Headline News

13, February 2018

Construction starts on Cameroon’s first destination retail mall ⁰

Actis (www.Act.is), a leading growth markets investor has started construction on “Douala Grand Mall & Business Park”, Cameroon’s first destination retail & leisure mall.

Developed by Actis and local partner Craft Development, Douala Grand Mall will comprise of 18,000 square metres of retail and leisure space, close to Bonapriso in Cameroon’s largest city. The mall will include multiple restaurants, a children’s play zone, a five screen cinema, a supermarket and retail shops. The Mall is Phase 1 of the development which also includes a business park hosting a hotel and corporate offices spaces.

To continue its strategic roll-out in modern trade, CFAO the international group specialised in distribution in Africa, has signed an agreement to set up and operate a Carrefour Market in the shopping mall and the leading Hospitality & Entertainment conglomerate Genesis Group is the cinema anchor.

The South African contractor, Raubex has been appointed as the general contractor and is now mobilised on site. A formal ground-breaking will take place mid-2018. The project is expected to create over 4,500 jobs using local material and labour and has been granted tax incentives following a convention signed with the Government of the Republic of Cameroon.

Amanda Jean-Baptiste, Partner, Head of West Africa, Real Estate at Actis, said: “Actis is thrilled to reach this key milestone in delivering Cameroon’s first destination retail mall; anchored by two flagship brands seeking to benefit from the growing consumer power. The Mall will make a significant contribution to job creation and other economic indicators in the Cameroonian economy.”

Mathurin Jidjouc Kamdem CEO of Craft Development added: this is a landmark project that will provide the vibrant city of Douala with one of its biggest international standard mixed-used development, with over 4,500 jobs created in both the construction and the operation phases.

Actis is also invested in the electricity sector in Cameroon. In partnership with the government Actis holds a majority interest in the country’s electricity utility, Eneo. Actis is in advanced discussions with the Government to facilitate further significant investment into the energy sector to continue to expand the electricity grid and improve the quality of supply. Actis has also established Honoris United Universities, a pan-African higher education business which brings together the most prestigious universities, Actis also has a strong presence across the wider Francophone Africa region including energy, education and healthcare businesses.

Source: Internationalsupermarketnews

13, February 2018

Cameroon villagers killed, Church torched, As Boko Haram Militants Attack Christians ⁰

A Christian advocacy and aid group has urged prayers for “traumatized” Christians in Cameroon after at least four villagers were reportedly killed by Islamic militants.

Voice Of the Martyrs Canada (VOMC) said fighters of the Islamic terror group Boko Haram stormed the village of Roum in Cameroon’s Far North Region late January 16 and destroyed churches and other properties. “Residents…were abruptly awoken…as blazing fires engulfed two churches and numerous homes in their village community,” VOMC added in a statement to BosNewsLife.

“In addition to the destruction of the Union des Eglise Evangelique Church and a Catholic parish, the fire also destroyed 93 huts, 20 food storehouses, and 11 motorbikes,” VOMC noted. Near the village, a health center of the evangelical church was also attacked, Christians said.

Nigeria-based Boko Haram reportedly claimed responsibility for the violence, which followed its raids in nearby towns, including Mozogo and Moskota, BosNewsLife learned.

Christian communities in the Far North Region sharing a border with Nigeria have been most affected by Boko Haram’s suicide bombings and raids for some nine years said activists familiar with the situation.

ISLAMIST INSURGENCY

The Islamist insurgency spilled over the border from Nigeria, killing 20,000 and uprooting nearly 3 million in the Lake Chad region, according to several estimates.

“The department of Mayo-Tsanga, which includes Mozogo and Moskota, is one of the militants’ constant targets,” VOMC explained.

In August last year, six siblings were reportedly kidnapped from Moskota during a night raid by Boko Haram. Their father, Adamu Nguda, who served as a church elder, was killed and their mother “left behind in a state of total shock,” VOMC recalled.

“Thankfully, the children, who were between the ages of three and 15 at the time, managed to escape from captivity safely. They were later found close to the country’s border near Nigeria by a group of vigilantes,” the group said.

URGING PRAYERS

VOMC urged its supporters to pray that “these many traumatized victims of terrorism be kept safe from any further threats or attacks.” And, it’s crucial to “Ask the Lord to lovingly minister great comfort and hope as they recover from their loss,” the group stressed.

VOMC said Christians in the region should also “receive practical assistance — such as shelter, food, transportation, places of worship — so they will know of His provision and restoration in their lives and communities.”

Church followers comprise a majority of Cameroon’s population of roughly 25 million people but are facing increasingly Islamic attacks.

Poverty also remains an issue with life expectancy low at about 55 years due to the prevalence of the AIDS virus HIV and an elevated maternal mortality rate, which has remained high since 1990, according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

“Cameroon, particularly the northern region, is [also] vulnerable to food insecurity largely because of government mismanagement, corruption, high production costs, inadequate infrastructure, and natural disasters,” the agency added in a recent assessment.

Source: Bosnewslife

13, February 2018

Ruler since 1982, Biya turns 85 as strife grips parts of Cameroon ⁰

President Paul Biya of Cameroon celebrates his 85th birthday on Tuesday after 35 years at the helm of a country that today faces daunting problems, including a separatist revolt.

“The Cameroon of tomorrow, which is developing before our eyes, will have little connection with the Cameroon of yesterday… Let us seize the chance and take up the challenge,” Biya on Saturday said in a speech on the nation’s youth.

Three-quarters of Cameroon’s population, according to the most recent available statistics from 2014, are under 25. They were yet to be born when Biya in November 1982 settled into the presidential residence of Etoudi in the capital Yaounde, also called the Palace of Unity.

Biya urged young Cameroonians to vote in the next general elections due at the end of 2018, including a presidential poll.

But — true to his nickname of “the Sphinx” — he remained silent on whether he plans to run for a seventh term.

Several candidates have already declared their intentions, but the presidential camp has long since learned to keep a close watch over dissenting voices.

– ‘Divide and rule’ –

Biya has locked down all key posts and institutions, up to the creation early in February of a Constitutional Council of 11 members, the majority of whom come from the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (RDPC). Their duties will notably include the validation of election results.

A former student in a Roman Catholic seminary and then of political science in Paris, Biya “has put the saying ‘divide and rule’ into practice,” said Stephane Akoa, a researcher at the Paul Ango Ela Foundation.

“This is how he is able to remain at the apex of the system — forces who might have contested his power can’t get organised, let alone form a coalition.”

The most obvious threats to this picture come from separatists in the anglophone west, where two provinces were united with French-speaking Cameroon after independence in 1960. English-speakers comprise a fifth of the population.

Resentment runs high over perceived neglect by the francophone-majority regime. Dozens of people have been killed on both sides since a bloody crackdown on protest by October, sparking an escalation of bloodshed that led to a week-long curfew on Saturday.

Northern Cameroon, meanwhile, is vulnerable to raids against civilians and troops from across the border by Nigeria’s jihadist group Boko Haram. Cameroon is part of a regional military coalition formed to crush the movement.

– Foreign trips –

Biya’s taste for alpaca suits and silk ties and repeated and often lengthy absences, especially to Switzerland, have been a source for criticism in a nation where more than a third of the population still survives on less than two euros ($2.40) a day.

The foreign trips in particular have raised questions about Biya’s health. Rumours that he was sick circulated again at the end of January, but they were confounded by his television appearance on Saturday. His public appearances are so rare that they are closely scrutinised.

Biya offered an upbeat assessment of the state of the nation. The threat from Boko Haram is “considerably reduced”, the anglophone regions have “calmed down” — though three gendarmes were killed on Sunday — and the national economy has been “embellished”, as he put it.

External commentators, though, say the threat of instability is casting a lengthening shadow.

“With the troubles in anglophone regions and the persistent threat from Boko Haram, the 2018 elections will be a greater challenge than previous votes,” said Hans De Marie Heungoup, a researcher with the International Crisis Group (ICG) thinktank.

Source: The Citizen

13, February 2018

Biya regime kicks off busy election year with senatorial polls ⁰

Cameroon will press ahead with its first election for 2018 ahead of the presidential vote later this year. A presidential decree issue last week slated senatorial polls for March 25, 2018.

The decree states that the electoral body ELECAM shall organize the polls in various divisional headquarters of the country.

Cameroon’s parliamentary system caters for 100 senators out of which 70 are to be elected by municipal councillors across the country. The remaining 30 slots are the prerogative of the president.

The elections will in effect mark the start of a busy electoral calender as it is set to be followed by council, legislative and presidential elections later this year. The respective dates are yet to be determined by the President.

Meanwhile, the state – run CRTV reports that nominations for the Senate ends today February 13, 2018. The National Salvation Front of Cameroon led by information minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary have confirmed their participation in the process.

Meeting in Bamenda, capital of the restive northwest region, the main opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) led by Ni John Fru Ndi, the national chairman, said it will also participate in the process. The February 9, 2018 meeting also declared open nomination contest for the SDF’s presidential ticket for the upcoming polls.

President Paul Biya is expected to seek another term in office after over three decades in charge of the Central African nation. The country is currently riled by secessionist elements in the Anglophone regions – northwest and southwest regions.

The secessionists have entered an armed phase of a struggle for independence. About twenty five security forces have so far been killed in guerilla style attacks. Government received over 40 separatist members deported from Nigeria, they included leader Sisuku Julius Ayuk Tabe.

Source: Africa News

12, February 2018

Reboot Conference: The Ambazonia Recognition and Collaborative Council or the Stilbirth of Another Consortium by Another Name ⁰

Cameroon Concord News Group accurately predicted that the ploy by power seeking individuals to delegitimize the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia and to derail the Southern Cameroons revolution in a retreat held at Catholic University of America pompously called the reboot conference was bound to fail miserably and it did. The timid and incoherent final communique and a “memorandum of understanding” signed by Cho Ayaba, Edwin Ngang, Boh Hebert, Jacob Mbah, Ebenezar Akwnga, and one Frida Mambo creating an amorphous structure called Ambazonia Recognition Collaborative Council (ARCC) attests to this fact. John Mbah Akuro a key organizer did not attend and did not sign the memorandum of understanding.

Apart from replicating past statements made by Southern Cameroonians/ Ambazonians individually and collectively over the past fifty-seven years directed at the UN and the international community; the final communique provided an opportunity for some members of the constituent collaborative council who were probably complicit and rejoiced at the abduction of the President and members of the Interim Government to shed crocodile tears through the amorphous outfit. The outfit failed to read the public mode calling for unity of Ambazonians strongly articulated by the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Dr Samuel Ikome Sako in his maiden address. They failed to acknowledge that call for unity, therefore ignored the wishes and aspirations of an overwhelming majority of Ambazonians On an anniversary of the public humiliation of Ambazonia so-called “youth day” the reboot conference played the ostrich by hiding behind sentimental statements aimed at an unspecified future while the ongoing genocide requires a strong response by a united one and indivisible Federal Republic of Ambazonia. The constituent movements in the so-called collaborative council some with no recognizable following within the territory of Ambazonia and even in the Diaspora, came out clearly stating that the Ambazonia quest for freedom can only be attained through a “political solution”. This position which was made by the Consortium and the Interim Government was strenuously rejected by French Cameroun. The policy statement is at variance with statements made by Cho Ayaba during the same reboot conference claiming responsibility for the daring attacks in Batibo against the symbol of colonial power in Ambazonia. He did not do that under or within the collaborative structure he with others just created, nor did the structure issue a statement of support of the actions of a constituent member organization. This underscores problems for the functioning of this structure. All the remaining members of the collaborative council except Akwanga do not endorse the armed option, even when deployed in self defense. What justifies the membership of Ayaba and probably Akwanga in this structure?

Cameroon Concord News for emphasis reminds Cho Ayaba and the Ambazonia Collaborative Council that their policy statement underpinning the commitment of this structure to a so-called “political” solution which has been rejected by French Cameroun which opted instead for a war and genocide that is exterminating thousands of Ambazonians and wiping out civilian settlements in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia from the surface of the earth, makes him an unreliable leader on which Ambazonians can rely on for their freedom. Cho Ayaba should publicly renounce his membership of that treacherous platform to regain the hope which some Ambazonians placed in him.

In the past, he explained his opposition to the Interim Government alleging that the Interim Government did not come out with a clear statement supporting the military option for the self defense of our Ambazonia homeland. By signing on to a “political” solution, by implication renouncing the military self defense option at a time that the genocide has intensified, and the Interim Government has finally embraced the self-defense option which he insistently craved for, his motives in opposing the Interim Government can now be called into question. He does not need to explain himself anymore. His actions speak for themselves. By joining a platform that clearly disavows what he used to justify his past actions and conduct, he has legitimized the fears of many who had serious doubts and strong reservations about his leadership and the veracity of some of the claims he made attributing the self-defense efforts of the Ambazonia Tigers and other groups aimed at protecting their communities to himself.

As for the rest of the members of the consultative council, Cameroon Concord News Group has stated previously that their appetite for power and money has sidelined them from public trust and popular support over the years. The consultative council itself appears to be one of several creative names attributed by Edwin Ngang to one of several failed structures he created over the years. If Jacob Mbah and Edwin Ngang could not faithfully work as representatives of Ambazonia under Fon Dinka, how will anyone expect them to faithfully work under this amorphous structure? From an ideological perspective, members of this structure are worlds apart.

The amorphous structure will not deter the constituent members from attempting to solicit funds supposedly to prosecute a war of self-defense which the platform does not clearly support. Some of the constituent members have not presented an account of the funds they solicited and obtained through moribund structures for that purpose and with the same objectives. How this amorphous structure will ever be held accountable for anything remains a mystery. It is a stillborn. It is dead on arrival. Let no reasonable person live under the elusion that it can provide solutions to the Ambazonia crisis. The avenues for Ambazonia freedom movements to collaborate in intelligence, resources and diplomatic sharing have always existed and should be encouraged. But was a reboot conference required for this purpose? Are the constituent organizations informing Ambazonians that they were operating in anarchy and a free for all? That cannot simply be true considering the general mobilizations that presented our people at home and in the Diaspora as united in purpose about the total liberation of our land. It is that unity of purpose that has united our people to enforce ghost towns and massive protests on a world-wide scale. It is that unity of purpose and collaboration that has mobilized and motivated our social media communicators like Mark Barata, Ivo Tapong , Akoson Pauline and our vibrant Ambazonia Press to bring the messages of liberation to every Ambazonian on the face of the world and the international community. It is that collaboration that has exposed and brought the gas bag Issa Tchiroma, CRTV and French Cameroun genocide media to their knees. It is the sensitivity to this collaboration that has informed the call made by the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonians to all Ambazonia freedom movements to unite with the Interim Government to make the final push for the liberation of our leaders and citizens in captivity and our total freedom. There was no need for a reboot conference with all the divisive and acrimonious rhetoric made by its organizers.

With the reboot sideshow over, Ambazonians at home and abroad should harken to the urgent call of the Acting President and the Interim Government to contribute towards our self-defense efforts against this colonial war of aggression. The Acting President made an urgent plea for unity. The Ambazonia Collaborative Council should demonstrate their commitment to the Ambazonia cause by making a commitment to unity made by the Acting President. No action aimed at unity towards the self-defense and freedom of our leaders, our people and our homeland the Federal Republic of Ambazonia can be construed as weakness. Making a bold commitment towards unity as the Interim President did is an attribute of bold leadership and strength. In the form it is presented, the collaborative council is an illusion and lacks strong wings on which our destiny can sail on.

The Interim Government of Ambazonia is widely recognized by the international community at large. If the Interim Government did not pose a serious threat to French Cameroun and French neo-colonial economic interests, there would have been no international conspiracy to abduct our leaders through cowardly criminal means. The proof of the legitimacy and successes attained by our Interim Government is discernible from the fact that France, a super power and member state of NATO and European Union, Nigeria , the most populous African Country and continental economic and military power, and French Cameroun a French puppet neo-colony, resorted to multiple levels of complicity, complex webs of corruption and criminality to abduct our President and members of the Interim government in violation of multilateral treaties and international law. This shows how close the Interim Government of Ambazonia was to obtaining the recognition of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia by a number of sovereign states and obviously the international community.

Despite this coordinated act of brigandage and international criminality, the Interim Government is undaunted. The Secretary for Communication Hon. Chris Anu flew to Nigeria and organized world press conferences to deny our adversaries the legitimacy they sought to justify their criminal conduct and the fear they hoped to instill in us through their crime. After weeks of silence hoping that the crime and its impact would fade away, Mohammed Babagana Mungano the corrupt superintendent of the criminal enterprise came out defending his actions and that of the crime syndicate in the Nigerian government that was responsible for the abductions in complicity with France and French Cameroun. His outing hoping to counter Chris Anu and the Interim Government effort aimed at sanitizing the crime and the huge sums obtained through corruption. This sensitization of Nigerian and world attention towards this criminal conduct backfired. It is unprecedented in constitutional governance which Nigeria is, for a national defense adviser to appropriate the powers of the Inspector General of Police, Comptroller of immigration, Attorney-General of the Federation, Minister of Defense and Minister of Foreign Affairs by overseeing a corrupt secretive criminal cartel at the center of state power to conduct criminal foreign operations with embarrassing consequences for the Federal Government. The attempt by Mohammed Mungano to explain and justify his actions publicly by making commitments of a legal, security and diplomatic nature with a foreign sovereign is treasonable and portrayed the Nigerian government and members it’s defense, judicial, intelligence and security services in very bad light.

Cameroon Concord News Group is satisfied that the Interim Government is taking verifiable and credible steps towards uniting Ambazonia freedom movements and the people of Ambazonia at home and abroad around our common objective of freeing our leaders and people held in captivity and a vacation of our territory by the terrorist occupying forces forthwith. Cameroon Concord News is satisfied that the commitment of the Interim Government towards the self-defense of the entire territory of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, the intensification of diplomatic efforts aimed at the recognition of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia by the United Nations, the African Union, ECOWAS and all international organizations makes the Interim Government the most credible platform that all Ambazonians must unite around to attain these objectives.

Cameroon Concord News Group commends the Interim Government’s statement that the betrayal of our leaders is under investigations and that it is committed to all guarantees of fair process under international law and Ambazonia laws. These include presumption of innocence. Ambazonians should give this process its recognition and turn our attention towards contributing for our self defense objectives, assistance to our refugees, our internally displaced, our abductees in French Cameroun captivity, our wounded and maimed and our diplomatic efforts.

Ambazonians world-wide must be persistent in the organization of demonstrations to alert the conscience of humanity towards the genocide in Ambazonia and our irreversible quest for freedom and recognition at the United Nations in New York, Geneva, European Union offices in Brussels, African Union Offices in Addis Ababa, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Arusha Tanzania, The African Commission on human and peoples’ rights in Banjul, Nigerian, French Cameroun, British and French Diplomatic Missions worldwide. We must file more complaints against Nigerian and French Cameroun individuals involved in these crimes at the ICC, in countries that have universal jurisdiction over international crimes like terrorism, abductions, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, like the United States, Spain, Sweden, Finland and Belgium.

Ambazonians must make sure that all the people involved in these crimes should never know peace in and out of power in their countries and that their countries are held accountable for the crimes committed against Ambazonia. Cameroon Concord News totally endorses the Ultimatum of the Interim Government of Ambazonia to French Cameroun to produce our Interim President and members of the Interim Government alive and urges the Interim Government to extend the ultimatum to release of all captives and a vacation of the territory of Ambazonia.

To this I put my name

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

12, February 2018

Biya says threats to Cameroon’s peace have eased ⁰

Cameroon President Paul Biya has addressed his countrymen, saying tensions in the English-speaking regions that began more than a year ago have abated. Biya also congratulated his military for successfully curbing Boko Haram atrocities.

Cameroon President Paul Biya, in a nationwide message, thanked the country’s youth, saying they have been instrumental in bringing peace and order along the northern border with Nigeria, where Boko Haram has been active, and in the English speaking northwest and southwest regions where complaints by teachers and lawyers about the overbearing influence of the French language degenerated into separatists calls for independence that resulted in armed conflicts with the Cameroon military.

“The situation in the southwest and the northwest is stabilizing. Indeed, the characteristic resilience of the Cameroonian people deserves to be hailed once again. Allow me once again to underscore the heroism of our defense and security forces, mostly young people,” he said.

In his speech, Biya urged Cameroon’s to youth prepare for the decades ahead, when they will be leaders. He said they need to be up for the task and acquire the necessary skills and experience.

Biya acknowledged that economic growth had slowed due to outside factors, but said he would forge ahead in various sectors of development. He said 2018 will mark the completion of his major road and hydro power development projects.

Cabral Libii, a 38-year-old Cameroonian who has announced his intention to run for president and challenge Biya this year, said he had expected Biya to call for reconciliation to solve the long-standing problems his country has been facing but feels that Biya instead gave an impression all was well and launched his campaign for this year’s presidential election.

Libii said Cameroonian youth only have residual roles to play in Cameroon politics and at the same time they face rising unemployment, a questionable education system, and an underperforming health care system. He said a majority of young people are in despair and suffocating under Biya’s regime, which does not want to leave power. Libii said the youth should be ready to sacrifice to stop Biya’s long hold on power.

Cameroon has been enveloped by the Boko Haram insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives on its northern border with Nigeria, displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and pushed 80,000 Nigerian refugees into its territory.

The central African state also is affected by the crisis in neighboring Central African Republic, with regular attacks and kidnappings for ransom in its territory. And, recently, the crisis in the English-speaking regions of the country have led to hundreds of people, including 23 policemen and soldiers, being killed.

In spite of the continuing threats from Boko Haram and the English speaking separatists which opposition political parties say may hamper the organization of elections, the 85-year-old president, who has served for 35 years, insisted that elections will be held this year since peace is returning. Biya has said party supporters have urged him to run again.

“2018 will be an important election year and all youths aged 20 years and above should be able to — or rather should — exercise their right to vote because by voting, they will be performing an act of responsible citizenship and, thus, participating in forging their destiny,” said Biya.

Source: VOA

12, February 2018

Trump administration to propose $1.5 trillion for crumbling US infrastructure ⁰

The Trump administration will finally unveil his long-awaited infrastructure plan via a $1.5 trillion proposal intended to fulfill the president’s campaign promises, but relies heavily on state and local governments to generate much of the funding.

Trump’s plan is to use $200 billion in federal money to leverage local and state tax dollars to fix America’s infrastructure. State and local governments, are expected to match any federal allocation by at least a four-to-one ratio. States have gradually assumed more of the responsibility for funding infrastructure in recent years, and the White House says it wants to accelerate that trend.

“Every federal dollar should be leveraged by partnering with state and local governments and where appropriate tapping into private sector investment to permanently fix the infrastructure deficit,” Trump said at his State of the Union address last month.

The president has repeatedly blamed the “crumbling” state of the nation’s roads and highways for preventing the American economy from reaching its full potential.

Initial plan outline

The plan is structured around four goals: to generate $1.5 trillion for an infrastructure proposal, to streamline the current long and arduous permitting process down to a shorter and efficient one, to invest in rural infrastructure projects and to advance workforce training.

“The current system is fundamentally broken and it’s broken in two different ways,” a senior administration official told reporters in a Saturday phone call.

“We are underinvesting in our infrastructure and we have a permitting process that takes so long that even when funds are adequate, it can take a decade to build critical infrastructure.”

To shorten that process, the administration will use a “one agency one decision” method, one of the officials said Saturday. That procedure would place the agency with the relevant “expertise” needed in charge of the permitting.

“A large part of the problem currently is that the federal government’s rules and restrictions get in the way of building a better America,” one of the officials said. “So we want to get out of the way to that regard.”

Potential opposition to the plan

Trump is scheduled to host both Democratic and Republican leaders at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the infrastructure proposal. The plan will probably face opposition from Congressional Democrats, who have long pressed the federal government’s historic and direct role in rebuilding. House Democrats last week released their own infrastructure plan that boasted a $1 trillion direct government spend on an overhaul.

Over the past year, Democrats have also accused Trump of seeking to create the $200 billion infrastructure fund by proposing cuts to other infrastructure-related programs.

Environmental groups are also expected to voice their opposition to the plan.

“President Trump’s infrastructure proposal is a disaster,” said Shelley Poticha, of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“It fails to offer the investment needed to bring our country into the 21st century. Even worse, his plan includes an unacceptable corporate giveaway by truncating environmental reviews,” she said.

Source: Presstv

12, February 2018

Battle for Southern Cameroons: “ADF forces carried out the attacks,” Cho Ayaba ⁰

Separatist fighters in Cameroon killed three soldiers and wounded four others during an attack overnight in the English-speaking Southwest region, two military sources and a separatist commander said on Sunday.

The attack in the village of Kembong came hours after President Paul Biya said in a televised address that the situation in Anglophone Cameroon was stable, despite ongoing widespread fighting.

Separatists have killed 25 soldiers and policemen in a series of raids over the past year in a bid to gain independence for the Anglophone Southwest and Northwest regions.

“ADF forces carried out the attacks,” said Cho Ayaba, the leader of the Ambazonian Defense Force, an armed separatist group.

The crisis began in 2016 when the government cracked down on English-speaking lawyers and teachers who protested against working in French.

Civilians were killed, and subsequent violence against protesters has helped boost support for a separatist movement, including armed groups looking to form a new state called Ambazonia, in a campaign to split Cameroon’s English-speaking minority from Yaounde.

An army crackdown on the insurgency has forced more than 40,000 people to flee to neighboring Nigeria, according to the United Nations.

Residents in the Anglophone regions told Reuters last week that the army burned houses in the village of Bole and shot residents on Feb. 2.

An army spokesman said claims that houses were burned and people shot in Bole were “totally false”, and he denied that soldiers were mistreating residents in other villages.

(Source: Reuters)

12, February 2018

More than 2,200 Filipino citizens in Kuwait seek repatriation ⁰

The Philippine labor minister says over 2,200 Filipinos are ready to take up an offer by President Rodrigo Duterte to repatriate workers from Kuwait amid reports of abuse.

Silvestre Bello III said on Sunday that almost 500 Filipino workers were due to arrive soon.

“We have been informed that as of Friday there were 2,200-plus Filipinos who are willing to go home,” the minister said.

He added that the government would also help repatriated workers find jobs.

“We are into a re-integration programme, we have a programme in place for them,” Bello said, adding, “They will be given a livelihood.”

“We are now in the process of looking for alternative markets. One of them is China and even Russia,” the minister said, without elaborating.

Bello said some of the Filipinos had overstayed their visas in Kuwait and applied for an amnesty.

The minister also stated that the airlines had arranged free charter flights to facilitate the repatriation.

Duterte asked Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific on Friday to provide flights for the Filipinos who wanted to leave Kuwait. The president has said that suspension would remain indefinitely.

A body of a Filipino worker was found in a freezer of an abandoned apartment in Kuwait recently.

Last month, the Philippines suspended sending workers to Kuwait after reports came out that abuse by employers had driven several to suicide.

Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah expressed “surprise and sorrow” at Duterte’s remarks in January, saying that legal proceedings had been taken in the four suicide cases mentioned by the president.

The Philippine Foreign Ministry estimates more than 250,000 Filipinos work in Kuwait, most of them as domestic helpers. There are also large numbers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf region have come under criticism by international organizations and rights groups due to mistreatment of foreign workers. Millions of poor Asians are working in the Persian Gulf states. Human rights groups say many of the workers suffer exploitation and abuse, including non-payment of wages.

Human Rights Watch and other rights organizations have also slammed mass deportations of migrant workers, which are fairly common in the kingdoms and sheikhdoms, saying they often involve physical abuse and detention in poor conditions.

Last month, a report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) painted a grim picture of the human rights situation in the UAE, raising concern over the torture of prisoners, injustice against foreign workers and discrimination against women in the Persian Gulf state. The report argued that the justice system in the UAE is complex and impedes migrant workers and the stateless from bringing their grievances to justice.

Reports said in February 2017 that Saudi Arabia had expelled nearly 40,000 Pakistani migrant workers over the past four months.

Official statistics in Saudi Arabia indicate that 243,000 Pakistanis were expelled between 2012-2015.

Source: Presstv

11, February 2018

Ambazonia: Acting President declares ‘era of self defense’ ⁰

Southern Cameroonians under the ‘Republic of Ambazonia’ have named a new leader in the person of Sako Ikome Samuel.

The new development comes in the wake of the arrest and deportation of Julius Ayuk Tabe, the group’s known leader. Tabe and 46 others were handed over to Cameroon from Nigerian authorities after they were arrested in an Abuja hotel in January 2018.

In his first address to the nation, Ikome Samuel in his capacity as Acting President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia declared that the movement had now entered an era of individual and communal self defense.

“Now is the era of self-defense. From effective personal self defense to legitimate Ambazonia community protection programs to stop the wanton destruction of lives and our property in Ambazonia.

“We are therefore going to work to accredit and embrace all self defense and security groups that will endorse our IG rules of engagement. I will be reaching out to all in the days ahead,” he stressed in the over 21 minutes address.

He described the stage of the separatist struggle as at a precipice. He blamed the arrest of Tabe and 11 others as a planned effort by Nigeria, Cameroon and the French government. According to him, he will continue to serve British southern Cameroonians against French Cameroon.

Cameroonian authorities in November 2017 issued international arrest warrants for fifteen leaders of the Anglophone separatist consortium known as the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC).

According to a local website, the main target was Sisiku Ayuk Tabe who is being held by authorities in Yaounde awaiting trail.

The government accuses the group of being behind rising violence in the northwestern and southwestern regions. The two areas known as ‘Anglophone Cameroon’ has been at the heart of clashes between pro-government forces and secessionists.

According to him, the Ambazonia nation was birthed in October 2017 when the group were met with forces by security elements in a move to declare symbolic independence. Deaths were reported, scores were injured and hundreds others arrested in raids.

An ensuing guerilla style of attacks on security forces – police, soldiers, gendarmes, led President Paul Biya to declare war on the group. Reprisal attacks have led to thousands fleeing the region into the forest and into Nigeria.

The United Nations and Cross River State of Nigeria continue to receive thousands of people streaming into communities. The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, says the numbers continue to increase.

Source: Africa News