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Southern Cameroons War: IG says humanitarian crisis to deteriorate in 2019

5, December 2018

Southern Cameroons War: IG says humanitarian crisis to deteriorate in 2019 0

The Southern Cameroons Interim Government has warned Ambazonians in the Diaspora that the humanitarian crisis in the country, already the worst in Africa, will deteriorate as 2019 approaches, more than a year after the French Cameroun President-Dictator, launched an intense military campaign of helicopter strikes and ground attacks which are still ongoing.

Acting President Samuel Sako Ikome told Cameroon Intelligence Report that the food and medical assistance provided to Southern Cameroons refugees both in French Cameroun and in the Federal Republic of Nigeria by international organizations including the UN has been insignificant. The Ambazonian leader wondered aloud why the UN was maintaining a kind of silence of the lamb as regards to the genocide going on in Southern Cameroons particularly the massacres that took place in Nkambe and Bali.

French Cameroun troops deployed to Southern Cameroons to crush the Ambazonia revolution and to reinstall Francophone dominance in the territory have killed hundreds of innocent Southern Cameroons civilians. The aggression initially consisted of a scotch the earth policy, was later coupled with numerous curfews and destruction of towns and villages by Cameroon government forces.

In his ill-disguised attempts at deceiving the international community, President-Dictator Paul Biya recently signed a decree creating a National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee (NDDRC) for organizing, supervising and managing the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-fighters of Boko Haram and armed groups in Southern Cameroons willing to respond favourably to his so-called peace appeal by laying down their arms. The 85 year old also appointed a French Cameroun surrogate, former governor Fai Yengo Francis to head the commission.

In response, Ambazonia Self-Defence and Restoration Forces Council (ASC/RF), the command and control system prosecuting the war against French Cameroun rejected the so-called disarmament committee. Since the onset of the President Biya imposed war, the Ambazonian Restoration Forces with support from the Southern Cameroons Diaspora, has been defending the Southern Cameroons nation against the brutal aggression.

The war is estimated to have left some 4000 Southern Cameroonians dead and more than 437,000 caught in the crossfire.  Hundreds of Ambazonians have fled their homes, according to UN data; many now trapped in the bush are now facing starvation.

More than a year into the war, Biya and French Cameroun have achieved neither of its objectives. Yaoundé wrongfully thought at the start of the invasion that the war would take no more than a couple of weeks. The situation has worsened in French Cameroun in recent days due to a broad economic collapse following a CAF decision to strip the Biya regime of the right to stage the 2019 African Nations Cup finals. CAF confirmed the unanimous decision after a meeting of its executive committee in Accra, Ghana.

In its recent report on Cameroon’s public expenditure management, the World Bank revealed that the institutional mechanisms to implement the program-budget approach launched in 2013 is still far from achieving expected results.

According to the report, since 2013, the Parliament has approved each year a program-centered 3-year budget for all departments. Each department develops its own programs (about 3) and sets objectives and indicators (two to three per program). However, World Bank said, most indicators are not suitable or operational.

Elsewhere in his comments to Cameroon Intelligence Report, Acting President Sako Ikome said the Interim Government was in an urgent need of financial donations to help the resistance and suffering Southern Cameroonians in 2019.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai


Federal Republic of Ambazonia: *JUSTICE4NERA10 CAMPAIGN*FREE THEM NOW!

5, December 2018

Federal Republic of Ambazonia: *JUSTICE4NERA10 CAMPAIGN*FREE THEM NOW! 0

Since December 2016, the French Cameroon military has responded to peaceful protests with force, killing over 4000 defenseless civilians from then to date, according to activists on the ground.

Thousands more have been disappeared and are feared dead.

Over 90 villages have been burnt down by French Cameroon military forces, resulting in 60,000 people who have fled to neighbouring Nigeria as refugees, according to activists on the ground. The UN has officially registered 31,000 refugees in Nigeria, and it estimates that more 500,000 people are displaced within Cameroon.

Over 2,500 activist and peaceful protesters have been imprisoned, some are being tried in military courts which is a violation of international law, and some have been sentenced for terrorism and other unjustifiable charges.

These prisoners include the prominent nonviolence advocate Julius Ayuk Tabe and 11 of his senior aides, who were arrested on January 5, 2018, at the Nera Hotel in Abuja, Nigeria, where they had gathered to plan a meeting with the UNHCR to discuss the refugee crisis. 10 of them were then forcibly and unlawfully repatriated to Cameroon in violation of non-refoulement, a fundamental principle of international law which forbids a country receiving asylum seekers from returning them to a country in which they would be in likely danger of execution.

The #JUSTICE4NERA10 Campaign seeks to actively campaign by advocating for the Nera 10 Abducted leaders who are now being tried in the Cameroon military courts in violation of even their own and international laws of not trying civilians in military courts.

THIS CAMPAIGN DEMANDS:

*1) THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF THESE 10 NOBLE GENTELEMEN AND ALL HELD BY THE REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON UNDER SAME CIRCUMSTANCES*

*2) RETURN THESE NOBLE GENTLEMEN TO NIGERIA; IF #NIGERIA ACUSES THEM OF ANY CRIME,AS #INTERNATIONAL_LAW REQUIRES*

 


5, December 2018

World Bank says in Cameroon, Ministries Suffer from Lack of Financial Resources 0

In its recent report on Cameroon’s public expenditure management, the World Bank revealed that the institutional mechanisms to implement the program-budget approach launched in 2013 is still far from achieving expected results.

According to the report, since 2013, the Parliament has approved each year a program-centered 3-year budget for all departments. Each department develops its own programs (about 3) and sets objectives and indicators (two to three per program). However, World Bank said, most indicators are not suitable or operational.

Moreover, the reporting chains are not transparent and reliable enough to inform the program manager in due time and allow him to adjust implementation. In some cases, the programs and activities do meet the ministries’ missions.

Finally, the Bretton Woods institution notes that the funds allocated to the ministries’ program budgets are incomplete. For example, salary management remains centralized within the program of the finance ministry.

However, an Integrated System for the Management of the Personnel and Payroll (Sigipes II) has been developed to improve the management and transparency of payroll costs. However, its deployment in line with ministries has not yet occurred due to a lack of financial resources.

www.gossipmaestro.com


Cameroonians die three times over: They die of poverty, die of illness and die of war

4, December 2018

Cameroonians die three times over: They die of poverty, die of illness and die of war 0

La Republique du Cameroun until the recent secession of its Anglophone part was CEMAC region’s biggest country. It is mostly known and in particular portrayed as such in the world media, for its peace, football and ethnic, religious and tribal tolerance. But the Southern Cameroons revolution has made all of the positives a thing of the past fostered by a sitting ruthless dictator, old colonialist power and new imperialist forces. This is exactly what is happening today in La Republique du Cameroun since the beginning of the Ambazonia uprising.

From its very inception, Anglophone lawyers and teachers rose up en masse and challenged the Francophone dominated regime in Yaoundé over what they described as endemic marginalization and economic discrimination. The revolt was directed against the heinous Francophone dictatorship of President Paul Biya and the ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement party that has held power since November 6th 1982.  This is the first revolt of this magnitude against a French surrogate regime.

Ghost town operations of a scale not witnessed for decades has continued for two years now in all major Southern Cameroons cities, towns and villages. Anti-government protests, initially led by students from the University of Buea and Bamenda, have inspired similar demonstrations among traders union, okada riders and transporters. In French Cameroun, years of subjugation at the hands of the ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement (CPDM) has yielded both political apathy and a weak opposition.

The killing of several hundred of Southern Cameroonians and sweeping arrests on the part of the French Cameroun State Security and Intelligence Services reportedly pushed the protests to expand to include all the people of the former British Southern Cameroons.  The regime started to take it very seriously following the escalation of repression and this also is an indication of the loss of social control by President Biya. Buea, Bamenda and all the major cities in Southern Cameroons are now besieged by the Francophone police and the French Cameroun army. Bullets and teargas were the first reaction, and then the Biya regime started to crackdown massively on Ambazonians, arresting more than 1000 activists. 4000 Southern Cameroonians have so far been killed. Hundreds have been carried to “phantom houses” or undisclosed locations, where they are tortured and the women and young girls raped by members of the infamous French Cameroun secret service. Approximately 50,000 have fled the onslaught into neighbouring Nigeria and thousands are living in the bushes. The UN says some 461,000 Southern Cameroonians have been internally displaced.

On October 7, the president-dictator, Paul Biya rigged the presidential election in French Cameroun  and got a seventh term and is now imposing a new round of even more draconian measures against the people of Southern Cameroons which have subsequently created a club of military billionaires as  85% of the government’s budget is swallowed by military expenses.  Meanwhile the ongoing wars in the Far North region against Boko Haram and in the East with rebels from the Central African Republic cost the French Cameroun government millions a day!

Things are beginning to fall apart as Cameroon was recently stripped of the right to stage the 2019 African Nations Cup finals. CAF confirmed the unanimous decision after a meeting of its executive committee in Accra. Cameroon’s ability to host the finals was first questioned when CAF announced in July last year that the tournament would have eight additional teams and only countries capable of putting on world-class tournament, with complete facilities and extensive infrastructure would be allowed to stage the event. CAF sent several inspection teams to Cameroon to check on the progress of the construction of five stadiums proposed for the tournament.

When CAF president Ahmad went to Cameroon in October he told the country’s President Paul Biya in front of assembled reporters: “CAF has no Plan B, nor have we ever considered taking the Nations Cup away from Cameroon.” But last week he criticised Cameroon’s inability to regularise the affairs of its football federation, which has been under the control of a normalisation committee for more than a year while it struggles to adopt a new constitution and elect a new executive.

On 30 November 2018, President Paul Biya signed a decree creating the “National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee (NDDRC) for organizing, supervising and managing the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-fighters of Boko Haram and armed groups in Southern Cameroons willing to respond favourably to the Head of State’s peace appeal by laying down their arms.” In response, Ambazonia Self-Defence and Restoration Forces Council (ASC/RF), the command and control system prosecuting the war against French Cameroun rejected the so-called Biya presidential decree. The situation in both Cameroons is growing from bad to worse and even Francophone Cameroonians are fed up. The President-dictator lives in a five star Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva and his regime is slowly but surely taking the last kicks of a dying horse. To be accurate Cameroonians die three times over: they die of poverty, die of illness and die of war.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai


Modric beats Ronaldo, Messi to win Ballon d’Or

4, December 2018

Modric beats Ronaldo, Messi to win Ballon d’Or 0

Luka Modric ended the long reign of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo by winning the Ballon d’Or for the first time on Monday, while another first saw Norwegian forward Ada Hegerberg win the inaugural women’s trophy.

Messi and Ronaldo had won every Ballon d’Or since 2008, and usually fought only each other for the greatest recognition among soccer’s elite. Women’s fight for recognition on the biggest stage took a big step with Hegerberg’s award.

Modric won the Champions League with Real Madrid and then guided Croatia to the World Cup final in July. The midfielder was voted player of the tournament. “As a kid we all have dreams. My dream was to play for a big club and win important trophies,” Modric said. “The Ballon d’Or was more than just a dream for me and it is really an honor and a privilege to hold this trophy.”

Ronaldo was second in the polling followed by France forward Antoine Griezmann. France’s teen star, Kylian Mbappe, was fourth. Brazil star Neymar was third last year but only 12th this time. Messi was fifth in the voting, having been runner-up to Ronaldo the past two years and in the top three every year since 2007. Modric had never previously been in the top three.

“2018 is a dream year for me,” the 33-year-old Modric said. “Throughout my career I realized hard work, persistence and belief in yourself in difficult moments are the foundations of success.” Modric’s father was shown on the big screen wiping away tears during the ceremony at the imperious Grand Palais in Paris.

Ronaldo missed out on a record sixth award, which would have moved him one ahead of Messi. The last player to win it before those two started dominating world soccer awards was Brazil midfielder Kaka with AC Milan in 2007.

Ronaldo also won the Champions League last season with Modric, before leaving to join Juventus. He scored a hat trick against Spain at the World Cup but he failed to make an impression when Portugal lost to Uruguay in the round of 16.

Mbappe and Griezmann scored in the 4-2 World Cup final win against Croatia. Mbappe earned a domestic treble with Paris Saint-Germain. Griezmann also scored twice for Atletico Madrid in the Europa League final win against Marseille.

France coach Didier Deschamps said a France player should have won the award. “They deserve it because of what they did with the national team at the World Cup and also because of the trophies they won with their clubs,” Deschamps said.

The 19-year-old Mbappe   the youngest player since Pelé to score in a World Cup final   won the Raymond Kopa Trophy awarded to the best young player. France Football magazine has been awarding the Ballon d’Or since 1956, and created a women’s award for the first time this year.

Hegerberg is a three-time Women’s Champions League winner with French side Lyon and scored a tournament-record 15 times last season. “I want to say thanks to France Football. It’s a huge step for women’s football,” Hegerberg said. “I want to end this speech with a message to all young girls in the world. Believe in yourselves.”

The outspoken 23-year-old Hegerberg said she won’t play for Norway at the Women’s World Cup in France next June. Taking a stand against what she describes as a lack of respect for female players in Norway, she hasn’t played for the national team since 2017 when it crashed out of the group stage of the Women’s European Championship without scoring a goal.

Speaking in an interview shortly before collecting her Ballon d’Or, Hegerberg told The Associated Press on Monday she has no plans to reconsider her decision taken to preserve her “authenticity and my values, as a person, as a footballer.”

“A lot of things need to be done to make the conditions better for women who play football,” she said. “It’s all about how we respect women’s football. I don’t think the respect has been there. “Sometimes you have to take tough decisions to stay true to yourself. I let them know, quite clearly, what I found wasn’t working.”

(AP)


Ambazonia: ASC Council Rejects President Biya’s Decree Creating National Disarmament

4, December 2018

Ambazonia: ASC Council Rejects President Biya’s Decree Creating National Disarmament 0

On 30 November 2018, neigbouring La Republique du Cameroun’s (LRC) President Paul Biya signed a decree creating the “National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee (NDDRC) for organizing, supervising and managing the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-fighters of Boko Haram and armed groups in the North-West and South-West Regions willing to respond favourably to the Head of State’s peace appeal by laying down their arms.” In response, Ambazonia Self-Defence and Restoration Forces Council (ASC/RF), the command and control system prosecuting the war against LRC, issued the following statement:

  1. President Paul Biya needs to stop further provocative actions and illegal administration of the territory of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. On 5 January 2018, the Government of la Republique du Cameroun and Nigeria illegally adopted His Excellency Sisiku AyukTabe, President of the Interim Government of Ambazonia-in-exile, plus 9 top cabinet members in Abuja and rendition them to Yaoundé where they remained incommunicado for over 10 months until recently with deteriorating health conditions. Prior to their arrest and rendition, on 30 November 2017, President Biya declared war against the Federal Republique of Ambazonia. During the intervening one year, soldiers, gendarmes and police loyal to President Biya have deliberately killed over 10,000 unarmed civilians, within the internationally recognized territory of Ambazonia. In addition, at least 10,000 college and university students including their lecturers have been illegally arrested and are currently tortured in deplorable prison conditions and underground secret chambers across the territory of LRC. Over 2000 Ambazonians are now maimed; scores of disabled seniors have been roasted to ashes in their homes, and tens publicly beheaded by LRC soldiers as a war tactic to scare Ambazonia to submission. In addition, over 500,000 citizens of Ambazonia are internally displaced. On top of that, close to 200,000 Ambazonians, especially mothers and girls have escaped to Nigeria for refuge. More so, at least 1000 homes have been burnt to ashes in some 140 villages across Ambazonia.
  2. The signing of a decree creating NDDRC on the same day that the CAF Executive Committee, which met in Accra, withdrew the hosting of African Cup of Nations (AFCON) from la Republique du Cameroun further undermines international call for La Republique and Ambazonia to negotiate political settlement to end the war. The decree further makes a mockery of the international organizations including the AU, the UN and the EU, foreign governments including the US, the UK, Germany and France; and other interested parties like Amnesty International and International Crisis Group that have urged President Biya to release all those in arrested related to the war, demilitarize Ambazonia and negotiate a lasting solution with the Interim Government of Ambazonia based on the boundaries inherited at independence. Yet it is no surprise that this Committee is created in the middle of a war and without consultation with the Interim Government of Ambazonia and the conditions are not ripe. While the citizens of LRC may be bound by this decree, the extension of the decree to cover Ambazonia violates our territorial integrity, which is further war.
  1. We know the spirit of the text and intention behind the decree. The decree is a two-faced machination of the government to pretend they are working to enforce peace and security while in fact they mean evil and this is well known to Ambazonians. The decree is a renewed effort by the Biya regime and its agents and ministries to stage a Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process using fake the “Amba boys of Minister Atanga Nji” who have been terrorizing Ambazonia citizens, conducting kidnappings and requesting ransoms as a means of deceiving the international community that our restoration forces are terrorist. And finally, the Biya regime hopes that if successful to film their fake Amba Boys dropping den guns and confessing verbally, they can deceive both the citizens of Ambazonia and the global community that the war is over; thus, finally nailing the coffin of the “Ambazonia Liberation War” once and for all.
  2. We want to unequivocally state for the umpteenth times that the decree NDDRC and any action coming from it is baseless and inconsequential. Our President, H.E. Sisiku AyukTabe has categorically said times without numbers that we are out to restore our independence and not to destroy a country or bring pain on our citizens. He said anytime you hear a gunshot, and it is said to be coming from our restoration forces, you should know that it is fake as we do not use weapons or violent tactics against our citizens to achieve our goals. We have one enemy, LRC government military, gendarmes, police and her appointed administrators in our territory.
  3. By this evil design, the restoration of the independence of Ambazonia sovereignty now gaining momentum, will be done away with finally. This is a multi-faceted scheme with involvement of agents at various levels and layers. Recently, the Biya government gave usual false hope promises about, inter alia, humanitarian support, road construction projects and construction of burnt homes as an indication of executive authority over the territory of Ambazonia, when he knows fully well, that the Ambazonia Liberation War has long crossed the red lines for federation and decentralization. By now, the Biya regime must know that the Ambazonia Liberation War crossed the orbit of negative return for the quest of sovereignty when Ambazonians shed the blood of freedom on Ambazonia soil. The Commander-in-Chief of Ambazonia Restoration Forces H.E. Sisiku AyukTabe said sovereignty of Ambazonia is nonnegotiable.
  4. For two years now, especially since January 2018, we have been staging peaceful protest marches and sit-in home strikes to press across the globe our demand for the freedom of our revered President Sisiku AyukTabe, nine members of his cabinet and scores of others in detention since the crisis started in late 2016 and morphed into a war in November 2017. We have not for once resorted to the use of terror tactics. This is not about to change. We therefore reject any form of violence or use of terror tactics in our name.
  5. The bait here is to initiate some very alarming disruption of public peace and terrorization of Ambazonia citizens and residents in the name of the “Amba Boys,” LRC sponsored criminal gangs and armed merchants, in order to reach their goals. This evil design of linguistic and foreigner cleansing in our name is plotted to be of a magnitude and proportions as to sufficiently frighten the public and international community so that they will avoid anything about Restoration Forces like ebola plague. In the thinking of the Biya regime, such inhumane and barbaric actions like the Pinyin and Bali massacre will swing public opinion against us and push Ambazonia citizens into another half a century of slavery and servitude under the dominant French Cameroun government. The plots by the security forces have thickened to carry out series of attacks of such a large scale and proportions similar to the dreaded terrorist group Boko Haram, starting from the course of our peaceful activities using their agents within. In that way, the Biya regime hope to associate the self-defence to protect our citizens and their property with violence, and from there, the security forces will take it from there and escalate it to the scale and scope they desire.
  1. In conclusion, the Ambazonia Restoration Forces is not and should not be held responsible for any breech of peace or violence that will result from any false-flag plots. We will continue to employ all lawful, legal, defence and constitutional means as we have done throughout these two years of LRC-perpetrated terrorist activities to achieve our goals and would neither be coerced nor blackmailed into submission or surrender. Our escalating and timely self-defense activities will continue as planned and in our ways without fear of intimidation. Rather than take risk to conduct any activity in Ambazonia that will only escalate the war and thereby further shed innocent blood, the Ambazonia Self-Defence Council and Interim Government urge any person, who so ever and especially from the Biya regime, to stay clear Ambazonia territory until such time when conditions become conducive to visit or conduct business. Ambazonia vehemently rejects President Biya decree creating the “National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee;” our Restoration Forces remain on hair trigger alert and continue to defend our citizens and homeland against any illegal occupation and foreign invasion.



African Cup of Nations Looking for New 2019 Site

4, December 2018

African Cup of Nations Looking for New 2019 Site 0

There have been mixed reactions in Cameroon after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) withdrew the 2019 continental soccer event-hosting rights from the central African state. The government has described the CAF decision as “total injustice” while some people say the suspension should act as an eye opener for the government to solve the crisis that has destabilized the English speaking regions for more than two years.

Night shift workers transport roofing material and seats to the Olembe stadium on the outskirts of Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde. It is here the government of Cameroon had announced the opening and closing matches of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations would take place.

Olembe stadium on the outskirts of Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, Dec. 1, 2018.
Olembe stadium on the outskirts of Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, Dec. 1, 2018.

Work supervisor Angel Thamin says they are working night and day so that the stadium should be ready by March 2019, three months before the official kickoff of the competition.

“For the main stadium, all the structure elements are here, almost a hundred percent,” he said. “When it comes to office ventilation as you can see, I mean, you know it is extremely advanced and the main stadium will be finished in terms of structures and as you can see now, it is not only foundations and columns, but you can see slabs that are ready.”

Issa Tchiroma, Cameroon government spokesperson and minister of communication says the government has instructed all companies working on infrastructure projects for the football feast to continue as if CAF had not stripped hosting rights from Cameroon.

Cameroon communication minister and government spokes person Issa Tchiroma says the decision to withdraw hosting right is total injustice.
Cameroon communication minister and government spokes person Issa Tchiroma says the decision to withdraw hosting right is total injustice.

“Cameroon has put in a creditable performance,” said Tchiroma. “It shall prove it to the entire world by completing with the same determination and on time, the construction of this modern infrastructure belonging to the Cameroonian people. Our country which has written the pages of African football in bold letters will not relent her effort in working with other African countries to develop football in our beloved Africa.”

Issa Tchiroma says Cameroon, a five-time African football champion, agreed to host the prestigious African event even though CAF decided to increase the size of the tournament from 16 to 24 teams without asking its opinion.

But during Friday’s extraordinary meeting of CAF’s executive committee in Accra, Ghana, the football body said the infrastructure was not ready. They also raised security concerns, especially in the restive English-speaking regions where armed conflicts have continued for more than two years, leading to the deaths of more than 1,200 civilians, fighters and military personnel, and leaving hundreds of thousands displaced.

Bepanda Stadium in Douala, Dec. 1, 2018.
Bepanda Stadium in Douala, Dec. 1, 2018.

Gladys Matute, a 24-year English-speaking Cameroonian says she is very okay with the decision to remove hosting rights from Cameroon until peace is negotiated in the restive regions.

“We cannot be hosting an event when we know that the two English speaking regions are not at peace,” she said. “They are killing people, so it is good for the president to come back and sit and talk with the Anglophone regions so that there should be some peace. Paul Biya should sit up and there should be some peace talks.”

Secondary school student Rose Ghani says she had expected CAF to withdraw the hosting rights a long time ago.

“We are not surprised because embassies have been refusing their citizens from traveling to Cameroon especially to the northwest and southwest,” she said. “And also we have the Boko Haram fight in the far north. Moreover, all the towns to host are suffering from insecurity. There is also fear that when the tournament will be going on the Ambazonian fighters might attack people in Yaounde.”

The 2019 finals will take place from June 15-July 13, a change from the traditional January period.

Cameroon had proposed five cities, Limbe, Bafoussam, Douala, Garoua and the capital Yaounde as competition venues.

CAF says it has initiated an urgent and open call for a new host.

Source: VOA


4, December 2018

Ambazonia: Kidnapped missionaries freed 0

Three Claretian missionaries who were abducted in Cameroon on 23 November, were released safely on 29 November.

The missionaries said in a message: “We thank everyone for the solidarity shown during our captivity. It was no easy experience. In those difficult days our thoughts and prayers went to the Martyrs of our Congregation. For our part we experienced the warmth of your prayers and affection.

“At present we are at our parish in Douala and want to start negotiations for the release of our driver Jerry Berson. We are all alive.

“Although information referred to Jude, Placid, Abel and the driver, there were actually five of us! Fr Yene Anaclet, the local parish priest who came to negotiate our release, was also held by the kidnappers. Now he too has been released and we are all in Douala.”

The Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Maria (Claretians) said in a statement: “We thank God for the release of our missionary confreres abducted on 23 November . We are grateful for all the messages of solidarity, communion and prayers. May God bless us all!”

The missionaries released are: Fr Giuda Taddeo Langhe, Apostolate Prefect and director of Pubblicaciones Claretianas del Camerun. Fr Placide Muntong Gweh, student Abel Fondem Ndia, and Fr Yene Anaclet. The missionaries were abducted by secessionists present in the Anglophone area of the country, on the way to Munyenge with humanitarian aid for the people suffering because of fighting in the area.

In the two English speaking regions of Cameroon involved, violence against men of the Church is increasing. On 21 November Fr Cosmas Omboto Ondari, a Kenyan missionary from the Mill Hill Mission Society of St Joseph, was murdered in Kembong, a few kilometres from Memfe, main town in the Department of South Eastern Province.

Source: Independent Catholic News


Africa Cup of Nations Mess: Why it is weeping for Cameroonian business people

4, December 2018

Africa Cup of Nations Mess: Why it is weeping for Cameroonian business people 0

Two major hotels in Yaoundé that were due to host some foreign delegations had gone into a loan agreement with the government and were already carrying out extension works for better accommodation

Jarvis Bisong, a hotel manager in Yaoundé, secured a loan from a micro finance institution and started renovating his hotel ahead of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) football tournament.
He said the renovation works to cost $17,000 (Sh1.7 million) were supposed to end by February, 2019.

“I knew that during the Afcon from June to July, I will recover the money and pay back the loan, but now that we [Cameroon] will no longer host the tournament, I am just confused,” he said.

Many hotel managers are now found in the same type situation like Jarvis, following the announcement Friday by the Confederation of African Football (Caf), withdrawing the hosting rights of the 2019 Afcon tournament from Cameroon.

Two major hotels in Yaounde that were due to host some foreign delegations had gone into a loan agreement with the government and were already carrying out extension works for better accommodation.

They groan over the news of the withdrawal of the hosting rights expressing worries over the loans they were supposed to pay back after making some brisk business during the month-long soccer competition.

The local organizing committee of the competition had selected 21 hotels in the five host cities to accommodate teams and delegations.

The group phase of the competition was due to be staged in five cities, namely Yaoundé, Douala, Bafoussam, Garoua and Limbe.

Yaounde and Limbe both hosted the 2016 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

In the transport sector, proprietors of inter-city bus agencies claim they had made huge investments by importing brand new buses to expand their fleet.

the Caf decision, they now weep that they will have to wait for two years to reap what they expected to recover in just a few months.

Stories abound of small and medium size enterprises, and catering services which will not go operational near the venues of the tournament due to the postponement.

According to senior analyst for Central Africa at International Crisis Group, Hans De Marie Heungoup, more than $1.1 billion (Sh110 billion) of investments had already been done in the country or scheduled in 2019.

One thing that was due to witness a hike in sales and consumption during the Afcon 2019 competition was supposed to beer as most Cameroonians cherish boozing which is indeed a way of life in Cameroon during such events.

Statistics by SABC, the Cameroon’s largest beer company, show that overall beer sales in Cameroon in 2015 are estimated at about 6,600,000 hl (660 million liters), including imports.

These figures were expected to see an increase next year with the organization of the Afcon.

The Tourism Industry in Cameroon was already envisaging a boom with thousands of visitors that were expected to come but it will not be the case again.

The number of visitors coming to Cameroon dropped since the outbreak of Boko Haram activities in the Northern part and with the recent separatist movement in the English speaking regions of the country.

The organization of the Afcon was going to change as thousands of visitors were expected to jet into the country for the football jamboree.

The African Cup of Nations is a big tournament which usually gives a boost to the economy of host countries.

Cameroon has lost this blessing which could have profited its limping economy.

Source: Daily Nation



4, December 2018

Biya and CPDM gang blamed for Africa Cup of Nations mess 0

There has been an outburst of reactions from football fans and analysts in Cameroon since the Confederation of African Football (Caf) officially announced it has stripped the five times African champions of the hosting rights for the 2019 African Cup of Nations (Afcon).

Caf said on Friday that Cameroon has not met a number compliance conditions and could not host he tournament.

While some fans suspect that some North African countries that were interested in hosting the tournament played behind the scenes to deprive Cameroon of the hosting right, others blame the lackluster attitude at which the government has been preparing for the game.

“The Caf decision is not a surprise as Morocco has been scheming to ensure the hosting rights are withdrawn from Cameroon in their favour,” said Ernest Nfor, a football fan, in Yaounde.

Yet, sports analyst Francis Ajumane said he saw it coming from the various Caf inspection missions that came to Cameroon. “Anthony Baffoe, Amaju Pinnick and Daany Jordan were in Cameroon months ago and I could tell from their body language all was not well despite their assurances to the press,” Ajumane said.

“It became evident when Caf postponed its decision back at the end of September due to Cameroon’s Presidential election.”

Ajumane admits that Cameroon was lagging behind in terms of construction at the various sites and tried to use diplomacy by bringing the Caf president to the country; which diplomacy apparently failed.

Sports journalist and editor-in-chief of This is Sports magazine, Franklin Sone Bayen said the socio-political climate in Cameroon is not conducive enough for the continental soccer jamboree to be staged.

“The Afcon withdrawal is shocking without measure for socio-political and socioeconomic reasons, though it should have been expected because Cameroon was falling short in infrastructure, and the sociopolitical climate is not conducive,” he said.

“It is a big blow to football fans though opponents of the president are happy because they consider that Afcon would have distracted attention from the Anglophone crisis and acrimony from recent electoral flaws,” Bayen said further.

Source: Daily Nation



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