Headline News

1, February 2017

UK: Parliament begins debate on Brexit bill ⁰

UK lawmakers have gathered in Parliament to debate whether the British government can trigger Britain’s formal exit from the European Union. A bill authorizing UK Prime Minister Theresa May to invoke Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty starts its route through Parliament on Tuesday and is expected to pass overwhelmingly.

Although most lawmakers campaigned before the referendum to stay in the EU, most, including the leader of the opposition Labour Party, say they will vote to uphold the referendum’s result. Opening the debate, David Davis, secretary of state for exiting the EU, told parliamentarians they could not block the Brexit process.

The decision to leave the block is “a point of return already passed,” he said. “At the core of this bill lies a very simple question — do we trust the people or not?” Members of Parliament have been given until Wednesday to discuss the proposed legislation that would allow May to trigger the Brexit process.

The British government was forced to bring legislation to Parliament after the UK Supreme Court ruled it could not trigger Article 50 without approval from the Parliament. In a landmark referendum held on June 23, nearly 52 percent of British voters, amounting to more than 17 million citizens, opted to leave the EU, a decision that sent shock waves throughout the world.

Those in favor of a British withdrawal from the EU argued that outside the bloc, London would be better positioned to conduct its own trade negotiations, better able to control immigration and free from what they believe to be excessive EU regulations and bureaucracy.

Those in favor of remaining in the bloc believed that leaving it would risk the UK’s prosperity, diminish its influence over world affairs, and result in trade barriers between the UK and the EU. Retaining access to the single market has been one of the major worries for UK businesses ever since the referendum.

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1, February 2017

Two bomb attacks hit Nigeria ⁰

Two bomb attacks have hit separate locations in northern Nigeria in what officials believe were attempts by Boko Haram terrorist group to make up for its recent losses in the face of the Nigerian army. A civilian vigilante in Banki, near the Cameroon border in the northeastern state of Borno, said on Tuesday that an attack earlier in the day nearly rattled a camp of people displaced by Boko Haram violence.

Musa Ahmad, who works with the military against Boko Haram, said the attack was carried out by a 10-year-old girl about noon local time, adding that the minor was killed after she detonated her explosives near the camp for internally-displaced people.”She was asked to stop by soldiers. But she ignored them. They threatened to shoot her if she didn’t stop. She obeyed and she was asked to lift up her hijab,” said Ahmad, adding, “She did and explosives were found to be strapped on her. Suddenly she pulled on the trigger and exploded.”

The vigilante said the death of the girl was the sole casualty of the incident, adding that the attack bore the hallmarks of similar attacks by Boko Haram as the Takfiri group has repeatedly used minors and women to carry out assaults against civilians and security forces.

Ahmad said Boko Haram has been desperately seeking to make up for the losses it has suffered at the hands of the Nigerian army in the recent time. Earlier on Tuesday, at least two people, including the attacker, were killed in another act of terror, where the assailant targeted people performing morning prayers inside a mosque in Dalori, on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

Residents and authorities said the blast happened at about 5:30 a.m. and the attacker was trying to enter the mosque but a guard stopped him. “One of the worshippers, who was apparently on guard, grabbed him and the explosives went off, killing both of them. Worshippers were saved,” said a resident.

Nigeria has been at war with Boko Haram since the group started an insurgency in Borno state about eight years ago. Almost 15,000 people have been killed while the violence has displaced more than two million. Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to Daesh, another Takfiri terrorist group, which has been wreaking havoc in the Middle East and North Africa over the past few years.

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31, January 2017

Biya appoints Brigadier General Valere Nka as new head of the 4th Inter-Armed Military Legion ⁰

President Biya has reportedly appointed Brigadier General Valere Nka as head of the 4th Inter-Armed Military Region (RMIA). The decision was made public on Monday the 30^th of January 2017 in Yaounde, the nation’s capital.

Cameroon Concord News understands the decree gave the job to General Valère Nka par interim replacing General Jacob Kodji, who died on Sunday the 22nd of January in an helicopter crash in Madide, a village located about 9 km from Bogo, in the department of the Diamaré, Far North region.

Brigadier General NKA Valère, a native of Sa’a, in the Central Region, has more than thirty years of senior office in the Cameroonian army. General Nka has experience in the fight against terrorism, having served as second in command with the Joint Multinational Force (FMM) against the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

The former Defense Attaché to the High Commission of Cameroon in Nigeria was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General at the same time as Jacob Kodji, Frédéric Ndjonkep Meyomhy, Bouba Dobekreo, and Simon Ezo’o Mvondo.

By Rita Akana

31, January 2017

Morocco rejoins African Union after 33 years of absence ⁰

The African Union has readmitted Morocco into the bloc 33 years after its withdrawal over the still existing Western Sahara dispute. The majority of the AU member states voted for the re-admission of during the 28th summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Monday, leaving the issue of the disputed territory of Western Sahara for another day.

“Morocco is now a full member of the African Union. There was a very long debate but 39 of our 54 states approved the return of Morocco, even if the Western Sahara question remains,” Senegalese President Macky Sall told reporters. “As we have said, if the family grows bigger, we can find solutions as a family,” Macky Sall added.

Algeria and South Africa were among the heavyweights that opposed the re-admission of Morocco. The country withdrew from the AU in 1984, when the mineral-rich and sparsely populated Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), commonly known as Western Sahara, was accepted as a member. Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, in 1975. It maintains that Western Sahara is an integral part of the kingdom, but the international community has not recognized the annexation.

Western Sahara is home to the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement aiming to end Moroccan presence in the territory. In 1991, Moroccan forces and Sahrawi rebels agreed on a UN-brokered truce and a referendum to settle the status of Western Sahara. However, the vote has never taken place. Some had feared Morocco would set the expulsion of the SADR as a precondition for its own return to the AU.

“From the moment that Morocco did not impose conditions … we take their word for it and accept that Morocco be admitted to the African Union,” said SADR Foreign Minister Mohamed Salem Ould Salek. Salek said the re-admission of Morocco will help pressure the authorities into holding a referendum to “allow the Sahrawi to choose their future”.

“Now (if) Morocco is blocking (it) will be questioned by the head of states: why are you afraid of a referendum? Why don’t you allow the Sahrawi to choose their future freely?” he said. Morocco has for several years been trying to return to the body as it reportedly seeks to expand its economy. In July 2016, Moroccan King Mohammed VI officially announced plans to rejoin the African Union.

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31, January 2017

Consortium calls on Southern Cameroonians not to listen to Senator Musonge ²

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has appealed to West Cameroonians not to pay attention to Senator and former Prime Minister Peter Manfany Musonge. Consortium sources say the former Head of Government is under duress from the Biya Francophone regime. Musonge who is at the mercy of President Biya over the hundreds of millions he has in a Swiss bank account has summoned a meeting of the so-called South West political elites to counter the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium. Some of Musonge’s wealth was allegedly gained from bribes and the Mutengene timber accident.

The former Prime Minister and current Senator of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate attempted to sue the paper Nouvelle Expression following a publication sponsored by Biya’s agents that depicted him arriving in Switzerland with money pouring out of his brief case. Musonge’s reign as Prime Minister and Head of Government was accused of civil rights crackdowns, torture, and executions. A source deep within the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium was quoted as saying that Southern Cameroons will not asked Switzerland to recover the Musonge funds.

It is still unclear why the Senator decided to organized the meeting at this crucial moment in Southern Cameroons history. However, the interim leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium have sounded a note of caution to all Southern Cameroonians of the Buea Province to remain vigilant and not to listen to the generation that has caused the deaths of many West Cameroonians.

We got intelligence that a majority of Southern Cameroons CPDM political elites are under Secret Service surveillance and have been told to speak against federalism and secession or lose their ill gotten wealth. Swiss bank accounts are infamous for their privacy, security, and hiding wealth.

Swiss law made it a criminal offense to reveal a client’s identity in 1934, creating a huge tax haven. A leak from the global bank HSBC revealed Swiss accounts involved in blood diamond trading, cocaine smuggling and bribery. Some 41 Swiss banks signed amnesty agreements with the US Justice Department requiring them to disclose ways they helped customers hide assets in 2013.

Culled from Cameroon Intelligence Report

31, January 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Moderator Fonki Samuel Forba is moving the goalpost ⁴

Cameroon Tribune has reported a slight change of position by Moderator Fonki Samuel Forba of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon. The respected man of God was quoted as saying that the government should dialogue on what he stated as “points agreed between the State and teachers trade union leaders.” The leader of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC) appealed for reason from all stakeholders in the saga rocking the English subsystem of education, reported Cameroon Tribune.

The Right Rev Fonki Samuel’s appeal stressed the need for necessary measures for schools to effectively reopen and ghost town called off as a matter of urgency. Rev Fonki Samuel Forba also appealed to the conscience of all stakeholders to give children a chance to exercise their rights to education. The PCC moderator further issued a political statement for those detained in connection with crimes within this period to be tried in regions where they were arrested. On January 27th 2017, the leader of the PCC saluted the 83 year-old Cameroonian dictator’s creation of the so-called National Commission on Bilingualism and Multiculturalism as a vehicle to bring about national and social cohesion and to create a climate of mutual understanding and patriotism among Cameroonians.

Rt. Rev Fonki Samuel Forba also sounded like the Francophone Roman Catholic Bishops by stating that the PCC cannot be happy that schools have not resumed in the North West and South West Regions. Like a CPDM Section President for Mezam or Manyu, Rev. Fonki committed the problems to God for a quick solution and prayed that the Internet network be reinstated wherever it has been embargoed to restore trust and help the nation’s emerging economy.

Anyone with eyes can see that there’s alarm and opposition to the Moderator out there over the Cameroon Tribune report. Certainly, signs of blowback are not hard to find. We of this publication believe that it’s time to put an end to Moderator Fonki’s ill-advised leadership of the PCC. Never, never and never again has the position of a Moderator been so confusing.

The Moderator’s change of position is understandable. The financial hub of the PCC is based in the Bastos-Yaounde congregation where all the chartered members of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate who are Presbyterians worship. So press briefings such as the Cameroon Tribune story are meant to appease the big men who attend church services with expensive smart phones pretending to be reading a downloaded version of the Holy Bible during service. Apart from the Synod Clerk, the Moderator has not personally condemned the rapes and killings that took place in Kumba, Buea, Bamenda and Kumbo.

A Cameroon Concord News global survey of Presbyterians in the Diaspora, found that the Moderator had an 85% disapproval rating over the Cameroon Tribune story, with just 6% saying their impression was favorable. If we project those numbers for all Presbyterians back home in Cameroon including those in other African countries, it will signal an urgent need for the Rt. Rev. Fonki to end the confusion by resigning.

As a historical matter, every Moderator should and must have a mastery of the Anglophone Problem and the resistance judging from the fact that the Francophone Presbyterian Church has never been one entity with the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon.

In a variety of ways, by calling the Southern Cameroonians arrested as criminals and asking the government to organize legal proceedings against them in West Cameroon territory has encouraged a let-it-all-hang-out style in the struggle, which probably means the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon is helping to criminalize innocent Anglophone citizens and the leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium.

The Consortium has nothing to fear from robust and open discussion with the Yaoundé regime to get the schools running again!! Rev. Moderator, this can only be done when All Anglophone Demands have been met including the release of all those detained since 2016. The Cameroon Tribune story is an indication that the leadership of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon vis-à-vis the Anglophone Crisis is moving the goalpost.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Editor-in-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

30, January 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Pro Yaounde diplomat elected President of the African Union ⁰

Chadian Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2008, Moussa Faki Mahamat, 56, has been elected to the presidency of the African Union (AU) Commission today Monday January 30th in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the 28th Summit of the pan-African organization.

Faki Mahamat has been painted as “a faithful among the faithful” of Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno with very closed ties with the Biya regime. The General Assembly also elected a new Chairman in the person of Guinean Alpha Condé. Faki Mahamat announced that he intends to make the fight against terrorism a priority.

His candidacy was however weakened by the lack of consensus on a single candidate in Central Africa, Sub region. In addition, part of the Chadian civil society militated against its candidacy by highlighting the lack of democracy and the lack of respect for human rights in his country. Moussa Fakhi Mahamat was however elected with 39 votes out of 54 against the Kenyan Amina Mohamed.

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has not reacted to this latest development in the African Union.

By Chi Prudence Asong

30, January 2017

Southern Cameroons Ghost Town defining the end of the CPDM era ⁵

Southern Cameroonians are demonstrating that civil disobedience works. Today, the interim leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium have announced as much, by citing more recent and local successes, including those of Buea that left only the 20 CPDM taxis belonging to Mayor Ekema on the empty streets.

The hugely successful campaign against rapes, arrests and extra judicial killings currently going on in Anglophone Cameroon were put to the eyes of the international community and the ghost town operation shall be stage again tomorrow Tuesday the 31^st of January. What all of this proves is that civil disobedience works.

There seems to be this Francophone CPDM narrative that the closure of schools is harming Southern Cameroons children. However, Southern Cameroonians have come to the conclusion that this last and hopefully a protracted battle will be beneficial to all when it comes to an end. People power has been effective on this struggle.

Earlier, the National Executive Committee of the SDF endorsed the demands of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium and outlined some proposals which may come forward if the African Union and the United Nations agree to get the Yaoundé regime and the Consortium to dialogue. How that will work remains to be seen. But, to borrow a phrase from a well-known Francophone politician, and apply it to the Anglophone Crisis, “Cameroon will never be the same again.”

The ghost town in the provinces of West Cameroon was very effective. Schools remain closed and Southern Cameroonians are now focused to fire the first salvo towards an independent state by a massive boycott of 11th February celebrations. The Consortium has revealed that a special form of ghost town and boycott will be carried out on the 11^th of February to destroy once and for all, the fake union between Southern Cameroons and La Republique and restore our lost statehood.

Culled from Cameroon Intelligence Report

30, January 2017

SDF NEC meeting takes a tough stance against Biya and the ruling CPDM ³

Members of the National Executive Committee, NEC of the Social Democratic Front Party, SDF have empowered their National Chairman NI John FRU NDI to handle the current crisis in the two English Speaking regions which seems to be going out of proportion.

In a meeting held last Saturday and Sunday January 28-29, 2017 NEC members unanimously noted that the Biya regime has done nothing to calm the situation but has instead aggravated with rampant arrests.

The SDF also called on the immediate liberation of all Anglophones arrested during and after the strike action.

Complete Resolutions:

Enjoins the Biya regime to immediately and unconditionally release all those abducted or kidnapped and who are presently held in prisons of Yaoundé or at least send them back to their respective places of origin where purported offenses were committed for trial by the competent court in these regions in order to guarantee a free fair and credible trial
Reiterates our call on the government to bring to book all the perpetrators of human rights abuses by the forces of law and order and the administration most of which is abundantly documented
Enjoin Mr biya to immediately bring to an end the De facto state of emergency and militarization of the 2 English speaking regions.
Calls on stake holders and all those adversely affected to take this issue of collective punishment which constitutes human rights abuse through selective internet deprivation to the appropriate international courts for the government indemnify all affected subscribers by internationally acceptable amounts
Invites the Council of Peace and Security of the UN and the AU to enjoin Biya regime to immediately stop the exaction perpetrated on its own citizens.
Reiterates that all successful Nations exercise devolution of powers most of which through federalism which is not a threat to national unity but a viable factor of unity in diversity and equitable development
That those apologists and sycophants of the current status quo who are opposed to any constitutional reforms are the minority beneficiaries from the regime of the current situation
Reiterate our support to the teachers and lawyers in their struggle for a better Cameroon
Affirms that the Biya regime is responsible for the present crisis putting our national unity in jeopardy.
Warns that if Biya regime remains intransigent and does not respond to the demands heretofore formulated, the SDF will take its responsibilities.

They equally reiterated to Cameroonians that the convening of a Constitutional Conference to redefine the Cameroonians Sate is the only way out of the present imbroglio.

It hereby empowers the National Chairman to seek ways and means in collaboration with Religious and Political leaders as well as Opinion Leaders to get our Country out of the present Impasse.

Culled from Cameroun Info.Net

30, January 2017

Trump travel ban: Arab League Concerned ⁰

The Arab League has expressed “deep concern” over an “unjustified” decision by US President Donald Trump to restrict entry into the United States from several Muslim-majority countries. In a statement released on Sunday, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said new regulations “are unjustified restrictions on the entry of citizens of several Arab nations to the US, in addition to the consequences of suspending the acceptance of Syrian refugees.”

Aboul Gheit, who heads the 22-member regional organization of Arab countries, hoped that the Trump administration would “review its position because of the negative consequences this could lead to in terms of preserving family unity and the continuation of dialogue between Arab societies and American society.” Such dialogue includes “the fields of education and scientific research,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, Aboul Gheit’s spokesman Mahmoud Afifi has also voiced concern about “indications of a direction towards using an official religious standard to identify whether or not to accept refugees.” In a move that sparked widespread censure, the new US president signed a sweeping executive order on Friday to suspend refugee arrivals and impose tough controls on travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Sources within the Trump administration say it is unclear how many more countries will be added to the list as it looks to expand the ban beyond the initial seven countries. Washington will be “very aggressive” as it weighs how many more countries to add to the list, the sources said.

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