Headline News

23, November 2017

How did Robert Mugabe win the last election convincingly? ⁰

The multitudes turned up yesterday in great numbers in Harare to pay adoration to the man taking over as President of Zimbabwe from Robert Mugabe, Emerson Mnangagwa. After 37 years under a brutal despot, the people of Zimbabwe, can be forgiven for their colourful celebrations following the end of a bitter era.

From the happenings of the last week, one can only conclude that Robert Mugabe had virtually no support in his country. After the generals put him under house arrest over nine days ago, nearly all the MPs and rank and file of his own party, the Zanu-PF voiced their discontent with him and his failed policies. Even the influential war veterans spoke out vociferously against their comrade.

One question that comes to mind repeatedly over the last few days is how he managed to win the last elections so convincingly? In the the last election in 2013, Mugabe won 61% of the vote. That was a landslide victory. His Zanu-PF party also won 160 of the 210 seats in the national assembly. An astonishing result. In fact it is laughable that whilst western election observers were not allowed in the country, African Union had monitors in place during the last election and they said ‘‘the election could have been handled better, but that initial reports indicated a fair election had occurred’’.

Mugabe was his party’s candidate for next year’s general election in which he was expected to carry another landslide victory. These facts are beyond belief but true. How can a man who won elections so convincingly only four years ago and was expected to carry another landslide next year be so unpopular in such a short period of time? He made one grave error of judgement, sacking his vice president. Had he not done that trying to pave the way for his wife to succeed him, he still would have been president today.

The fact is that a sizeable majority of these ZANU-PF MPs, war veterans and party militants not forgetting the president-in-waiting were accomplices in Mugabe’s election rigging machinery. Why were they involved in such large scale deception and hence co-conspirators in ruining their country?

It’s unbelievable that until the generals stepped in last week with the world’s first ever coup-that-wasn’t-a-coup, on the surface Mugabe exerted great power and control. His notorious wife, Gucci Grace also wielded influence and openly and shamelessly conversed her ambitions to succeed her husband and all appeared normal.

This might be an eye-opener that in many countries, where the ruling party, clans and elites appear happy in public with their leader, it does teach us that they might be hiding a deep sense of melancholy underneath and will happily take the opportunity to kick them out when need arises.

By Asu Ashu Isong, London

23, November 2017

France calls UN Security Council meeting over Libya slavery ⁰

France today called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over slave-trading in Libya as President Emmanuel Macron blasted the auctioning of Africans as a crime against humanity. “France decided this morning to ask for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss this issue,” Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told parliament.

“We are doing it as a permanent member of the Security Council. We have this capability and we are using it.” Macron said the auctions, captured on film in footage aired by US network CNN, were “scandalous” and “unacceptable”.

“It is a crime against humanity,” he said after meeting with African Union chief Alpha Conde. “I hope we can go much further in the fight against traffickers who commit such crimes, and cooperate with all the countries in the network to dismantle these networks.” CNN aired footage last week of an apparent auction where black men were presented to North African buyers as potential farmhands and sold off for as little as $400.

But the European Union — which is increasingly influenced by the French president — has also been criticised for cooperating with the Libyan coastguard to prevent migrants crossing the Mediterranean. UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein accused the international community of turning a “blind eye to the unimaginable horrors endured by migrants in Libya” and called the EU’s policy “inhuman.” AFP spoke to a number of black African men in Cameroon this week who also reported being slaves in Libya, which has descended into civil war since the Western-backed overthrow of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

“It was total hell,” said Maxime Ndong, one of 250 migrants who arrived in Cameroon on Tuesday night on a plane chartered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to take people home. “There is a trade in black people there. People who want slaves… come to buy them,” he told AFP. “If you resist, they shoot at you. There have been deaths,” added Ndong, who spent eight months in Libya.

Another migrant, 22-year-old Sanogo, said he had been caught by people who said they were police before being sold to a slave trader. He was then forced to work on a tomato farm. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed horror at the footage on Monday, saying the auctions should be investigated as possible crimes against humanity. African music and football stars have expressed outrage at the revelations, including Ivorian reggae singers Alpha Blondy and Tiken Jah Fakoly, as well as footballer Didier Drogba.

Source: Indian Express

22, November 2017

Cameroonian refugees, Others sold into slavery in Libya ⁰

Survivors of slave auctions in Libya have described a “total hell” that they wouldn’t wish on their “worst enemy” as global outrage grows over footage showing refugees being sold off in the war-torn country.

“We were slaves,” said Moussa Sanogo, a refugee who flew back to Ivory Coast from Libya this week after surviving regular beatings and forced labor in the fields.

“For the Arabs (Libyan jailers), black-skinned men are nothing but animals — animals were treated better,” said Sanogo, who spent more than four months in Libya trying to get to Italy by boat.

The North African country has long been a major transit hub for refugees trying to reach Europe.

He was just one of those who returned home with stories similar to those aired last week by US TV network CNN, which showed an apparent slave auction where black men were presented to North African buyers as potential farmhands and sold off for as little as $400 (340 euros).

“It was total hell in Libya,” said Maxime Ndong, one of 250 refugees flown back to Cameroon on Tuesday night.

The Cameroonians flew back to Yaounde on Tuesday aboard a plane charted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as part of a project to return and reintegrate some 850 people.

The United Nations said the slavery auctions should be investigated as possible crimes against humanity, and the issue will be on agenda at an African Union-EU summit on November 29 to 30 in Abidjan.

(Source: AFP)

22, November 2017

1700 Cameroonians identified in Libya, Biya won’t talk ⁰

250 Cameroonian migrants arrived the Yaoundé Nsimalen international airport on Tuesday night from Algeria. Their repatriation was made possible by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM). IOM has also revealed that 1700 Cameroonians have been identified in Libya.

According to the testimonials provided by these many young Cameroonians who had chosen to reach Europe via Niger, Algeria and Libya, they were treated like cattle. Many were for the most part employed in the plantations including the building and construction industry.

The women were forced into prostitution and several cases of pregnancy have been reported among the repatriated girls. Each Cameroonian migrant received 65,000 FCFA (100 Euros).

By Rita Akana, CCN

22, November 2017

US military aircraft with 11 on board crashes in Philippine Sea ⁰

A US Navy aircraft with 11 people on board has crashed into the Philippine Sea while en route to an aircraft carrier, the military said in a statement.

“A United States Navy aircraft carrying 11 crew and passengers crashed into the ocean southeast of Okinawa,” a statement said on Wednesday.

“Personnel recovery is under way and their condition will be evaluated by USS Ronald Reagan medical staff.”

This is the latest accident to hit the US armed forces in East Asia.

22, November 2017

In Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, we see the star of the Ambazonia revolution shining ⁰

Over the last thirty-six years, Paul Biya Bi Mvondo, the blood thirsty leader of French Cameroun has pursued the colonial and annexationist agenda of his predecessor Babatoura Ahmadou Ahidjo over the Southern Cameroons with brutal and cruel arrogance. Southern Cameroonians have endued fifty-six years of French Cameroun’s colonial rule of terror with revolting indignation in the hope that the international community would come to our rescue.

Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of petitions filed by Southern Cameroonians to the United Nations, the African Union and international organizations established to protect and promote the liberating ethos of freedom and respect for international law received only timid acknowledgement. The bureaucratic shield surrounding the United Nations system and the corrupting influence of French Cameroun using the wealth obtained from looting the natural and mineral resources of the Southern Cameroons guaranteed French Cameroun the impunity to prosecute its policy of oppression and criminality over the Southern Cameroons. Considering French Cameroun and himself insulated from scrutiny over the brutality of French Cameroun’s colonial policies in the annexed territory of the Southern Cameroons, the leaders of French Cameroun ignored all entreaties and appeals to dialogue with the leaders and peoples of the Southern Cameroons to find a lasting solution to longstanding issues.

The time has come for all the leaders of the various liberation movements of the Southern Cameroons to join the revolutionary train set on the rails by our people back home in the Southern Cameroons to support the interim government established at the just ended conclave in Kaduna, Nigeria to kick French Cameroun’s out of our territory. This support is critical because the only language that will get the UN and the international community out of slumber to right the consequences its misfeasance in our territory is that of a united targeted field action. The time for that action is now.

At the threshold of the ongoing irreversible popular revolution in the Southern Cameroons, Paul Biya Bi Nvondo the sanguinary vampiric emperor of French Cameroun paid two visits to Abuja in one month. He met with His Excellency President Mohammandu Buhari. Nothing but the Southern Cameroons revolution could have compelled this aging dictator to make the unprecedented visits to Aso Rock considering his legendary record of ignoring Africa. He hoped that he could persuade the Nigerian President through diplomatic means and may be corruption which is his hallmark, to deport hundreds of thousands Southern Cameroonians and their leaders who over the years, sought refuge in Nigeria.Among these Southern Cameroonians future prominently, SesekuAyuk, the humble but determined pillar of the Southern Cameroons revolution.

Those who know the President of French Cameroun, his missions to Nigeria portrayed his tacit acknowledgement at long last, that the much-anticipated David of the Southern Cameroons struggle had emerged in Nigeria to confront the Goliath of French Cameroun brutal annexation of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

The dispatch of French Cameroun’s Minister of Territorial Administration Rene Sadi to Nigeria where he was received by the Vice President of the Federation His Excellency Professor Yemi Osibanjo a few weeks ago carried further symbolic weight. This visit is a testament to the fearful impact on the colonial regime of the outcome of the conclave of the Southern Cameroons that took place in Kaduna, Nigeria. Far reaching decisions were taken in that conclave regarding the road map for the actualization of the liberation of the Southern Cameroons. This road map is premised on the threshold of the Southern Cameroons independence and freedom pact that was sealed on October 1, 2017 with the blood of hundreds of thousands of our citizens.

These desperate actions by the criminal regime in French Cameroun underscore the significance of Nigeria in our liberation struggle. The presence in Nigeria of our interim leader and hundreds of thousands of Southern Cameroonians are key advantages that we have in our wining strategy. This is one compelling reason why we must support our interim leader and the interim institutions of governance established at the conclave for the actualization of our freedom.

Currently, there are officially over forty thousand Southern Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria. These are but conservative figures because over the last fifty-six years, hundreds of thousands of Southern Cameroonians sought refuge in Nigeria fleeing from the brutality of the annexation of our territory. They did not fold their hands and resigned themselves to fate. They have been active in our struggle in many ways. They, for example, are significant participants in the grass roads revolution that has reclaimed our independence and are actively defending it at the colossal costs of blood and limb.

Nigeria is of great importance to our cause not just because the Federation has offered our people and leaders the protections and support afforded in international law to victims of war crimes and international criminality. Nigeria is and was and will always be a key player in the defense of our liberty, freedom and independence. The Southern Cameroons has some enduring historic ties with Nigeria. The ethnic,nationality and cultural identity that the Southern Cameroons shares with Nigeria from the Niger Delta, Bakassi, Cross River, Ogoja through to Mubi in the North are indelible factors that must be seriously weighed and acknowledged. The presence of our leadership and hundreds of thousands of our people in Nigeria, and millions more directly concerned with the ethnic and nationality component in this struggle, calls for urgent attention. It is in our best interest to support a leadership that realises this reality and has the capacity to mobilize it for our common good.

Nigeria is the natural environment where our people will and have always sought refuge in time of need. Our interim Head of State Seseku Ayuk Tabe was in Cross River State of Nigeria to visit and support our people. Our diaspora has been blackmailed by some collaborators of the colonial rule making Nigeria the natural ideal environment where they will sooner or later meet and commune with their families. For example, over the past few days, one Benard Foju, a disgraced CPDM MP for Lebialem accused the Lebialem diaspora of brainwashing Lebialem youths and providing them drugs to torch his house and to resist colonial rule. This conduct which is not isolated, was intended to mobilize the enemy forces of oppression to target members of the diaspora, making Nigeria the natural environment for many to establish contact with their families back home. There is therefore good reason for us to support the interim government whose base in Nigeria offers the best hope yet to liaise with all Southern Cameroons organizations to prosecute the urgent realization of our peoples’ freedom.

We are conscious that there are many Southern Cameroons organizations and individuals out there agitating for leadership or to present alternative leadership of our struggle. It is possible for them to make meaningful contributions towards the realization of our cause without tacitly helping our adversary French Cameroun in dislodging us from Nigeria and depriving us of a natural environment for the realization of our liberation. This perforce must lead to the vacation of our territory by the occupation forces of French Cameroun. Those who are attacking the interim President and the interim government are missing the target and in ignorance advancing the objectives of our enemy. They should spare the invectives in them and direct them towards French Cameroon. The Southern Cameroons needs a leader who is humble, matured, composed, resolute, determined and focused.

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe has demonstrated that he can reach out to front line leaders and all Southern Cameroonians. The postings by some leaders disclosing the subjects of their communication portray him as a steady leader who reaches out to Southern Cameroonians in the hope of building a consensus and grand coalition for the realisation of our objectives. This is what the leader of a revolutionary struggle must be. He has demonstrated that he can accept criticism and wise counsel in all humility. He is approachable, and available. We salute his endurance, steadfastness, vision and focus. He has depersonalised the leadership of the struggle. This is an attribute we sought many years ago. He is at the very heart of every man, woman and child in the Southern Cameroons. We strongly call on all the leaders of the various organizations in the Federation of Ambazonia to work with the interim government to confront our common enemy. There is a place and role for everyone in this struggle. Let us support Sisiku Ayuk Tabe who so far has led us this far. In him, we see the star of the Ambazonia revolution shining.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Editor-in-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

22, November 2017

US: Trump backs Moore despite sexual misconduct allegations ⁰

US President Donald Trump has voiced support for embattled Roy Moore, the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama, despite mounting allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said he did not want to see the victory of the Democratic opponent of Moore, who has resisted growing calls to step aside.

Moore, who has been accused of sexually abusing and pursuing teenage girls, is facing off against Democratic Doug Jones in a high-stakes special election in Alabama.

“He totally denies it,” Trump said of 70-year-old Moore when asked about whether electing “a child molester” was better than electing a Democrat in the Alabama race.

“He says it didn’t happen,” said the president, noting “You have to listen to him, also.”

“We don’t need a liberal person in there, a Democrat, Jones,” Trump said. “I’ve looked at his record. It’s terrible on crime. It’s terrible on the border. It’s terrible on the military.”

Trump shrugged off the accusations, saying the fact that those who have accused Moore did not come forward earlier put into question such complaints.

In response, Jones issued a statement, saying he “believes the women, and that the people of Alabama will hold Roy Moore accountable.”

Doug Jones meets with supporters and voters at a Mexican restaurant, November 20, 2017, in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by AFP)

Trump, who himself has been accused of sexual impropriety, also said that he was happy that women are now coming forward accusing lawmakers and media figures, many of whom Democrats, of sexual misconduct.

This comes as the United States is grappling with a growing list of sexual assault and harassment scandals that rocked the world of entertainment, business and politics.

Others involved in such scandals include Democratic Senator Al Franken, renowned actor Kevin Spacey as well as Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

Culled from Presstv

21, November 2017

Mugabe resigns bringing the curtain down on a 37-year reign ⁰

Robert Mugabe resigned as president of Zimbabwe on Tuesday, parliament speaker Jacob Mudenda announced, bringing the curtain down on a 37-year reign.

Mugabe was swept from power as his autocratic rule crumbled within days of a military takeover.

“I Robert Gabriel Mugabe in terms of section 96 of the constitution of Zimbabwe hereby formally tender my resignation… with immediate effect,” said speaker Mudenda, reading the letter.

The bombshell news was delivered to a special joint session of parliament.Lawmakers had convened to debate a motion to impeach Mugabe, who has dominated every aspect of Zimbabwean public life since independence in 1980.

It was greeted on the streets of the capital Harare with car horns and wild cheering. Zimbabwe’s Parliament has erupted in cheers as the speaker announces the resignation of President Robert Mugabe.

The speaker stopped impeachment proceedings to say they had received a letter from Mugabe with the resignation “with immediate effect”. It is an extraordinary end for the world’s oldest head of state after 37 years in power.

21, November 2017

Nigeria: Blast kills at least 50 at mosque ⁰

A bombing attack has killed at least 50 people at a mosque in northeastern Nigeria, police say.

Police said a teenage assailant detonated his explosives early Tuesday as people were arriving for morning prayers at the mosque in the town of Mubi in Nigeria’s Adamawa State.

“So far, we have at least 50 dead from an attack at a mosque in Mubi,” state police spokesman Othman Abubakar said Tuesday.

He added that Takfiri Boko Haram terrorists were responsible for the attack.

The Tuesday attack saw the highest loss of life since September, when 18 people were killed in a bombing attack in the nearby Borno State.

Abubakar said officials were “still trying to ascertain the number of injured because they are in various hospitals.”

More than 20,000 people have been killed since Boko Haram started its deadly campaign in northeast Nigeria in 2009. The violence has claimed many lives in neighboring countries of Chad, Niger, and Cameroon as well.

A large-scale government offensive has pushed the militants from key areas they used to control, although sporadic attacks have continued over the past months.

Source: Presstv

21, November 2017

Ambazonia: Interim Head of State says the Southern Cameroons revolution is not about groups or factions ⁰

The interim president of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, His Excellency Sisiku Ayuk Tabe will make public his first ever cabinet in the coming days, Cameroon Concord News has learned from reliable sources close to the leader.

In a press release issued on November 19, 2017, the interim head of state urged Southern Cameroonians to remain united despite the circumstances. President Ayuk Tabe reiterated that the Southern Cameroons revolution is not about groups or factions as was the case in the past.

The Sisiku revealed that revolutions do not succeed in the midst of disunity and indiscipline. “We must have a common goal, and unity in our actions.”

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe informed Ambazonians that work is almost complete on the formation of an interim government for Southern Cameroons. “It is not easy to choose fourteen individuals out of a population of nearly eight million people,” says the leader.

President Ayuk Tabe also pointed that the stage of activism in the Southern Cameroons struggle is over, “Now you have to go to the nation building phase.” He invited the different Ambazonian groups to unite for a common purpose; the restoration of Southern Cameroons.

The leader sounded a note of caution to some prominent figures in the struggle “All of us, as leaders, must choose to work together for the good of our people and our country (Ambazonia), otherwise we will be rejected by our people.” Sisiku Ayuk Tabe also noted that any leader who will work for his personal interest, will be excluded from the interim government.

By Sama Ernest, CCN