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Southern Cameroons ghost towns: Businesses shuttered without Biya regime’s compensation

17, July 2024

Southern Cameroons ghost towns: Businesses shuttered without Biya regime’s compensation 0

Anglophone businessmen and women have told the Cameroon Concord News Group that they have suffered huge losses since President Biya declared war against the English speaking people of Southern Cameroons and many have attacked the regime in Yaoundé for refusing to bail them out.

Now known as the Southern Cameroons Crisis, the leader of the English speaking peoples of West Cameroon Sisiku Ayuk Tabe declared the independence of Southern Cameroons from the majority French speaking East Cameroun.

The regime in Yaoundé responded with a genocidal war that has claimed the lives of thousands of Southern Cameroonians.

Reacting to the Southern Cameroons plight, Ambazonia fighters from both the South West and North West have staged hundreds of anti French Cameroun operations killing more than five thousand Cameroon government army soldiers.

Our chief correspondent Rita Akana approached several businessmen and women in Bamenda, Buea, Kumba and Mamfe who described how they had been piling up losses as a result of the war in Southern Cameroons and Biya regime’s rejection of their pleas for compensation.

Hotel owners said the Anglophone diaspora came home every December in their thousands and visited their hotels and entertainment halls and restaurants. But everything is now frozen and the loss so far is estimated in millions of US dollars.

“Not one person from Europe or the US will come to Limbe or Buea this December,” a businessman who spoke to our cream of reporters but sued for anonymity said.

“We are not asking Biya and his government for 100% compensation. Bring even 20%, that will be okay. But since the war started and kontry Sunday took over, we haven’t received a penny from Yaoundé,” a Bamenda based business lady added.

Five hotel managers in Bamenda echoed her remarks.

A businessman in Kumba the chief city in Meme Division noted how his business used to provide for 24 employees and attract hundreds on a daily basis.

Now, “we spend most of our time rolling over debts,” he stated.

Three hotel owners in Fako Division hinted that their hundreds of millions of FCFA investments have evaporated following the war and they are sure to end 2024 in debt for the loans and interest,” they said.

Reporting last month, our Bamenda City reporter Fon Lawrence revealed that many businesses had shut down throughout the North West region since the beginning of the war and the fire that destroyed the Bamenda Main Market.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Biya at death’s door: administrative officials trying to stave off any protests

17, July 2024

Biya at death’s door: administrative officials trying to stave off any protests 0

Cameroon continues its inevitable free fall into chaos as the Biya regime skips from one mistake to the other.

The country’s economy has bottomed out, with more than 70% of the country’s graduates being unemployed or underemployed, while their parents struggle to make ends meet.

Cameroon has the lowest salaries in the CFA Franc region and with escalating living cost, Cameroonians are going through hell.

Many parents have to help sustain their adult children, most of who are graduates but cannot find jobs due to bad governance and corruption.

While the poor economic situation is stressing up Cameroonians, the country’s administrative officials are doing their best to stifle any dissenting voices.

The country’s minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji, an ex-convict, is noted for using the law abusively to sow fear in Cameroonians.

Over the last few years, intimidation is being used as a dissuasive tool to nip any anti-government actions or plans in the bud.

Recently, it is the Senior Divisional Officer for Mfoundi, a division in the Centre Region, who issued a press release intimidating anybody who might think of planning or supporting a people power revolution in Yaoundé.

With the country’s president, Paul Biya, at death’s door, administrative officials, who know how bad things are in Cameroon, are now trying to stave off any protests in the country through unconstitutional and undemocratic means.

However, their efforts will surely not last for a long time as Cameroonians are sick and tired of the chaos the Biya regime has thrown at them.

Cameroon is ripe for a revolution and only genuine reforms and sincere dialogue can help the country avoid the political chaos which has been playing out in other African countries where dictators have lasted in power for decades.

By Alain Agbor Ebot

UK resolves Rwanda asylum seeker cases after Labour govt scraps deportation policy

9, July 2024

UK resolves Rwanda asylum seeker cases after Labour govt scraps deportation policy 0

The High Court cases of three asylum seekers who had brought legal action to block their potential removal to Rwanda were resolved on Tuesday after the UK’s incoming Labour government vowed to scrap the controversial deportation policy.

Three asylum seekers who brought court action to block the UK’s attempt to send them to Rwanda had their cases resolved on Tuesday, after the incoming Labour government ditched the policy.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Saturday that the migrant deportation plan forged by the ousted Conservative government was “dead and buried”.

There had already been a spate of legal challenges to the scheme, with the UK Supreme Court in November last year ruling that it was illegal under international law as Rwanda could not be considered a safe country for asylum seekers.

Government lawyer James Eadie told the High Court in London on Tuesday: “In relation to the three named claimants, these claimants’ cases will be fully disposed of and withdrawn subject to the (interior ministry) paying their costs.”

The Labour Party said before last Thursday’s general election that it would ditch the scheme, which the Tories said would deter huge numbers of migrants trying to get across the Channel to the UK on small boats from northern France.

Sixty-five people were brought ashore Monday – the first under the new government – taking the total number of arrivals so far this year to 13,639, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

‘No obligation’ to return the money

Rwanda, home to 13 million people in Africa’s Great Lakes region, claims to be one of the most stable countries on the continent and has drawn praise for its modern infrastructure.

But rights groups accuse veteran President Paul Kagame of ruling in a climate of fear, stifling dissent and free speech.

A spokesman for his government said Monday that “Rwanda takes note of the intention of the UK government to terminate the Migration and Economic Development Partnership Agreement”.

As part of the deal, the UK has already paid some £240 million ($307 million) to Rwanda, with a further £50 million scheduled to be sent at a later date.

In January, Kagame said the money was “only going to be used if those people will come. If they don’t come, we can return the money”.

However, he later specified there was “no obligation” to do so.

Source: AFP

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Amba fighters nab counter-revolutionary agent

9, July 2024

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Amba fighters nab counter-revolutionary agent 0

Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces have arrested an individual in Ekok in Eyumojock Sub Division in Manyu on charges of directing a disinformation campaign against the Ambazonia Interim Government and manipulation of Anglophone public opinion against the struggle.

The official Southern Cameroons Broadcasting Cooperation news agency said the individual, whose identity was not immediately available, had manipulated the minds of ordinary people in Eyumojock Sub Division through a disinformation assault on the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, spread lies against the Ambazonia leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, desecrated the national Ambazonia flag and participated in CPDM rallies banned in the entire Southern Cameroons.

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima has been quoted as saying that Amba intelligence forces managed to hoax the counter-revolutionary agent into Eyumojock from Yaoundé and capture him in Ekok.

The development comes only a few days after Amba forces identified and arrested an individual in Bui in the North West on charges of espionage for the Francophone regime in Yaoundé.

The Ambazonia Interim Government said in a statement late last week that several other pro French Cameroun fugitives wanted in Ambazonia will be arrested this coming December.

By Besong Eunice Nchong with files from Kingsley Betek

Liberian president cuts his salary by 40%

8, July 2024

Liberian president cuts his salary by 40% 0

Liberia’s President Joseph Boakai has announced that he will slash his salary by 40%.

His office said he hoped to set a precedent for “responsible governance” and demonstrate “solidarity” with Liberians.

Government salaries have been under intense scrutiny recently as Liberians complain about the rising cost of living. Around one in five people live on less than $2 (£1.70) a day in the West African state.

Mr Boakai revealed in February that his annual salary was $13,400. The cut will bring it down to $8,000.

Mr Boakai’s move echoes that of his predecessor, George Weah, who took a 25% cut in his salary.

Some in the West African nation have hailed Mr Boakai’s decision, but others wonder whether it is truly a sacrifice given that he also receives benefits like a daily allowance and medical cover.

The presidential office’s budget is almost $3m this year.

Anderson D Miamen, from non-profit organisation the Centre of Transparency and Accountability in Liberia, said the president’s pay cut is “welcoming”.

“We just hope that the public will clearly see where the deductions will go and how they will be used to positively impact the lives of the people,” he told the BBC.

W Lawrence Yealue II, whose organisation also campaigns for government transparency, described the president’s decision as “very commendable” and said that “leadership has to be provided from the top”.

He added that hoped Mr Boakai’s benefits would be reviewed in the budget for the next financial year.

As well as reducing his salary, Mr Boakai has pledged to “empower” Liberia’s Civil Service Agency to make sure public servants “receive fair compensation for their contributions to the country”.

Last week a group of lawmakers complained they had not received their official cars, which they needed to perform their duties.

As a form of protest, they turned up to parliament in tuk-tuks, known locally as keh keh, a common mode of transport for ordinary Liberians.

Mr Boakai took office in January after defeating Mr Weah in a run-off election.

He vowed to tackle corruption and financial mismanagement.

As well as declaring his assets since taking office, Mr Boakai has ordered an audit of the presidential office. The results have not yet been released.

Mr Boakai has also beefed up the General Auditing Commission and the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission.

Mr Weah’s government was plagued by allegations of corruption, and lavish spending, which triggered mass protests as the cost of living spiralled for ordinary people.

Source: BBC

ECOWAS summit undermined by Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso forming confederation

7, July 2024

ECOWAS summit undermined by Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso forming confederation 0

The military leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso military have formed a new confederation, undermining the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The ECOWAS Heads of State and Government for validation summit is scheduled to take place in Abuja, Nigeria on Sunday.

However, the traditional regional bloc linked to Western countries is facing an unprecedented challenge.

The bloc had suspended Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali after their respective military takeovers, which occurred in July 2023, September 2022 and August 2021.

On January 27, 2024, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger announced their plan to withdraw from membership of ECOWAS after reconciliation efforts with the bloc failed to return the trio.

The three military-led West African nations blame ECOWAS for their withdrawal, saying the Western-led group is becoming a threat to its members, accusing former colonial powers France, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States of interference in their affairs

In an undermining move, the military leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger held a joint summit in Niamey, the capital of Niger on Saturday.

The event marked the first joint summit between Niger’s General Abdourahmane Tchiani, Burkina Faso’s Captain Ibrahim Traore, and Mali’s Colonel Assimi Goita since the trio came to power in their countries in successive coups.

Speaking at the summit, Tchiani called the 50-year-old ECOWAS “a threat to our states”, declaring the formation of a new confederation of three Sahel states.

“We are going to create an AES of the peoples, instead of an ECOWAS whose directives and instructions are dictated to it by powers that are foreign to Africa,” Tchiani said.

Traore accused foreign powers of seeking to exploit African countries. The trio has regularly accused the West of meddling in ECOWAS.

“This summit marks a decisive step for the future of our common space. Together, we will consolidate the foundations of our true independence, a guarantee of true peace and sustainable development through the creation of the ‘Alliance of Sahel States’ Confederation,’” Traore wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“The AES (Alliance of Sahel States) is full of enormous natural potential which, if properly exploited, will guarantee a better future for the people of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.”

The three countries, with a combined population of 72 million, are not only expected to form closer economic ties, but also, to cooperate on the security issues affecting them.

Source: Presstv

Biya seeks to extend mandate of legislature: Can democracy survive 2025 in Cameroon?

7, July 2024

Biya seeks to extend mandate of legislature: Can democracy survive 2025 in Cameroon? 0

Cameroon will be holding elections in 2025 — a tribute, it could be argued, to the power of an idea, democracy, and to the spread of political freedom.

Political commentators in the nation’s capital Yaoundé will see 2025 as a milestone in democracy’s long journey from the rowdy town square debates of classical Athens, through the thinking of 18th-century philosophers and beyond to an ever more just and equitable world. 

But that seems unlikely in Cameroon-a nation run by a regime that has successfully weakened all independent institutions including the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

There is a spirit pushing Yaoundé to hold elections in 2025 but it is not a democratic one.

The CPDM government on Saturday submitted to parliament a draft bill aimed at extending the mandate for the country’s lawmakers for a year. This is not the first time Biya and his acolytes are using this vicious tactics. But Saturday’s draft bill is an indication that democracy in Cameroon is in recession.

The bill, which concerns lawmakers of the National Assembly or the so-called lower house of the parliament, seeks to extend the term of office to March 30, 2026 from March 10, 2025.

The Etoudi statement in a typical CPDM crime syndicate style noted that the extension seeks “to lighten the electoral calendar,” which includes presidential, parliamentary, municipal and regional council elections in Cameroon next year.

“In this regard, and apart from the election of regional councilors, the other elections, which involve direct voting, require the deployment of substantial human, material and financial resources. Accordingly, it is judicious to spread the above-mentioned elections over the years 2025 and 2026, so as to ensure better organization,” The Biya regime statement added.

With a creeping disillusionment among younger people in Cameroon about the very point of elections, it is completely impossible for the fragmented opposition to defeat President Biya’s rigour and moralization party, the CPDM which has spent years undermining the rule of law and turning the state broadcaster CRTV into a government mouthpiece.

It is now abundantly clear that democracy in Cameroon is in crisis. President Biya’s tricks of always telling the world that state institutions and spirit needed time to develop no longer make sense to any Cameroonian citizen. 

Biya’s shameful and disgraceful end will play out in 2025. For 42 years as head of state, he has jailed opponents and run a charade of an election culminating in 90-per cent majorities or higher. To be accurate, he simply allows the opposition to compete — but not to win.

But it is his re-election in 2025 that will finally disintegrate the Republic of Cameroon. The world in 2025 will no longer turn a blind eye to the excesses of Biya and his gang.

Biya is frail and there is a huge vacuum. The Unity Palace is now filled with bad actors that steal, steal, steal and govern as bad as they want.

Biya has weakened all anti-corruption bodies in the country and the recent emergence of his elder son Franck Biya as a frontrunner to succeed him, suggests that he has a dynasty in mind.

Southern Cameroonians no longer have faith in the La Republique system. The new alarming, growing Anglophone population is becoming indifferent because they don’t see the Francophone political system working for them.

Can democracy survive 2025 in Cameroon?

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Eto’o fined $200,000 but escapes match-fixing charge

5, July 2024

Eto’o fined $200,000 but escapes match-fixing charge 0

African football’s governing body has fined Samuel Eto’o, the president of the Cameroonian Football Federation (Fecafoot), $200,000 for an ethics breach, but found insufficient evidence to pursue a charge related to allegations of match-fixing.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) opened an investigation into Eto’o’s conduct in August last year after receiving “written statements from several Cameroonian football stakeholders”.

A disciplinary panel found, external that the four-time African Footballer of the Year had “seriously violated the principles of ethics, integrity and sportsmanship” of Caf by signing a contract to be an ambassador for betting company 1XBET.

Eto’o’s lawyers have said they will appeal against the verdict.

1XBET sponsors the top two divisions of men’s professional football in Cameroon and both the men’s and women’s international sides, while the regulations of Fifa, football’s global governing body, state that people bound by its code are not allowed any involvement in betting related to football.

Last July, a group representing amateur clubs in Cameroon called on Eto’o to resign, highlighting their concern over the 43-year-old’s relationship with 1XBET and citing “grave irregularities” at Fecafoot.

Match-fixing allegations

While Eto’o has been found guilty of breaching Caf statutes when it comes to ethics, he has escaped a sanction related to match-fixing, with the disciplinary panel ruling that “as it stands, there is insufficient proof”.

The former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea striker was being investigated alongside Valentine Nkwain, president of newly promoted club side Victoria United, following a leaked phone conversation said to be of the pair discussing Victoria’s return to the top flight before promotion had been guaranteed.

Both have previously denied involvement in any conspiracy to manipulate results.

The latest judgement by Caf is unlikely to quell dissent in Cameroon related to Eto’o’s running of football in the country.

Earlier this week a group of administrators, including former members of Fecafoot and the president of the country’s Professional Football League, wrote an open letter to Caf president Patrice Motsepe and Fifa boss Gianni Infantino, urging them to speed up their investigations and pointing out that possible sanctions included a lifetime ban.

The letter said “many stakeholders who have been in the game for several decades are leaving because of the abuses that have taken place over the past two years.”

Source: BBC

Cameroon in 2025: Biya regime warns against pre-election disorder

5, July 2024

Cameroon in 2025: Biya regime warns against pre-election disorder 0

Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji said on Thursday that the government will “not tolerate” any pre-election disorder in the country.

“Any act to destabilize the elections will not be tolerated. The political leader who tries to disrupt the elections will regret having joined the political game,” Nji told reporters at the end of a two-day conference which brought together governors of the 10 regions of the country to deliberate on how best to organize general elections scheduled for next year.

The warning came barely a month after opposition leader Maurice Kamto of Cameroon Renaissance Movement granted a press conference and threatened that “if people want the country to fall into violence, then it will fall into violence”.

Nji said such a declaration was “unacceptable” in a democratic country.

“These people in the opposition, you must be humble and speak in measured tones,” he said, adding that the 10 governors have been instructed to “stop” any pre-election disorder.

Legislative, municipal and council elections are scheduled to take place in Cameroon next year.

Source: Xinhuanet

Vatican excommunicates major Pope Francis critic for ‘schism’

5, July 2024

Vatican excommunicates major Pope Francis critic for ‘schism’ 0

The Vatican has excommunicated Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, one of Pope Francis’s most virulent critics, after judging him guilty of splitting the Church, the dicastery in charge of doctrine said Friday.

The 83-year-old ultra conservative, who has called in the past for Francis to resign as pope, has been on trial since last month after being accused by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith of the crime of schism, or splitting the Catholic Church.

“His public statements manifesting his refusal to recognise and submit to the Supreme Pontiff, his rejection of communion with the members of the Church subject to him, and of the legitimacy and magisterial authority of the Second Vatican Council are well known,” wrote the dicastery in a statement.

“At the conclusion of the penal process, the Most Reverend Carlo Maria Vigano was found guilty of the reserved delict of schism,” it wrote, adding that his punishment was “excommunication” in accordance with canon law.

An excommunicated Catholic is prohibited from administering and receiving the sacraments and from exercising ecclesiastical functions, according to canon law.

Vigano — who served as the Vatican’s papal envoy to the United States from 2011 to 2016 and who is backed by an ultra-conservative US church faction — has been an outspoken critic of Francis, going so far as accusing him of heresy.

In announcing last month that he had been summoned to appear before the powerful dicastery, which is charged with defending Catholic doctrine, the retired archbishop wrote on X: “I regard the accusations against me as an honour.”

He did not appear before the tribunal, which judged him in absentia.

– ‘Judged as a heretic’-

In a pages-long declaration, Vigano railed against Francis’s welcome for undocumented migrants, his “delirious encyclicals” about climate change and authorisation of blessings for same-sex couples, and accused him of promoting his allies.

“I accuse Jorge Mario Bergoglio of heresy and schism, and I ask that he be judged as a heretic and schismatic and removed from the Throne which he has unworthily occupied for over eleven years,” he wrote last month, using the Argentine pope’s given name.

Vigano is allied with staunch traditionalists within the Church, especially in the United States, who have battled Francis’s more progressive moves on liturgical or social issues, such as the Latin Mass or welcoming LGBTQ people into the Church.

Accusing him of sowing confusion and failing to uphold key Catholic beliefs, they have sometimes called into question the legitimacy of Francis as leader of the world’s 1.3 million Catholics — raising fears of a rupture within the Church.

In 2018, Vigano made headlines by calling for Francis’s resignation, publishing a scathing list of accusations over the pope’s management of sexual abuse cases within the Church.

In particular, Vigano accused Francis of having long protected former American cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked a year later for sexual abuse against a minor.

Vigano again caused a major scandal in 2019 by publishing a long letter of unconditional support for then-US President Donald Trump, criticizing confinement measures during the Covid pandemic and defending a crackdown on rioters in the United States.

In November, in a rare move, Francis dismissed US bishop Joseph Strickland, a prominent conservative who had repeatedly criticised his papacy from his Tyler, Texas diocese.

Source: AFP

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