Headline News

Anglophone Problem: Operation Ghost Town to continue on Monday

27, January 2017

Anglophone Problem: Operation Ghost Town to continue on Monday 1

The leadership of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has announced that ghost town operations will continue on Monday the 30th and Tuesday the 31st of January 2017.  The Consortium has called on all its operation managers within and out of Southern Cameroons to resist the Francophone oppressors with more intense ferocity.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that Southern Cameroonians guided by the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium have resolved to continue their civil disobedience campaign against the current Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime. This comes after more than a 1000 desperate attempts at bribing some teachers in the Consortium to call off the strikes.

Last night on al jazeera news channel, the ruling CPDM crime syndicate got Prof. Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, former cabinet minister who presently has no constituent base in his native Kupe Muanenguba and who’s only power comes because of his friendship with some local Francophone political elites at the International Relations Institute, IRIC to try to sell the outrageous decision to shut down internet services in Anglophone Cameroon.

A majority of the Francophone political elites are overwhelmed by the sheer number of Southern Cameroonians who are now demanding an independent Southern Cameroons state. The mass civil disobedience campaign is expected to last for a month. However, the interim leaders of the Consortium are considering an indefinite extension of the ghost town activity.

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has gotten the backing of all Southern Cameroon groups for the total and complete boycott of the so-called 11th of February celebrations. Inside sources say the Consortium is also planning a massive boycott of the Guinness Mount Cameroon Race. Southern Cameroonians have been told to make sure that parents, students, lawyers, okada riders, teachers and the business community all adhere to the leadership of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium.

The strike actions including the ghost town have been successful on all counts and day-by-day; the Biya Francophone administrative authority is not only being suspended throughout West Cameroon but also eroded. On Monday the 30th of January 2017, Southern Cameroonians will continue their civil disobedience campaign and all academic institutions will remain closed.

The interim leaders say the Consortium will stop at nothing to make sure that all Anglophone demands are met. “The longer the Yaoundé regime ignores us and the more arrest and extra judicial killings in our territory, the more means we will use to get what we deserve.”

By Chi Prudence Asong

New Gambian president returns home

27, January 2017

New Gambian president returns home 0

The Gambia’s newly-elected President Adama Barrow has returned to the nation after his predecessor finally agreed to cede power under international pressure and went into exile. On Thursday, Barrow arrived in Banjul from Senegal, where he had sought refuge in mid-January after his predecessor, Yahya Jammeh, refused to concede defeat in the presidential election and stand down.

Barrow won in the national election late last year, but Jammah’s clinging to power threw The Gambia’s political scene into turmoil. Upon arrival, the new head of state was welcomed by military officials and senior members of his coalition government.

Barrow’s supporters had gathered along the capital’s streets to welcome the president home. “We also hope that if he (Barrow) comes as a president, there will be some changes,” said a supporter. Barrow was inaugurated as president in neighboring Senegal on January 19.

Over two decades of Jammeh’s rule came to an end last week after he fled to Equatorial Guinea as thousands of soldiers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) were deployed to the country to force him out of office.

A United Nations official announced earlier in the day that Barrow had asked the 7,000-strong ECOWAS military contingent to remain in the country for six months. Barrow requested the forces sent by ECOWAS to remain in Gambia for six months, said Mohammed Ibn Chambas, the United Nations’ most senior official in West Africa. In the meantime, the ECOWAS contingent in Gambia is carrying out a sweep operation to neutralize possible security threats against the new head of state.

Presstv

Open letter to Mayor Ekema Patrick of Buea, Southern Cameroons

27, January 2017

Open letter to Mayor Ekema Patrick of Buea, Southern Cameroons 8

Dear Mayor Ekema,

Let me congratulate you for the efforts you are making to ensure that the economy of your city does not take a nosedive due to the strikes and ghost town operations taking place across the English-Speaking part of our country. I do agree that as a mayor, the plight of your city should be a constant concern to you, especially at this time when the country has been caught in a downward political spiral.

As you know, I am also an eminent son of the southwest region and I should be concerned as well that our region will be caught in the throes of an economic crisis if urgent measures are not taken to get businesses back to the level they were before the outbreak of the people power revolution in Southern Cameroons. However, your approach is a huge cause for concern for many honest and objective citizens of our region. Based on pictures I have seen on national television, you have been using measures that smack of dictatorship and this is helping to fuel radicalism in the region.

I strongly believe that you should moderate your ways and seek to persuade the residents of Buea that it is in their best interest to get back to business rather than threaten them. Your attitude speaks to your ignorance of the radical changes that have taken place in Cameroon. Please be advised that intimidation clearly belongs to the past and you cannot use it as a political tool to achieve whatever goals you have set for yourself. From the population’s behaviour, you should figure out that the wall of fear has collapsed and that dialogue has validly replaced intimidation.

I would also like to use this opportunity to address your purchase of taxis in preparation for the ghost town operations called by the Consortium. As you know, the current situation in Cameroon is a people power revolution and not even soldiers and murder squads can stop the people from expressing their frustration with a government they hold has failed to live up to their expectation.

Of course, there is nothing wrong for a municipality to invest. It is always a laudable idea for a municipality to have multiple income streams, but the timing of your purchase of taxis calls into question your intentions. However, I hope you understand that while your taxis will be plying on the days when the peaceful and responsible people of Buea will be helping to enforce the Consortium’s call for ghost towns, you will not be able to oblige anybody to jump into your taxis. Rather than project yourself as a thug, it will be proper for you to tread the path of peace so as to avoid any confrontation with the local population.

I understand you are a career politician and your future depends on you proving to your masters in Yaounde that you are doing a great job. I have no issue with that if only you conduct yourself as a democrat. However, from the look of things, you are slowly running out of luck as the party you represent is no longer popular among Southern Cameroonians. The next elections are around the corner and given the way things are playing out, the ruling party is headed for a crash in the English-speaking part of the country. If I were in your shoes, I would tread very carefully in order not to make a bad situation worse. A good politician is he who knows how to exercise restraint, he who knows when and how to speak and he who can win hearts and minds even during challenging times.

Your approach to the issues affecting our country leaves much to be desired. As a career politician, you must learn how to address these issues without declaring war on those who disagree with you. You should learn to refine, not only your language, but also your ways, so as to win hearts and minds. Political thuggery has no place in today’s Cameroon. You stand to gain if you tread carefully.

The world is watching you. The manner in which you deal with these issues will either make or mar you in the upcoming elections. You either seek to endear yourself to the people’s mind or declare yourself a relic of an outdated brand of dictatorship. Moderation is an idea whose time has come. I would suggest you make the most of it.

Sincerely,

Joachim Arrey

About the Author: The author of this letter has served as a journalist and editor for many news organizations and institutions in Africa and North America. 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. He holds a Ph.D.

Anglophone Problem: International Federation of Journalists calls for an end to threats against the media

26, January 2017

Anglophone Problem: International Federation of Journalists calls for an end to threats against the media 1

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has denounced all forms of intimidation by the National Council of Communication towards the Cameroonian media. The international union grouping media gurus has called on the so-called Cameroonian media watchdog to respect international norms. The National Communication Council body headed by one Mr. Peter Esoka has threatened to shut down any media organization that host members of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium.

In a statement released Thursday, January 26, 2017, IFJ President Philippe Leruth called on the Cameroonian authorities to put an end to threats against the media and journalists in order to engage in dialogue with the media and have a better understanding of the role of the media and journalists in the current situation in the country.

By Rita Akana

Supreme Court Judges protest CENER arrest of Lord Justice Ayah Paul

26, January 2017

Supreme Court Judges protest CENER arrest of Lord Justice Ayah Paul 1

Some judges of the Supreme Court of Cameroun have openly protested the arrest of Lord Justice Ayah Paul Abine by secret service agents loyal to the 83 year-old dictator, Paul Biya. According to the judges, Ayah’s arrest occurred in violation of article 629 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The Supreme Court judges pointed out that the nation is now being run like a banana republic. The leaders of the judiciary also indicated via a Yaoundé based tabloid that the legal provision to which a judge of the Supreme Court or a magistrate of the judicial order is liable to be charged with an offense has been violated.

The Judges revealed that for any arrest to be carried out, the competent Attorney-General must submit an application to the President of the Supreme Court who has to appoint a magistrate responsible for examining the case and three others, with a rank at least equal to that of the defendant, with a view to the eventual judgment of the case.

Lord Justice Paul Ayah Abine was arrested last Saturday at his home by six armed men and taken to the Secretary of State for Defense (SED) where he remains detained. The executive branch of the government reportedly wrote a letter to the President of the Supreme Court claiming that Ayah Paul was involved in politics as leader of the People’s Action Party. The Cameroonian judges have however made it abundantly clear that this part of his life cannot justify the form of his arrest.

“He was arrested because he expressed his opinions. But when he was appointed to the Supreme Court, they knew who he was, what political ideas he had! Why pretend today to be surprised by his political struggle? “Said a Judge. For them, the arrest of Paul Ayah Abine shows them that no one is safe.

By Sonne Peter

Anglophone Problem: Exiled American Computer scientist condemns the shutting down of internet services

26, January 2017

Anglophone Problem: Exiled American Computer scientist condemns the shutting down of internet services 0

The famous American computer scientist exiled in Russia for making public information classified as “top-secrets” by the CIA  has denounced the shutting down of Internet services in the Anglophone part of Cameroon.

The former CIA employee, tweeted that “this is a form of repression, against which we must mobilize and fight, # keepItOn # BringBackOurInternet,” he wrote. The reaction of the famous American computer scientist, Edward Joseph Snowden, provoked an avalanche of comments on the web.

After this unexpected support from the American, many Cameroonians close to English cyber activists, changed their profile with the hashtag, # BringBackOurInternet #. The Francophone dominated government of the 83 year-old dictator Paul Biya cut Internet in the regions of South West and North West in a bid to stifle the growing Anglophone nationalism and demands for a Southern Cameroons state.

By Chi Prudence Asong

 

Donald Trump signs directive to begin construction of wall on the border with Mexico

26, January 2017

Donald Trump signs directive to begin construction of wall on the border with Mexico 0

US President Donald Trump has signed a directive to begin the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico, taking the first step to deliver on one of his most divisive campaign pledges. “We’ve been talking about this right from the beginning,” the Republican president said as he signed the order during a ceremony for homeland security secretary on Wednesday, according to Reuters. The wall will be stretched across the roughly 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) US-Mexico border. Earlier, Trump said during an interview with ABC News that the construction was slated to begin within months, while planning would start immediately.

Trump also asserted that Mexico would reimburse “100 percent” of the wall’s costs. The American president took another step aimed at curbing immigration by signing a separate executive action on public safety for the interior of the US, authorizing a crackdown on US cities that shield illegal immigrants. The directive aims to strip federal funding from “sanctuary” states and cities that harbor illegal immigrants. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said earlier in the day that the orders were the new administration’s “first step to really securing our porous border.” “This will stem the flow of drugs, crime, illegal immigration into the United States,” he added.

During his campaign run, Trump repeatedly pledged to build a wall along the southern border to prevent more immigrants from entering the US illegally. The Manhattan billionaire even estimated that erecting the wall would cost $8 billion, pledging to force Mexico to cover it. Earlier this month, however, Trump joined other Republicans, saying US taxpayers may foot the initial bill for the proposed wall, insisting that Mexico would repay the US the money in the end. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto made it clear during a meeting with Trump in September last year that his country would not pay for the project. Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray repeated Nieto’s remarks on January 11, saying there was “no way” that his country would fund the wall.

Presstv

 

Southern Cameroons Crisis and the Consortium: Know Where You Stand

26, January 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis and the Consortium: Know Where You Stand 4

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium is about protecting Southern Cameroons and improving the lives of its people. It is thanks to the careful management of the Consortium that we now have a beaming Head of State signing an empty decree to promote bilingualism. The leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium have been arrested for demanding a return to the 1961 two state federal structure.

Southern Cameroons covers a huge area on Cameroun’s west coast and billions of dollars of profit is being made from West Cameroon oil and agro-industrial plants but the people have been excluded from every economic benefit the nation can offer. Instead their well established economic institutions inherited from the British, the German and the Dutch which had sustained livelihoods have all been devastated by the Francophone political elites. The West Cameroon Shipping Company, the West Cameroon Ports Authority, the Tiko International Airport, the West Cameroon Power Authority, the West Cameroon Bank, the National Produce Marketing Board, the PAMOL Plantations, the CDC etc

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium is simply calling for a more humane environment to live in and a measure of political autonomy for Anglophone Cameroonians to manage their own affairs. The 83 year-old Paul Biya and his Francophone army generals, Governors, SDOs and DOs are saying that asking for federalism is sacrilege.  To the Francophone political elites, giving West Cameroon a share of their own wealth means reducing the profits that goes into their private pockets.  Giving Southern Cameroons any form of federalism means questioning the exploitative colonial, political and economic structures bequeathed by the French. Such demands have to be brutally repressed.

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has deeply crafted what we can now call the Southern Cameroons Bill of Rights to Resistance and it has captured the economic, cultural and political aspirations of every West Cameroonian. To be sure, the Consortium has put an end to the North West/South West divide and provided a road map for a Southern Cameroons nation where people will have the right to control their own resources and political life. The leaders of the Consortium believe firmly that Southern Cameroons and its resources belong to the Cameroonian people, not the Francophone political elites.

The Southern Cameroons resistance is not against Biya and his CPDM crime syndicate. It is not against the so-called Anglophone political elites in Yaoundé! It is a call to action to the people of West Cameroon to reject the French imposition of a colonial structure such as the appointments of Governors, SDOs, DOs and District Heads. It is a call for Southern Cameroonians to seek political autonomy and to be represented in all Cameroonian institutions as English Speaking Cameroonians rather than in two regions dominated by the Francophone political elites.

This bold demand is not a direct threat to ELF as the Francophone political elites want the French to understand. The call for self determination is only growing due to the delay and bad faith manifested by the regime in Yaoundé. The French government has the power to stop these arrest and extra judicial killings going on in Southern Cameroons. They can stop it at any time if they want to; the French have that kind of power in Yaounde. But from every indication, the French embassy in Yaoundé is basically encouraging state violence against the people of Southern Cameroons.

The Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC and numerous Anglophone groups fighting for the independence of British Southern Cameroons should know that history often raises certain people over others, but the leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium have all been equal in this struggle and West Cameroonians have shown that they are a formidable force.

The repression in Southern Cameroons has not stop with the arrest of the leaders of the Consortium-the resistance too will not stop. The Francophone government has set up a fierce crack team of police officers and soldiers with the single duty of uprooting dissent. Military checkpoints have been erected all over Southern Cameroons and anyone suspected of being a member of the Consortium or SCNC is arrested and detained. Many of those arrested in 2016 have never been seen again. Women are being raped and properties looted.  Those who can find their way out of Southern Cameroons are going into exile.

Southern Cameroons is the most deprived region in Cameroon. Schools in Ndian, Akwaya, Menchum, Bui and Fontem areas look like they belong in the 18th century. The roads are bad and medical care almost non-existent. The general hospitals in the divisional capitals can hardly be called a hospital. To have a minor medical procedure in places like Mamfe, Wum, Bali, Kumbo, Ndop Kumba, Ekok, Akwaya, Eyumojock, Njakiri people must provide their own power generator.

The government of La Republique and its French ally, ELF are thinking that if they killed the leaders of the Consortium and other Anglophone activists, the struggle would be over. It is not true as their blood will water the seeds of the revolution. The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium is teaching us to KNOW WHERE YOU STAND; how to take on the devil without losing your moral belief in the tools of nonviolence, the power of resistance and the power of people.

This is the plan of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium:

  1. 1. We continue keeping our children home to ensure that no school resume.
  2. 2. We continue observing Ghost towns on Mondays and Tuesdays
  3. 3. We prepare for the final destruction of 11th February by ensuring that on that day, it is very ghostly

All these actions are meant to ensure that the school year becomes blank which will soon happen, then the dynamics will change. It will also frustrate Government to call for a genuine dialogue as well as releasing our leaders unconditionally. Additionally, the Diaspora continues its pressure in foreign embassies.

The consortium is also putting and gathering a diplomatic push to some quarters as well as investing in media relationship especially foreign. The twitter strategy is also getting more foreign media involve in our case. Let us continue ensuring that schools remain closed, Ghost towns continue respectively, tweeting and preparing for 11th February boycott while diplomatic push continues in the background.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Editor-in-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea threatens students and lecturers

26, January 2017

Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea threatens students and lecturers 1

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea, Dr Nalova Lyonga is reportedly threatening students and lecturers against staying away from the university saying that they are doing so at their own risk. In a release signed on January 24, 2017 the Vice Chancellor said students must come to school because studies are going on as planned in the congregation meeting of January 13, 2017. She added that staff and students who fail to come to school would have themselves to blame.

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium which has legitimate authority over all of Southern Cameroons territory including its citizens have decreed that all academic establishments in West Cameroon should remain closed and ghost town operations will be observed every Mondays and Tuesdays until all Anglophone demands are met including the release of all political detainees.

Consortium sources say whosoever is going by that title Vice Chancellor should respect constituted authority in West Cameroons.

UB Rector press release

By Sama Ernest

Consortium says 2 Human Rights experts have met with Chairman Agbor Nkongho

26, January 2017

Consortium says 2 Human Rights experts have met with Chairman Agbor Nkongho 1

The interim leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium have revealed that two of West Cameroon human rights experts have met with Chairman Agbor Nkongho Felix at his detention facility in Yaoundé.   Dr Chemuta Divine Banda and Barrister Tambe Tiku of the National Human Rights Commission were quoted by the Consortium as saying that there was no Wednesday court hearing for the detained Consortium leaders.

Cameroon Concord News gathered from a statement issued by the Consortium that the National Human Rights Commission has requested for improved prison conditions for Chairman Barrister Agbor Nkongho Felix following several complaints he made about his shambolic treatment by the state guards.

The Consortium statement also stated that both English and French speaking lawyers visited the Chairman including Barristers Akere Muna and Ben Muna. The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium also observed that the Secretary General, Dr. Fontem Neba is being held at the Central Prison while Chairman Agbor Balla is in the principal prison.

By Rita Akana

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