On the very last day of President Donald Trump’s administration a polarised United States remains on edge over the prospect of election-related violence.

Domestically many are not just breathing a sigh of relief but screaming with happiness, and yet polls say 35% of the country believes he’s being ousted illegitimately. That illustrates just how polarising Trump has been here, and while many wonder if he’ll run for president in 2024 many others hope he is leaving public office permanently.

Trump seemed to combine Barack Obama’s skill in manipulating the media, George W. Bush’s readiness to provoke international hatred, Bill Clinton’s ability to disregard the truth and Ronald Reagan’s jingoism. He was routinely and credibly accused of conduct which degraded public service, of re-legitimising American White supremacy, of intentionally provoking societal rifts and much, much more.

Trump’s ascension provoked the greatest burst of political activity and independent journalism in the US in 50 years. Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, the importance of voting and other progressive movements seem to be in direct response to Trump’s regular use of sexism, racism, jingoism and elitism.

Internationally Trump took America’s post-9/11 “you’re either with us or against us” worldview to a new extreme. He illegally tore up international agreements, banned travel from seven mostly-Muslim countries and antagonised longtime US allies.

Trump, who switched his party affiliation five times, has successfully reshaped the Republican Party. He was the first 21st century mainstream politician to be openly anti-free trade, to voice opposition to America’s “endless wars”, to admit the national decline of the US since the Great Recession, to bring attention to the role of a “Deep State” in the US and to openly question the integrity of the nation’s corporate-dominated media.

The Trump era was truly unlike any other. His legacy will be debated, but his detractors are innumerable, intense and international.

Culled from Presstv

The killings in Southern Cameroons will not be ending anytime soon, especially as all the factions involved are determined to win on the battlefield though many experts have clearly indicated a military victory will never be possible.

For its part, the government has intensified its military efforts in the two English-speaking regions in the hope that by winning the war in those regions, it could focus on other insurgencies in the northern and eastern parts of the country.

As the world turns its focus on the Trump-orchestrated drama in Washington DC, the Yaoundé government is taking advantage of the confusion to commit heinous human rights violations in the country’s two English-speaking regions.

On Sunday, government army soldiers descended on Mautu in Muyuka in the country’s Southwest region where it gunned down some ten innocent civilians, most of whom are women and children.

Donald Trump’s political miscalculations in the United States are empowering many dictators across the globe and this is very likely to result in devastating human rights abuses in countries such as Cameroon.

The government human rights abuses are on the rise in Cameroon and with the confusion in Southern Cameroons intensifying, army soldiers are killing civilians with impunity.

The government has a lot on its hands and its frustrations are mounting by the day. Besides the crisis in Southern Cameroons, Boko Haram is wreaking havoc in the country’s northern region where hundreds of soldiers and civilians were slaughtered last week.

But it is in the Eastern region that a huge storm is brewing. Russians are determined to elbow the French out of the Central African Republic where a French-sponsored civil war is spreading death and destruction in the country.

The fighting in the Central African country is gradually spreading to Cameroon and there is growing fear that the Russians might come to Cameroon to destabilize the corrupt Yaounde government.

Last week, Cameroon’s 87-year-old president, Paul Biya, had to dispatch the Secretary General at the Presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, to Equatorial Guinea to plead with Equatorial  Guinea’s president to help secure the border between the two countries, an action which clearly highlights the fear ripping the government apart.

But it is not only the government that is committing abuses. Ambazonian fighters are also guilty of heinous crimes which must be condemned by the international community.

Yesterday, the principal of Government High School Ossing in the Southwest region, Mr. Ayuk Martin, was killed by reckless and trigger-happy boys.

Though the principal is being accused of betrayal and collaboration with the government, many observers in the war-torn regions point out that nothing can justify the killing of another human being. Such killings have been counter-productive and they have given the revolution a very bad name.

Also, another principal was shot in Tinto, a town some 50 km from Mamfe. The principal was shot in the leg and is now recovering in a local hospital.

But a manager with PAMOL, a state-owned oil-producing business in Ndian Division of the Southwest region of the country was killed on Sunday for cooperating with the government. Some workers of the institution were also amputated, an act which has generated swift and open condemnation.

Last week was indeed a disaster to the country’s military. The same insurgents attacked and killed three soldiers returning from a mission in Njikwa, Momo Division in the Northwest region with the Senior Divisional Officer (SDO). The Momo Divisional delegate of Communication was also murdered and she was the only civilian killed in the ambush. The SDO, who was the target of the ambush, survived and he is currently thanking his lucky stars.

Similarly, another ambush at Matazen checkpoint in the Northwest region brought down more than five gendarmes and three civilians last Friday, making the week one of the bloodiest for Cameroon’s military.

From every indication, if the international community does not step in, the killings in Southern Cameroons might not end, especially as some military and government officials are making huge proceeds from the confusion playing out in Southern Cameroons.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Interim Government Statement; Three years since NERA10 abduction

On this day three years ago, French Cameroun and Nigerian authorities engaged in an unacceptable violation of human rights and international law. Secret Service and military personnel of both nations interrupted a meeting chaired by President SisikuAyukTabe, the leader of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, and abducted him with eleven members of his cabinet from the NERA hotel in Abuja. Our leaders were held incommunicado for 21 days in Nigeria before they were transferred to Yaoundé where they have all been sentenced to life by a military court.

Since the abduction of our leaders, the Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria denounced the act as “illegal and unconstitutional”. The Nigerian judge said that irrespective of whether the Southern Cameroons leaders posed a threat to the Nigerian state or not, the Federal Government did not follow due process and thus violated both the Nigerian constitution and articles 32 and 33 of the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Observing that their human rights were violated, Justice Chikere ordered their return to Nigeria. He also decided that the government should pay compensation of ₦5 million each to the 12 and ₦200 000 each to the 39 other deportees.

The US Senate Resolution 684 published on 01 January 2021 must give the Southern Cameroons hope. The Resolution was unambiguous in illustrating the crimes of the regime in Yaoundé and for the first time threatened sanctions against senior members of the Biya French Cameroun regime.

The abduction of our leaders was intended to stifle the Ambazonian struggle but it has instead galvanized a great movement. 05 January 2018 remains a day that French Cameroun committed a costly political error, and we the people of Southern Cameroons must continue to make the French vassal state of French Cameroun pay for its astonishingly low sense of judgment and ruthlessness.

As French Cameroun continues to illegally confine our leaders, we must make sure that the plight of His Excellency President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides including the thousands of Southern Cameroonians currently being held in French Cameroun detention centers is articulated forcefully and accurately. The French Cameroun ruling CPDM crime syndicate in Yaoundé might ignore us for now, but the fact remains that freedom of the Southern Cameroons will be a reality. The so-called one and indivisible Cameroun is now a myth.  Yaoundé will not know peace until we are a free people.

Thousands of innocent Southern Cameroons’ lives have been lost ever since the abduction. So, today is indeed a day of sadness for every Ambazonian. As your Vice President, I am therefore calling on all the people of Southern Cameroons to put our leaders in prayer and keep the faith that, in not too distant a future, we shall overcome.

Thank You,

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

State of the Nation Address

Repositioning the Ambazonian Revolution

Happy New Year 2021 to all the people of the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia). We are mindful of the difficulties that many of you are enduring back in the forests, the burnt-down villages, the deserted towns in Ambazonia, the refugee camps in Nigeria, and the strange and hostile communities in French Cameroun. We are mindful of all the families that have lost loved ones over the last four years due to the brutality of the French Cameroun regime. The thoughts and prayers of the Interim Government of Ambazonia are with you and your families at this challenging time.

Today January 3, 2021, is two days away from the 3rd anniversary of the abduction of our leader President Julius Ayuk Tabe, and 11 of his associates at the NERA Hotel in Nigeria in a flagrant disregard of international law. To our leaders in detention, our restoration forces, and all our fallen heroes, I say your sacrifice to our nation shall never be forgotten.

On 11 February 1961, our forebears were lured into a bungled decolonization process by Great Britain and the United Nations. On 1 October 2017, after 56 years of subjugation and abuse, we, the people of Southern Cameroons, under the leadership of President Julius Ayuk Tabe, made a bold step to take our destiny into our hands. This decision was met with a declaration of war from the President of Cameroun Republique on 30November 2017. Since that declaration, more than 10,000 of our citizens have been executed, over one million have been internally displaced, 120,000 are refugees in Nigeria, Ghana and the Mexico border, and 550 of our villages have been burnt down.

2020 was a challenging year. The coronavirus pandemic, Ngarbuh Massacre of 24 women and children in February by French Cameroun military, the torture, and murder of Journalist Samuel Wazizi whilst in detention in June, the beheading of Comfort Tumassang in Muyuka in August by French Cameroun militia, the October execution of seven schoolchildren in Kumba- a diabolic crime organized by the colonial SDO of Meme, the December outbreak of xenophobic violence in Fako County sponsored by rogue chief Monja Monja, were some of the low points of a gloomy year.

The question in front of our nation during our lifetime is one of independence or extinction. French Cameroun’s continuous movement of armed men, militias, and heavy weapons of war into our territory is an obvious statement of intent. Are armies, guns, and bombs needed in our villages and towns if Mr. Biya had reconciliation in mind? Are we unwilling to be reconciled that brutality and murder must be employed to win back our love? Let us not delude ourselves, these actions from Yaoundé are the instruments of war. And it is a war that if our enemy wins, our subjugation is ensured forever.

Many of you have been advocating peace and a return to the status quo. It is natural to shut out reality and indulge in illusions of optimism. One of the best ways to judge the future is by looking at the past. Looking at the past 59 years, what gives anyone any hope that French Cameroun would be able to engage in constructive discussions towards a peaceful resolution of our struggle? The regime in Yaoundé knows not peace and dialogue. Its currency is violence.

Where it is safe to do so, the Interim Government is advocating for community schooling whilst the new Secretary of state for the Department of Education will work with international partners to facilitate schooling on online educational platforms and international communities where possible.

Chiefs and Fons must know that they remain the traditional fathers of our nation and must avoid being political footballs of our enemy. As traditional leaders, Fons and Chiefs have a special standing in the Ambazonian structure. Consequently, they must now stand with their people. Many traditional rulers did not take part in the regional elections, and on behalf of the nation, I want to thank them for their wisdom and courage.

This week, President Paul Biya of French Cameroon in his speech to his nation, spoke of the Republic of Cameroun, thus confirming to the world that we are two separate nations.  Let us rise this year with greater readiness and stand with greater determination to confirm our freedom. With regards to the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations, Ambazonia Intelligence Service (AIS) has briefed the Interim Government on sophisticated new strategies that would be employed to defend our national interest. We have informed French Cameroun and nations participating in this tournament that any attempt to bring its activities to Ambazonia would be considered a deliberate violation of our sovereignty, and our response will be prompt and definite. 

Today, I will be announcing a bold and ambitious program to deliver our freedom. We intend to restore security and confidence to our communities. If there is one message that comes through loud and clear over the last three years, it is that the overwhelming majority of Ambazonians are in support of this struggle. This plan re-strategizes and refocuses our struggle with clear actionable and achievable goals in 2021. This plan will focus on Defense, Diplomacy, Humanitarian, Finance, and Communication. Details of this plan will be made available in hard copies.

DEFENCE

The Responsibility to Protect populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing has emerged as an important global principle since its unanimous adoption at the UN World Summit in 2005.This Interim Government from this day of 2021, will be rolling out an innovative and dynamic plan to ruthlessly adhere to its Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Ambazonia.

We would be bold and resolute in taking our territory by launching OPERATION CAPHOT aka THE BIG RUBBER GUN. This operation specifically provides equipment and prepares our Restoration Forces for the next phase of this revolution. The Interim Government will build the necessary capacity through training and supply of sophisticated equipment to our Restoration Forces to reclaim, defend our territory, and protect our population.

DIPLOMACY

The Interim Government must continue efforts to establish concrete diplomatic breakthroughs with friendly and sympathetic governments. On Friday, 1 January 2021, US Senate Resolution 684 was passed calling on the government of La Republique du Cameroun to respect human rights and pursue genuinely inclusive dialogue towards ending the crisis between our nations. The Resolution was robust and a move in the right direction. We shall continue to explore all diplomatic tools available to us over the next twelve months. I want to register my appreciation to our comrades in the US who worked tirelessly to get this resolution to the Senate floor.

HUMANITARIAN

To focus and bring international awareness to the plight of our refugees, we have decided to create a separate humanitarian organization to coordinate with all private humanitarian initiatives for maximum impact. I am announcing the creation of the REKINDLE HOPE OUTREACH to engage the international donor community. The Interim Government can now state without equivocation that the plight of our refugees will be on the front pages and editorial boards of mainstream media in 2021.

DEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS

The Department of Home Affairs has worked on advancing our cause by developing Data Management Portals. The CR20 – Ambazonia Citizen Registration and Census Portal aims to present Ambazonians with a user-friendly system to capture and manage the data of Ambazonians across the globe in preparation for a possible referendum. The AR21 – Ambazonia Refugee Portal has been developed to manage the records of refugees and IDPs on G0, G1, G2. The system will enhance the work of our leadership and promote the operations of civil society organizations operating in these communities to give our refugees and IDPs the dignity they deserve.

FINANCE

We have worked hard to re-establish trust with credible institutions like the Bank of Ambazonia. The Chairman of the Transitional Restoration Council announced last year that a group of patriotic Ambazonians agreed to fund a complete and independent audit of the Ambazonian Foundation and Ambazonia Consulting Inc, two organizations that were responsible for mobilizing funds since the creation of the Interim Government.

The IG, in compliance with that audit request, ordered the Secretary of State for Economy and Finance to release all the information and documents necessary to facilitate and complete this process. Mr. Tabenyang Etchu has complied and submitted all the documents and is reporting to the independent auditor. I will call on all those who were involved with these two organizations to comply with the independent auditor so we can have closure on this matter that undermined trust in our structure.

The killing of our people has not stopped because of the mismanagement of prior resources. We must continue funding the prosecution of our fight for independence. The launching of OPERATION CAPHOT and the strengthening of our payment platforms will mark a new beginning backed by thorough accountability of the funds that will be raised. We respect those who want to remain anonymous and will provide secure channels for them to continue funding the revolution. To our most loyal and committed donors, we say thank you and promise to get it right as we have learned from the past.

COMMUNICATIONS

The Interim Government has decided to bring in an external professional firm with a global presence in 2021. I am excited to announce to you that, we have engaged the Services of a Media Relations PRfirm to work with us and improve our visibility in the global mainstream media.

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

The Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) is 45 000 sq km and has an estimated population of eight million people. It is bounded to the west and north by Nigeria, to the east by Cameroun, and to the south by Equatorial Guinea. This erstwhile UN Trust Territory under UK administration is the aggrieved victim of a bungled decolonization by the UN and the UK.

As a direct consequence of that incomplete decolonization, the Southern Cameroons finds itself under colonial annexation, occupation, oppression, spoliation, and a war of extermination by the adjacent French vassal state of Cameroun. This humiliation and indignity are unacceptable. The decolonization of the Southern Cameroons must be completed by the UN and the UK as a matter of international law and obligation. Decolonization is the only alternative to colonization.

The objective of the ongoing national liberation struggle of the people of the Southern Cameroons, under Cameroun’s hideous and ravaging colonial occupation and exploitation, is clear. The objective is to take back control of their territory, their lives, and their destiny.

Anything else that apologists of colonialism, propagandists, and conspirators may say is nothing but deceit, intoxication, and distortion.  If there is one permanent thing in human society, it is change. The Southern Cameroons Incomplete Decolonisation Question is not the inconsequential matter of marginalization, deprivation, neglect, or patronage sinecures. It is a political question. It is a fundamental issue that concerns the very existence of a people, their survival, their sovereignty, their territory, their identity, their dignity, and their humanity. Colonial annexation and occupation, like apartheid, cannot be reformed. It cannot be endured in whatever guise it is camouflaged. It can only be eliminated.

To end the consequences of colonial annexation and occupation, a subjugated people must first seek the political kingdom, turn the annexation inside out and take absolute control of their own state of affairs and shape their destiny. No subjugated people anywhere in the world have ever enjoyed freedom and the benefits of development. No people, not even animals, willfully subject themselves to extinction. The purpose of the plebiscite was not to procure the extinction of the Southern Cameroons through a transfer of the trust territory to Cameroun Republic, itself a trust territory barely decolonised twelve months earlier, or to any other country.

There is no warrant for that under international law. The plebiscite was primarily a vote for independence (that is, freedom from UK rule and UN international tutelage), and secondarily, a vote for federal political association with Cameroun. The territory of the Southern Cameroons was to be politically linked to the territory of Cameroun but not to become part of the territory of Cameroun. The federal political association involved the linking of the two federated states (the Southern Cameroons/West Cameroon, and Cameroun Republic/East Cameroun) at the level of the Federal Government, and not one federated state absorbing the other.  In legal terms, the Federation involved a dovetailing rather than a supersession of legal orders.

The restoration of the independence and statehood of the Southern Cameroons is legitimate and consistent with international law.  Any person, state, or organisation propagating the colonial apology and falsehood that the territory of the Southern Cameroons is part of the territory of Cameroun is hereby challenged to exhibit to the world at large the legal instrument by which Cameroun purportedly acquired title to the territory of the Southern Cameroons, when and how it did it. It is the historic duty of the people of the Southern Cameroons to leave a rich legacy for their descendants. 

No nation is born great. It is the citizens who through diligence, hard work, creativity, innovation and inventiveness, and patriotism make their nation great. All free nations and free peoples of the world are governed under a democratic constitution that they have framed and given to themselves.

TO THE PEOPLE OF LRC

Our peace is your peace and prosperity. There will be no tranquility in French Cameroun until the Southern Cameroons is free. Our quest for freedom will continue to shake the foundations of your homeland until justice emerges for our nation. Your government must commit to peace between our two nations and it must find a way to work with the constituted authority of Ambazonia.

The move that was made by the regime in Yaoundé in July 2020 by engaging with President Ayuk Tabe and other leaders in detention was commendable and a step in the right direction. We shall never negotiate out of fear but never fear to negotiate. States are made legitimate by people and the domination of La Republique du Cameroun over the Southern Cameroons ended on 1 October 2017.  As a people, we have the right to freely determine our international status and we reject the notion of returning to the status quo. 

DIASPORA

Fellow Southern Cameroonians in the diaspora, Millions of people have put their faith in the Interim Government and support our President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, and his vision for our nation. We cannot afford to let them down. We have become the prey of a hostile nation, but we must remain masters of our own house. United, there is little we cannot do. Divided, there is little we can do. Our Defense and Intelligence community ask only for your dedication and funds. If our self-defense forces are to succeed, it is vital that their equipment and training are the best. That is why we are moving ahead with OPERATION CAPHOT aka THE BIG RUBBER GUN

The last three years have exposed the incompetence in Yaoundé. It will take more than platitudes from Yaoundé to erase the memory of years of neo-colonial vandalism and genocide upon our people. That is why we did not engage in their so-called HD initiative. Many of us were born in hardship and abuse but have been groomed in civility. We are proud of our roots and are unwilling to accept subjugation anymore. Let the regime in Yaoundé and France know that we shall pay any price and meet any hardship to succeed. This much, the diaspora must pledge.

Fellow Ambazonians, this war for independence is worth it. In the end, we intend to build a Southern Cameroons where children are given a chance to reach their full potential irrespective of their background. A prosperous and peace-loving nation is our goal. That is the future and vision that our leader Sisiku Ayuk Tabe has. I am humbled by the support that millions of Southern Cameroonians have placed in the Interim Government at this challenging moment.

If we in this generation, cannot deliver freedom for our nation, we all would be guilty of betrayal. Now the trumpet summons us again as a call to donate financially and sacrifice our energy to this struggle against tyranny and oppression.

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the opportunity of achieving freedom. Let us welcome this responsibility rather than shrink from it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other generation.

My Fellow Ambazonians, your time to deliver freedom is now. I am ready. Are you ready?

If you are, come with me on this journey of Operation CAPHOT and Operation REKINDLE HOPE OUTREACH.

Stay safe during this pandemic.

God bless you.

God bless the Federal Republic of Ambazonia

Vice President

Dabney Yerima

Dear readers, correspondents, members and volunteers,

Another year ends today and a new one starts tomorrow. This year has been particularly challenging, but we have demonstrated the stuff we are made of.

The Novel Coronavirus also known as COVID-19 has been a huge millstone around our necks. It has not only interfered with your news platform of choice, it has also made it hard for us to obtain all the funding necessary for our operations.

However, despite the challenging times, we have used our shoestring budget to deliver to you, in real time, the news that has enabled you to have a balanced perspective of the unfortunate situations that have been playing out in our country, Cameroon.

Cameroon is faced with many challenges and most of the challenges are derived from the incompetence of our country’s authorities.

Their lack of humility and corruption has pushed our country to the brink. A once prosperous nation has been pushed to the abyss of poverty by a bunch of incompetent and corrupt individuals.

For a country to develop and avoid certain messy circumstances, its authorities must be willing to listen to the people, they must establish a good relationship with the grassroots and they demonstrate the determination necessary to address the issues in a manner that will bring total satisfaction to the majority of the population.

As you all know, the Southern Cameroons crisis is born out of the arrogance of our country’s (mis) leaders. In the process, some 6,000 Southern Cameroonians have been sent to an early grave while more than 2,000 soldiers have lost their lives.

Sources close to the country’s defense ministry say some 1,000 soldiers have either defected or walked away from the country’s military because they do not believe they must die for a man and a system that clearly belong to the past.

That tells you how things are gradually bottoming out in our country. The ministry of defense cannot account for such disappearances and instead of consoling the families affected by the chaos the government has created, it is instead threatening the families of the missing soldiers with imprisonment. That is your country. That is the place you call home. Homeland has become gangland.

In a few hours’ time, the country’s misleader and liar-in-chief, Paul Biya, will be addressing the nation again and his traditional speech will be replete with lies.

He will be telling you how the economy is at its best even when hundreds of thousands of our graduates are unemployed, with thousands seeking to quit the country for greener pastures in distant lands.

He will also mislead you on the state of our democracy by pointing to the pre-fabricated regional election results which he will consider as a mark of “Advanced Democracy “making significant progress. The recent elections should not be taken seriously. They do not deserve your time and attention. It is one more piece of evidence that Biya is not ready to change his old, bad and corrupt ways.

Don’t be fooled by those misleading stories. The elections were designed to ensure that the crime syndicate that has been ruling the country for close to four decades continues to lead you by the nose.

The liar-in-chief is simply seeking to perpetuate himself in power, but know that all what he will be spewing out will simply be the ravings of a falling king.

Cameroon will change and it will change in a big bad way in the coming days. The Russians are in the region and they are determined to change the geopolitical equation.

They are gradually rolling back the French and it is obvious that Cameroon will be the next after the Central African Republic.

Russia needs a foothold in the region and Southern Cameroonians are prepared to facilitate things for them so that they can reach the heartland of our country.

All you need to do is to keep on supporting the Southern Cameroons Interim government under the stewardship of Vice President Dabney Yerima. You must continue to mount pressure on the Yaoundé government until our president, Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, and all the other Southern Cameroonians being held in East Cameroonian jails are set free.

Never forget that these people are in jail because they want a better Southern Cameroons. We should never forget people like Mancho Bibixy and Tassang Wilfred.

While we may disagree on the approach, we must understand that the objective is the same – making Southern Cameroons great again.

Please continue to do your part and the Cameroon Concord News Group will do its own.

Long live the Cameroon Concord News Group.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai on behalf of the Group and Board of Directors

Cameroon Concord News and Cameroon Intelligence Report

The Southern Cameroons Crisis is now in its fourth year and showing no signs of ending!! Thousands of Southern Cameroonians including women and children have died since President Biya declared his war against the English speaking people of British Southern Cameroons.

More than a quarter of the Southern Cameroons population has fled their homes. Of these, 70,000 are refugees in neighbouring Nigeria.

Even though bloodshed has receded in intensity over the last few months, violence between Cameroon government army soldiers and Ambazonia Restoration Forces remains chronic. Southern Cameroons Self Defense groups loyal to Vice President Dabney Yerima and the Ambazonia Interim Government hold sway over two-thirds of Southern Cameroons territory.

In keeping the two Cameroons together, Biya is not a cure; Biya has never been a cure. Biya was never going to be a cure. In the words of Cameroon Concord News Group London Bureau Chief Isong Asu, Biya was a French virus injected to make the peoples of the two Cameroons sick.

In this last edition of the 2020 AGBAW-EBAI DEBATE, we are asking our readers to make known their positions to the world on this very important issue:

DO YOU THINK SOUTHERN CAMEROONS SHOULD PRODUCE THE NEXT PRESIDENT IN LA REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN?

In the concept of how states came into being, there is a theory of roving and stationary bandits. Whilst roving bandits stole and left, stationary bandits, stayed on by establishing a system to collect taxes which funded their criminal activities and lifestyle.  In today’s world, the curse of stationary bandits is still a sad reality. These stationary bandits have designated territories with internationally recognized borders. They have an established defense force, police force, and a system to collect taxes from their victims/citizens. From the outside, it is easy to erroneously assume that it is a functioning nation-state where all citizens are ripping the benefits that come with living beyond the state of nature. One of the most notorious of these 21st century stationary bandits is the world’s oldest dictator, Paul Biya of Cameroon.  

Cameroon is a nation in the Gulf of Guinea with a population of over 25 million according to the country’s 2018 census. It has been ruled with an iron fist by 87-year-old Paul Biya since 1982. The country is blessed with enormous natural resources but has been plagued by “Dutch disease” for over four decades. “Dutch disease” is when good news for one sector of the economy, such as the discovery of natural resources, results in a negative impact on the country’s overall economy. La Republique du Cameroun (to use the country’s real name) is notorious in international circles for constantly extending deep begging bowls to international organizations like the World Bank and IMF. Internationally, the country has been noted for being one of the most mismanaged and its annual budget is hugely dependent on foreign aid.

The country is bedevilled with extreme poverty, high child mortality, a non-existent health care system, extremely poor infrastructure, an appallingly inefficient public sector, a pathetic tax system, a fantastically corrupt police force, a brutal and repressive military, a war in the north against Boko Haram and a war in the south against Ambazonian separatists. Political commentators would not be far off the mark if they referred to La Republique du Cameroun as another basket case in a continent of many basket cases. La Republique du Cameroun is indeed the most corrupt nation in the world (See Transparency International).

Paul Biya took over in 1982 in a peaceful transfer of power. He has never won an election. He has never had a mandate from the people despite clinging on to power for four decades. His legacy is one of repression, economic mismanagement, and incompetence. A common assertion from those who know him is that he tends to agree with the last person who spoke to him. Over the last few years, as age is taking its toll on him, the person who spends more time with him now is his wife. As the “last person” to always speak to him these days, she is wielding considerable power in Yaoundé. This is a huge worry as she is ill-equipped to run a grocery shop.

The coronavirus pandemic has been a fantastic time for Mr.Biya and his acolytes. The IMF and World Bank have released emergency funds to facilitate his criminal pursuits against his people. On 21 October 2020, the IMF Country Report No. 20/294 on Cameroon read “The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved a disbursement of about US$ 156 million, 40 percent of quota) under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF). This is the second emergency disbursement to the country since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing total IMF emergency support since the outbreak of the pandemic to about US$ 382 million, 100 percent of quota). The new emergency disbursement will help Cameroon meet its urgent balance of payments and fiscal needs.”

The IMF statement went on to state that “the authorities have been proactive in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and are stepping up their efforts to contain the spread of the disease, boost health and social protection spending, and provide temporary support to affected businesses and households.” The local population has benefited from less than 1% of these funds from the IMF and other international organisations. Defense spending has been shamelessly bolstered to crush political opposition and millions of dollars have been directed to private bank accounts in Europe and other tax havens. Many dreadfully impoverished villages received single 20 litre plastic buckets, a few hand-sanitizers, and half a dozen bars of soaps as contributions from the head of state to help fight the pandemic.

The gulf between the poor and Paul Biya’s loyalists is appallingly immoral. Poverty and inflation are rife and the country’s leaders are clueless about what to do. With regards to creating an effective tax system, a manufacturing economy to wind Cameroon off IMF and World Bank loans, Mr. Biya has done zilch. He has no incentive to reform his country if the IMF and the World Bank are available to offer long term loans.  When it comes to human rights, he knows that France will shield him from international condemnation, so he has been prolific at perpetrating abuse against political opponents. 

Power without responsibility has been Paul Biya’s motto. A common excuse from his aids and apologists is that he is a good man but the people around him failed him. The principal prison in Kondengui, Yaoundé is packed with ex-ministers, amongst them ex-defense minister, Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o, former secretary-general at the presidency, Marafa Hamidou Yaya, and former Prime Minister, Ephraim Inoni. The list is extensive and shocking. He has shamelessly concentrated power around himself and political opponents are eliminated or imprisoned under dubious charges. A former senior member of the CPDM, his ruling party, opined recently to Cameroon Concord News Group that “the curse of our generation is that he was president during our lives.”

According to Amnesty International in a statement published on 9 December 2020, “The arrests, arbitrary detentions, and prosecutions in military courts of opposition members who were peacefully gathering are the latest example of Cameroonian authorities’ crackdown on dissenting voices since late September, Amnesty International said today.” These arrests are the tip of the iceberg. Cameroon probably has more political prisoners than North Korea. The prisons in all the regions of the country are packed with political prisoners while the corridors of power are littered with looters.

Mr.Biya somehow forgot that the gods always punish arrogance. The Ambazonian war was commissioned by the gods to expose all his flaws. Few of his strengths have been demonstrated over the last 38 years but all his weaknesses have been exposed over the last three. A man who spent his life ducking from making decisions to advance his nation has suddenly been confronted with a war against determined Ambazonians. Over the last three years, his monopoly of violence over the territory he claims to rule has been challenged by Ambazonian separatists who are giving him sleepless nights.

Anyone familiar with him knows that he is sneaky, lazy, and vindictive. It is worth asking how a man so patently unqualified for leadership managed to capture a nation for almost four decades. How can it be that in the twenty-first century, one man could be allowed to wreck so many dreams and lives? Today is 24 December 2020 and as Cameroon Concord pen these words, the thought keeps coming to us that he has contributed nothing to Cameroon except misery and embarrassment. His legacy is certain. A prominent and successful FAILURE!!!

Paul Biya, a 21st-century stationary bandit has a choice to make in 2021, he can continue to heap misery on his people with state brutality, embezzlement, and poverty or he can summon the courage and exit the stage so his country can start the long and painful recovery.

By Isong Asu

London Bureau Chief

As many in government circles in Yaoundé have been busy praying that the Southern Cameroons crisis that has put the country in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons fizzles out on its own, some Southern Cameroonians have been working very hard and under the radar to establish a solid connection with Vladimir Putin’s Russia which is seeking to have a foothold in the Central African sub-region.

France has had a strangle hold on the  sub-region for a long time and this is about to change, especially as Russia is currently  in the Central African Republic (CAR) where it is creating a nightmare for the French and its lackeys in the sub-region.

The French had planned to bring back the country’s erstwhile president, François Bozize, in an election that had already been decided by the French.

The country’s current president, Faustin-Archange Touadera, is not prepared to go along with French roguery that is robbing French-speaking African countries of their wealth and independence.

President Vladimir Putin has also found an ally in Paul Kagame, the Rwandan president and a true African who believes in the total decolonization of Francophone Africa.

Like Putin, Paul Kagame has already sent Rwandan troops to the CAR to provide much-needed military support to the country’s struggling military.

Russia has gone beyond troops. It has dispatched sophisticated equipment and military advisers to the country and Russian troops are conducting aerial bombardment of areas held by French-supported rebels.

Former President François Bozize has already lost two of his sons in the bloody fighting which might bring French influence in the country to a humiliating end.

The CAR situation has created brand new opportunities for Southern Cameroonian separatists and some of them have already established strong and reliable connections with Russians who are also eying Cameroon.

Russia wants to expand its influence beyond Eastern Europe and the current geopolitical situation in the Central African sub-region clearly excludes the Czars who are also in search of oil, gold and diamond; resources that abound in Cameroon.

A source close to the Southern Cameroonian delegation has hinted the Cameroon Concord News Group that discussions with their Russian counterparts are going on smoothly and if things go on as planned in the CAR, then Cameroon will be the next.

Currently, rumor is swirling that there are armed groups in Cameroon’s border with the CAR, preparing to strike the country where it hurts the most.

A Yaoundé military Brigadier General said on Tuesday that the country’s military had investigated those claims, adding that the military would remain vigilant with the objective of nipping any such actions in the bud.

But it is hard to trust a word from the Yaoundé government that is wont to speaking from both sides of its mouth. The government seems to be made up of career liars whose specialization is to hide the truth.

A source close to the country’s presidency has intimated that there is panic in Yaoundé as Russia seeks to roll out France from the sub-region.

The corrupt and dying government understands that Russia’s geopolitical ambitions in the sub-region will change a lot in the sub-region and many of the sub-region’s dictators like Paul Biya, Cameroon’s president, will be in Russia’s cross hairs.

Southern Cameroonians have finally figured out that the West will not help them overcome their challenges and given that Southern Cameroons has a rich sub-soil, they will be offering huge benefits to Russians who, from indication, need those resources.

According to a source that is aware of the Russian deal, oil in the Bakassi peninsula is the bargaining chip Southern Cameroonians are using to lure the oil-thirsty Russians.

“Russians need oil, geopolitical influence and a market in the sub-region and Cameroon is a key element in the sub-region. Southern Cameroonians who have not had any solid assurances from Western democracies are prepared to help the Russians have a foothold in the sub-region,” the source said.

The source added that “many of the actions undertaken by the Yaoundé government in recent days are determined by the changing geopolitical landscape. Yaoundé has hastily organized fake elections in the regions in the hope that the outcome will help it stave off any opposition or tensions in Southern Cameroons, but last week’s elections have not changed anything. It is simply a shuffling of cards. The main issues and grievances remain,” the source said.

“2021 will be a tough year in Cameroon in particular and the Central African sub-region in general. With Southern Cameroonians having established a strong relationship with Russia, it is obvious that sophisticated weapons will soon be heading to Southern Cameroons and the fighting will take a turn for the worse,” the source stressed.

Cameroon is really caught between a hard rock, deep blue sea and a dangerous snake. In the North, Boko Haram is gaining more ground on a daily basis. The country’s soldiers quake in their pants once they are assigned to the North.

In the East, a new rebel group has emerged and with a lot of confusion in the Central African Republic, there is a reason to fear that the fighting might spread into Cameroon and given the level of unemployment and frustration in East Cameroon, things might spiral out of Cameroon.

Meanwhile, Southern Cameroonians remain determined to obtain their independence. A recent video released by the separatists clearly shows that there is huge sympathy for the separatists who are seeking the total independence of Southern Cameroons.

The video shows how many young Southern Cameroonians have been recruited to fight for their fatherland.

While the Yaoundé government is seeking to show its false soft side by trying to offer worthless gifts to internally displaced persons during this festive period, separatists, for their part, are recruiting and establishing relations with the geopolitically ambitious Russia.

It is obvious that if the international community does not jump in to address those issues that have transformed the Central African sub-region into a ticking time bomb, more blood will be flowing in the days ahead in Cameroon where a mix of corruption and arrogance have made it impossible to address even the most basic issues deriving from bad governance.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

There is indeed an urgent need for a change of leadership in Yaoundé! Every political commentator including the diplomatic community are wishing for the people of French Cameroun and their military to rid themselves of the burden of President Biya and his ruling CPDM gangs who console them with lies and have successfully trapped them into poverty.

The failed regime in Yaoundé started a war against the people of Southern Cameroons in 2016 on a pack of lies and the war has become unwinnable!  It was a strike by teachers and lawyers, in the then English-speaking regions of Cameroon. The professionals, supported by citizens of their areas, protested the unfair use of the French language and unjustified appointments of French speakers in their territories.

However, by 2017, Biya and the French Cameroun army leadership had pushed the situation to spiral out of control and developed into a fully-fledged separatist war. Both French Cameroun forces and Ambazonia Self Defense groups are now bogged down in a conflict, which observers say, can only be resolved through dialogue.

The conflict is slowly but surely becoming the worst fighting in the Gulf of Guinea in decades and it has claimed the lives of thousands of Southern Cameroons civilians including Cameroon government army soldiers.

Nearly four years into the deadly fighting in Southern Cameroons, the 87-year-old Biya and his corrupt Francophone political leaders have blatantly refused to end hostilities.

The global human rights watchdog, Amnesty International recently slammed the Yaoundé government, accusing the Biya regime of arbitrary detentions and military courts which clearly highlight the latest crackdown on opposition members.

The arrests, arbitrary detentions and prosecutions in military courts of opposition members who were peacefully gathering are the latest example of Cameroonian authorities’ crackdown on dissenting voices since late September, the rights watchdog said in its recent report on Cameroon.

According to the report, at least 500 people were arrested on 22 September, the majority of them members of the French Cameroun opposition Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC). Of those, 160 remain in detention, 13 have been sentenced to prison by civilian courts, and 14 appeared before a military court.

“The harsh repression of opposition and dissenting voices shows no sign of relenting in recent months. People simply exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly and demonstration have paid a high price with prison terms based on trumped-up charges,” said Fabien Offner, Amnesty International West and Central Africa researcher,” the report says.

Biya regime’s ability to attract investors to the country has been diminished by the senseless killings and human rights violations taking place in both French and Southern Cameroons. Rebuilding SONARA is still an uphill climb, as investors have very low appetite for Cameroon’s debt.

The burden of rebuilding the country’s lone refinery is now another heavy load on the fragile and aging shoulders of Mr. Biya, who is currently suffering from a suspected cancer.

Biya and his men are no longer at ease. They have a lot on their plates and with their resources dwindling, it is clear that they might soon be down too!  Former regime barons are all jumping ship. International human rights organizations have become very vocal about the regime’s authoritarian nature.

Biya and his French Cameroun political elites have transformed La Republique Du Cameroun into a rogue state and have refused to embrace the idea of an inclusive dialogue, release all political prisoners, including all Southern Cameroonians arrested within the framework of the armed conflict that has left thousands of Cameroonians dead, and grant general amnesty to all Cameroonians living abroad as a means of reducing the pressured that is gradually destroying it.

Because the Biya regime continues to conduct itself as it has done over the last 38 years, we of this group of publication now believe and fervently too that French Cameroun needs new political elites! French speaking Cameroonians should please stand up and be counted!!The ball is in your court!

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai