Headline News

29, September 2022

Skin whitening products remain popular in Cameroon despite risks ⁰

Wearing a large hat protecting her face from the sun’s rays in Cameroon, 63-year-old Jeanne now bitterly regrets using skin whitening products after being diagnosed with skin cancer.

She is one of many women in Cameroon who use the controversial products that have been banned after social media outrage.

“I am embarrassed when people look at me,” the trader in the capital of Yaounde said, wishing to only use her first name.

After a lesion grew on her face over five months, she went to a doctor who diagnosed her with one of the most common skin cancers.

Doctors told her the cancer is linked to her use of skin lightening products for 40 years.

Jeanne, like millions worldwide, used the products for more “desirable” lighter skin, an ideal pushed by the beauty industry.

According to the Cameroon Dermatology Society (Socaderm), nearly 30 percent of residents in the economic capital Douala and a quarter of schoolgirls used the products in 2019.

For some like 20-year-old student Annette, the effects can be harsh. She said she suffers from red patches on her face, peeling skin and also burns.

“Under a strong sun, my face became hot and I had to stop,” she said.

The products with names like “White now” and “Super white”, are instantly recognisable on shop shelves by the fair-skinned women on the packaging.

Dangerous chemicals

The furore began in the summer after social media users criticised opposition MP Nourane Fotsing over her company that sells the products, angry that an elected official would profit from them.

Many of the products have never been scientifically tested and contain dangerous levels of chemicals that inhibit the production of melanin, a substance produced in the body by exposure to the sun.

One of the chemicals is hydroquinone, banned in the European Union since 2001 because of the risk of cancer and genetic mutations.

Cameroon’s health ministry on August 19 banned the import, production and distribution of cosmetic and personal hygiene products containing dangerous substances such as hydroquinone and mercury.

Hydroquinone is in fact one of the most used in whitening products in Cameroon, according to a 2019 study by Yaounde I University.

‘Public health problem’

“We encounter patients complaining of symptoms linked to skin depigmentation every day,” Alain Patrice Meledie Ndjong, a dermatologist at a hospital in Douala, said.

It is a “public health problem”.

According to the World Health Organization, the products are commonly used in many African, Asian and Caribbean countries by both women and men, and also among dark-skinned populations in Europe and North America.

Other skin whitening products include potions, tablets and even injections.

Some of the substances, when ingested, can cause diabetes, obesity, hypertension or kidney or liver failure, warned Ndjong, adding there was also a psychological impact on individuals like “anxiety and depression”.

Despite the horror stories, men and women believe they will become more beautiful after using the products.

“Beauty standards promoted by media, advertising and marketing reinforce the bias that lighter skin tone is more desirable than darker skin tone.”

Sociologist Achille Pinghane Yonta of Yaounde University offers blunter analysis of why the creams remain popular.

“There is a desire” rooted “in our consciences to want to look like” Western populations, he said.

“It’s a very old practice. It’s even said, in some parts of the country, that a light-skinned woman’s dowry is higher than that of a darker woman.”

But for Pascaline Mbida, she felt the difference.

“I noticed that men were more attracted to women with lighter skin and I had confirmation of this when I whitened my skin, I had never got so much attention,” Mbida said.

Black market

But the cost put off Mbida, who is currently unemployed. She spent 30,000 Central African Francs (45 euros) per month on the products.

The mandatory monthly minimum wage in Cameroon is 36,270 (55 euros).

Since the ban, police have launched raids, much to the chagrin of the sector’s players who claim some seizures don’t distinguish between the products that are banned by the government and those that are not.

The WHO in 2019 said “the skin lightening industry is one of the fastest growing” worldwide and was estimated to be worth $31.2 billion by 2024.

The cosmetic and personal hygiene market grew in Cameroon by seven percent in 2020 and was worth 380 billion CFA (around 580 million euros).

Despite the ban, there is a already a black market for the products.

Source: AFP

29, September 2022

Understanding the Francophone Franck Biya’s supporters who want him to succeed his father ⁰

Although ‘Franckists’ are not very well organised, they nevertheless manage to make themselves heard. Who are they and why do they want Franck Biya, the son of Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, to come to power one day?

The text has the feel of a religious sermon. Published on Facebook on 24 September, it speaks about the “sacred union of hearts” and the need to keep “the flame of peace and unity lit”. The name of its author attracts more attention than even the content of the text, which evokes “the Cameroon [we] would like to teach our children”. For Mohamed Rahim Noumeu is none other than the founder of the Mouvement Citoyen des Franckistes pour la Paix et l’Unité du Cameroun, MCFPU, (Citizens movement of Franckists for the peace and unity of Cameroon)

‘A man with a divine destiny’

The term “franckists” refers to men and women who support 51-year-old Franck Biya, the only son of Jeanne-Irène, who died in 1992. They openly express their hope of seeing him succeed his father, Paul Biya, as soon as the latter steps down from the position he has held for nearly 40 years.

Borrowing expressions from the Gospel, the MCFPU behaves like the political party it is not, without paying much attention to those who accuse it of wanting to transform the Cameroonian Republic into a monarchy governed by a law of dynastic succession. After all, its members see Franck Biya as “a providential man with a divine destiny”.

The MCFPU is the main one of the so-called Franckist movements. It has existed since 2013 and, for a long time, its activities were limited to posting on a Facebook group. Franck Biya’s return to Cameroon in 2020 has given it a certain prominence. Previously removed from his father’s business, the eldest Biya child is now one of the head of state’s advisors. He has set up an office at the Etoudi Palace, from where he manages the dossiers that the president has entrusted to him.

Does he hope to succeed him? The question is now being asked, even though the main person concerned has not answered it and has neither welcomed nor rejected these overflowing expressions of affection. This cleverly maintained vagueness has also thrown 52-year-old Noumeu into the spotlight. Many see his movement as a tool that can be used to gauge public reaction in the event that Franck Biya becomes a candidate.

Signs and banners

Little concerned until now by the activism of this Cameroonian living in the US, the Etoudi palace began to pay special attention to him when France’s Emmanuel Macron visited Yaoundé last July. The Franckists hoped to take advantage of the French president’s visit to make themselves heard. They had even planned to deploy activists, placards and banners along the route that Macron was meant to take through the heart of the capital.

But things didn’t go as planned. Other organisations showing their support for Franck Biya entered the fray. Anxious to ensure that the cacophony would not disrupt the official programme, the Cameroonian presidency’s civil cabinet asked the security forces to silence them.

Five hours before Macron’s plane landed on the tarmac, the police took action. Commissioner Messanga, head of the Territorial Security branch at Nsimalen airport, and the Yaoundé central commissioner had banners and placards seized.

About 20 activists were arrested and placed in police custody. An investigation was opened and entrusted to the Directorate of General Intelligence. Police officers conducted a series of interrogations over three days and tried to unravel the web of this intriguing phenomenon.

Constellation

In addition to the MCFPU, there is the Réseau National des Jeunes Acquis à Franck Emmanuel Biya pour la Paix et la Stabilité au Cameroun (National network of youth in support of Franck Emmanuel Biya for peace and stability in Cameroon) , headed by Garba Aboubakar, as well as the Mouvement des Febistes (Febist movement) and the Rassemblement Républicain des Franckistes du Cameroun, RRFC (Republican Assembly of Cameroon’s Franckists).

There is not one Franckist organisation, but rather groups that are independent of each other.

Not to mention the Mouvement Citoyen pour la Paix et l’Unité (Citizen’s movement for peace and unity) and the Mouvement Citoyen pour l’Émergence (Citizen’s movement for emergence) – both founded by MCFPU defectors. There is even a second MCFPU, which bears the exact same name as Noumeu’s movement, but is instead led by a certain Alain Fidèle Owona. The Réseau National des Jeunes Musulmans, which supports Franck Biya, is the latest addition to the political landscape.

“There is not one Franckist organisation, but rather groups that are independent of each other,” says Bertrand Ndzana, a member of the RRFC. “What brings us together is the desire to see the president’s son in power. Some see him as a kind of new version of Paul Biya, who will be able to preserve the values [that his father defended]. Others want to keep or obtain an enviable position,’ he adds frankly. The RRFC makes no secret of the fact that it is based in Ebolowa, in the southern region where Biya is from.

“The profusion of support movements for a figure, especially for one that is close to power, is nothing new,” says someone familiar with local political life. “Before the Franckists, we saw organisations such as Jachabi (Jeunesse Active pour Chantal Biya) and Presby (Jeunesse de Paul Biya) dominate the landscape, then disappear. Today, Franck Biya arouses such interest because the matter of succession has not been resolved.”

The hand of an influential minister?

Is Franckism a spontaneous phenomenon or is the hand of an ambitious man behind this sudden enthusiasm? In Yaoundé, some people, speaking on condition of anonymity, have linked this movement to an influential minister from the South who, in the clan war that is tearing Yaoundé apart, would like to tip the balance in favour of the South and the Bulus.

This clan revolves around Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, the director of the presidency’s civil cabinet, Bonaventure Mvondo Assam, a nephew of the head of state, and Franck Biya himself. This clan’s fiercest opponents include many people from the eastern region, the first lady Chantal Biya and the presidency’s secretary-general Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh.

“When we look at the career of some Franckists, we may have some doubts about the sincerity of their activism,” said the source. “In the past, Mohamed Rahim Noumeu was, for example, a fervent supporter of the singer Lapiro from Mbanga, a virulent critic of Paul Biya. Today, he finds himself on the side of power… And he is far from being the only one.”

How far will the Franckists go? Although the activists arrested during Macron’s visit have been released, the Cameroonian services are now keeping an eye on them. Paul Atanga Nji, the minister of territorial administration, demands that these organisations be legalised before they are allowed to carry out any activity.

The licence issued to the RRFC has been cancelled as a result of this pressure. “In the Cameroonian context, the legal recognition of political associations remains an exclusive prerogative of the territorial administration,” Sylyac Marie Mvogo, the prefect of Mvila (South), said in a statement. It will undoubtedly take more to discourage the Franckists, who are aware that their champion was officially presented to Macron on 26 July.

Culled from The Africa Report

29, September 2022

Biya regime bans public gatherings in Bamenda ⁰

Cameroonian authorities have banned public gatherings in Bamenda, the capital of the restive Northwest Region, where armed separatist conflicts are underway.

Simon Emile Mooh, the prefect of the Mezam division where Bamenda is located, said in a statement issued Wednesday that “undeclared meetings and public manifestations” have been banned in the city until further notice.

The statement came after separatists announced plans to hold a public manifestation Saturday to mark the “independence” of the country’s two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest.

Any individual or group that violates the provisions of this order “shall be punished in accordance with the rules and regulations in force,” Mooh warned.

Bamenda, the most populous and largest city in English-speaking Cameroon, is also the stronghold of separatist fighters who want to establish an independent state in the country’s two Anglophone regions and have been clashing with government forces since 2017.

Source: Xinhuanet

28, September 2022

French Cameroun: Lucky Man Who Married 4 Women ⁰

This is a celebrated French Cameroun polygamist that even other polygamists from the Ocean Division in the South Region of La Republique du Cameroun disapprove of his ways.

He hails from the South region just like the renowned Professor Joseph Owona a former Biya regime cabinet minister who lives in three homes right next to one another, with each of his two wives getting their own space.

On Tuesday 27 September 2022 in Lekoundje in Ocean Division in the South Region, this notable got married to four wives and the unconventional family opened the doors for an unprecedented peek inside their wedding ceremony.

Cameroon Concord News understands this French Cameroun Casanova will rotate every night among them so that each wife gets to sleep with him.

By Rita Akana

28, September 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Barrister Agbor Balla calls on Biya to open talks with Sisiku Ayuk Tabe ⁰

The founder and head of the Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa Barrister Agbor Balla has said that the solution to the crisis in Southern Cameroons requires dialogue between the Francophone dominated Biya regime and the jailed Ambazonian leaders.

The armed conflict is now into its sixth year and nothing seems to change following the so-called Grand National Dialogue that was held in 2019, an event that was supposed to mark a significant milestone in the process of resolving the conflict. The killings have also continued at catastrophic rapidity and the burning and looting of private homes is now increasing at an alarming proportion, much to the dismay of human rights defenders including Barrister Agbor Balla.

For his part, Dr Felix Agbor Balla regrets that no progress has been made in the process of resolving the Ambazonia conflict.

“Three years after the holding of the Grand National Dialogue to resolve the Anglophone crisis, we note that nothing is actually changing in the two regions since 2016. Kidnappings, armed attacks in which civilians and soldiers are killed continue in both regions. In short, the Anglophone crisis continues to wreak havoc with several consequences on the entire Cameroonian population. Even when the Grand Dialogue was held in 2019, I did not think that this crisis would find a definitive solution,” Barrister Agbor Balla told a French publication Le Jour on Tuesday, September 27, 2022.

Balla in the interview deplored the fact that attacks on schools, churches, hospitals and public buildings have continued and the university don blamed it on both Ambazonia fighters and the Cameroon government military. “These are war crimes that we as human rights defenders, cannot tolerate,” the legal practitioner said.

Barrister Agbor Balla furthered that it is important for Cameroon authorities to organize informal meetings with the jailed Ambazonian leaders in order to find lasting solutions to the crisis.

“Now, it is important that the state authorities work for the definitive resolution of this crisis that is paralyzing activities in two regions of the country. I propose to the government to discuss with the separatist leaders who are in Cameroon with the aim of finding a definitive solution in the framework of informal meetings for example. We have for example a leader like Ayuk Tabe who is incarcerated in Kondengui. The government can also consult members of civil society to find a definitive solution to this crisis. A reform of the republican institutions is also necessary for the final resolution of this crisis,” he concluded.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from CIN

28, September 2022

Yaoundé: Biya henchman dies ⁰

The man who facilitated the killing of hundreds of French Cameroon service men and women of Hausa extraction after the 1984 April 6 coup has died in the nation’s capital, Yaoundé.

Minister Amadou Ali, leader of the Fulani CPDM mafia was a staunch supporter and acolyte of President Paul Biya.

Cameroon Radio and Television confirmed his death a few hours ago but did not say what he died from.

Minister Amadou Ali reportedly collapsed in a flight from Geneva to Yaoundé and died some few hours later.

Since then scores of gendarmerie officers have stood guard outside his Yaoundé residence. Cameroon’s leading independent newspaper Cameroon Intelligence Report said last year that he had cancer and had shown signs of disorientation and rapid weight loss.

His trademarks were silent violence against political opponents and Fulani Beti Ewondo hegemony. Correspondents say his death is a severe blow to President Biya’s ruling CPDM party. The Biya regime is already reeling from the recent deaths of three ministers from Covid 19.

Amadou Ali was born in 1943 in Kolofata, in the Far North region of the country and has been appointed minister several times in the Biya Francophone regime. Since 2011, he has served as Minister in charge of Relations with the Assemblies.

Ali had a meteoric rise in the corrupt system in French Cameroun. He was First Deputy Prefect of Ngaoundéré (1971-1972), Director at the Ministry of Territorial Administration (1972-1974), Secretary General Ministry of Public Service (1974-1982), General Delegate for Tourism ( 1982-1983), Head of the National Gendarmerie (1983-1985) and was again Secretary of State for Defense in charge of the National Gendarmerie from 1985 to 1996.

In 1996, he was appointed Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic in a move that was aimed at annoying Professor Titus Edzoa. He held the portfolio concurrently with his duties as Secretary of State for Defense. He was Minister-Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defense from 1997 to 2001. He was also appointed Minister of State, in charge of Justice and Keeper of the Seals from 2001 to 2004.

By Chi Prudence Asong

27, September 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Separatists Say Splinter Groups Kill, Abduct Fighters ⁰

English-speaking separatists have for the first time acknowledged deadly clashes between splinter rebel groups.

In a video circulated Saturday on social media platforms, Cameron’s English-speaking fighters say they have freed several civilians abducted by rebels. The fighters presented two people who said in the video they are separatist commanders, and their weapons were seized by a rival English-speaking separatist group called the Marines.

A separatist group called the Buffaloes shared another video that they said was taken in Bali, an English-speaking northwestern district, in which they claimed to have attacked another rebel group created by a self-proclaimed rebel general known as Big Number. They said Big Number fighters abducted a man and were asking for ransom.

The Buffaloes that shared the video, in which they claim Big Number sent fighters to harass civilians, said the abductions, killings, maiming, raping and torture of civilians have increased. The Buffaloes said separatists cannot claim they are protecting civilians from the brutality of Cameroon’s government troops, if fighters are committing gross human rights violations.

Both the Cameroon government and separatist leaders have confirmed that the videos are those of rival separatist groups in Cameroon’s English-speaking western regions.

Some separatist groups on social media platforms are also calling for the immediate release of all abductees, including five Catholic priests, a nun and two worshippers kidnapped this month from a church on the border with Nigeria.

The Catholic Church in Cameroon says the gunmen asked for $100,000 in ransom.

When the separatist crisis broke out in 2016, separatists said Cameroon’s central government in Yaounde was using education as an instrument of manipulation and assimilation of English speakers by the French-speaking majority.

Splinter groups say the lockdowns imposed by separatists on Monday are a sign that fighters, not the central government in Yaounde, control the English-speaking regions and hurt English-speaking civilians. The splinter groups say they no longer support school closures imposed by separatists.

Activist Edward Nfor, a member of a coalition of civil society organizations in Cameroon, said civilians think the fight for independence of Cameroon’s English-speaking regions from the French majority is losing purpose and is plunging civilians into more suffering.

“Citizens are fed up, because it looks like it has become a money-making organization with abductions and asking for money,” Nfor said. “We have unnecessary roadblocks, and they [fighters] collect money from passengers in vehicles like church offerings. So, I think these rival groups that are coming up now are actually, like, telling the people, ‘We do the right thing. We are going to defend you.'”

Nfor said his association is a neutral observer advocating for an end to the crisis so that people who have been suffering can return to their towns and villages.

Rights groups have accused both Cameroon’s military and anglophone separatists of killing civilians and torching their homes in the conflict. Both sides reject the accusations.

The United Nations says the fighting has left at least 3,300 people dead and more than 750,000 internally displaced.

Source: VOA

27, September 2022

Football: Son’s header lifts South Korea past Indomitable Lions ⁰

Son Heung-min scored for the second straight match on Tuesday to lead South Korea to a 1-0 victory over Cameroon in their latest World Cup tune-up.

The star striker headed the ball home after an initial shot from Kim Jin-su was deflected by goalkeeper Andre Onana in the 35th minute, and South Korea then hung on for the win in front of 59,000 fans at Seoul World Cup Stadium.

On Friday Son had netted a free kick in a 2-2 draw against Costa Rica.

South Korea and Cameroon, who are both Qatar-bound for the World Cup, had few serious chances at goal prior to Son’s header.

Lee Jae-sung’s diving attempt in the fifth minute forced a tough save from Onana, while Cameroon’s Moumi Ngamaleu fired a right-footed shot over the net in the 26th.

Cameroon nearly levelled the score in the 43rd minute when Bryan Mbeumo’s effort ricocheted off the body of defender Kwon Kyung-won and struck the crossbar.

South Korea had a chance to double their lead two minutes into the second half but Jeong Woo-yeong’s header sailed over the net.

The Cameroonians’ push for an equaliser proved futile, with Olivier Ntcham sending his left-footed shot right of the net in the 51st minute.

Goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu helped the Koreans keep Cameroon at bay, proving up to the task when Martin Hongla tested him with a right-footed shot in the 70th.

Son came close to grabbing a brace with an 87th-minute free kick but the shot landed on top of the goal netting.

Source: AFP

27, September 2022

Francophone soldiers set houses belonging to Southern Cameroonians ablaze in Awing ⁰

Many houses belonging to Southern Cameroonians in the Northern Zone were on September 25, 2022 set ablaze by Cameroon government army soldiers.

According to reports, the sad incident happened in Awing in the North West region.

The army had reportedly threatened the villagers to provide intelligence on Ambazonia fighters operating in the area.

The operation, which was conducted in the early hours of Sunday 25 September 2022, led to the killing of a women and her four months old baby.

By Fon Lawrence

27, September 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Amba fighters are killing their own people ⁰

For many years, many Southern Cameroonians knew that Amba fighters were their protectors as the country’s military pounded the two English-speaking regions of the country in a bid to quell an insurgency which has rattled the Yaoundé government.

The country’s English-speaking Diaspora stood firmly behind the poorly trained, undisciplined and under-resourced ragtag group of fighters which has succeeded to give the country’s military a run for its money.

At the beginning of the conflict which pitted the Yaoundé government against its English-speaking minority, Southern Cameroonians abroad thought it was an obligation for them to support the fighters on the ground to enable them stand up to the military considered by Southern Cameroonians as an army of occupation and a bully which needed to be taught a few hard lessons.

And those lessons were actually delivered to many soldiers in a manner that was far from being fair.

Thousands of soldiers were killed, with some being subjected to the worst inhumane treatment. Their heads were chopped off and sometimes their private parts were cut off in a drama designed by the separatists to strike fear in the minds of young French-speaking Cameroonian soldiers who joined the military just to earn a salary.

Thousands of army soldiers have been maimed due to the senseless war in the country’s two English-speaking regions and thousands are also suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from the atrocities they have committed and the death of a comrade in arms or that of an innocent civilian who had nothing to do with the war.

But the damage triggered by Amba fighters is not only human. Many pieces of military equipment have been destroyed by Amba fighters, especially over the last two years when the ragtag military tactics morphed from directly challenging the military into planting unidentified explosive devices on major roads and highways.

Ever since this tactic got thrown into the mix, the military has stopped dispatching many trucks to the region, though it still has a heavy military presence in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

Amba fighters received praises from Southern Cameroonians, especially the Diaspora which has been the source of financing for the fighters.

But the once-upon-a-time heroes have morphed into villains who are doing a great job at kidnapping and killing the people they are supposed to be protecting.

Power, especially gun-enforced power, has gotten into the heads of the young fighters who are permanently alcohol-inflamed and under the influence of banned substances.

The guns, bought with money wired by the Diaspora, have become millstones around the civilian population’s neck, causing the locals to call on the Yaoundé government to protect them against their once admired ‘protectors’.

Instead of fighting army soldiers, Amba fighters are now either fighting against each other or killing Southern Cameroonians on ‘ground zero’ for reasons which cannot be explained by the various interim governments which have worked so hard to weaken the very insurgency they helped to manufacture.

It is almost every month that a new interim government comes to life, with a new president whose unexpressed ambition is to lay hands on money put together by the Diaspora, and the last president installed is called Chris Anu whose faction or interim government has lost its credibility because the president cum Man of God has tainted his own character and reputation. Poverty hardly breeds virtue and even men of God could be vulnerable if they did not have enough resources to have a decent life.

Chris Anu, who has been a member of almost every interim government since the beginning of the insurgency, remains a lightning rod for controversy, making it hard for Southern Cameroonians to sympathize with him when their ‘first lady’, his wife, lost her battle against cancer last week.

But it is on ‘ground zero’ that the disaster manufactured by Amba fighters is taking shape. Summary executions have been stepped up and kidnappings have become the order of the day, causing many Southern Cameroonians to flee the very region they had vowed to protect. What an irony!

Last Saturday, an old man whose name the Cameroon Concord News got as Mr. Ebage, 73, was gunned down in cold blood and in the presence of his children in Muyuka, a town some 10 km from Buea, the capital of the Southwest region.

The young Amba fighters who carried out the execution of this retired hospital nurse did not charge the victim with any crime nor did they give him a chance for him to defend himself against any allegations which might have been made against him.

He had been judged without his knowledge and his execution remains a tough challenge to his family members, many of whom have made up their minds to leave their beloved Southwest for good. The land of promise has become the land of summary executions for many Southern Cameroons.

Southern Cameroons is the only ‘country’ in the world wherein family members of a dead person have to pay thousands of dollars just to bury their dead.

Strangely, these family members never receive a receipt for the payments they make and they cannot even protest when things go wrong. This has made many people to view the insurgency as a scam engineered to rob the people of their scarce resources.

Those who manufactured the insurgency had pompously told the world that Southern Cameroons would be the land of the free, but from every indication, freedom does not exist in that part of the world.

There is no freedom of speech as anybody who criticizes Amba fighters is rapidly deleted from the face of the earth and those who believe in federalism have been branded as blacklegs and death penalties are hanging over their heads like the Swords of Damocles.

The Southern Cameroonian population is really caught between the deep blue sea and devil. Amba fighters have issued a code of silence in the supposedly “the land of the free” and army soldiers are also implementing their own law.

The military enforced brutality is usually reduced once you get accused and hauled to the nearest jail where you are required to acknowledge a crime you never committed which, of course, would end up with you paying at least USD 500 for you to be released.

But Amba fighters have gone beyond peanuts. Once you get kidnapped by Amba fighters, know that your family will have to cough up thousands of dollars for you to come out alive from their “green jails”.

The insurgency has become a business and Amba fighters are outdoing the military when it comes to ransoms. The insurgency has created a new economy and the people are paying dearly for the pseudo-protection they are enjoying from people they do not know.

Those who bought weapons for the fighters are now paying ransoms and many now dread that phone call which might remind them of their mistakes.

Currently, some five priests are reflecting on their fate in unknown Amba jails for no crimes committed. They were whisked off some two weeks ago and Amba fighters, who have become experts at kidnapping, are asking for USD 100,000 which the Catholic church has clearly stated that it would not pay due to lack of funds.

The priests have now been left to their own devices and they do not know any fate Amba fighters have reserved for them.

The insurgency, designed to make things better for Southern Cameroonians, has become a massive nightmare to the population and there is no end in sight, as the region is awash with weapons.

Amba fighters have become the new masters, especially in rural areas. They are magistrates, lawyers, engineers, teachers, Men of God, local chiefs and councilors. One would think it takes time to train to become a lawyer or engineer, but the Amba training schools have reduced the London-based Rapid Results College to a child’s play as they are producing engineers and lawyers in weeks.

They may soon be producing medical doctors as the population’s health situation deteriorates and as the military bars government hospitals from treating wounded Amba fighters.

If Southern Cameroons must be that real land of promise, then those in control of Amba fighters must come up with new and innovative ways of controlling those fighters who are discrediting the insurgency. The protector has clearly become the villain and this is hurting.

Dr. Joachim Arrey in Canada