Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the disgraceful judicial conspiracy against Amadou Vamoulké, a Cameroonian journalist who completed his fifth year in “provisional” detention yesterday while a court continued to drag out his trial.

The court adjourned the trial for the 74th time yesterday, the fifth anniversary of Vamoulké’s arrest in 2016 on an absurd charge for which there is no hard evidence. He is accused diverting millions of euros in public funds to benefit CRTV, the public radio and TV broadcaster he ran from 2005 to 2016.

The prosecution has relied on a single witness, an accountant, without turning to alternative accounting firms, although the accountant has been completely discredited by the defence on various grounds including his exorbitant fees, record delays in producing reports, creation of a fake accounting line in an attempt to incriminate Vamoulké and the fact that a court closed his accounting firms in France for “insufficient assets.”

The CRTV board terminated the contract of this accountant’s firm in 2018 for “failing to respect ethical rules.” Although the financial ministry is represented on the CRTV board that fired the accountant, it registered as a civil party in the prosecution of Vamoulké, in one more example of the dubious nature of the case fabricated against him. And Vamoulké’s lawyers report that this accountant does regular work for the financial ministry, in an apparent conflict of interests.

“The longer the trial goes on, the more it is revealed that it lacks any basis and the more it bogs down.” said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF’s Africa desk. “There is nothing provisional about this journalist’s detention. After five years in prison for no good reason, Amadou Vamoulké has already served a sentence without being tried. This diabolical judicial conspiracy is disgusting. It shames the entire Cameroonian judiciary and the county’s highest political authorities, who have done nothing to end it.”

Vamoulké’s trial is continuing in the absence of any legal basis. The Cameroonian penal code limits provisional detention to 18 months while the law creating the special criminal court that is trying him specifies that its trials must be completed within nine months.

After being referred the case by RSF in 2019, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded in June 2020 that “the violations of the right to due process are of such gravity that they confer an arbitrary character on Mr. Vamoulké’s detention.” Calling for his release, the UN body also voiced “deep concern” about the “gravity” of his physical condition.

The judicial persecution has been compounded by the threat to Vamoulké’s health. He was diagnosed with a neurological condition two years ago but has never been able to have the appropriate tests or receive the appropriate treatment. Now aged 71, the ailing journalist should at the very least have been granted a provisional release after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially as several of his fellow detainees have caught the virus.

Cameroon fell one place in RSF’s 2021 World Press Freedom Index and is now ranked 135th out of 180 countries.

Culled from RSF

The Southern Cameroons crisis is into its fifth year and the government is gradually coming to terms with the fact that there will never be any military victory.

The unfortunate situation, which started as a protest by teachers and lawyers in 2016 in the country’s two English-speaking regions, could have been avoided if the government had prioritized dialogue over military violence.

Government officials, negotiating for the government, had not noticed that the wall of fear had crashed and most Southern Cameroonians had had enough of a system that had brought them more pain than happiness.

One of the demands of the protesting lawyers was the restoration of the federal system to ensure that the English educational and legal systems were preserved, but the government which is used to addressing issues through brutality and intimidation, resorted to its old ways, thinking that it could easily call off the bluff in a couple of days.

Little did it know that a determined people, no matter how poorly organized, could give a military a good run for its money. A war the government thought would last for a few days is now in its fifth year and it has resulted in the deaths of more than 10,000 Cameroonians – both civilians and soldiers.

Over the last two months, the country’s military has recorded some of the most ridiculous setbacks, as Southern Cameroonian fighters have changed their tactics. The fighting, which initially looked like conventional warfare where government forces had a clear advantage, has become a hit-and-run operation wherein Southern Cameroonian fighters are dictating the terms.

The fighters who started with machetes in 2016 have morphed into experienced strikers, using some of the most sophisticated war machines the continent can afford. Over the last four years, they have grown in experience and are, indeed, a few slices above the country’s soldiers whose mastery of the terrain is at best mediocre.

With bombs and other remote devices, Southern Cameroonian fighters are inflicting significant damage on the country’s military and this new situation is causing a change of mind in the corridors of power in Yaoundé. 

Federalism that used to be a crime can now be discussed openly. Government ministers are now open to such discussions and they are even seeking ways to get their message across to the fighters in the bushes and the Southern Cameroonian Diaspora which is more interested in total independence than in the fake federalism that is being dangled by a government that is wont to speaking from both sides of its mouth.

Speaking to the Cameroon Concord News Group correspondent in Washington, a separatist leader who elected anonymity said that both the fighters on Ground Zero and the Diaspora will not accept anything short of total independence.

“We cannot settle for any fake federalism that will in future create us brand new problems. We have lived in this union for more than five decades and we now know how Francophones think. We are culturally different, and it will be wise for us to go our separate paths. Their perspective of governance and leadership is diametrically different from what we know. Leaders are supposed to be accountable to the people, but this is not what obtains in the United Republic of Cameroon. We are still determined to fight, and we now know we can beat the Cameroon military,” the separatist leader said in a phone interview on Wednesday.

“The Yaoundé government has killed thousands of our people, and this makes it hard for us to be in any union with a bunch of people who have no regard for the rule of law and human rights. Those who have been killed by the forces of occupation are martyrs and we will never forget them. If we opt to remain in this union, then we have betrayed the thousands of young men and women whose lives have been cut short by a brutal government that should be listening to its citizens. We have done our best to live with our Francophone brothers, but we must point out that it is hard to live with them under any political dispensation,” the hardcore separatist leader underscored.

“We must continue to turn the heat on those poorly trained soldiers until their masters ask them to withdraw. This war should not have taken place if the Yaounde government had prioritized dialogue over military violence. Complaining should never be a crime. It should instead be a channel through which issues that can create conflicts could be discussed and solutions found. In Cameroon, we seem to be cohabiting with animals who think that they can dictate everything to their citizens. We are not settling for any short of independence and anybody who will negotiate for federalism will be viewed as an enemy and he will be dealt with accordingly,” he stressed.

From every indication, there is no end in sight. The separatists seem to be frozen in their position and this clearly implies that more blood will continue to flow in the towns and villages in Southern Cameroons.

However, members of the country’s ruling party, the CPDM, hold that something can still be done. In their view, all is not lost. Speaking to the Cameroon Concord News Group correspondent in Yaounde on Monday, a senior CPDM member said that news outlet such as the Cameroon Concord News Group which have clearly aligned with the separatists should change their editorial policy and help to deliver a message of peace and hope to all Cameroonians who are desirous of peace in the country.

“We know a lot of mistakes have been made by the government. The war should not have happened. The government thought old ways would be able to bring back peace to the country, but it is discovering that as more people die and with the passage of each day, it is becoming very hard to envisage a military victory. We know many people have been killed. We also know that many soldiers have been killed, but after all the destruction, we all should start beating the drums of peace so that we can start to rebuild our country and that starts with the media that is inimical to the government. We should change our narrative and editorial policies so that the notion of federalism can be given a chance for it to become popular,” the senior CPDM member who elected anonymity said in Yaoundé.

“Who does not make mistakes? We should understand that the state will always be the state and if we must walk away from the mess that is claiming many lives, we must start to talk about reconciliation and negotiations. The country is bleeding money, and it is losing its soldiers and equipment. There is fear all over Yaoundé, fear that the military might one day rebel against the government and this could result in a much bigger disaster as our country’s institutions may not survive such a tough stress test,” he underscored.

“We are seeking ways of reaching out to some of the toughest separatist leaders so as to sell our proposal of federalism to them. The government is ready to meet Southern Cameroonians halfway. Decentralization has failed and it will be preposterous to continue to put it on life support. Its rightful place is in the cemetery. Our country does not need it anymore. It has brought a lot of pain and enmity in our country. We all must learn the lessons of history. The world has changed, and the government is slowly acknowledging that it had erred, and it is willing to make amends so that things can get back to normal. The war is expensive financially. The human cost is inestimable. We cannot continue to let some of those little differences to continue to divide us. We know the Cameroon Concord News Group can help spread the word. The government has a message for Southern Cameroonians. It wants to discuss with the leaders of the rebellion and federalism will be on the agenda. After close to five years of senseless killings, we must agree that war will not address any issues. We must try something new,” he said, adding that it is necessary for Ambazonian leaders to accept the hand of peace the government is stretching out.

The government is gradually coming out of its arrogance and confusion. Many people had advised it to prioritize dialogue over war, but full of itself, it felt it could wrap up things in a few days. It is finally acknowledging that other methods could have delivered better results, but it is still ashamed to come out openly to apologize and call for peace. How easy will it be to negotiate with people it had branded as terrorists? Pride goes before a fall and the current situation in Cameroon clearly underscores the adage.

It is up to the government to seek better ways to sell its ideas. It has a lot of questions to answer. How will it justify the killing of thousands of innocent civilians in a war that could have been avoided? How will it look at the families of those falling soldiers and tell them that it is sorry for such a grave error that has robbed them of their loved ones? These are just some of the questions the government will have to answer if and when those negotiations take place.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Saturday July 17 is now among the President Biya’s darkest days. Not since the April 6 coup in 1984 has the Cameroonian presidency been laid so low.

While Cameroonians did the right thing on that April 6 1984 by standing shoulder-to-shoulder with their president, the same Biya on Saturday July 17 2021 was hiding inside the InterContinental Hotel in Geneva now seen as Cameroon’s eleventh region in his desperate attempt to cling to an office Cameroonians have denied him several times.

Some pro Biya militants had dubiously chanted praises to the man who has misruled Cameroon for 38 years in front of the same Geneva hotel. But the Swiss police took interest in the massive demo organized by the BAS majority following that stormed past armed police officers and into the InterContinental Hotel, where the 88-year-old dictator was preparing to drive to Cannes in France with his wife Chantal Biya to enjoy the Cannes Film Festival.

The fault lies entirely with Biya and his criminal gang. Their rhetoric on state radio and television has been very inciteful against Southern Cameroonians and the Bamilekes of French Cameroun and each day they are marketing false narratives that Cameroonians clamouring for reforms simply want political power. Now, the nation is exploding. 

Biya’s performance in Geneva was befitting his presidency, which has been crude, undisciplined and self-serving. Biya has always placed his own interest and that of his tribe’s men ahead of the nation’s.

In the days of the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo, it would have been impossible to imagine a Cameroon governor, an SDO let alone the head of state traveling abroad and making a hotel his home away from home.

Why go back to the same hotel in Geneva?

What is so special in the InterContinental Hotel in Geneva? Only the 88-year-old Biya, Cameroon’s crudest and least dignified president can tell.

Biya has devoted his presidency to denigrating Cameroonian institutions and citizens who refused to play along with his irrational denial of reality. Of course, you can do whatever you want as head of state if you keep the people frightened enough.

The Francophone leader has bullied everyone deep within his ruling CPDM crime syndicate and even beyond but he is now very surprise at seeing young French Cameroonians in the diaspora getting on his way as patriotism is in very short supply at Etoudi.

In 1982, Biya swore to uphold the Constitution but has spent more than three decades encouraging his loyalists to ignore the document and do whatever it takes to illegally keep him in power.

The late Ahmadou Ahidjo and his top aides gave Biya a rare and treasured honour — the privilege of serving the United Republic of Cameroon as president and entrusting Biya with the care of this precious homeland. Biya has abused that trust over and over.

The time has come for Biya to do the right thing by stepping aside. He and his gang must recognize the danger of continuing to hold on to power at 88 in a nation that is already disintegrating.

Dion Ngute, Maigari Bello Bouba, Laurent Esso and Philemon Yang must break into the youthful tribal clique around Biya and make him see the escalation of the chaos and violence his hanging on to power is creating in Southern Cameroons, the Far North and also in the East.

It will be a very serious matter if the military should send him packing out of the so-called Unity Palace. The Biya generation should organize a peaceful transition of power to a new administration and Biya and his kinsmen in Yaoundé have an obligation to ensure that the transfer is indeed peaceful.

Biya and his men must stop agitating their supporters, stop the war in Southern Cameroons, condemn police and army violence, free all Southern Cameroons detainees; free all political opponents, accept that mistakes have been made and give up this hopeless and dangerous Beti Ewondo crusade to hold on to power.

A stitch in time saves nine

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

A new paramount leader of the Bafaws was named by the late Chief V.E.Mukete. The legendary West Cameroon politician handed over the throne to his son, Ekoko Mukete amid scenes of unreported chaos after members of the Bafaw royal family questioned Prince Ekoko Mukete’s claim to the title.

The controversy over who will be the next king of the Bafaws, a largely ceremonial role but one with great significance for English speaking Cameroonians in Meme Division arose after the death of Chief V.E. Mukete.

The late VE Mukete had apparently named one of his children, Ekoko Mukete as his successor in front of the then Bafaw traditional council. But events are now taking a dramatic U-turn as Prince Emmanuel Mukete Mukete recently released a video in which he disputed Ekoko Mukete’s claim throwing the Bafaw royal succession into turmoil.

Underneath the dispute is the fate of Bafaw royal assets, royalties paid by the Kumba City Council and the vast amounts of land traditionally owned by the Bafaws and now held by the VE Mukete children.

The Bafaw royal family has no political or even constitutional position, but their traditional authority is recognized in the entire Bafaw kingdom and even beyond.

In the coming days Cameroon Concord News and Cameroon Intelligence Report will both be publishing a frank, candid and thoughtful key into understanding the Bafaw Royal Family and the emergence of Prince Emmanuel Mukete Mukete.

By Isong Asu and Soter Agbaw-Ebai

An Ordinary General Assembly, Board Meeting and Shareholder’s meeting of Daniel Muna Memorial Clinic (DMMC) Bonanjo, Douala billed for today Tuesday, July 13, 2021, failed to take place.

According to dependable sources, the meeting was suspended after  Ama Tutu Muna and George Muna seized the Court of First Instance Bonanjo to challenge the convening of the meeting citing irregularities.

While the subject of the July 13 meeting read, “Invitation to Board of Directors Meeting”, the body of the document suggests that it was indeed convening three kinds of meetings – a Board of Directors meeting, a Shareholders meeting, and an ordinary general assembly meeting.

Legal experts say it remains unimaginable that three distinct meetings are convened at the same venue and time with the same audience and a confusing agenda, given that not all board members are shareholders.

The Ohada Uniform Act provides that for a General Assembly to be legally convened, the notice of the meeting should be sent to the shareholders 15 days before the date meeting. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Daniel Muna Memorial Clinic, Dr. Eninwi Mawan Muna signed the invitation to the July 13 meeting on June 29, 2021 – only 14 days before the meeting.

The invitation to the Board of Directors meeting rather carried an agenda for a general assembly. Legal experts say the situation is irregular.

Participants convened included: Succession Solomon Tandeng Muna (shareholding members), Succession Daniel Muna (shareholding member), succession Bernard Acho Muna (shareholding member), Succession Humphrey Mamncho Muna (shareholding member) Succession Walinjom F.T. Muna (shareholding member), Mr. George Fombi Muna (shareholding member), Barrister Akere Tabeng Muna (shareholding member), Dr. Eninwi Mawan Muna (member), Mr. Fred Tabeng Muna (member), Mr. Koul A Well (External Auditor), Dr. Dopgima Fofung (General Manager – DMMC), and Dr. Dicmu Lawrence (Assistant General Manager  – DMMC).

Given that Daniel Muna Memorial Clinic, S.A is a family business, the exclusion of Minister Ama Tutu Muna and the successor of late Edwin Muna is seen as an irregularity.

Chembifon Diboue Muna, son of late Edwin Muna says Daniel Muna Memorial Clinic S.A. is owned by eight families.

“So, for many years, it was working okay. But when Daniel Muna passed, it was okay because the Muna brothers were managing. For the past five years. We have had five members who are deceased. But they have their administrators, their children who are around. And we have three active members who are alive – George Muna, Ama Muna, and Akere Muna,” said Chembifon Diboue Muna. But what is happening is that each time we call for a board meeting, as you can see today, we had a board meeting and Akere Muna did not show up. So Akere Muna doesn’t come to no board meeting and is manipulating things from the back…There are many things he is doing from the back.”

Diboue Muna says that they feel cheated in the sharing of dividends from DMMC.

“Five estates feel they are cheated. They do not have their dividends. We have asked for records, we have asked for financial records…Are we making a profit or loss? I represent my father, he is a shareholder. Am I entitled to a dividend or not? We have asked for those documents. George Muna asked for records and the management said they don’t have records on instructions from Akere Muna,” he said.

‘Muna children are not fighting’

George Muna, son of late Rt. Hon. S.T. Muna says contrary to public opinion, the Muna children are not fighting and have no family problem.

“…We are only saying that we want to know how the clinic is run and to have access to certain documents,” said George Muna.

“We came for a Board Meeting but we asked that it be canceled until we have those documents.  If we are going to a Board of Directors meeting, we should have documents prepared for the meeting…Last board meeting, we asked for those documents but we were not given,” George Muna added.

On July 6, 2021, Barrister Achu Julius, counsel for Ama Tutu Muna and George Muna “who are shareholders of the Daniel Muna Memorial Clinic S.A.” wrote to the Board Chair of the company requesting documents prior to the July 13 meeting. The request that had a 24-hour deadline went unheeded.

Ama Muna, George Muna seize the court

Aside from challenging the convening of the meeting, Ama Muna and George Muna prayed the court to declare subsequent resolutions of the said meeting null and void.

The matter came up at 10am this Tuesday at the Bonanjo Magistrate’s Court. Given that it was an urgent application, the matter was adjourned to midday. At midday, the lawyer for the Clinic told the court that the said meeting convened by Dr. Eninwi Mawan Muna had been suspended because the matter was in court.

The convener of the meeting who sits as Board Chairman had decided to wait for the verdict from the court causing the meeting not to hold.

After listening to the lawyer to Daniel Muna Memorial Clinic who failed to present any written justification, the court decided on its own volition to visit the venue of the meeting to verify the facts that the meeting did not hold.

The matter was adjourned to 2.30pm, time enough for the court to visit the venue of the meeting under contention.  At the Head Office of Daniel Muna Memorial Clinic, the court got confirmation from the Board Chairman, Dr. Eninwi Mawan Muna that the meeting did not hold.

When the matter resumed in court at 2:30pm, the court decided that the application for suspension of the meeting was no longer necessary because the company itself had suspended the meeting. The court however ordered that the Board Chairman of Daniel Muna Memorial Clinic should serve all the parties with all the company documents before the convening of the next meeting.

Culled from Cameroon Info.Net

For two years, Paul Biya, the consultant who rules Cameroon remotely has been stuck in Yaoundé because of the deadly Coronavirus which has a bone to pick with old people who do not want to bow out.

Mr. Biya finally left Cameroon today accompanied by his wife who was spotting her signature flaming red hair.

Mr. Biya’s office released a statement this morning announcing that the 88-year-old monarch, who has put Cameroon on auto pilot, will be spending some time somewhere in Europe.

His exact location was not released for fear that the Cameroon Diaspora that has been making his stay in Europe miserable could disrupt his stay.

But sources close to the Cameroon Diaspora in Europe have informed the Cameroon Concord News Group office in London that the notorious Brigade Anti-Sardinard (BAS) is aware of Mr. Biya’s reckless movement and has already taken necessary measures to ensure that Mr. Biya’s trip to Europe ends in confusion.

Mr. Biya who has been living in fear of death, especially when the virus attacked him, is leaving the country at a time when great leadership is required to steer the country to safer shores.

The country is currently dealing with a tough insurgency that might result in the division of the country and only great, realistic and determined leadership can bring about peace.

The English-speaking minority is determined to walk away from a hastily stitched union and if it succeeds, it will be walking away with 60% of the country’s wealth.

For now, the country is on edge. Southern Cameroonian fighters who started off with machetes now carry very sophisticated weapons which have greatly demoralized the country’s military.

The fighters have stepped up their game and pressure on the military and this has resulted in the death of some 2,000 soldiers since the war started some four years ago.

It is normal today to see explosives in the two English-speaking regions of the country and the primary victims have been the soldiers who are not only poorly trained, but poorly paid.

The Southern Cameroons crisis has already consumed more than 10,000 Cameroonians, with thousands of soldiers disabled and maimed because they do not know the terrain.

Mr. Biya’s trip to Europe will help take his mind off another issue – corruption – that has been robbing him of a good night’s sleep.

Cameroon has become a haven for corrupt officials and this is discouraging investors. The latest scandal is how the government has misused COVID-19 funds provided by the IMF for the containment of this deadly virus that has killed millions across the globe.

Despite this real threat from the virus, Cameroon government officials still place their personal interest above national interest and they have been stealing the money like rats dropped in a bag of peanuts.

Corruption has given Cameroon a bad name for more than three decades, but for years, many people have been thinking that this cankerworm will not reach certain institutions of the country like the Presidency of the Republic.

A country’s presidency is supposed to be a well respected institution and those who work there are supposed to be seen as reincarnations of decency and discipline.

But this image associated with the country’s highest institution has been slowing crumbling, especially as the country’s president, Paul Biya, and his wife, Chantal Biya who is noted for her flaming red hair, have engaged in many acts of corruption and dishonesty on many occasions.

Embezzling money is not an act of decency. Misusing taxpayers’ money cannot be considered as an act of responsibility even among lower animals. Rigging elections will never give anybody a good name and Biya has been charged with this crime on many occasions and he is guilty as charged.

If a leader sees corruption as the only means for him to sustain himself in power, then he has simply institutionalized this cancer and it will spread like wildfire.

And financial and moral cancer can affect anybody, especially when the victim lacks a will and discipline of steel and is financially insecure.

This explains why corruption has taken over the Presidency of the Republic. Poverty, especially moral poverty, can disarm even the strongest military in the world and this explains why workers at the Unity Palace have clearly lost their moral compass.

 Sometimes, financial poverty might be to blame, but in many cases, moral recklessness and indiscipline may be the drivers.

Cameroon really needs help but there is no help on the way. When the core is rotten, the body polity will slowly crumble and this is the disease that has affected many if not all the employees of the Presidency of the Republic who are using indecent and irresponsible methods to line their pockets.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Interim Government Statement on the Murder of a Physicist in Kumba

Last Thursday, 1 July 2021, 52-year-old Mr Fuh Max Dang, a Physics teacher at GBHS Kumba, Meme County, was murdered by unidentified gunmen in the presence of his children after returning from work. The Interim Government condemns this atrocity robustly.  Our thoughts and prayers are with his close family and friends during this challenging time. The Interim Government of Ambazonia directed Ambazonia Intelligence Services to open an immediate and comprehensive investigation into the tragedy.

While the investigation was still ongoing, The Interim Government of Ambazonia aimed not to make any statements that may influence its outcome. Late last night, Ambazonia Intelligence Services briefed the Interim Government that initial reports attributing the murder because Mr Fuh was a teacher are unsubstantiated. The investigation into this tragedy is still inconclusive, and the Interim Government of Ambazonia will report soonest as more facts are made available.

On Sunday 4 July 2021, in Bamenda, the French Cameroon army opened fire and killed Mr Njibril Dula in an unprovoked attack in Below Foncha neighborhood in Bamenda. The victim was unarmed in his car. This attack bears similarities with the execution of Mr Fuh Max Dang. These executions of unarmed citizens going about their business are the hallmarks of a regime on its last legs. For a long time now, Ambazonia Intelligence Services have reported that local militias loyal to the regime in Yaoundé have been carrying out executions with the intent of pinning their criminalities on our self-defense forces. So, we call on our self-defense forces to remain vigilant.

Self-defense is a right, and it is a core component of our liberation struggle. However, The Interim Government wants to caution all genuine self-defense forces within Ambazonia that acts of violence on persons for being teachers are intolerable. We must not target any non-combatants also. We know our enemy and must remain focused as we march towards Buea. The Ambazonia we intend to build will need talents from all walks of life, and we cannot afford to waste lives.

To all in Ground Zero, the Interim Government of Ambazonia urges you to persevere, for victory is coming our way soon. Soon, and very soon, we will be free. We call on the UN to commission a Security Council Mandated Fact-Finding Mission to investigate the atrocities in this conflict. Such a mission will curb the loss of lives and bring this war to an end.

Thank You, and God Bless You

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

Cameroon has been in the throes of a military conflict for more than four years now and the violence has continued to claim both civilian and military lives.

In Bamenda on Sunday, a young man was killed by soldiers in a neighborhood known as “Below Foncha” and this killing has revolted young people in the city of Bamenda, sending thousands of them to the streets.

The latest killing has resuscitated old demons, with many young people calling on the military to pack and leave their land.

The military check-point where the young man was gunned down has been dismantled by angry youths who say they were sick and tired of the military brutality that the country’s arrogant government has unleashed on the Southern Cameroonian population.

The killing will surely not be ending anytime soon. Over the last month, Southern Cameroonian fighters have been killing army soldiers like flies and this has created doubts in the minds of many politicians who were counting on the military for a fast and clean military operation.

But Southern Cameroonian fighters are not ready to turn down the heat on the military. They have found new ways of demystifying the soldiers, especially officers of the Brigade d’intervention rapide (BIR) which had been touted as the finest and the best in the business of suppressing the population.

The news of Southern Cameroonian fighters killing thousands of army soldiers over the last four years is gradually deflating extremist politicians in Yaoundé who thought they would teach rebelling Southern Cameroonians a bitter lesson by dispatching the military to the two English-speaking regions of the country.

The Southern Cameroons conflict was not even supposed to have existed. It was simply a situation that could have been addressed through frank and fruitful discussions if the country’s authorities had rid themselves of their legendary arrogance that has put the country on a downward spiral both politically and economically.

The arrogance of the country’s officials is hurting the country. By not listening to the people, Cameroon authorities have created a very nasty situation that might result in the splitting of a country that is expected to be a good example to other countries on the continent.

Arrogance could be a very bad ally if not well managed. It could result in self-destruction and excruciating pain. This is exactly what is happening in a country wherein appointments, even those negotiated in the most difficult circumstances, are seen as a sign of intelligence.

This mentality is consuming Cameroonians and it is generating conflicts and giving tribalism a chance to rear its ugly head. Cameroon, once an oasis of peace in a desert of peace, is falling apart.

Disagreement is as old as time and negotiations are the easiest way to bring about peace and security when people disagree. This philosophy has been embraced by many around the world but the Yaoundé government seems to be frozen in time. It is stuck in the past and it clearly holds that the old tool in its toolbox that can bring about peace in the country is military violence.

But the government’s principle on peace-building and nation-building seems to clearly belong to the past. Its monopoly of holding weapons and spreading falsehood has been shattered by new technologies also known as technologies of freedom.

The Internet has produced billions of citizen journalists all over the world and many Southern Cameroonians have used these technologies to sell their case and win hearts and minds across the world.

The same technologies have granted Southern Cameroonians the ability to mobilize resources to purchase arms to confront a military and government that have unleashed death and destruction on their own people.

The government has been in denial and has been living in the past to the point of not noticing what globalization was throwing up for many people around the world. It has not only made it possible for lots of people to collaborate, it has also created huge economic and financial opportunities which have made it possible for Cameroonians to be less dependent on their government.

But old habits die hard. The arrogance of the past is still stalking the country’s officials like a stubborn shadow. They are not ready to walk away from those bad ways which have dumped the country in a massive military conflict that has already consumed more than ten thousand lives and has robbed the country of its development dollars.

The conflict in Southern Cameroons is the easiest to address. The differences might be huge and complicated, but only the negotiating table can throw up much-needed solutions.

Arrogance has ruined Cameroon. It has transformed the country into a pretty mess that is driving its citizens out of the country. Unfortunately, only the leaders are not seeing the adverse impact of their arrogance on the population. They seem to be locked in in a form of blindness that is without a cure. Their disease – arrogance – does not seem to have a cure.

However, with Southern Cameroonian fighters kicking the country’s army soldiers in the teeth, the country’s boastful and arrogant authorities will be cut down to normal human proportions and this might push them into thinking that dialogue will surely solve the problem which military violence has not been able to address too close to five years.

Recently, members of the regime’s inner circle have been testing the waters, clearly indicating that the ruling party also known as the crime syndicate was open to the idea of federalism which they had criminalized in the past.

But many analysts hold that the government might be shutting the barn when the horses might have bolted. Southern Cameroonians have been hurt by the government’s arrogance.

Their family members have been killed by soldiers even when they were not combatants. Their businesses and farms have been destroyed by soldiers who thought a scorch earth policy would bring the population to its knees, thus reducing its support for the fighters.

But the government’s extreme measures have only turned out to be counter-productive. By pauperizing the population of the two English-speaking regions of the country, the government has simply pushed the population into the waiting hands of those it considers as terrorists and separatists.

The pain and anger are palpable. Southern Cameroonians simply want to walk away from a hastily stitched union with East Cameroon, a union that has brought them more pain and death rather than the peace and prosperity they had been promised by their Francophone counterparts.

The deaths and destruction of businesses will make negotiations tough, but there is no conflict that cannot be addressed. When people talk, they turn to understand each other and, in the process, they will see their mistakes and will work together to clear out those obstacles that have made it hard for them to work together for the prosperity of their people and common humanity.

Arrogance is not a curse. It can be addressed. When reality stares us in the face, we are bound to change course. If we don’t, we will continue down the same path and many things will continue to fall apart.

Cameroon authorities must change course. The reality is there. There will never be a military victory in this conflict. Dialogue will deliver better answers than the costly and ineffective military operations. It is time to think differently!

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon has come up with a massive and modern digital passport production office, but old habits will always die hard.

The new digital system is designed to help reduce frustration and the corrupt practices that characterized the old system.

The old system provided a platform for self-enrichment to corrupt police officers who never hesitated to extort money from the helpless public.

Over the last two years, obtaining a passport in Cameroon has been a lot tougher than going through the eye of a needle, with passport officials asking for close to USD 1,000 for a passport, especially if the passport applicant was in a rush.

For those who wanted to go through the normal process, the issuing of an ordinary passport could take up to a year if the “Lords of the Universe” were in the right mood to do their job.

Cameroon is a country where there are no checks and balances. It is a country wherein a police officer can cook up a story and lock you up for years and this has struck fear in the minds of most French-speaking Cameroonians.

The country has no recourse mechanism and if they do exist, the objective is always to please the gullible international community that has been dumping money on the country, hoping that the country’s numerous and complicated issues could be addressed by throwing huge chunks of money at them.

The reckless behaviour is indeed the hallmark of the country’s passport production office. A police officer has the prerogative of charging the country’s citizens hundreds of dollars for just a passport and when those passports get produced, the frustrated citizens have no way of knowing that their documents have been issued.

This is what centralization can do to a country. But if you think that is the worst scenario, just take a trip to the old passport office and you will find a mountain of unclaimed passports just sitting outside the office and nobody really cares. The interest of the citizens is never paramount.

This is even a great sight to behold by the country’s standards. In certain circumstances, a drunken or angry police officer could scoop a bunch of passports and dispose of them at the nearest garbage bin and nobody will ask any questions.

This is the country of great ambitions and emergence. Like a friend said, Cameroon seems to be emerging into unprecedented chaos which is being ignored by the country’s authorities and tolerated by the citizens who do not know where to take their anger and frustration to.

The new passport office is designed to be a panacea for all the headaches that characterized the old office, but not many Cameroonians are hopeful. The government has been selling illusions for decades and many desperate citizens hold that their beloved government might simply be repackaging and old lie to sell it to its citizens.

No government in the world knows how to beautify a lie. This is a government that can put lipstick and mascara on a pig and sell it to the public, claiming that the pig is the most beautiful girl in town.

For more than four years, the country has been dealing with a bloody civil war, with the country’s English-speaking minority seeking to walk away from a hastily put together union.

In response to the demands of the English-speaking minority, the government has been claiming that only decentralization can address the core issues that are splitting the country.

To deceive the international community, an ill-planned national “monologue” was organized, with members of the country’s ruling crime syndicate known as the CPDM taking decisions that will only help them perpetuate their stay in power.

At the end of the day, their decentralization agenda was upheld and promoted. They added something new to their Machiavellian plan, calling it Special Status which was nothing but a scheme designed to hoodwink the English-speaking minority into abandoning their plan to walk away from the lopsided union called the United Republic of Cameroon.

From every indication, the Yaoundé government has been paying lip service to the whole notion of decentralization and the strong centralization of the country’s passport issuing process in Yaoundé is just a reminder to the English-speaking regions of the country that their hope for a better life in Cameroon will never be a reality.

If decentralization is what the government has been selling all these years, what then has gone wrong with the decentralization of the passport production process?

Does this imply that someone living in Mamfe and needs an urgent passport, will be heading to Yaoundé to face the uniformed crooks who have made life unbearable to the ordinary Cameroonian?

What happened to Buea which is a lot closer to Mamfe than Yaoundé? When will the Yaoundé government understand that little actions and acts can go a long in calming down flaring anger?

Old habits really die hard and the Yaoundé government which is made up of “living ancestors” and is used to old ways will surely not be embracing new ways anytime soon.

If Cameroonians think they will one day know an easy life in their own country, then they must act differently.

Their leaders are not going to embrace new ways and they do not care if their out-dated ways are killing every Cameroonian.

The country’s leaders see themselves as the new colonial masters and they will stop at nothing to ensure their citizens go through excruciating physical and psychological pain.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The last two weeks have been the worst for Cameroon’s military. Many soldiers are walking around with lots of butterflies in the stomachs. Southern Cameroonian fighters have struck fear in their minds and many of them are thinking twice. The profession they chose just to earn a decent living has become the source of a nightmare that is not going away anytime soon.

Southern Cameroonian fighters have stepped up their game. They are disabling military trucks and rendering the soldiers powerless. The “boyses in the bushes” have turned the heat on army soldiers who thought their mission to Southern Cameroons was going to be like a walk in the park.

In Manyu Division, which is where the fighting started, three army soldiers were killed in the border town of Otu and many others are still reported missing. Their families are still waiting for their loved ones, but the jungles of Manyu might not be throwing up anytime soon these murderous killers dressed up in national military fatigue.  

After more than one week, those who jumped into the Manyu jungle for safety only landed into greater danger. In Manyu Division, forgiveness is a rare word, especially if the intention to kill is manifest. The army soldiers sent to Otu were not angels. Their mission was well-defined. They had a shoot-and-kill order if they suspected anybody. But things hardly go as planned. Their best plan was upset by Southern Cameroonian fighters who now have more sophisticated weapons and are ready to blow up anything in Cameroonian military uniform.

Even if the jungles throw up the missing soldiers, they will not be fighting again. They will be heading home in body bags, as the “boyses in the bushes” have helped to put them out of their misery. 

According to a voice note sent to the Cameroon Concord News Group’s Mamfe Office, two of the missing soldiers – both of Beti extraction – have been killed in the jungle. Those who made the voice note clearly said the missing soldiers would never be heading home. The missing soldiers were located by Southern Cameroonian fighters in the jungle between Otu and Eyumojock and they were killed in the most gruesome manner. Their uniforms were seized, and their bodies buried in a shallow grave.

The war in Southern Cameroons has assumed new dimensions. Southern Cameroonian fighters are now dictating things. They have the right weapons to face army soldiers who, for a long time, thought they had a monopoly of killing whoever crossed their path.

The fear triggered by those killings in Otu has changed the dynamics. There is a wave of apprehension and demoralization blowing among Cameroon’s army soldiers. They know the government will never win the war, especially with the arrival of Russian-made AK47s that are considered the deadliest and the best in the business of killing. 

Many have been looking for a way out of the pretty mess the government has lumped them into. In the past, many army soldiers simply pretended to be sick to avoid being posted to the two English-speaking regions of the country.

But now that Southern Cameroonian fighters are gradually diminishing the number of those soldiers in the war zone, the sick certificates presented by many of those soldiers are simply rejected by their superiors. Nobody is safe! All the soldiers must head to the war zone to do the job they had signed up for when joining the military. Many of these young boys and girls who joined the military just for the money now spend many weeks without sleeping, especially when informed that they must head to Southern Cameroons where the determined Southern Cameroonian fighters are waiting for them with open arms.

With those sick certificates no longer popular, the new strategy is to head to the war front and simply defect. Two weeks ago, a bunch of seven army soldiers simply travelled to Nsanaraki in Eyumojock Sub-Division and divulged their intention to surrender to the villagers who could not understand French. 

Thanks to one soldier of Manyu extraction who interpreted for them, the villagers offered them clothes and their military fatigue and protective gear were handed over to Southern Cameroonian fighters who were not far from the village. The deserters are now in Nigeria, seeking to leave the continent for greener pastures in Europe or North America. 

In Ndian Division, Southern Cameroonian fighters are still proving that they are a force to reckon with. Last week, they arrested some government civil servants who thought they could move around freely in total disregard of the rules rolled out by the Ambazonia Interim Government. These lawless civil servants are still being held in various locations where they are being interrogated and they are doing their best to help Southern Cameroonian fighters in their investigation into who has been encouraging them to violate the laws of the land. 

Ndian Division is in the hands of Southern Cameroonian fighters who are in no hurry to give it up. Also, last week, they quietly dismembered an army soldier and put his body parts on display for other soldiers to see and understand that they were the masters of that land. The gory images were very demoralizing to young army soldiers who had to head to Ndian to fight in a jungle they do not even know. Success in Ndian Division, like in Manyu Division, clearly depends on a better understanding of the terrain.

The dense equatorial forest is providing much-needed cover to fired-up Southern Cameroonian fighters whose main objective is to bring about total independence in Southern Cameroons. This is messing up the government’s apple cart.

But the mother of all humiliation was somewhere else. The situation in Manyu Division looked like a very serious situation, but it clearly pales in comparison to what happened in Bamali in Ndop a week ago. Army soldiers were simply treated like animals. They were butchered like little rats. The way seven of them were killed simply spoke to the poor training they get and the lack of motivation that drives true soldiers.

Ever since these incidents took place, the government has been silent, giving the impression that it is not bothered by the numerous setbacks it has suffered in a war it hastily declared. But sources close to the minister of defense, Joseph Beti Assomo, say the warmonger is very disappointed with the way things are turning out. 

Southern Cameroonian fighters have been emboldened by their numerous victories and the purchase of modern war machines which have struck fear in the minds of many army soldiers has only bolstered their confidence. Even the top military brass in Yaoundé is at a loss for words. 

But General Valery Nka, the man who claimed he would clean up the Northwest Region of Southern Cameroonian fighters had to admit to the BBC that things were really headed in the wrong direction following the humiliation in Bamali.

“It is a disgrace for an army to be treated that way. They are attacked, killed and weapons carried away. They don’t take to instructions. It means there are no sentinels at their various command posts. This is disgraceful for a trained army such as ours,” a frustrated and disappointed General Valery Nka said. 

At the Presidency, nobody wants to discuss the failure, though they all know that they are losing their authority. The soldiers do not want to fight, but they do not have many options in life. Politicians are burying their heads in the sand, hoping that time will help them out of the quagmire they have created for themselves and the country. 

Whatever options the Yaoundé government chooses, Southern Cameroons will forever be a huge scar on the collective conscience of a country predicated on brutality and arrogance. Southern Cameroonians never wanted to quit their French-speaking counterparts, but the government’s military response to calls for an overhaul of a political system that is spreading death and destruction among the English-speaking minority has pushed many Southern Cameroonians to the brink. Many want to leave the lopsided union and their support for the fighters is total and unwavering.

With so many killed, it will be tough for Southern Cameroonians to accept anything short of independence. The pain is excruciating, and the anger is spilling out of control. Recently, some government hawks have been talking about discussions on federalism, but a few years ago, it was against the law to talk about federalism in Cameroon. Could this latest move by these regime hawks be seen as a testing of waters or a simple acknowledgment that the government’s policies and strategies over the last four years in the prosecution of the war have simply failed?

A source within the country’s presidency has revealed that senior government officials are mulling the possibility of engaging with Southern Cameroonian leaders at the Yaoundé Maximum Security Prison on how best to end the bloodshed and unnecessary destruction of human life and property in the two English-speaking regions of the country. 

The source said that members of the ruling party’s inner circle were currently strategizing on how best to engage with a group of people the government had clearly branded as terrorists. The ruling party wants to ensure that the country’s president, Paul Biya, comes out of this mess in a way that makes him look like a hero. But some ruling party stalwarts hold that the situation is dire and that pulling it off to give Biya a hero’s tag will require more humility than trickery.

“The people are smarter today and Southern Cameroonians are determined to inflict huge losses on the government. If they must be brought to the table, it will be through objective, sincere and humble negotiations and not through the arrogance and trickery that have become the government’s hallmarks,” the source stressed.

As army soldiers keep on dropping like flies in Southern Cameroons, the government knows that if it does not employ other approaches, it will be humiliated, and the independence of Southern Cameroons will continue to be more probable than impossible. Currently, there are silent efforts in the Diaspora to put more sophisticated weapons in the hands of the fighters who have proven that they can take the war to the enemy. 

If the government wants to save its face, it must acknowledge reality, take corrective measures, and engage with Southern Cameroonian leaders abroad and with those in jail. Last week’s setback has left the government with a bloodshot eye and there is more bad news for the government if it does not act promptly. With its forces defecting, deserting, and demoralizing, the days ahead will only bring more pain and humiliation to a government that sees negotiations as a sign of weakness.

With things going south for the government, it must learn how to bend over backwards if it really wants to stare down the barrel of peace. The situation is dire. The population is sick and tired of the bloodshed and state coffers are running dangerously low. Negotiations and not war will help the government save its bloody face. The ball is in its court!

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman/Editor-In-Chief

Cameroon Concord News/Cameroon Intelligence Report