Headline News

15, December 2018

Release of 289 Ambazonians delayed in French Cameroun ⁰

The release of nearly 300 people arrested in connection with Cameroon’s anglophone crisis has been delayed by red tape, state radio said Friday, a day after they were pardoned by President Paul Biya. Courts in six prisons across the West African country ordered the separatists be freed on Friday, but administrative difficulties have slowed the process, according to state radio.

Defence Minister Joseph Beti Assomo earlier said that the list of all those to be freed would be published after court hearings. “Those benefitting from the offer of clemency granted by the head of state will be immediately released after hearings before the relevant military tribunal which will take place on Friday, December 14,” he said in a statement.

On Thursday, Biya announced he was halting the prosecution of 289 separatists from the western English-speaking regions, a statement from his office said. Biya “has decided… to halt the cases pending in military courts against a certain number of people arrested for offences committed during the crisis in the Northwest and Southwest,” it said.

Beti Assomo said the clemency would not be extended “to criminals, murderers or other dangerous terrorists” nor to “those involved in commanding or planning the damaging security crisis which is currently happening in the Northwest and Southwest regions”. Cameroon’s 22 million people are mainly French-speakers, but around a fifth are English-speaking, concentrated in the northwest and southwest regions of the West African country.

Resentment at perceived discrimination against anglophones in education, the judiciary and the economy fanned demands for autonomy in 2016. Then last year, as longtime President Biya refused any concessions, radicals declared the independent state of Ambazonia and took up arms.

At least 500 civilians and more than 200 members of the security forces have been killed in clashes, attacks and a government crackdown, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).

Given the conditions, it appeared unlikely that separatist leader Julius Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, who went on trial on December 6 on charges of “terrorism” and “secession”, would be among those released.

Ayuk Tabe, president of the self-declared “Republic of Ambazonia”, was arrested in Nigeria and extradited to Cameroon in January along with 46 others. The next hearing in his trial is scheduled for January 10.

Source: Mail online

14, December 2018

South Africa officially bid to replace Cameroon as Afcon 2019 hosts ⁰

The country’s FA has confirmed that all the documents have been submitted to Caf to consider South Africa as Cameroon’s replacement. South Africa has finally submitted their bid to host the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

This was confirmed by the South African Football Association (Safa) through its communications manager Dominic Chimhavi. Initially, SA Sports Minister Thokozile Xasa said the country will not bid to replace Cameroon, saying that they would wait for Caf to approach Safa.

“We have submitted our bid documents. It is now up to CAF to decide,” Chimhavi told AFP. The latest developments simply mean that the South African government has agreed to help Safa stage the tournament after the association made it public that there were not enough funds to host the continental showpiece.

South Africa needs at least R140 million to host the 24-team tournament next year. Cameroon was stripped of the rights to host the games after it emerged that the stadia would not be ready come June 2019.

Morocco has since pulled out of the running to host the tournament, but it was confirmed on Thursday that Egypt is also keen on replacing Cameroon. This means the race is between South Africa and Egypt, although the decision rests solely with Caf.

The deadline for the submissions of bids is on Friday, while the new hosts will be announced in Senegal on January 9, 2019. South Africa has previously hosted the tournament on two separate occasions – in 1996 and 2013.

Egypt on the other hand, last hosted the competition in 2006. Both South Africa and Egypt have eight Afcon titles between them, but the Southern African country last laid their hands on the trophy 22 years ago on home soil.

Source: Goal.com

14, December 2018

UN envoy remains concerned about Southern Cameroons violence ⁰

The UN envoy for Central Africa on Thursday said he remained concerned with the situation in the northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon and reaffirmed the UN’s commitment to the territorial integrity and unity of the country.

In recent months, fighting between the separatists and Cameroon’s forces has sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing, with hundreds of people killed in the two English-speaking regions in the largely Francophone country.

“Violence has not diminished, and allegations of human rights violations by all sides continue to be reported,” Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Central Africa Francois Lounceny Fall told the Security Council.

“Several schools remain closed in the southwest and northwest regions. I am particularly conceded with the effect of the crisis on women and children,” he said.

Fall recalled his visit to Cameroon in late November where he had met with key government officials and stressed to all actors the necessity for inclusive dialogue as a constructive and sustainable way forward for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

In this regard, he appealed to the Cameroonian government to continue to safeguard access by humanitarian partners to the populations in need and to ensure that all human rights violations are addressed.

Fall said he was encouraged by the government’s commitment to putting in place plans to address the root causes of the crisis, including through accelerated decentralization and the activities of the National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism.

Cameroon’s Anglophone separatists sprang up last year from peaceful protests against the alleged marginalization of English-speakers in the country.

Since November, government forces have been clashing with the separatists who want the two regions to secede from the nation and to form a new country called “Ambazonia.”

Source: Xinhuanet

14, December 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: US demands immediate end to violence, talks ⁰

The United States demanded an immediate end to violence in Cameroon on Thursday and a speedy start to talks between the government and Anglophone separatists without preconditions.

U.S. deputy ambassador Jonathan Cohen told the Security Council that security and humanitarian conditions in Cameroon’s English-speaking North West and South West regions “have significantly deteriorated.”

October was the most violent month on record in recent years — and November is likely to surpass it, he said. Hundreds have been killed in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions in months of fighting between the military and separatists who claim they are marginalized in the largely French-speaking country.

“The violence must stop now,” Cohen said. “The United States calls for an immediate and broad-based reconciliatory dialogue, without preconditions. … We urge all sides to foreswear violence, to restore peace, and to resolve their grievances through political dialogue.”

He said the escalating violence is obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid to over 430,000 internally displaced people as well as education and health access to children in rural areas.

Reena Ghelani, director of U.N. humanitarian operations, warned that Cameroon is “one of the fastest growing displacement crises in Africa,” saying that in addition to those who have fled their homes and remain in the country over 30,000 Cameroonians have crossed the border into Nigeria seeking refuge.

The majority of internally displaced Cameroonians “are hiding in dense forests, without adequate shelter and lacking food, water and basic services,” Ghelani said. “Schools and markets are also disrupted and there are alarming health needs.”

“We note with great concern the deteriorating situation with respect to the protection of civilians, including reported killings, burning of homes and villages, extortion and kidnappings in the South West and North West regions of Cameroon,” she said, adding that there have been multiple attacks on schools and threats to students and teachers.

British deputy ambassador Jonathan Allen said the United Kingdom takes Ghelani’s warning very seriously and announced a $3.1 million contribution from the government to the U.N. appeal for the Anglophone regions to address immediate humanitarian and medical needs.

This represents 20 percent of the U.N. appeal, he said, urging other countries to contribute.

Both Allen and Cohen stressed Cameroon’s important role in fighting against the Boko Haram group and other Islamic State extremists.

Cohen noted Cameroon President Paul Biya expressed confidence in his inaugural address on Nov. 6 that “there is an honorable way out in everyone’s interest.”

The United States encourages Biya “to make good on his commitment to accelerate the decentralization process” and implement recommendations of a Cameroonian commission on bilingualism and multiculturalism, Cohen said.

Allen said that “words alone will not improve things” and strongly urged Cameroon’s government to take urgent action to start a dialogue, undertake confidence-building measures, allow humanitarian access throughout the country, and ensure “accountability for all those responsible for human rights violations and abuses.”

Fox News

14, December 2018

Courageous women work to end Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis ⁰

The October election in Cameroon, in which long-serving octogenarian President Paul Biya retained power to extend his 36-year rule by another seven years, was marred by allegations of fraud, intimidation and low voter turnout.

Nationally, only 54% of registered voters turned up. And in the volatile Anglophone region a paltry 10% cast their vote. Most people boycotted or were forced to do so by the militias who have taken up arms to secede, whereas others demanded a change of governance structure.
The main opposition political formations have rejected the results of the “sham” election and are challenging Biya’s legitimacy.

If the situation in the Anglophone region is anything to go by, Biya’s new term is extraordinary and will require substantive shifts and political brinkmanship to bring the country back from the precipice.

But why does a country with such huge economic potential risk becoming another basket case in Africa? A quick historical voyage is necessary to explain this.

The world recently commemorated the centenary of the end of World War I in France on November 11. Cameroon was one of the spoils of war for the victorious allied powers. The defeat of Germany in 1918, being the geographical home of the crime of colonialism when Otto von Bismarck hosted the 1884-85 Berlin West Africa Conference at which European potentates carved up Africa among themselves, further divided Cameroon into French and British territories under the mandate of the League of Nations.

The French took over the eastern half of the country that was formerly German territory, and the British were rewarded the land along the border of their Nigeria colony, comprising northern and southern Cameroon as well as the Ambas Bay Protectorate. When the League of Nations died a natural death with the outbreak of World War II, it was succeeded by the United Nations in 1945, which took over the mandated territories under its Trusteeship Council.

When the wind of change blew across Nigeria and Cameroon, bringing independence from colonialism, South Cameroonians debated whether to become part of either of the two or to opt for independence. A disputed UN-organised plebiscite in 1961 gave only two options, which resulted in this region becoming a federal state of Cameroon. This was followed by unilateral referendum in 1972 that replaced a federal state with a unitary state in which the largely Anglophone southern Cameroonians lost their autonomous status to become the Northwest and Southwest regions of today’s Republic of Cameroon.

This fate was sealed when the country’s name changed from the United Republic of Cameroon in 1975 and the flag was altered to remove the second golden star that was seen as representative of the “federal system”. This loss of identity and glaring exclusion renewed exigence for secession, thus calls for a new autonomous state called Ambazonia gradually became louder.

The current wave of violence pitting “separatists” against the government security apparatus is a culmination of deep-seated discontent, sparked by striking lawyers in October 2016, who were later joined by teachers.

These professionals challenged the use of French for doing official business in regions that largely speak English when the Constitution treats them as equal. Their cause has huge support from the region’s diaspora community, especially those based in the United States. The paradox of it all is witnessing a great African country going to war for the use of colonial languages in the 21st century.

Although this conflict has not attracted much regional or global attention and intervention, the threats of escalation are growing with more youth being radicalised and joining the rag-tag guerilla fighters. Yet so much violence has already been experienced, resulting in scores of deaths and injuries. More than 40 000 refugees have crossed into Nigeria and more than 160 000 have become internally displaced persons surviving on food aid from humanitarian organisations.

Mondays have been declared curfew days, which has halted travelling and schooling. Basic service delivery systems have broken down. Sadly, and as can be expected when violence breaks out, women, children and other vulnerable groups are the main victims. Cases of arson, rape, sexual violence and other forms of gender-based violence have allegedly been reported.

The biggest risk of this conflict is further destabilisation of a region that already fails to contain the Boko Haram insurgency in the north of Cameroon that has affected the Lake Chad Basin, including Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Algeria and Sudan. To the east, Cameroon shares a long border with the Central African Republic, which is also fragile because of the disruptive attacks by Seleka rebel groups since 2013.

With the security situation deteriorating fast, a group of courageous women has emerged.

Under the banner of Southwest and Northwest Women’s Task Force, individual women and their counterparts in civil society are mobilising and campaigning for the end of the Anglophone crisis. They are demanding a ceasefire and meaningful participation to finding sustainable peace to the violent conflict.

In a patriarchal society, their task is not easy. Besides holding press conferences and marches, recently, they have successfully mobilised thousands of women to participate in two lamentation exercises. This is a cultural practice to show extreme displeasure by publicly wailing to draw the attention of elders, particularly men, forcing them to take appropriate action.

They are also active on social media, and they keep updating and supporting each other with WhatsApp messages. Their #HearMeToo campaign of this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence campaign to end violence against women and children started much earlier. It is their daily routine. And they need everyone’s support, now.

Culled from Mail/Guardian

14, December 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Doing too little too late ⁰

After two years of violent confrontations between government forces and Southern Cameroonian separatists, which have resulted in the death of more than 4,000 Cameroonians, the Yaoundé government has begun taking baby and doubtful steps towards peace.

Last month, the Yaoundé government had announced in a press release that it had set up Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) Commission whose objective, according to the government, was to help young Southern Cameroonians who had lost their way to return to the fold.

The creation of the DDR Commission had come under massive criticism as many observers and analysts considered the government’s action as putting the cart before the horses. According to many experts, the creation of such a commission should imply that the parties at war have been discussing and have agreed on the way forward, with a ceasefire announcing the end of the bloody confrontations.

But none of that had taken place prior to the announcement of the DDR Commission. The government has resorted to unilateral actions which are stirring more controversies than appease the Southern Cameroonian fighters.

Despite the creation of the DDR Commission, the government has not relented in its violent killing of Southern Cameroonians and the burning of their homes.

More than 15 villages in the two English-speaking regions of the country have, over the last two weeks following the creation of the DDR Commission, been deleted from the country’s map. Kumbo, Meluf, Wei, and Bambui are among the villages that have faced the government’s wrath and residents of these villages are today seeking refuge in the jungle. Some 50 unarmed civilians, including pregnant women and children were among those mowed down by the government’s trigger-happy soldiers in recent weeks.

Two weeks after the DDR Commission controversy, the Yaoundé government has once more engaged in its usual diversionary tactics by announcing that some 289 Southern Cameroonians charged with misdemeanor would be released from jails across the country.

This announcement leaves many people in doubt as the Yaoundé government is known for speaking from both sides of its mouth. The announcement is more confusing as no names have been provided and many people wonder if Southern Cameroonian leaders such as Julius Ayuk Tabe and those kidnapped, taken to Yaoundé and held in communicado for more than seven months will be among those to be released.

According to a Cameroon Concord News Group legal expert, Cameroon’s penal code categorizes offenses into three groups: simple offenses, misdemeanors and felonies.

“Simple offenses are punishable by a prison term of less than 10 days and a fine, while misdemeanors are punishable by a prison term not exceeding 10 years and a fine. Felonies, for their part, are punishable by death or a prison term above 10 years and a fine,” the expert who elected anonymity said.

He added that Julius Ayuk Tabe and Co. had been charged with acts of terrorism which are offenses defined and punishable under the antiterrorism law No 2014/028 of 23 December 2014 (Section 2 et seq). He stressed that “If found guilty of these offenses, Section 2, Paragraph (d) would kick in and they would face the death penalty.

From every indication, the offenses for which they have been charged with are felonies and not misdemeanors. The presidential decree therefore appears to have limited its scope to those who have only been charged with misdemeanors and from the analysis, Julius Ayuk Tabe and Co. are therefore not affected by the president’s decree.

The experts however advised that we should not lose sight of the fact that this is a purely political issue and the solutions are more in the hands of politicians than in the hands of the lawyers.

“We should therefore not be surprised if we the President uses his constitutional powers to extend the scope of beneficiaries to include those that are not targeted by the law. This option is even more likely considering the fact the government might be thinking of appeasing than implementing the law,” the legal expert concluded.

Despite this supposed act of magnanimity on the part of the government, many Southern Cameroonians are still very skeptical about the government’s intention, especially as its alcohol-inflamed and sex-starved soldiers are still mowing down young and unarmed youths in Kumbo and the neighboring towns.

Southern Cameroonians are surely not going to let down their guard. The fighters will not be downing their weapons anytime, soon, as the decision to disarm and demobilize any fighters is a unilateral move by the government which might have been informed by the changing global politics.

The Yaoundé government is gradually losing support around the globe and its main backer, France, is in the throes of a complex and delicate internal strife that might alter alot.

Besides, the international community is getting more vocal regarding the crisis in the two English-speaking regions and the cash-strapped Yaoundé government wants to prove that it is listening, especially to calls for an inclusive dialogue that would lead to a negotiated settlement.

This week, the World Bank came down heavily on the Yaounde government, accusing it of corruption and unjustifiable spending. The Washington-based organization also pointed to the government’s lavish lifestyle, arguing that if the government did not take appropriate measures, it could face the prospect of a bankruptcy as its coffers are gradually drying up.

It should be recalled that last month, the African football governing body, CAF, stripped the country of the right to host the 2019 games due to lack of infrastructure and growing insecurity in the two English-speaking regions and in the northern part of the country .

Corruption and mismanagement are to blame for the country’s inability to build state-of-the-art infrastructure, and following that decision, government ministers have been accusing each other for the fiasco.

Also in New York, the tides are turning against the government. Remarks by the U.S. representative at the UN Security Council briefing on the Central African Region have clearly proven that the Yaoundé government is under enormous pressure.

The U.S. representative said during the briefing that “Mr. President, the United States calls for an immediate and broad-based reconciliatory dialogue, without pre-conditions, between the Government of Cameroon and separatists in the Northwest and Southwest Regions. We urge all sides to forswear violence, to restore peace, and to resolve their grievances through political dialogue.”

With such statements, the Biya regime understands that it is time to change course. It has understood that Southern Cameroonian fighters will not be yielding anytime soon and the prospects of achieving any victory via military action are unfortunately low.

Southern Cameroonian fighters are more determined, and as they acquire more sophisticated weapons, they also hold that they can easily attain their objective through war. The government might be willing to prove that it wants peace, but its killing of thousands of Southern Cameroonians might make its efforts look like another ploy to deceive the international community.

While many objective observers hold that this might be the first step in the right direction, many Southern Cameroonians are still skeptical and they hold that the moves by the government are too small and are coming too late.

They argue that the war was not necessary, adding that the government’s legendary arrogance is to blame for the blood that has been spilled and that blood will be one reason that will make it hard for peace to return to the Central African country.

By Kingsley Betek in Yaounde

13, December 2018

Ambazonia Crisis: Biya decrees are mostly theater ⁰

The Cameroonian President-Dictator has signed another decree ordering the “discontinuation” of proceedings before the Yaoundé Military Tribunal against hundreds of Southern Cameroons activists. Biya has kept to his outdated pattern of governance and his acolytes, his critics, and the media alike have portrayed them as dramatic u-turn on the war in Southern Cameroons.

The Biya decision has reportedly affected some 289 Ambazonian detainees and we understand the decree will be implemented by the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo. Biya’s high-profile orders have merely allowed him to announce his intentions to the international community but have not stopped the killings going on in Southern Cameroons. So far, they’ve been more like text messaging than governing, proclaiming his goodwill without really advancing it.

A close look at the language of today’s decree shows that nothing has changed in Yaoundé but basically new releases with presidential signatures, plus instructions to his cabinet ministers to look into the issues at hand. In hosting the Africa Cup of Nations, Biya simply directed his Secretary General at the presidency to devise a plan. His decree on the Anglophone crisis set up a Paul Ghogomu commission. His war decree on Southern Cameroons and Boko Haram instructed cabinet ministers and the military leadership to devise plans to achieve those goals.

Some pro CPDM comedians have however opined that today’s decree comes as a follow-up to the setting of the so-called disarmament, demobilization and reintegration committee for ex fighters of armed groups in Southern Cameroons. It is indeed an empty decree.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

13, December 2018

FECAFOOT elects new president ⁰

Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) on Wednesday elected a new president to manage affairs of the football governing body for a period of four years, putting an end to the mandate of FIFA Normalization Committee.

Seidou Mbombo Njoya, a former director of FIFA’s Central African sub regional office was elected president of FECAFOOT by 46 votes ahead of his close rival, former Cameroon national football team goalkeeper, Joseph Antoine Bell with 17 votes according to results released by FECAFOOT.

“Mbombo Njoya will now have to work hard to clean the image of Cameroonian football which just lost the 2019 African Cup of the Nations (AFCON) hosting rights,” Jean Michel Wakam, a football analyst who witnessed the election said.

“He will also have to work in collaboration with the government and Federation of African Football (CAF) to ensure that Cameroon hosts the championship in 2021 as suggested by CAF. This is his main assignment,” Wakam said.

Other executive members will be elected by FECAFOOT General Assembly to work closely with Njoya. FECAFOOT, which has been in crisis for several years, was led by a Normalization Committee appointed in August 2017 by FIFA.

Source: Xinhuanet

13, December 2018

Ambazonians have created their own cryptocurrency ⁰

Increasingly determined and bold separatists seeking the international recognition of the self-proclaimed “Federal Republic of Ambazonia” (Southern Cameroons) have created a crypto-currency which they claim is the first to be fully nation-backed.

Known as AmbaCoin, 20,082 of the Ambazonian crypto bond had already been bought, out of 100,000,000 on pre-sale as of Nov. 10. One AmbaCoin sells for 25 cents (circa 140 CFA franc) and the main initial coin offering of the crypto-currency is scheduled for Dec. 24. It is said to be backed by the “rich natural resources” of the breakaway region.

The AmbaCoin was conceived and built by a group of anonymous Anglophone separatist scholars, technocrats and developers. But it has gained the support of frontline secessionists and separatist movements. When news of the crypto-currency was made public last month, Chris Anu, who has the title secretary of state for communications & IT for the “Federal Republic of Ambazonia”, posted a sample of the crypto-currency bond on his Facebook page and said: “We are getting there folks.”

In the last five decades in Africa, especially in areas where people want to create a country of their own out of another, people have been opting to put their faith in a form of exchange other than a currency which is globally accepted. During the Nigerian civil war (1966-1970), the then self-declared Republic of Biafra adopted the Biafran pound as legal tender, abandoning the Nigerian pound it had been using before ‘independence’.

There is also a plethora of unrecognized countries in the past which came up with currencies in their efforts to be independent. The Katangas in DR Congo came up with their own franc currency in the 1960s, while the Rhodesian pound was the currency of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1970.

A statement on the website of AmbaCoin indicates that plans are already underway for the creation of a traditional fiat currency for “Ambazonia” that will be used to peg the future price of AmbaCoin. The English-speaking separatists will be keen to dissociate themselves from the Central African franc (CFA) which Cameroon uses. Both the Central and West African CFA are linked to France’s national treasury.

There’s also the practical advantage that using a cryptocurrency for now will be out of reach of the Cameroon government.

According to the developers, the biggest challenge faced by the breakaway region is that most of the resources and wealth in the area are controlled by the Francophone-led government of Cameroon, which stifles access to its assets.

“Numerous Ambazonians in the diaspora and other stakeholders who want to see a prosperous Ambazonia, are unable to help provide foreign direct investment to the Governing Council,” Amba Coin developers said. As such, they thought the best way out will be to create a bond, which will be used to raise capital to kick-start the ‘Ambazonian’ economy.

AmbaCoin, with tailored-made features, is an ERC20 crypto-currency which relies on Ethereum as the parent chain. The developers boost of the crypto’s transparency, confidentially and low transaction cost.

The crypto-currency is the latest effort by Cameroon’s Anglophone secessionists to cement the Oct. 1, 2017 symbolic declaration of independence of the “Federal Republic of Ambazonia”. The separatists have in recent times carried arms against the state of Cameroon, enforced a school boycott since October 2016 and a civil disobedience action known as ‘ghost towns’ every Monday.

In addition to the new crypto-currency, ‘Ambazonia’ has an anthem, flag and an interim government, but is yet to be recognized as a nation by any country in the world, unlike the Republic of Biafra which had a short-lived existence but was at one point was formally recognized by Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Haiti, Tanzania and Zambia.

Culled from Quartz Africa

13, December 2018

2 protesters killed during Congo-Kinshasa opposition rally ⁰

At least two people were killed Wednesday in clashes with police on the sidelines of an opposition rally in eastern DR Congo ahead of this month’s presidential elections, several sources said.

The violence erupted in Kalemie, a town on Lake Tanganyika as opposition candidate Martin Fayulu was campaigning there.

It came a day after two of his supporters were killed and 43 hurt in clashes at a rally in Lubumbashi, DR Congo’s second city.

A witness said “live rounds” were fired as Fayulu arrived in Kalemie.

Rogardien Myumba, head of a federation of local NGOs, said: “Two opposition activists were shot dead as they were heading to the airport to welcome Mr Fayulu.”

A local doctor told AFP there were three bodies at the hospital morgue, while an emergency responder said his team had picked up four bodies.

Fayulu, 62, a little-known lawmaker and former oil executive, has made a late surge after being named the joint candidate for several opposition parties.

DR Congo is in the throes of a major campaign ahead of the December 23 election to choose a successor to President Joseph Kabila, who has ruled the vast central African country since 2001.

President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila sits in a garden at his personal ranch on December 10, 2018 in Kinshasa. (Photo by AFP)

But the campaign has been overshadowed by fears of violence in this vast poverty-stricken nation which is one of Africa’s most volatile countries and has never known a peaceful transition of power since independence from Belgium in 1960.

In the past 22 years, two massive wars have shaken the country, claiming millions of lives and sucking in armies from around southern and central Africa.

Lower-level conflicts are burning in the center and east of the country which could easily flare into fully-fledged wars, analysts warn.

Kabila has remained in office as caretaker leader even though his second and final term ended nearly two years ago.

Twenty-one candidates are running to replace him.

As well as Fayulu, the front-runners are Felix Tshisekedi of the mainstream opposition Union for Democracy and Social Progress and Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, Kabila’s handpicked successor.

(Source: AFP)