Headline News

12, June 2017

Congo Kinshasa: Gunmen raid prison, 900 escape, 11 die in exchange of fire ⁰

Eleven people were killed and more than 900 inmates escaped Sunday after unidentified assailants attacked a jail in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s restive east, an official said. “The Kangwayi prison in Beni was attacked at 3:30 pm (1330 GMT) by assailants whose identity is not yet known,” Julien Paluku, the governor of North Kivu Province, told reporters.

“In the exchange of fire between security forces and the attackers, authorities have (counted) 11 dead including eight members of the security forces,” Paluku said, adding, “For the moment, out of 966 prisoners, there are only 30 left in the prison.” Paluku said the Beni area and the neighboring town of Butembo had been put under curfew from 6:30 pm. “Only police officers and soldiers should be out from this time,” he said.

The attack came a day after the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attacked a police station and a prosecutor’s office in the capital, Kinshasa, killing a police officer and seriously injuring four others after a series of similar strikes over the past three weeks. It also comes after two jailbreaks in the vast, unstable central African nation in the past month.

The violence has erupted as the Democratic Republic of the Congo is mired in a deep political crisis tied to President Joseph Kabila’s hold on power. Tension has been mounting across the vast mineral-rich nation of 71 million people since December last year, when Kabila’s second and final term officially ended.

Under a power-sharing agreement brokered by the influential Catholic Church on New Year’s Eve, Kabila is due to remain in office until elections at the end of 2017. However, Kabila earlier this month seemed to back away from the deal to hold a vote this year.

“I have not promised anything at all,” he told the German weekly Der Spiegel in a rare media interview. “I wish to organize elections as soon as possible.”

(Source: AFP)

11, June 2017

Yaounde CPDM man arrested for selling the same piece of land to three different people ⁰

The Yaoundé judicial police arrested a Francophone CPDM man for selling the same piece of land to three different people. The police said Ngono Antione, 50, was charged with two counts of felony theft by fraud and one count of a misdemeanor probation violation.

Ngono Antoine of Akak, a town in the district of Soa, Mefou-et-Afamba Division was accused by three persons including his brother-in-law for collecting millions of FCFA via fictitious sale agreements on a plot estimated at about 1,000 square meters.

The first buyer paid for the land in 2012 but decided to start construction some 5 years after purchase only to find a house already built and inhabited by a family, whose members informed him that they had acquired the land from Ngono Antoine. The first purchaser then decided to complain to the traditional ruler. An investigation was conducted and it revealed that there was a third buyer, who lives in France.

The judicial police in Yaoundé detained the seller who was later transferred to Kondengui prison. Police say they want to fight the phenomenon of resale of the same plot of land to several different individuals.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon Concord News

11, June 2017

Eight refugees drown as boat sinks off Libya’s coast ⁰

At least eight refugees have drowned when their Europe-bound boat sank off Libya’s coast, a coastguard official says. The eight bodies were on an inflatable craft that can carry up to 120 passengers, said Colonel Fathi al-Rayani, head of the coastguard in Garabulli, 60 kilometers east of Tripoli.

He estimated that “at least 100” refugees were missing. The boat was spotted deflated off Garabulli, and the coastguard found the bodies inside, AFP reported. Conflict-ravaged Libya has long been a stepping stone for refugees seeking a better life in Europe.

The UN says around 61,250 refugees have reached Italy since the start of the year after crossing the Mediterranean, while 1,778 more are dead or missing. The Italian coastguard has said that more than 900 refugees were rescued off Libya on Thursday and Friday.

Libyan navy spokesman, General Ayoub Qassem, meanwhile told AFP that coastguards patrolling off Zawiya west of Tripoli on Friday intercepted five inflatables and two wooden boats with more than 570 refugees on board.

He said the boats were being escorted by five Libyans on a jet ski and two outboards, and that three of the men were apprehended. “The migrants are Africans, Bangladeshis, Egyptians, Moroccans … and were delivered to the detention center in Zawia,” Qassem said.

Intercepted or rescued refugees are often held in detention centers before being repatriated. People traffickers have exploited the chaos in Libya since the 2011 uprising deposed and killed former dictator Muammar Ghaddafi to boost their lucrative but deadly trade.

(Source: AFP)

11, June 2017

French Cameroun Football: Aboubakar wins with early goal against Morocco ⁰

The Indomitable Lions recorded a successful start in their campaign for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nation to be hosted in Cameroon. The lads dominated a solid Moroccan side on Saturday at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaoundé but scored just a goal.

The only goal of the game was scored by striker Vincent Aboubakar, in the 28th minute of play, wonderfully served after a destabilization of the Moroccan defense. Throughout the game, the Cameroonians showed a physical freshness already demonstrated at the last African cup of Nation 2017 in Gabon.

However, some bad news tarnished the victory. Defender Oyongo Bitolo was seriously injured and he left the match at the 17th minute. Cameroon Concord News sources say he will be unavailable for 7 months.

By Sonne Peter

Cameroon Concord News

10, June 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Senate President calls for dialogue ⁰

The June 2017 ordinary session for the legislative year opened on Thursday 8th June 2017 in Yaoundé with a call for the consolidation of national unity. During the official opening at the Upper House of Parliament, the Senate President Marcel Niat Njifentji read from the similar script prepared by the Biya regime that Cameroon remains one and indivisible and any move against national Unity must be denounced.

He praised Senators for going back to their respective constituencies during the recess period. In like manner, he praised all defense groups that have been combating the terrorist group Boko Haram in the Far North Region.

He also called for the spirit of dialogue tolerance, and conviviality throughout this session of parliament. Discussing the crisis in the two Anglophone Regions all were agreed that only dialogue and newly created Commission for the promotion of Bilingualism and multi- culturalism can be the solution.

Present during the opening session of parliament at the Upper House, were cabinet members led by PM Philemon Yang, President of the National Assembly Honourable Cavaye Yeguie Djibril and the Chief Judge of the Supreme Court Mekobe Sone.

Source: Presstv

10, June 2017

Election results to throw UK into political chaos ⁰

Final results of the UK general election indicate that the Conservative Party of British Prime Minister Theresa May has been delivered a heavy blow by the people as she failed to secure majority seats in the parliament. Press TV interviewed Robert Evans, a former member of the European Parliament from London, and Ian Williams, an expert of the Foreign Policy in Focus from New York, on Britain’s political outlook following the shock vote.

Evans predicts that Britain would experience “complete and utter political chaos” in the next few months as the general elections ended in a hung parliament, where the Conservatives won 318 seats, short of the 326 they needed for an outright majority and well down from the 330 seats they had before.

The Conservatives would criticize the prime minister for such a “poor campaign” that ended up in losing 13 seats in the Parliament, he added.

The commentator also warned that Britain is facing turmoil because the Tories have failed to secure a stable transition period ahead of Brexit talks.

“We are in not quite a political stalemate, but we are in a situation of turmoil just when the Conservative said they wanted stability because of the Brexit debates and Brexit arguments,” he added.

He further pointed to Theresa May’s unsuccessful campaign that paved the way for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party to clinch 261 seats in the parliament.

“This result is a big surprise for many people because we have been told repeatedly by the opinion polls that something different was going to happen,” Evans noted.

British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May makes a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central London on June 9, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

May “thought when she called the election very arrogantly that she was going to get a big vote of confidence but in fact the British people have spoken and they said they don’t like what is going on, they didn’t like the manifest that the Conservatives put forward,” he argued.

The former member of the European Parliament blamed the premier for her party’s defeat in the snap election.

“Theresa May refused to debate, she refused to talk with the ordinary people in the election” and “she has paid the price for that,” the analyst added.

Another panelist, Williams, said that Theresa May made a mistake when she called for a snap election because the prime minister had a wrong expectation about winning the election.

May could not get a majority in the parliament, because she had US President Donald “Trump’s politics” and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s “demeanor,” which is a fatal combination, the analyst elaborated.

He also forecast “a very precarious future” for the United Kingdom and for Theresa May, who needs to form a coalition government, while “almost all of other parties in the parliament are opposed to the Tory policy of austerity and cuts in spending and welfare.”

This is a clear mandate from the British public against conservative and neo-liberal austerity policies, Williams concluded.

Culled from Presstv

10, June 2017

Anglophone Problem: Testing the wrong waters ⁰

After more than seven months, the unfortunate political situation playing out in Cameroon has not known any significant changes, despite many promises by the government aimed at appeasing the rebelling Anglophone minority. Over the last months, other events capable of overshadowing the Anglophone crisis have occurred, but through careful planning and effective communication, Anglophones have ensured that their problem stays on the front burner. They have continued to use all means available to them to ensure the world does not forget that a linguistic minority is being marginalized and mistreated in Cameroon. With the Anglophone Diaspora’s help, Cameroon has been put in the global spotlight, unfortunately for the wrong reasons. The Anglophone problem remains a pain in the government’s side. It has given it a bad name, placing it among the most dangerous human rights abusers. The United Nations, the Vatican and other partners of the country have all called on the country’s leaders to find long-lasting solutions to this problem that might throw the entire sub-region into an unprecedented turmoil, if not well-managed.

To brush up its image, the government has already made many concessions. Its to-do list is incredibly long. The promises have come from all sectors and today, every Francophone official in Cameroon is doing his best to speak English in a bid to placate Anglophones who feel cheated and abused by both the government and ordinary Francophones. However, for many Anglophones, government promises are not worth their weight in gold. They are more cosmetic than real. The government is used to speaking from both sides of its mouth and going to it for solutions is like looking for love in all the wrong places. Anglophones are still very mad at the government and they hold that it must release their leaders and display a lot of good faith for any meaningful discussions to take place. They argue that, having suffered for fifty-six years due to the government’s policy to marginalize them, the aging government must take concrete actions to convince Anglophones that it is serious with the whole notion of national unity.

Anglophones are also pointing to the continuous arrest of their fellow brothers and the detention of their leaders as evidence that the government is not repentant about the destruction and pain it has caused the people of the North West and South West regions. They argue that as long as Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor-Balla, Dr. Fontem Neba and Mr. Mancho Bibixy remain in detention, there will never be peace in Cameroon. It should be pointed out that more than 100 Anglophones are still being held in jails across the country and many had been killed at the height of the crisis, while some have died due to harsh detention conditions. The pain and suffering this situation has caused Anglophones and the gimmicks the government is playing are simply causing the crisis to linger.

Over the last couple of months, the trial of Anglophone leaders has been going on, with no end in sight. Anglophones expect the government to release their leaders so that real and genuine discussions can take place. The pain of marginalization and the killing of fellow Anglophones have left the North West and South West regions in pain. Schools have remained closed since October 2016, though the government gives the impression that things are well on track. Courts have remained closed across the entire Anglophone region for more than seven months following the beating of striking lawyers and the arrest of Barrister Agbor-Balla who is now a symbol of the struggle.

The government has been up to its old antics, believing that time will be its ally in this fight. It strongly believes that by continuously adjourning the case against Anglophone leaders, it will win the war of nerves it is waging against Anglophones. It erroneously holds that with time, Anglophones will simply forget about their leaders who are in jail and life will return to the ‘old normal’.

From every indication, the government appears not to have a full understanding of the issues and the current economic and political contexts. It holds that poverty will bring striking Anglophones to their knees. The current crisis has changed Cameroon forever. Anglophones are no longer scared of a regime that has brought untold hardship to its own people. Time and technology are on their side. Communication has become cheaper and easier, thanks to ICTs. Information can easily be shared and mobilization has become a lot easier. Over the last thirty years, the government has done a lot to impoverish Anglophones, but this has now changed following the advent of ICTs. ICTs are enabling many Anglophones to seek online opportunities. They understand that ridding themselves of a patronizing government is the best path to tread. With globalization, driven by ICTs, Anglophones are seeking opportunities abroad while still living in their country. Many Anglophones are working online and earning incomes while still fighting for better living conditions at home. The Anglophone Diaspora is shoring up their efforts and this is helping the population to stay the course. The people are determined to change Cameroon in a big and positive way and no government gimmicks will diminish their hunger for a better country.

The government appears to be testing the waters, but these waters are the wrong ones, as they are full of violent and merciless crocodiles. Anglophones are carefully watching the government and a false step on its part will surely put the country on the path to self-ruination. Five decades of hardship have hardened Anglophones and the appetite for secession is growing by the day as the government fails to start discussions on the country’s political future. Anglophones are impatiently waiting for their leaders to be released. The wait is too long and it is giving way to disappointment as the military tribunal in Yaounde keeps on delaying the sentencing of Anglophone leaders who, from every indication, are in good spirit.

Anglophones are really running out of patience. The more the wait protracts, the more radicalized they become. In many parts of the North West and South West Regions, Anglophones are challenging government authorities. Recently in Bamenda, some students who dared to go to examination centres to write the General Certificate of Education (GCE) exams,met with an unfortunate fate. They were amputated by some masked men. With government authority waning in many parts of the Anglophone region, many cloak-and-dagger organizations have sprung up and anybody caught violating the people’s laws gets dealt with in a manner that is far from being pleasant.

Anglophones have made up their minds. They are walking away from the status quo ante and they seriously think the future of their country must be different, not just in terms of opportunities, but also in terms of leaders. Current leaders are old and sick and have lost the will to bring prosperity and dignity to their people.

The Anglophone Diaspora, for its part, is still at work. This time around, it is out of the government’s radar. With many groups emerging as a result of the crisis, the situation is becoming more complicated. The Anglophone Diaspora has a huge war chest and it is ready to participate in the country’s future development. It should be recalled that due to a well-orchestrated government marginalization policy, more than two million Anglophones are, today, living out of Cameroon, with many of them residing in Nigeria, South Africa, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The Diaspora has the wherewithal and with its encyclopedic mind, it is capable of lending a helping and useful hand to development efforts in the country. Most Anglophone engineers, translators, interpreters, lawyers, medical doctors and nurses are living out of their native land. These men and women are happy to serve their country, but bad politics and poor governance have seen them off to distant lands where cold and loneliness are blighting their lives. The Diaspora is behind efforts by Anglophones to change the political equation in Cameroon. It is determined to bring about a new country that will be based on justice, fairness, human rights and the rule of law.

While the government dilly-dallies in starting discussions on the form of the state, the Anglophone Diaspora is, for its part, forming many groups to ensure that the government fights a war on many fronts. While diplomacy is considered the option of choice, there are also efforts at using other methods to mount incredible pressure on a crumbling government that has no emotional attachment to its own people. Many of these groups are calling for the total independence of Southern Cameroons, while a few still hold that federalism could make Cameroon a better place than the one in which they grew up. But there are a few groups that are still spitting fire, arguing that if Anglophone leaders get convicted for crimes they have not committed, then the government has opted for total chaos. Fund-raising efforts in many USA cities are now focused on organizing a liberation struggle, with SCNC championing the cause. SCNC argues that the government of Cameroon cannot be trusted and that only a total liberation struggle in Cameroon will give Anglophones the independence they need.

However, many moderates still want to give the government a second chance. They hold that federalism could address many issues raised by Anglophones. They point to Canada which has the same linguistic problem, adding that while federalism may not be a panacea, it will however go a long way in creating harmony and peace in the country. The moderates, however,posit that if Cameroon has to avert the specter of war, then it should be looking at Canadian-style democracy which has made Canada one of the best countries in the world. Canada is not only a bilingual country, it is a country that has become the envy of the entire world with many people from across the globe heading there to give their children the opportunity to grow up in peace. They want their children to enjoy the economic and financial prosperity that has become Canada’s hallmark.

While the world is expecting Cameroonians to work out their differences around a negotiating table, the government is quietly pursuing its own agenda. Though it disagreed with the demands initially made by Anglophone teachers and lawyers, it is now implementing some of the changes called for by those in jail in a bid to defuse the unfortunate situation that has lasted for more than seven months. It has begun implementing some of those measures, though its efforts are still not dousing the fire in many Anglophone minds. The National School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM) will soon be welcoming some 80 Anglophones– an Anglophone is a descendant of somebody born in Former Southern Cameroons – who will be trained and sent to the Anglophone region to attend to their people so as to put an end to the arrogance Anglophones have been accusing Francophone Cameroonians of.

A few days ago, the government posted Anglophone judges and magistrates to the entire Anglophone region and this has been hailed by many moderates who think such measures could help reduce tensions. However, the road ahead is still very long. The Common Law section at the Supreme Court is still a promise just like the appointment of Anglophones to key government positions. Anglophones are sick and tired of being considered as second-class citizens. They want the injustice to be addressed and this should be done within a broad-based forum on the country’s future where oil and other resources must feature on the agenda.

The world is watching Cameroon. The once-upon-a-time oasis of peace has become a land of chaos. The Anglophone minority is hell-bent on changing the country. It wants a federal structure that will preserve the Anglophone culture and guarantee the rights of the people. Its determination has put the Francophone majority to shame. Anglophones are prepared to walk away from Cameroon if the government does not change its views on the form of the state. After fifty-six years of marginalization, the country’s English-speaking minority thinks it is time to right the wrongs of the past. They want this to be achieved through dialogue, but the government is not yet prepared to yield a lot of ground. Having played God for five decades, the Yaounde government is yet to come to terms with the political changes Anglophones are calling for. But time is of the essence. The government has to realize that times have changed and the authority it used to wield over its people is gone for good. The Anglophone Diaspora has successfully injected itself into the political equation and it is time to recognize it or it will spend a huge amount of time plotting schemes that will destabilize the country for a long time. There is no point testing the wrong waters. Anglophone leaders should be released for Cameroon to know some peace. Cameroon will be a united and indivisible country if dialogue is given a chance. Sticking to old ways will not help anybody. Everybody needs peace and only dialogue can bring peace to a country.

By Dr. Joachim Arrey

Contributing Editor, Cameroon Concord News Group

About the Author: The author of this piece is a keen observer of Cameroon’s political and economic landscape. He has published extensively on the country’s political and economic development, especially in the early 90s when the wind of change was blowing across the African continent. He has served as a translator, technical writer, journalist and editor for several international organizations and corporations across the globe. He studied communication at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom and technical writing in George Brown College in Toronto, Canada. He is also a trained translator and holds a Ph.D.

9, June 2017

There are reasons why Musonge loves Biya ⁰

The Chairman of the so-called National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism, Senator Mafany Musonge was recently seen at the Palais des Congrès participating in the Senate’s plenary session. Prior to the beginning of the session, Mafany Musonge had numerous exchanges with many of his senator colleagues including Marcel Niat Njifenji, the president of the Upper House.

The former prime minister and head of government took part in the opening of the second parliamentary session of the legislative year 2017 after his appointment as president of the CPDM commission on bilingualism and multiculturalism on Wednesday the 15^th of March 2017. Any right thinking Anglophone trained in the US or UK should have stepped down from his duties as a senator.

To be sure, on March 21, 2017, he was replaced at the head of the CPDM parliamentary group in the Senate by Chief Barrister Tabe Tando who was elected with him from the South West constituency. Musonge’s deputy, Gabriel Dima, was then presented to the House as the man who has taken over from Musonge in the Upper House of Parliament.

Article 22 (1) of the Rules of the Senate stipulates that the exercise of the Senator’s mandate is incompatible with the functions of a member of the Government, member of the Constitutional Council, member of the Economic and Social Council, Mayor, Government Delegate to an urban Council and to any non-elective public office. This provision is supplemented by Article 162 of the Electoral Code.

Former Prime Minister Peter Mafany Musonge (to use his three names) loves the Francophone political system that encourages malpractices such as “Depute-Maire” in order words MP and Mayor at the same time. Musonge is the current Grand Chancellor of National Orders, President of the South West CPDM Group, South West CPDM Senator, Board member of numerous state-owned corporations, member of the ruling CPDM Central Committee- just to name a few

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon Concord News Group

9, June 2017

Southern Cameroon nationalism spreading as Spain’s Catalonia declares date for independence vote ⁰

Catalonia will hold a referendum on splitting from Spain on Oct. 1-a similar date earlier chosen by the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium. The head of the region confirmed the news on Friday, setting the stage for months of confrontation with the central government which says such a vote is illegal and must not take place.

Previous secessionist challenges in Catalonia – a populous wealthy region whose capital is Barcelona and which has its own language – were blocked by Spain’s conservative government and the Constitutional Court. “The question will be: ‘Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic’,” Carles Puigdemont, president of the government of Catalonia, said.

He said attempts to agree a date and the wording of the question with the Madrid government – which is vehemently opposed to allowing Catalonia to split from Spain – failed and left him with no other choice than moving unilaterally. “We have always made very diverse offers and all of them have been rejected without any exception,” Puigdemont said.

Pro-independence campaigners staged a symbolic ballot, organized by volunteers rather than government officials to get around court restrictions, in 2014, months after Scots voted to stay in the United Kingdom.

Some 2 million people voted in favor of secession in that non-binding ballot, though turnaround was relatively low. It is not clear how far the legal wrangling may go this time as the Catalan regional government has said it would throw all its weight behind the vote.

Under Article 155 of Spain’s constitution, Madrid has the power to intervene directly in the running of Catalonia’s regional government, forcing it to drop the vote.

This could involve sending in the police or suspending the regional government’s authority to rule. This is widely seen as a last resort move, however, and many analysts believe the clash will instead culminate in regional elections in Catalonia.

(Source: Reuters)

9, June 2017

Francophone medics announce TOTAL SHUTDOWN as doctors strike enter third phase ⁰

The Cameroon Medical Doctors Trade Union (Symec) has again announced a general strike action in all public hospitals from June 12, 2017. Symec says the strike is part of the third phase of their action, despite the numerous stonewalls erected by the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government.

Cameroon doctors have made public four major demands which include the establishment of basic health insurance with universal coverage; Wage increases for physicians in the public sector, suspension of non-salary physician assignments, and an increase in the retirement age of physicians between the ages of 55 and 65.

The Francophone Minister of Public Health, tried to break the actions of the doctors by assigning in the remote areas, the leaders of the union, whose calls to strike are very closely monitored by the vicious regime in Yaoundé.

By Sonne Peter

Cameroon Concord News