Headline News

3, December 2023

Martinez Zogo Affair: Confusion over release of Amougou Belinga and Eko Eko ⁰

Nearly 11 months after the assassination of Cameroonian radio host Martinez Zogo, the state scandal that it triggered continues to shake the nation.

On Friday morning (Nov. 01), the prime suspects in the murder of the late 50-year journalist were set to be released.

A document allegedly issued by the military court of Yaoundé ordered the provisional release of Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga and Léopold Maxime Eko Eko.

Examining magistrate of the Yaoundé military court, Lieutenant-Colonel Florent Aimé Sikati II Kamwo, on Friday supposedly considered that there was insufficient evidence to justify their continued detention.

Counter-intelligence boss Eko Eko and tycoon Amougou Belinga have been detained at Yaoundé’s Kondengui prison for months. In March, they were charged with torture.

Late on Friday, a missive indicated that documents issued earlier in the day, couldn’t be trusted.

A letter penned by the government commissioner read that the order of the examining magistrate of the military court granting release to the suspects in Martinez Zogo’s murder was a forgery.

The lawyers of counter-intelligence boss Eko Eko expressed disbelief as they await new developments.

What charges?

The businessman and the head of the Direction générale de la recherche extérieure (DGRE) are accused of having played a role in the death of the director of radio Amplitude FM, whose tortured body was discovered on the outskirts of Yaoundé in January. Zogo had not been missing for five days before his remains were located January 22 near Soa, a suburb of Yaoundé.

Léopold Maxime Eko Eko is suspected of “having provoked in any way whatsoever the torture of Martinez Zogo or given instructions to commit it”, in the words of the examining magistrate. In the course of the investigation, the intelligence chief was questioned several times on the substance of the case. In particular, he was confronted by his sole accuser, Justin Danwe, as well as several agents working within the DGRE at the time of the events.

Among the incriminating elements that interested the investigators: the holding of a meeting during which Léopold Maxime Eko Eko, Justin Danwe and several DGRE technicians allegedly listened to an audio tape attributed to Martinez Zogo, in which he allegedly made defamatory remarks about the head of the intelligence services.

In the minutes of the release order, quoted by jeune Afrique, the magistrates noted that Eko Eko, Danwe and the witnesses cited had assured them “that a meeting had never been held at the situation center with the journalist Martinez Zogo as the subject”.

Outrage over Zogo’s murder

The murder of Salomon Mbani Zogo better known as Martinez Zogo left many shocked in Cameroon as NGOs continued to call out violations of press freedom and freedom of speech.

The man in his fifties was the host of popular daily radio show, Embouteillage or Gridlock in English. On the air, he regularly tackled cases of corruption and alleged embezzlement, not hesitating to question important personalities by name. Amougou Belinga was one of them. The businessman is reputedly a friend of several ministers.

Fellow journalists paid their respects to Zogo and called for an investigation which Cameroonian President Paul Biya ordered on Thursday, February 2. The probe into the abduction and subsequent brutal killing of the journalist led to the arrests of Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga and Léopold Maxime Eko Eko.

Reporters without Borders alleged that “the outcome of the investigations [remained] very uncertain as the affair’s ramifications reach up to the highest level of the state while the political environment [was] described by several local sources as verging on insurrection.”

Source: Africa News

1, December 2023

African Development Bank loans EUR 73 million for construction of a bridge between Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea ⁰

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group on 29 November 2023 granted financial support of EUR 73.44 million to Cameroon for the construction of a bridge over the River Ntem, which forms a natural boundary with Equatorial Guinea. The bridge building is part of the Regional Trade and Transport Facilitation Project for the economic corridor between Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

The financial support consists of two separate loans: the first, of EUR 48.96 million, from the African Development Bank and the second, of EUR 24.48 million, from the African Development Fund, the Bank Group’s concessional loans window.

The new bridge, which will link Campo, in Cameroon to Rio Campo, in Equatorial Guinea, will not only improve the service level for the transport logistics chain along the corridor between Yaoundé, Bata and Libreville, but will also contribute to the emergence of an industrial-port activities hub in the area between the deep-water port in Kribi (Cameroon) and its counterpart in Bata (Equatorial Guinea).

In practical terms, the project will contribute to increasing the volume of trade between the two countries; reducing travel time, shipping and transport costs along the Yaoundé-Bata-Libreville multinational corridor; creating favourable conditions for promoting an industrial-port activities hub in the same area, and improving the living conditions of various populations, including women, young people and vulnerable groups in its area of influence.

Implementation of the project is due to start in December 2023, with completion scheduled for November 2028.

Source: AFDB

1, December 2023

Over 20,000 Southern Cameroons refugees seek asylum in Nigeria ⁰

About 20,000 refugees who fled the Republic of Cameroon are presently seeking asylum in Taraba State following the crisis rocking the Nigeria North-Western and South-Western regions of the Central African country.

The Cameroonians have been camping in five local government areas of the state, including Kurmi, Gashaka, Sardauna, Takum and Ussa.

The refugees had appealed to the Taraba State and Federal Government to assist in alleviating their sufferings.

Although worried about the security crisis rocking the state, the Taraba Governor, Agbu Kefas, has assured the refugees of their safety and protection pending the return of peace in their country.

Represented by his Deputy in a recent meeting, the governor promised to do his best to foster peaceful coexistence between the two neighbours.

The meeting is expected to draw recommendations that will facilitate a seamless integration of humanitarian services to refugees and vulnerable community members in line with global best practices on refugees.

Source: Dailypost

1, December 2023

Limbe: Cameroon beat Nigeria in clash of former football stars ⁰

A team comprising former star footballers of Cameroon beat ex-Nigeria players 3-1 in a testimonial game on Thursday evening.

In front of over 10,000 spectators at the Omnisport Stadium in the seaside resort town of Limbe, Julius Aghahowa netted the sole Nigerian goal for the Jay-Jay Okocha-led squad.

Samuel Eto’o, Bernard Tchoutang and Ndip Tambe scored for Cameroon to overpower Nigeria in a match billed as a repeat of the 2000 African Nations Cup final in which Cameroon defeated Super Eagles on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

“Quite an entertaining game and it would have been a wonderful coincidence if the result was the same as the original 2000 final. These legends can still play in championships today,” Nigerian supporter Emeka James who watched the match said.

Cameroonian supporter Michael Jaaba was particularly enthused about seeing legends such as Samuel Eto’o and Jay-Jay Okocha.

“They did not disappoint us. We enjoyed the gala match,” he said.

Cameroon organized the game as part of activities to mark International Plantain Festival, which will be officially launched in the country on Friday.

Source: Xinhaunet

1, December 2023

Etoudi: Farewell Audience to Indian High Commissioner ⁰

Paul BIYA granted a farewell audience to Anindya Banerjee, High Commissioner of India to Cameroon on 29 November 2023 at Unity Palace.

Biya and Banerjee reportedly discussed issues of common interest, including the strengthening of the friendly and cordial bilateral relations that exist between Yaoundé and New Delhi in areas like trade, agriculture, health, and capacity building.

The outgoing Indian Diplomat started his mission in Cameroon on 21 February 2022.

Culled PRC

30, November 2023

Cameroon Concord Person of the Year 2023: polling is now closed ⁰

Cameroon Concord News Group has honoured a Person of the Year annually since 1999. The winner is an individual or any group that has deeply influenced the people of Cameroun and Southern Cameroons over the past year. The winner of this coveted award is made public on the first day of December every year, and a profile of the winner accompanies the release. The winner must have affected the news in these countries constructively or in an undesirable way. This sought-after distinction is not an endorsement but a recognition by the readers of this publication.

Past winners of the award include Cameroon football legend Samuel Eto’o, Bishop Emeritus Francis Teke Lisinge, the Southern Cameroons leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, Archbishop Andrew Nkea the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province, former Nigerian head of state Goodluck Jonathan and French Cameroun despot Paul Biya.

The results of the 2023 poll are now closed, and the Editorial Board of this publication is immensely grateful to the over 31,000 readers who participated in this poll. Our London Bureau Chief, Isong Asu, is working on a striking profile of the Cameroon Concord News Group Person of the Year 2023. From our office in London, UK, this paper and its sister publications will make public the name of the Cameroon Concord News Group Person of the Year 2023 winner tomorrow, the first day of December 2023. Stay tuned!

By Staff lady Chi Prudence Asong

30, November 2023

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger dies aged 100 ⁰

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who played a pivotal and polarising role in US foreign policy during the Cold War, has died at the age of 100.

He served as America’s top diplomat and national security adviser during the Nixon and Ford administrations.

Despite leaving office in the mid-1970s, he continued to be consulted by generations of leaders for decades.

The German-born former diplomat died at his home in Connecticut.

Former US President George W Bush led tributes, saying the US had “lost one of the most dependable and distinctive voices on foreign affairs”.

Meanwhile, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair described him as an artist of diplomacy, saying Kissinger was motivated by “a genuine love of the free world and the need to protect it”.

President Richard Nixon’s daughters, Tricia Nixon Cox and Julie Nixon Eisenhower, said that Kissinger’s life story was “so unique – and so thoroughly American”.

“Henry Kissinger will long be remembered for his many achievements in advancing the cause of peace,” the statement said. “But it was his character that we will never forget.”

Born in Germany in 1923, the school teacher’s son first came to the US in 1938 when his family fled the Nazis. He never quite lost his native Bavarian accent.

He became a US citizen in 1943 and went on to serve three years in the US Army and later in the Counter Intelligence Corps.

After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a PhD, he taught international relations at Harvard.

In 1969, then-President Nixon appointed him national security adviser, a position that gave him enormous sway over US foreign policy.

His eight years as both national security adviser and secretary of state between 1969-77 saw the US finally end its involvement in the Vietnam War, open up relations with China and bring about a cessation of hostilities in the 1973 Yom Kippur War in the Middle East between Egypt and Syria on the one hand and Israel on the other. It was an effort that created the whole idea of shuttle diplomacy.

Kissinger with Zhou Enlai — Image caption,Kissinger with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in 1971

Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel, which is currently at war with Hamas, paid tribute to Kissinger’s work on the peace agreement with Egypt, posting on social media that “the entire family of nations is blessed to this day by the fruits of the historic processes he led”.

In China – where Kissinger enjoyed enduring popularity – news of his death was soon trending on Weibo, a social media platform.

China News’ obituary referred to him as “an old friend of the Chinese people”.

China Central Television called him “a legendary diplomat” and “living fossil”, who had played an important role in US-China relations.

Over the years, however, Kissinger was also subject to scathing criticism from those who accused him of putting rivalry with the Soviet Union over human rights and supporting repressive regimes across the world, including Augusto Pinochet in Chile.

Anger over several of his policies, including on Cambodia and Argentina, followed him even in death. Rolling Stone has published his obituary under the headline “Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved by America’s Ruling Class, Finally Dies” and the left-leaning Huffpost has splashed “The Beltway Butcher” over a photo of him on its home page.

Kissinger, however, was dismissive of criticism.

“That’s a reflection of their ignorance,” the gravel-voiced statesman told CBS in an interview shortly before his 100th birthday.

In 1973, he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize alongside North Vietnam’s Le Duc Tho, who refused to accept.

The award led to two members of the Nobel committee resigning.

Kissinger flying to the Middle East — Image caption,Kissinger’s Middle East peace efforts became known as ‘shuttle diplomacy’

While Kissinger left government service in 1977, he continued to be a prolific commentator on public affairs. His counsel was sought by a dozen US presidents – from John F Kennedy to Joe Biden – as well as by lawmakers.

Notably, Kissinger is also the only American to have dealt directly with every Chinese leader from Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping.

He also served on the boards of various companies and was a fixture of foreign policy and security forums, as well as penning 21 books.

Even after turning 100, Kissinger kept up an active life, including a surprise visit this July to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, where the aged statesman was feted despite a chill in relations between China and the US.

The visit irked the White House and prompted National Security Council spokesman John Kirby to lament that “it’s unfortunate that a private citizen” had access to Chinese leaders while the US government did not.

During an interview with ABC on a book tour in July 2022 – when he was 99 – Kissinger was asked whether he would take back any of his decisions.

“I’ve been thinking about these problems all my life. It’s my hobby as well as my occupation,” he said. “And so the recommendations I made were the best of which I was then capable.”

He is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Nancy Maginnes Kissinger, as well as by two children, Elizabeth and David, from a previous marriage and five grandchildren.

Source: BBC

29, November 2023

Cameroon Military Drone Cameras Spy Biafra Separatist Fighters in Bakassi ⁰

Spy drone cameras suspected to belong to Cameroon elite military unit, the Rapid d’intervention Battalions, BIR, were seen flying round Atabong East area of Bakassi Peninsula in the morning at 9am on Wednesday 29 November, 2023.

Eye witness confirmed that the spy drone headed towards the oil quarters near the Atabong high sea where separatists have held for some days with attacks and counter attacks.

A week ago, the Black Marine, a militant group believed to be members of the Biafra Nations League, BnL, took control of the quarters after a gun battle that lasted for 3hours , it was reported that Cameroonian Forces retreated and launched a counter offensive two days after on the Black Marine forcing the militants to flee, 24hours later, another militant group Dragon Fighter Marine retaliated the attack on the Black Marine with explosives, blowing a military gunboat and killing two BIR.

Source: Igberetvnews

29, November 2023

Biya has lost the war in Southern Cameroons ⁰

The recent change of tactics by the Francophone dominated Cameroon government military in Southern Cameroons is not an honorable decision – it’s a capitulation. Biya and his Francophone political elites have already lost the war in Southern Cameroons.

The best Yaoundé can hope for is exit talks with the Ambazonia Interim Government and this will be after Biya with a promise that the two Cameroons will remain together under a federated structure.

After more than 6 years of conflict, with at least 8,000 civilians including some 4000 army soldiers killed and hundreds more injured or exiled in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, none of the objectives set out by the 90-year-old dictator following his declaration of war against the English speaking peoples of Southern Cameroons has been met. In short, Biya has lost the war in Southern Cameroons, and lost badly.

The Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces have stepped up their campaign against Cameroon government institutions and are now staging attacks deep inside French speaking Cameroun. The Ambazonian leader Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides are still being held at the Maximum Security Prison in Kondengui but the Southern Cameroons resistance is on-going. It is evidently clear that the Cameroon government army under Biya’s command can no longer provide security for anyone in Southern Cameroons.

The so-called North West/South West Reconstruction idea, promoted in Yaoundé and Paris has been exposed as a fantasy and does not even have the backing of top Francophone politicians running state affairs in Yaoundé.

Attacks in Manyu, Bui, Mezam and Menchum including Ndian heralds the point that the Cameroon government military cannot contain Ambazonia fighters and control the Southern Cameroons territory. Despite the Cameroon government army’s best efforts, soldiers and innocent civilians are being killed each day.

Biya’s government is taking the last kicks of a dying horse and it is now only being felt in Yaoundé, the nation’s capital which is home to his Beti-Bulu Ewondo ethnic extractions. Once Biya dies hopefully this December or early January next year, there will be a rapid descent into civil war, involving soldiers from his ruling clan, Fulanis and Hausa groups and rival Francophone army generals. The worst can never be avoided in Yaoundé.

Cameroon Concord News London Bureau Chief Isong Asu noted during this week’s editorial meeting that Cameroon after Biya could become a free-for-all involving Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Central African Republic and Gabon – and maybe Nigeria, too. To be more accurate, Biya will be leaving an unholy mess that he and his tribe men helped create.

Billions of FCFA meant for developmental projects have been wasted on a war that should have never been fought in the first place and hundreds of millions more is being lost to corruption.

In a significant shift, Vision 4 television which like all major Francophone media houses, supported the war in Southern Cameroons, aired a report last week saying Yaoundé as the capital city has collapsed.

The war in Southern Cameroons remains a political disaster and a catastrophic mistake based on a false premise, aggravated by self-righteous Francophone arrogance and an unforgivable Francophone ignorance on the part of a fool passing for a head of state. For 41 years, a lunatic and his gang of ideologues and know-nothings have destroyed a once-prosperous nation.

Instead of pushing the old and frail Biya to begin a new conflict with Gabon over lame and ridiculous excuse that the new leadership in Libreville is molesting her sister, Mrs Ali Bongo, Chantal Biya should be trying much harder to end the seven-year- old war in Southern Cameroons.

Yaoundé cannot maintain this war in Southern Cameroons, so the military leadership should get rid of this monstrous liability of a head of state in Etoudi and restore the dignity of the Cameroonian nation.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

29, November 2023

Dortmund association celebrates 25th anniversary with international conference ⁰

25 years of Africa Positive

Dortmund-based association celebrates its 25th anniversary with the conference “Sustainable development and the role of the media – changing perspectives between Africa and Europe”. The conference took place on the 18th November 2023

The conference focused on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015, which aim to achieve peace and prosperity for all humanity by 2030 as part of an action plan.

The current situation regarding efforts to achieve these goals and further developments from a European and African perspective were discussed in presentations and working groups.

Keynote speaker, Dr. Oluseyi Soremekun from the United Nations Information Centre in Nigeria, called for a strong political will from the so-called developing countries to implement the goals. National governments must not only translate improvements into words, but also into action. He also called for better representation of developing countries in international politics.

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Scheffran from the University of Hamburg stated that six (of nine) so-called planetary boundaries had been reached. As all of the world’s major problems are interlinked, politics must focus on the “global whole”. The significance of national borders was becoming less important. So-called tipping points in political decisions would irreversibly steer developments in one direction or another. Scheffran went on to say that North-South cooperation was particularly important when it came to climate change. We must not play off against each other here – this is also linked to the causes of flight.

Nathalie Yamb, a pan-Africanist from Switzerland, called on African governments to initially only utilise the continent’s resources on the African continent and only sell them to other parts of the world if they are not needed in Africa.

The debate in these working groups focussed on two main questions: How have the corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine affected the implementation of SDGs? How should global goals such as SDGs be implemented in a world where there is no uniform monopoly on the use of force and where power is unfairly distributed?

During the discussion, it became clear that the first question has the answer in the second question. Unfairly distributed power relations have led to resource-rich countries in Africa being asked by countries such as Germany to mine more coal, for example, which diverts the focus away from global sustainability goals.

Another important point of discussion was that the world, especially the major powers, use their advantages in the world for their own national interests, usually at the expense of sustainable development goals. Connections between national and global goals are ignored, as are crisis situations.

As the global community in the form of the United Nations (UN) has no monopoly on the use of force, sustainable development cannot be enforced on a global scale. Against this background, the new, emerging multipolar world order was seen as problematic in some cases. At the same time, most participants were of the opinion that countries in Africa could have a better chance of protecting and asserting their own interests in the multipolar world order. There was a broad consensus that the multipolar world needs rules in order to be able to treat national and global interests fairly.

Africa Positive, one of the oldest and most successful African organizations in Germany, celebrated its 25th anniversary at its birthplace, TU Dortmund University, with numerous prominent guests and participants from African countries, Germany and Switzerland. Around 130 people took part in the international conference “Sustainable development and the role of the media – changing perspectives between Africa and Europe”.

Among the guests were well-known personalities from politics and other areas of public life: Thomas Westphal, Lord Mayor of the City of Dortmund, Mayor Barbara Brunsing, Police Commissioner Gregor Lange, former Mayor Ullrich Sierau, keynote speaker Dr Oluseyi Soremekun from the United Nations Information Centre in Lagos, Nigeria, Prof. Dr Jürgen Scheffran from the University of Hamburg and members of the state parliament Anja Butschkau and Volker Baran as well as Astrid Müller from the Foundation for Environment and Development NRW.

About Africa Positive e.V.

Africa Positive e.V. was founded 25 years ago by computer science student Veye Tatah from Cameroon at TU Dortmund University. Initially, the magazine of the same name was at the centre of the association’s work. The name “Africa Positive” refers to an important motivation for the magazine – the conviction that the African continent offers a lot of positive perspectives, especially when negative developments are specifically named. At the same time, it was hoped that differentiated reporting would help to break down prejudices against Africa and its people, facilitate dialogue at eye level and highlight its innovative strength.

Today, Africa Positive supports numerous intercultural activities and various projects in the areas of media work, development policy, youth work, integration, science and education.

In November 2018, the Africa Institute for Media, Migration And Development (AIMMAD) was founded for educational and research issues. Its work focuses on “journalism in a global context”.