Fellow Ambazonians,

On Sunday, 22 August 2021, despicable cruelty was unleashed by the military of French Cameroun upon our people in Presbyterian Church Ntanfoang, Bali, during a service of worship. Eyewitness reports and videos from worshippers confirm that the French Cameroun army randomly attacked and fired at the Church from the windows. A Southern Cameroons Christian, Grace, was massacred at the scene. The Pastor was injured and taken to the local health centre. Our thoughts and prayers are with Grace’s family at this challenging time in the history of our country-The Federal Republic of Ambazonia. The Interim Government wishes all those who sustained injuries during the Bali attack a speedy recovery.

On Friday, 20 August 2021, the French Cameroun army attacked children at St. Theresa School (STS) Kumbo and killed Sinclair Shalanyuy. Sinclair was young and had a bright future ahead of her. Our thoughts are with Sinclair, too, and what’s more? She will never be forgotten!

Fellow Southern Cameroonians, these savage attacks perpetrated by soldiers loyal to the Biya French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé on our defenseless civilian population have become endemic. These ongoing crimes against humanity are premeditated and designed to terrorize and traumatize our suffering civilian population. Your Interim Government is presently consulting with Ground Zero commanders, and Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces shall respond to these unprovoked attacks appropriately.

People of Ambazonia, our fight represents an unyielding rejection of colonialism in any form, shape or manifestation. The rejection is consistent with international law, which gives hope to colonized people struggling for their liberation. History teaches us that many nations have won their liberation battles. Consequently, we shall overcome.

Fellow Ambazonians, we will continue to fight until self-determination is achieved. Be neither discouraged nor distracted. Our time shall come. Grace and Sinclair Shalanyuy, like thousands of Southern Cameroonians, have not died in vain. We owe them a debt to make Ambazonia a reality. Attacks on Churches and Schools underscore how desperate French Cameroun has become. It is a nation that has no respect for human lives and international norms. But we must continue our fight for freedom and justice with the belief that we shall overcome.

We have many long years of struggle and suffering before us as the path we have chosen is full of danger, but it is a path worth taking. The cost of freedom is high, but we must pay the price. As a people, one path we shall never choose is the path of surrender. Our task is simple; we must win and live free or die in the process of freeing ourselves.

Thank you,

God bless the Federal Republic of Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia

Dabney Yerima

After a long medical visit to Switzerland, Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, is currently working on a new cabinet based on an assessment of the country’s military, political and economic realities. Over the last five years, the country has been bleeding money due to the military crisis in the country’s two English-speaking regions. Southern Cameroonian fighters have been inflicting huge damage and losses on the country’s military, and military equipment has been disabled in many parts of Southern Cameroons.

All over the country, the economic situation is pathetic. Unemployment rates across the country are significantly high and corruption has reached lamentable and appalling levels. Many small- and medium-sized enterprises are shutting down due to punitive taxes and this is giving Mr. Biya a very bad name, making it hard for him to shake off the stress that is blighting his life.

While cabinet reshuffles are supposed to be conducted under wraps, in Cameroon, it is possible to have an insight into what is happening. A source close to the Presidency of the Republic has hinted the Cameroon Concord News Group that there will be significant changes and many heads will be rolling for the economic and military failures that will forever characterize Mr. Biya’s government. Mr. Biya is very bitter for the failings and wants to take out the dead wood in his government. These dead woods include, but not limited to:

Chief Joseph Dion Ngute: The current prime minister who is so laid back to the point where many think the country can really function without him. Since his appointment some two years ago, he has not succeeded to visit his own village due to the crisis that caused his massive palace to be burnt down. He was appointed on the grounds that he would help to disconnect the South West Region from the North West Region by giving currency to the fake news that South Westerners were a peaceful people who did not want to be part of the war that is still tearing the country apart. But Prime Minister Dion Ngute has not succeeded to bring out any South Westerners from the bushes. The indicators on the ground clearly point to the fact that South Westerners are as angry as North Westerners and that they are actively involved in the war that has resulted in the death of thousands of Cameroonians. In two years as Prime Minister, Joseph Dion Ngute has achieved only one thing – getting married to a very young lady and this has really given him a bad name within government circles. He might be let go to fully enjoy the “ship” he has conquered recently. Will he have the energy to deliver on the mandate he has set for himself? 

Joseph Beti Assomo: The country’s Defense minister who arrogantly declared that he would implement the president’s decision without batting an eyelid. For more than four years, Southern Cameroonian fighters have proven that they are a force to reckon with and this has called into question the quality of soldiers being trained in Cameroon’s military academy. Despite the military’s brutality and primitive approach, Southern Cameroonian fighters have succeeded to kill some 3,000 army soldiers and maimed almost the same number and this is already creating an uprising within the military. Many soldiers have fled to neighboring countries and scandals about the payment of per diem to soldiers fighting in Southern Cameroons and the disappearance of huge amounts of money intended for the soldiers have given Joseph Beti Assomo a very bad name. He is one of those who erroneously think that only a military victory will put an end to the conflict that has been considered by the international community as a conflict that could have been avoided if it had been properly managed. He is also being accused of running a war economy that makes it hard for the conflict to be addressed. Regime insiders hold that he will be cut off following the cabinet reshuffle that is on the horizon because of his hawkish approach to the conflict in Southern Cameroons.

Paul Atanga Nji: The country’s poorly educated Territorial Administration Minister who has made a mountain of mistakes ever since becoming the boss of the territorial administration ministry. His poor mastery of English has transformed him into a laughing-stock. He is known for expressions such as “the boyses in the bushes”, “buring the bereaved”, and “Kumba is the capital of Fako Division”. Paul Atanga Nji, also known as the conman par excellence, was appointed as the country’s territorial administration minister because he had suggested that he would end the Southern Cameroons crisis if given the territorial administration portfolio and it was handed to him. Since taking over this portfolio, he has made multiple mistakes which have only made the conflict worse. He has created death squads just to overcome the brave Southern Cameroonian fighters, but his efforts have come to nothing. He has also tried to pit the different factions against each other, but his tricks have always fallen flat on their faces. He has also been implicated in many financial scandals. He is being suspected of using the war to illegally enrich himself and the “sparrow-hawk” is carefully looking at his file which may be submitted to the president very soon. His role in the disappearance of huge chunks of the COVID-19 resources is one scandal that might send him to the Yaoundé Maximum Security Prison. Ever since he got implicated in this scandal, he has been advised by the country’s security community to keep a very low profile and his has not been seen in public for over three months. His bold display of wealth by building a church and handing it over to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Ebolowa is one action that has proven that he has robbed the country and is seeking to cast himself in very bright religious light. However, he is not fooling anybody. The Sparrow-hawk is hovering over his head and it is waiting for him to be taken out of government before it picks him up and takes him to where he rightfully belongs. 

Jacques Fame Ndongo: The country’s higher education minister, also known as an ethno-fascist, is one of those responsible for the escalation of the conflict in the two English-speaking regions of the country. He is also suspected of stealing funds allocated for the purchase of computers for the country’s university students. Though he sings Paul Biya’s name all over Cameroon, it is becoming very clear that Mr. Biya is sick and tired of a man who has done a lot to split the country with his violent speeches and manipulation. He has led the higher education ministry for almost fifteen years, but his presence at the helm of this ministry has been very destructive, as appointments in the country’s state universities are based on loyalty and not on merit. He is also accused of setting up extortion groups throughout the country and this is giving the government a very bad name that sickens Biya to the stomach. 

Jean de Dieu Momo:   This beggarly lawyer appointed as the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice some two years ago has been an embarrassment to the government on many occasions. His love of social media and his combative approach to politics are not very much liked by members of Mr. Biya’s inner circle. He was appointed just to demonstrate that the government was inclusive, but he is turning out to be a massive embarrassment to the government. He was caught with his hand in the cookie jar trying to plead with a lawyer in France to secure him residency in France; an incident that did not go down well with his boss and President Paul Biya. He will be released for him to continue living his low life in Douala where he is at ease to drink in very dirty drinking spots. 

The Cameroon Concord News Group is gathering more information on the upcoming reshuffle and it will be releasing it as it comes in. There is a lot of tension in Yaoundé, and many ministers are working overtime just to prove that they are still up to the task. The pressure is real, and the fear is palpable. Many families will soon be in tears and many know that things will change. For Anglophones in the government, many fear that new faces may come onboard as a way of calming tempers in the two English-speaking regions of the country and this implies taking out the old faces which have not delivered on their mandates.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai 

I think it’s a good thing that we are able to operate and rebuild quietly to the point of being classified as having abandoned the fight for our own freedom. I cannot speak for all those whose photos appear on that tabloid… The noise and attention was not helping especially coming from our own ranks and from people we had thought were comrades and who truly wanted to see a veritably Free Southern Cameroons. Time and experience has taught us all lessons. Now cannot be a free for all ride as it was in the past…and so whatever we do must be done with tact and a ruthless determination not to let the ball out of our sight again. And because we do not pull the crowd is significant reason to believe that one has abandoned the struggle.

True many who joined the struggle with a lot of enthusiasm have quietly dropped off out of frustration and shock at what people turned out to be. One cannot fault some as we ended up being our own worst enemy. Many came in good faith but could not stand the filth, especially in the realization that some of our brothers were no better than the enemy regime we are fighting against. As a result they have quietly faded away with all their brilliant ideas, experience, expertise and goodwill.

Then there are those who had expected quick gains and positions. Were quick to take short cuts and betray ideals, thinking that Buea was just a stone-throw away. These ones would indulge in all kinds of deceit and mudslinging with the hope that by eliminating perceived rivals, they would have a smooth sail to Buea. They were instrumental in destroying the social cohesion that was being built, creating enemies where we should have made friends. And then realising that this is going to be for the long haul and they have quietly exited. We will have to live with that reality.

And then the group that joined because of the thrill of it, blewbwith every wind regardless of the direction. Saw the struggle as a path to build social capital and fanfare. In fact some demanded salaries as they thought those in charge were making a living off the struggle. But with thrills come exhaustion especially when when you are standing on the stage and realise that the audience has dwindled. Now with a struggle evidently lacking vision, a clear leadership and a concrete action plan, the thrill has died and they have quietly gone back to their day jobs. That’s why one notices an almost dead social media with increasing propaganda coming from sponsors of the regime instead of our own narrative to educate our people.

And finally the third group of people who joined because they. were hungry and angry. My political mentor had taught me one great lesson. He said “Be careful of hungry revolutionaries. They are often very radical, advocate unnecessary violence as a means of showing off their commitment to the revolution. But it is when the hunger goes, and jaws fill out that you can tell if they are truly revolutionaries or hungry mouths that were spewing angry words”. With the struggle, they managed to find new pastures, moved to new countries, got better jobs and started a family…in the process quietly exiting the scene. Their priorities have changed and that is life. All liberation struggle have gone through these.

In the midst of all this chaos and confusion, we must always be reminded that many did not join for positions and for fanfare. As my mentor said, always be on the lookout for people who have achieved everything in life but chose to sacrifice risk those achievements for the greater good. When I look at the newspaper caption, I think it is an embarrassment to have someone like Hon. Wirba in the same sentence as some of the greedy comedians one has come to know over the years (and I’m not saying everyone on there is a greedy comedian. I can identify one or two other comrades for who whom I have a lot of respect). Wirba is someone who could have selected to quietly frolic and have a comfortable life with the regime but chose to stand up and shout when others were still whispering. In the process went on exile and discovered the true face of some of our people in the diaspora. But such are revolutions. You cannot eat omelette unless you break eggs. There is a price to be paid for every decision you make and sometimes that price is being ridiculed and reduced to the same pedestal as those you would normally not share ice cream with. He must take it in his stride.

Anyway whatever the routes we have all taken, my appeal goes out to the true fighters and believers of our liberation struggle. We must never let a few rotten potatoes spoil the whole pack. We cannot afford to walk away completely when we have our comrades in prison who are paying the price on behalf of us all. When we have children who have been deprived of a normal childhood for over 5 years. There are tens of thousands in foreign lands living as refugees and asylum seekers. And now we are having cases of comrades committing suicide because we abandoned them in hunger and frustration. We have boyses who are in the bushes fighting without equipment, with no political education, have received no training and being killed through the greed and selfishness of those who would rule hook or by crook, by pitting them against each other. These are our brothers, our nephews and our sons. We all have relatives among these boys and therefore cannot afford to look the other way.

Finally there are our brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers who have lost their lives as a result of our struggle to live as a free people. That is true sacrifice and no true freedom comes without sacrifice. What would be most painful is to wake up one morning and realise that we made all these sacrifices in vain…and that we quietly resigned ourselves to our SPECIAL STATUS as glorified slaves in a system that clearly has marked us for the democratic and diplomatic abattoir. Whenever we think of giving up, we must remember that this is not another job from which you can just resign and get another job tomorrow. This is not changing the school of your children because you don’t like the face of the teacher. This is not a decision to change your church and become Pentecostal because you think the catholic church preaches boring sermons and offers no prosperity sessions. Given what some of us have been through since the start of this liberation struggle, the easy way out should have been to down our tools and run long ago. But abandon it to where? To what? A new job? A new car, new school?

THIS IS ABOUT MY EXISTENCE, MY IDENTITY, HOMELAND There are things you cannot abandon. You push on until you succeed. We will triumph or Die trying!

Millan Atam

As the world seeks to make sense of the chaos playing out in Kabul, Afghanistan, Southern Cameroonian fighters are also thinking that victory in their fight against the Yaoundé government is in sight.

The Southern Cameroonian fighters, who have over the last two months posted some significant results, have now been emboldened by the victory of the Taliban who have always fought to be in total control of their country.

In a recorded message sent to the Cameroon Concord News Group’s London Office, a Southern Cameroonian commander speaking in pidgin, the language widely spoken by Southern Cameroonians, said victory was in sight, adding that if America could be defeated, then La Republique, the derogatory name Southern Cameroonians use to describe the Republic of Cameroon, can be defeated in Southern Cameroons.

 “The situation in Afghanistan is talking to us. The Taliban have proven that it is possible to beat even the most sophisticated military in the world. If America can be humiliated in Afghanistan, then we can humiliate La Republique in our own territory. We can replicate what has happened in Afghanistan right here,” the commander said.

“Over the last two months, we have proven that we can inflict a lot of pain and damage on the Cameroonian army which thought it would just come here to kill our people and walk away. They have already killed more than 5,000 civilians, but we have also dealt them some deadly blows and they now know that nobody has the monopoly to kill others with impunity,” he added.

“The time when we had outdated weapons is long gone. We have migrated from machetes to IEDs, and this has struck fear into the minds of the soldiers. We have proven to them that fighting our boys is not a walk in the park. We have delivered results which the government did not expect us to deliver. We are no longer scared of the military. With our new weapons and experience gained over the last five years, we are capable of getting to Buea a lot sooner than expected. Many Cameroonian soldiers are scared of us. Many have fled to neighboring countries and they no longer want to be part of a military that is poorly paid and is organized along tribal lines,” the commander said.

“We hear many people say the government wants to negotiate, but we have not seen any moves that convince us that the government is sincere and serious. We are going to continue rolling these forces of occupation out of our territory until the government sees the need for negotiations. The government is always saying that it has no people to discuss with, but our leaders are in their jails. Mandela negotiated while in jail. Nkrumah negotiated when he was in jail. Patrice Lumumba negotiated his country’s independence while in jail. Why does the government think that President Julius Ayuk Tabe and his colleagues who are in jail in Yaoundé cannot negotiate with the government? We are talking here about negotiations for our independence. We cannot continue to be with Francophones. Their ways are different, and we have come to the conclusion that we have to go our separate ways,” the commander stressed.

“We hope that now that the President of La Republique, Paul Biya, is back from his long sick leave, he will be able to understand that his soldiers cannot win this war. The soldiers have been crippled by fear just as age and diseases have crippled Mr. Biya and his Senate President, Marcel Niat Njipenji. We will never down our weapons until all foreign forces on our land leave. We don’t want to hear of federalism. Anybody who discusses federalism with Yaoundé will be doing so at his own risk. We have gone beyond federalism. We are now working for the total liberation of our land,” the angry commander said.

Meanwhile, the fighting in the two English-speaking regions of the country continues. While the military has been demoralized, Southern Cameroonians fighters, for their part, are motivated and they have succeeded to impose their law in many parts of Southern Cameroons where the military is scared of going to. Cameroon army soldiers do not want to get into any confrontation with the fighters because they understand that Southern Cameroonian fighters now have more sophisticated weapons and are capable of killing them.

Army soldiers have been beaten in the rural parts of Southern Cameroons, and the humiliation that has been inflicted on the soldiers captured has struck fear in many soldiers who prefer to quit the military or feign an illness just because they want to be out of the killing fields of Southern Cameroons. 

While the soldiers are being killed in Southern Cameroons, the politicians, especially those of the ruling party, are doing their best to line their pockets. Many of them see the killings in Southern Cameroons as an opportunity to make money to feather their nests.

Like their president, the ministers who are directly involved in this war, hardly visit the two English-speaking regions but have constantly misinformed the president about the progress of the war.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai  

On Friday, charges against Cameroonian tech entrepreneur Rebecca Enonchong were dropped, after she had been illegally detained for three days by the government.

“I’m free!! All charges dropped!” Enonchong said on Twitter. “We can retire the #FreeRebecca hashtag. So immensely grateful to all of you for believing in me and supporting me.”

Enonchong was held in detention in her home country and brought before a court in Douala on Thursday.

She was accused of “contempt” and arrested according to a “verbal instruction” by the attorney general of the Littoral Region, according to social activist Edith Kahbang Walla, who also leads the Cameroon People’s Party (CPP).

“There’s no written complaint…no elements of the said contempt, there’s no warrant, there’s no summons.”

Enonchong’s lawyer, Sylvain Oum, confirmed that they received no documentation of what she is accused of nor a formal written complaint against her.

“She is a victim of an abuse of power,” Oum was quoted as saying by CNN. “She never should have been detained in the first place.”

Enonchong, who resides and works in the United States, is one of Africa’s most prominent tech entrepreneurs. She’s the founder of AppsTech, a global provider of enterprise software solutions, co-founder of three other companies, and sits on the boards of at least nine corporations.

Outside of the tech and business world, Enonchong is known to be an advocate for progressive policies and better governance in Cameroon, which has often involved criticising the oppressive administration of Paul Biya.

Outrage on social media followed Enonchong’s detention, with some commenters seeing the arrest as an attempt to intimidate her while setting an example to the diaspora who often speak out against President Biya.

Such claims are hard to prove but the unlawful detention is certainly a reminder of an enduring habit of arbitrary arrests and detentions in the West-Central African country.

Biya’s regime has long been accused of using arbitrary detention to lock up opposition voices, in addition to other various forms of repression and human rights abuses. But despite the number of listed accusations, Biya won the presidential elections in 2018 for a seventh consecutive time.

Reports show that activists, politicians, and academics, particularly from the Anglophone regions, languish in Cameroon’s prisons.

Enonchong has been released but thousands of others suspected of opposing President Biya haven’t been so “lucky”.

Culled from Techcabal

Tribute to a friend and prison-mate; Christian Penda Ekoka

Ten days ago, when we learnt of the passing of Mr Christian Penda Ekoka, we were filled with sadness. On behalf of my people, and in my name, I extend our profound condolences to his immediate family and to the larger community he created through his activism within ACT/AGIR.

In the nine months that Mr Penda Ekoka spent at the Yaoundé Principal Prison, my people and I got to know him. The memory of him and his teammates in the prison courtyard, where we meet to pray, exercise, eat, relax or meditate, lingers on.

He came across as a rigid, stern, decisive, reserved, unbiased administrator and politician. At all times, his intellect and technical mastery was on display. He was soft-spoken, especially while gazing eyeball to eyeball for frank talks. Even where and when we disagreed, we did so respectful of each other.

We learnt and appreciated his keen interests, concerns and personal sacrifices to ameliorate the living-conditions, empowment and liberty of his country-people from their plight. We understood how some of his stances made him incompatible with palace crew and colleagues. 

His death must leave a huge vacuum and an unwavering legacy. We join in prayers that those whom he has mentored through ACT/AGIR and through his other partnerships will carry his mission further.

May his family, friends and community be granted the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.

Adieu dear friend Christian Penda Ekoka. May you journey well into God’s heavenly kingdom and find rest.

Sisiku AyukTabe

18th August 2021.

Kondengui Principal Prison Yaoundé

Many people always think the graveyard is the quietest place on earth, but Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital, is proving that assertion wrong.

Ever since the health situation of the country’s president, Paul Biya, took a turn for the worse, the country’s capital, Yaoundé, has been engulfed by an ominous silence which is worrying to millions.

It has been announced twice that Mr. Biya will be returning to Yaoundé to continue spreading corruption, death and destruction as he has done over the last four decades, but the announcement turned out to be a “stillbirth“.

It is now emerging that Mr. Biya will not be returning to Cameroon anytime soon as his health situation becomes more concerning.

The Cameroon Concord News Group’s correspondent in Geneva has been reliably informed by sources close to the Cameroonian dictator that Cameroonians could be praying for the best, but should be doing more to prepare for the worst, as the news on the horizon is not comforting.

Mr. Biya is terribly sick and he has been pinned down in a Geneva clinic by multiple illnesses which will not be going away anytime soon. His breathing has become heavy, and he is pale and fragile, a source in Geneva told the Cameroon Concord News Group’s correspondent.

His family is counting on prayers, but prayers and medications are simply not delivering the results Swiss medical experts have been hoping for, and in Yaoundé, Mr. Biya’s collaborators are not having a good night’s sleep.

In a few days time, a vacancy will be declared due to Mr. Biya’s inability to run the country. The political opposition is already working with lawyers to come up with a motion both in the Senate and in Parliament, though many political analysts are skeptical about the success of such a motion, given that the president’s ruling party, the CPDM, also known as the crime syndicate occupies a safe majority in both houses.

The mere thought of such a possibility is taking a toll on the health of Mr. Biya’s collaborators who have directly or indirectly participated in the looting of the country’s resources.

A few days ago, there was hope that Mr. Biya could come through, but today’s information clearly points to a deteriorating health situation which may not end well. The old, frail lion has lost a lot of weight and his refusal to eat spells doom for many who have served him blindly. His physical frailty and his toothless mouth make it hard for him to be presented to the public. It will take a very long time for Cameroonians to see the president they love to hate in public.

Mr Biya’s heart is racing and for his age, this is not good news, especially for his family. His age and degree of fragility make it hard for certain treatments to be administered on him.

The Yaoundé strong man is gradually giving up the ghost. He seems to be living his last days and the possibility of power changing hands in Cameroon is growing bigger by the day.

Biya is losing it. His family is really concerned and in Yaoundé, regime insiders are making alternative plans, a source close to the Presidency of the Republic has informed the Cameroon Concord News Group.

Last week, there were concerns at the French Foreign Ministry. Officials at the French Foreign Ministry are already discussing Mr. Biya using the past tense. He is of no use to them. He has simply outlived his usefulness.

They know he is very likely to bow to the inevitable and are hard at work to figure out who will validly replace him and protect French economic and military interest in Cameroon, especially at a time when the country is gradually imploding, as it is in the grip of multiple conflicts.

Mr. Biya has always ruled the country based on instructions from Champs Élysees and he has perpetuated himself in power thanks to his divide-and-rule strategy and the massive tidal wave of corruption and intimidation he has engineered over the last four decades.

He might have succeeded to rule by intimidation, but he has simply pitted other regions of the country against his own region and it is gradually emerging that there will be an orgy of killings that will play out once Cameroonians learn that he is dead and gone.

The other regions are very mad at the Betis. They have aided and abetted the government in enforcing a reign of terror in Cameroon and other Cameroonians are fully aware of this and they have been planning a revenge that might shock the world.

If the international community is not careful, it might deal with another Rwanda in Cameroon. Angers are flaring up. Unemployment has reduced many young men to paupers and corruption has carefully excluded many Cameroonians from many opportunities, even those found in their own regions of the country.

Out of 44 ministries, the Betis occupy 32. They account for more than 70% of Senior Divisional Officers in Cameroon whereas they account for less than 10% of the population. Such flagrant injustice is what might cause the country to go through a long spell of bloodletting.

The Betis also have the highest number of senior military and police officials in the country and this explains why the government’s reaction to the Southern Cameroons crisis has been anything but peaceful.

The Betis hold that only military violence can ensure Cameroon remains one and indivisible, but after four years, it is obvious that their strategy is rather counter-productive.

Many soldiers of Beti extraction have met their death in the killing fields of Southern Cameroons and each family in the Center and South Regions has been affected by a war that was hastily declared by the ailing and senile Biya.

Since the Southern Cameroons crisis started in 2016, some ten thousand Cameroonians have been killed with some 3,000 soldiers dying in battle and more than 3,000 ending up with physical and mental scars that will not be going away anytime soon.

The fighting in the country’s two English-speaking regions which are the richest has hurt the country’s economy, leaving many state corporations operating at half capacity. The unemployment rate due to the fighting is incredibly high and this has triggered a tidal wave of criminality and cruelty in the regions.

Though many Cameroonians hold that death will not be a befitting punishment for Mr. Biya who has ruled the country with an iron fist and robbed them of their dignity and a happy life, millions believe that his death will be a good riddance.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Nobody ever imagined that the man the country’s first president, Amadou Ahidjo, handed power to will one day be the most hated person in his own country. This is exactly what is happening in Cameroon as Paul Biya keeps fighting for his dear life in a Geneva Clinic where multiple ailments, including a heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and Alzheimer’s disease are robbing him and his family of their happiness. 

Paul Biya, the man who succeeded Amadou Ahidjo, is now being viewed by his own compatriots as a virus introduced into the system to destroy the entire country and even on his dying bed, Cameroonians think his demise will be good riddance. They hold him responsible for all the issues that are currently assailing the country.

The country’s economy is on its knees due to bad policies and professionally engineered pervasive corruption that will take decades to clean up. Cameroon, a country once known for its strong economy, is today known for its humiliating corruption that is gradually suffocating the economy. While the people loathe the corruption, the country’s president and his corruption love the mess they have created for their country. The people have been pauperized by a Machiavellian government whose objective is to perpetuate its stay in power and this makes it easy for it to lead the people by their noses. 

The level of unemployment is mind-blowing. University graduates have simply thrown in the towel. They have been reduced to sorry spectators of events in their own country. They are tired hitting the pavement to look for jobs and many are waving the white flag. Even the low paying civil service jobs have lost their attractiveness as many Cameroonians look outwards for salvation. The Biya government, which was seen in 1982 when Mr. Biya came to power as a “salvation army”, has turned out to be a nightmare that will not be going away anytime soon. 

Biya, many Cameroonians say, is like a computer virus that even affects the mind. Though he inflicts pain on many Cameroonians, many still think that at 89, he is the only person who can rule the country, though he has been in power for close to 40 years and has nothing to show for his long stay in power. Many analysts think many Cameroonians have been overwhelmed by the Stockholm syndrome which is an emotional response, and it happens to some abuse and hostage victims when they have positive feelings towards an abuser or captor.

Some of these analysts attribute these helplessness and admiration for a man who has robbed an entire nation of its dignity and promise to the alcohol that flows like a stream throughout the country. But not everybody has lost his minds. Some Cameroonians are clearly out of patience and they want Biya out. They accuse him of all the crimes and sins in this world even when he has nothing to do with personal issues.

The level of frustration has pushed some Cameroonians to even blame their erectile dysfunction on Biya. Some hold him responsible for their premature ejaculation that is tearing their families apart. He is now to blame for even unwanted pregnancies as well as the proliferation of churches in the country.

But such personal issues are not the ones that will tear the country apart. The Southern Cameroons crisis in the country’s two English-speaking regions is what may destroy the country beyond recognition. Southern Cameroonian fighters have stood their ground for more than four years despite the military’s superior weaponry and they are more determined than before. Their military victories have given them more confidence and their use of explosives and other remote-controlled devices is striking fear in the military. 

Over the last two months, there has been a swift and inexplicable reversal of fortunes that has put the military in a very tight spot. The Southern Cameroons Defense Forces (SCDF) have proven that they are a force to deal with and they understand the terrain more than the soldiers. The fighters who started off with hunting rifles have struck fear in the minds of many soldiers, with many deserting the military for fear of being killed in a war they hold could have been avoided through peaceful negotiations with the country’s English-speaking minority. 

While the tentative death toll stands at some ten thousand dead, sources in the country’s Defense Ministry have hinted that more than three thousand soldiers have been killed and more than four thousand maimed, while up to a thousand have simply melted out of the country. Southern Cameroons is now a nightmare and a graveyard to many of the hastily recruited soldiers from the Center and South regions who have been misled to think that power belongs to them and that Southern Cameroonians are seeking to rob them of what is rightfully theirs.  

The Southern Cameroons crisis has also given the country’s economy some deadly blows to the liver, exacerbating the already bad economic situation. Most state-owned corporations in the two English-speaking regions of the country have been seriously affected by the fighting and they are only operating at half capacity. Many of the workers have been laid off and the country has no employment insurance program or alternative retraining programs that can enabled those laid off to find new jobs. The pain is excruciating and the level of criminality in the two regions is just breath-taking.

While the country’s English-speaking minority is creating nightmares for the government in the Southern part of the country, in the North, Boko Haram, the notorious religious sect that started its activities in Nigeria, is spreading death and destruct. Even with support from Western countries, the Yaounde government has not been able to flush Boko Haram fighters from its northern territory. On the country, Boko Haram fighters are gaining new territory every day. Ordinary citizens do not trust the government, as its soldiers are wont to killing children and women with impunity and this is hurting the government’s effort. Civilians prefer to collaborate with Boko Haram fighters instead of with soldiers who always unleash their frustration on the innocent civilian population.

Cameroon is on the brink of a massive implosion. If the armed conflict and terrorist attacks do not bring down the delipidated edifice called Cameroon, the inter-tribal wars that have been in the wings for decades will surely cause the country to go up in pieces. The tribe-based government that has led the country for almost four decades has hurt other Cameroonians and the pent-up anger and frustration may spill over once Mr. Biya exits.

Northerners want to recapture power after more than four decades which have seen many northerners treated like second-class citizens. Northerners have a bone to pick with this regime and they know the Betis will be their target once power falls into their hands. Thousands of northerners were killed in 1984 following a failed coup and they have yet to forget that those summary killings were designed to push the North from the corridors of power for good. 

Biya, the dangerous virus, has succeeded to divide Cameroonians. He thought he could only rule for long if he divided a people who had total faith in their national unity. He might have succeeded for close to four decades, but he seems to be running out of luck and those who followed him blindly are now regretting. These days, most Biya supporters seem to be walking on tenterhooks. They are scared of the bad news, but it is bound to happen. The once admired president might only return to his country in an expensive coffin. The odds are against him. 

The latest information reaching the Cameroon Concord News Group says that Mr. Biya will not be able to head home next week. Twice his return has been announced and twice it has not taken place. He has now been out of the country for 30 days and in a few days’ time, a vacancy may be announced by the country’s political opposition if Mr. Biya does not cut his treatment short to demonstrate that he can still rule the country.   

This is really bad news for his political party and the crooks that are hiding within the party. Cameroonians are bitter and they want to take their pound of flesh for all these years that the regime has oppressed and suppressed them, and they will surely be targeting the flesh that is closest to the heart.

They want to hit the ruling party where it hurts the most. Most ruling party members are indebted to the state or have committed some financial malfeasance that might take them to the country’s maximum-security prisons and the public is looking forward to the day most of them will be dragged through the streets before being thrown in jail.  

Many of those crooks and praise-singers are seeking visas to leave the country before the bad news finally makes its way to Yaounde. Biya is in a pretty mess! His health has failed him badly. From every indication, he will not be making it before a vacancy is announced. The “virus” has been infected by many dangerous and powerful viruses. Nature is talking! Biya is gradually understanding that he is not indispensable. He also knows that death can also be his potion and the arrogance with which he ruled Cameroon was uncalled for.  

If the worst were to happen, many things will fall apart for some of the criminals who have been using the ruling party to rob the country blind. Many regime insiders are worried, and some have already started talking like magpies. They know Biya has messed up the country, and they know there is no justification for their joyful participation in the destruction of a country that has been considered for many years as an oasis of peace in a desert of chaos and the economic engine of the Central African region.  

The days ahead are critical for Cameroon. The dying Biya is still hanging on. He has beaten many illnesses and cheated death on many occasions. Will he be able to stage a spectacular come-back this time around? Time and age are not on his side. He has ruined a once beautiful and prosperous country. However, there is some time for him to deliver his mea culpa. Cameroonians will surely forgive. They want to move on. But will they ever forget this dark chapter in their country’s history?

Biya the virus is no longer dangerous, and he might not have another opportunity to hurt Cameroonians. He has already ruined a lot. The country has hit rock bottom. There is not much he can do again. He is on his way out and Cameroonians have only one prayer point for him. May his soul rest in peace when and if that news gets made public.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

For some time now, Cameroon’s flamboyant and noisy territorial administration minister, Paul Atanga Nji, has been missing in action even as thousands of the country’s army soldiers are being killed and humiliated by a ragtag military that started off with machetes and clubs to defend the population and its territory against the invaders from East Cameroon.

The man who said there was no Southern Cameroons crisis when the problem hit the international stage and the author of many new expressions, including “the boyses in the bushes” and “burying the bereaved” has suddenly disappeared from the public’s eye and nobody is talking about him in public.

The conman par excellence had told his bosses in Yaoundé that if given the territorial administration portfolio, he would end the high level insurgency in days given that he knew the terrain and was an Anglophone.

Strangely, after more than two years in such a high position Paul Atanga Nji has not achieved much and things have gone from bad to worse despite all the tactics he has used, including killing young males and placing weapons on their corpses and creating groups pretending to be new Southern Cameroonian factions in the conflict.

Some people are also holding that he might be helping the other Paul, the one struggling for his life in Geneva, with his illnesses. It is still tough to many sound minds to understand how a person can help a sick person when illnesses are not transferable.

However, many regime insiders are warning that Paul Atanga Nji is someone who can transform sand into gold and that he could still pretend that his presence by the ailing Paul might help reduce his pain. No one should underestimate Atanga Nji, a regime baron advised.

From every indication, the territorial administration boss seems to be seeing the writing on the wall. The crisis in Southern Cameroons will not be over anytime soon and his promise to mop up the mess out there cannot be fulfilled, especially as Amba fighters have procured more sophisticated weapons and have also sharpened their hit-and-run tactics.

He may also be seeing the end of the massive scam that his government has put in place. The architect of this scheme has been pinned down in a Geneva clinic by many debilitating illnesses and the chances of him recovering are very slim. Paul Atanga Nji may just be plotting his exit strategy as he knows the next president will not be using his services which have done much to send many young soldiers to an early grave and have deeply divided the country.

Paul Atanga Nji, the man with very limited formal education, is very responsible for the killing of more than 10,000 Cameroonians in a war that could have been avoided if the right words and approaches had been used.

He strongly believes in the use of a hammer to kill a fly and holds that negotiating or talking to opponents is a sign of failure and this has plunged the country in a pretty mess. Now that things have spiralled out of control, he has gone underground. He is simply tired of “burying the bereaved” as the “boyses in the bushes” continue to put up a huge show that has left the government wondering.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman, Editor-In-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

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