humanitarian access. No insistence on direct, unconditional negotiations between Yaoundé and legitimate Ambazonian representatives– in a neutral third country, with the full spectrum of outcomes, including total independence, explicitly on the table.

The 16-Point Peace Plan released by Ambazonian representatives in July 2025 – some concrete, staged, monitorable roadmap endorsed by the very legal instruments the Vatican claims to uphold – received zero mention. Not the immediate ceasefire. Not the unconditional release of all prisoners. Not the restoration of meaningful autonomy or explicit negotiation of independence. Not the independent truth and reconciliation commission. Not demilitarisation and international guarantees. Nothing.

Instead, the Pope offered the same toothless, Yaoundé-friendly mantra of “dialogue” and “national unity” that has enabled nine years of atrocious crimes. In his April 15 address to authorities in Yaoundé, he acknowledged “tensions and violence” in the Northwest and Southwest (Ambazonia) without once assigning responsibility to the Biya regime’s militias and or security forces – the same forces documented by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the U.S. State Department as perpetrators of summary executions, house-burnings, and the dumping of civilian bodies. He framed the crisis within Cameroon’s “richness of cultures and languages” – a deliberate linguistic sleight-of-hand that erases Ambazonia’s distinct colonial history and legal personality as a former UN Trust Territory.

This was not pastoral caution. This was political cowardice. While villages in the Northern Zone still smoulder and orphaned children crowd refugee camps in Nigeria, the Holy Father chose photo-ops over prophecy. He legitimised a regime that, just twelve days earlier on 4 April 2026, rammed through constitutional amendments restoring the vice-presidency without any guarantee of Anglophone representation – another cynical cheat exposed by The Guardian Post Cameroon as “Anglophones cheated again!”

The Vatican, which once confronted apartheid and mediated Latin American civil wars, has today chosen silence in the face of what the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect has warned is an imminent risk of atrocity crimes. A generic appeal for “peace” that refuses to confront the unacceptable marginalisation of Southern Cameroonians, the scorched-earth tactics of the occupation forces, or the legal foundations of Ambazonian statehood is not neutrality – it is complicity.

The people of Ambazonia expected courage. They received platitudes. They expected truth. They received diplomacy. They expected a shepherd. They received a politician in white.

The suffering of burned villages, raped women, orphaned children, and exiled leaders demands more than prayers. It demands prophetic denunciation. Today in Bamenda, that denunciation was absent. History will record this visit not as a triumph of peace, but as a shameful photo-op that allowed a genocidal regime to cloak itself in papal legitimacy while its war machines continue their work of annihilation.

About the Author: Dr Larry Ayamba is a former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the Ambazonia Governing Council (AGovC). He campaigned relentlessly for the decolonisation of the former UN Trust Territory of British Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia), represented the AGovC on the world stage, and authored its successful admission to the UNPO in 2018. Dr AYAMBA frames the crisis as a continuation of colonial annexation and continues to demand genuine dialogue – or the explicit restoration of total Ambazonian independence – as the only path to justice.

The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Cameroon Concord News Group