Headline News

3, August 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Francophone soldiers killed two civilians, raped a 53-year-old woman ⁰

The independent international organisation Human Rights Watch has urged authorities in Cameroon to protect civilians caught up in a conflict pitting the central African country’s army against separatists in the west, denouncing atrocities committed by both sides.

More than 3,500 people have been killed and over 700,000 have fled their homes to escape the conflict that erupted in 2017 in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.

“Cameroonian security forces killed two civilians, raped a 53-year-old woman, destroyed and looted at least 33 homes, shops, as well as a traditional leader’s palace in the Northwest region on June 8 and 9,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

The organisation said it had interviewed several victims, their relatives and witnesses, as well as local journalists and civil society activists.

The alleged rape victim said her ordeal began when soldiers asked her and her husband where the separatist fighters were.

“We said we didn’t know,” she said, according to HRW. “They said my husband had a gun. We said we had no gun. They said they would kill us, and then one of them raped me.”

Her husband’s body was found three days later, shot in the mouth, HRW said.

Urgent need to protect civilian communities

“Cameroon’s security forces have an obligation to lawfully counter attacks by armed separatist groups, and protect people’s rights during periods of violence,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior researcher at HRW.

“But yet again, we learn that they have responded to the threat from separatist groups with attacks on civilians and serious human rights violations of their own.”

The defence ministry declined to comment on the report.

The statement also detailed killings — including of a 12-year-old boy — and kidnappings carried out by separatist fighters.

The abuses by both sides in the conflict “highlight the urgent need to protect communities at risk and to hold those responsible for abuses to account,” the statement said.

Other humanitarian groups including Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have also raised the alarm recently about the risks faced by civilians.

Members of the English-speaking minority in the western provinces of Cameroon have long complained of being marginalised by the French-speaking majority and 88-year-old President Paul Biya, in power for 38 years.

Their demonstrations escalated into conflict in 2017.

Source: RFI

2, August 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Red Dragons strikes again in Lebialem ⁰

The Red Dragons of Lebialem have reportedly launched an attack in Mveh, killing dozens of Cameroon government army soldiers. Sunday August 1, 2021 assault is another shocking indicator of the Southern Cameroons uprising considered the world’s most neglected conflict by the Norwegian Refugee Council.

The Red Dragons have benefitted from sophisticated weaponry, which became readily available from several Amba harvests in the Lebialem constituency. The terrain in the entire Lebialem Division is also advantageous for the Red Dragons, as the Fontem hills and forest offer shelter and protection for Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that the Red Dragons successfully hit a Cameroon government army vehicle with an IED in Mveh around the Mary Health Center in Fontem Sub Division.

Ambazonia Restoration Forces primary source of anger and alleged motivation for recruiting local youth is the persistent level of inequality caused by French Cameroun exploitation and marginalization of the rich Southern Cameroons territory. English speaking regions in Cameroon are the poorest and severely lacking in investment, infrastructure, and resources.

By Chi Prudence Asong with files

2, August 2021

Ambazonia Restoration Forces raid Ossing timber centre ⁰

Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces operating in Eyumojock Sub Division in Manyu raided the Biya Francophone government Ossing timber centre destroying the main building and wood brought into Ossing village through illegal routes by Francophone timber merchants.

The Ambazonian fighters, who attacked the centre, were led by a special team directed by the Manyu Liberation Council who hinted our correspondent in Mamfe that the Ossing timber centre was raided to enforce the Southern Cameroons Interim Government policy on zero logging of wood by corrupt Francophone operators.

Reacting to the Ossing raid, Vice President Dabney Yerima told Cameroon Concord News that “Logging of wood is banned in the entire Southern Cameroons and there is a law to that effect which was made public by President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe four years ago.”

Dabney Yerima pointed out that French Cameroun timber merchants stationed in Manyu were supposed to have consulted with the Manyu Chiefs Conference immediately after the declaration of Southern Cameroons independence by President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and work in collaboration with Southern Cameroons anti-deforestation task force.

The exiled Southern Cameroons leader said the Manyu Liberation Council has the responsibility to appoint a body within the Eyumojock Chief Conference and the council to run the Ossing timber centre in the best interest of the Ejagham people. Yerima also stressed that Amba fighters will follow the French Cameroun timber merchants to the jungle and the forests where they do the logging and if they escape Ambazonia dragnet, the fighters will confiscate the illegal wood.

By Agbor Julius

1, August 2021

Ambazonia Restoration Forces won’t allow Biya Beti Ewondo soldiers to perpetrate crimes with impunity ⁰

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government Dabney Yerima has reacted to the retaliatory attack on a Cameroon government-managed timber exploitation centre in Ossing in Manyu Division, stressing that Ambazonia Restoration Forces will not allow the Biya Francophone regime in French Cameroun to commit crimes with impunity.

“Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces won’t permit Francophone army soldiers to commit any crimes without retaliation, whether in the Northern zone or in the Southern Zone. Since the 88-year old Biya of French Cameroun in still in a coma, his kinsmen running the political affairs in La Republique du Cameroun have to understand that Ambazonia Restoration Forces can reach their poorly trained and ill equipped soldiers anywhere in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia,” Vice President Dabney Yerima said in an exclusive interview with Cameroon Concord News Group on Sunday.

Dabney Yerima underlined that French Cameroun and its corrupt political leadership were engaged in a campaign doomed to failure against the people of British Southern Cameroons, describing the Biya Francophone army attacks on Southern Cameroons homeland as well as the continued detention of President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides as desperate attempts at stifling the Ambazonia uprising.

Yerima went on to say that the balance of power is tipped in favor of the Ambazonia Restoration Forces in Ground Zero.

“Atanga Nji, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh and Fame Ndongo must re-calculate their existence or hostilities against Southern Cameroons Restoration Groups, whether in Ground Zero, Ground One or in Western Europe and the USA. All these Ambazonian groups are really willing to counterattack or retaliate against French Cameroun acts of aggression,” Vice President Dabney Yerima noted.

Ambazonia Restoration Forces providing security in the Eyumojock Sub Constituency in Manyu reportedly killed a Cameroon government army soldier deployed to a timber exploitation centre in Ossing village in Manyu Division.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that the soldier was killed early hours of Saturday at the military checkpoint in front of the timber centre habouring trucks.

A reliable security source told our correspondent that the Amba fighters attacked the location in Ossing with heavy gun fire.

By Isong Asu

London Bureau Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

1, August 2021

Kassav: Musicians worldwide mourn passing of Jacob Desvarieux ⁰

Tributes are pouring in for Guadeloupean musician Jacob Desvarieux, co-founder of the band Kassav’ who died at the age of 65 on Friday after catching Covid. He shot to fame in the 1980s with the invention of ‘zouk’ – bringing the fast, catchy sounds of the Caribbean to the world.

Local media in the French territory of Guadeloupe announced his death late on Friday, prompting an outpouring of grief.

“A giant of zouk music. An unparalleled guitarist. An emblematic voice of the West Indies. Jacob Desvarieux was all of these things at once,” French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted.

In poor health after undergoing a kidney transplant, the singer and guitarist was taken to hospital in Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe’s largest city, on 12 July after catching Covid-19.

“The West Indies, Africa and music have just lost one of their greatest ambassadors,” tweeted Senegalese music star Youssou N’Dour.

“Jacob, thanks to your art, you brought the West Indies and Africa closer together. Dakar where you once lived mourns you. Farewell friend.”

A successful experiment

Desvarieux told French daily Liberation in 2016 that his band Kassav’ started out in Paris as an experiment.

“We wanted to find a soundtrack that would combine all the previous (Caribbean) traditions and sounds, but that would be exportable everywhere,” he said.

And so zouk was born, rising to global fame, particularly in France and on the African continent where people partied to its festive rhythm.

“We questioned our origins through our music,” Desvarieux told Liberation. “What were we doing here, we who were black and spoke French?”

Kassav’ rose to prominence along with the increasing popularity of world music in the 1980s.

Modern twist

The brainchild of Guadeloupean artists Pierre-Edouard Decimus and Freddy Marshall, the band was founded in 1979 with Desvarieux, who was born in Paris and had been influenced by guitarists Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix.

The band’s base style is gwo ka, a kind of Guadeloupean drumming music, topped up with ingredients from all over the Caribbean and a modern twist.

Kassav’s first album was released in 1979, and the band reached its peak popularity at the end of the 1980s.

It signed a contract with the multinational CBS record label, and was praised by jazz legend Miles Davis.

Since then, zouk music’s popularity has waned but Kassav’ continues to attract crowds at its concerts.

Source: RFI

1, August 2021

French Cameroun: National Gendarmerie makes biggest seizure of cannabis ⁰

Cameroon National Gendarmerie has made their biggest seizure of cannabis ever on the night of July 19 in a raid on a store in the country’s Far North region, according to a statement by the gendarmerie on Friday.

The haul, about 3,900 kg, was found in 39 bags inside a store in Kousseri, a town in the region after being transported from the commercial capital of Douala, the gendarmerie said, adding that two suspects were arrested and will likely be prosecuted for drug trafficking.

An investigation has been opened with a view to the complete dismantling of the drug network in the region, the gendarmerie said.

Source: Xinhuanet

1, August 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Amba fighters kill one Cameroon gov’t soldier in Ossing ⁰

Cameroon Concord News gathered that the soldier was killed early hours of Saturday at the military checkpoint in front of the timber centre habouring trucks.

A reliable security source told our correspondent that the Amba fighters attacked the location in Ossing with heavy gun fire.

The office of the Senior Divisional Officer for Manyu is yet to confirm the attack. But military sources at the Besongabang regiment of the Cameroon government military have accused the members of the Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces of being behind the attack.

A radio host contacted by our Mamfe town reporter added that Caporal Nchofua Christopher Yende seen here on the photo attached to this report is the soldier killed. Cameroon government army soldiers have ever since the attack been shooting indiscriminately and people in Ossing have been running back into the bushes.

By Ojong Peter in Mamfe

31, July 2021

Norbert Zongo Affair: France clears extradition of Francois Compaore, brother of Burkina Faso’s ex-president ⁰

France on Friday cleared the extradition of Francois Compaore, the brother of Burkina Faso’s former president, to his home country where he is wanted in connection with the murder of a prominent journalist.

The Council of State, France’s highest court for cases involving public administrations, rejected an appeal by Compaore’s lawyers against a previous ruling for his extradition, saying there were no constitutional or other grounds to overturn the decision.

Compaore is the younger brother of Blaise Compaore, who was ousted in a popular uprising in 2014 — after 27 years in power that started with a coup d’etat — and went into exile in Ivory Coast.

The murdered journalist was Norbert Zongo, director of the weekly magazine L’Independant and an investigative reporter. His charred body was found on December 13, 1998, along with three killed colleagues in a burnt-out car on a road south of the capital Ouagadougou.

The killings sparked mass protests in Burkina Faso and drew international condemnation.

Initially only one suspect, presidential guard member Marcel Kafando, was charged for the killing and later acquitted.

Zongo had been investigating the death of David Ouedraogo, Francois Compaore’s driver.

Burkina Faso closed the probe after freeing the guard member, but the judiciary reopened the case after Blaise Compaore had been deposed.

An independent investigation ordered by the subsequent government concluded that the assassination was linked to the professional activities of the journalist who had a track record of uncovering irregularities in the Compaore regime.

Six suspects, all members of the presidential guard, were identified by the independent investigators and three were charged.

‘Dignity, honour and responsibility’

The Burkina Faso judiciary suspects that Francois Compaore may have ordered the hit, although he has not so far been charged with any crime.

French police arrested him at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris in October 2017 following an international arrest warrant issued by his country’s government. In 2020, Burkina Faso made a deal with France for his extradition.

Compaore’s lawyers said on Friday that their client was ready to face his country’s judiciary “with dignity, honour and responsibility”.

But they added in a statement sent to AFP that he felt the extradition was politically motivated, and that the Council had failed to take into account the risk of torture, inhumane treatment and of an unfair trial awaiting him.

“He would certainly be exposed to such risks if he were handed over to Burkina Faso,” they said.

Compaore has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights in the hope of stopping the extradition, they said.

Source: AFP

31, July 2021

Covid-19: WHO sounds alarm on Delta as China outbreak spreads ⁰

Mushrooming outbreaks of the highly contagious Delta variant prompted China and Australia to impose stricter Covid-19 restrictions on Saturday as the WHO urged the world to quickly contain the mutation before it turns into something deadlier and draws out the pandemic.

China’s most serious surge of coronavirus infections in months spread to two more areas Saturday — Fujian province and the sprawling megacity of Chongqing.

More than 200 cases have been linked to a Delta cluster in Nanjing city where nine cleaners at an international airport tested positive, with the outbreak spanning Beijing, Chongqing and five provinces as of Saturday.

The nation where the disease first emerged has rushed to prevent the highly transmissible strain from taking root by putting more than one million people under lockdown and reinstituting mass testing campaigns.

Worldwide, coronavirus infections are once again on the upswing, with the World Health Organization announcing an 80 percent average increase over the past four weeks in five of the health agency’s six regions, a jump largely fuelled by the Delta variant.

“Delta is a warning: it’s a warning that the virus is evolving but it is also a call to action that we need to move now before more dangerous variants emerge,” the WHO’s emergencies director Michael Ryan told a press conference.

He stressed that the “game plan” still works, namely physical distancing, wearing masks, hand hygiene and vaccination.

But both high- and low-income countries are struggling to gain the upper hand against Delta, with the vastly unequal sprint for shots leaving plenty of room for variants to wreak havoc and further evolve.

In Australia, where only about 14 percent of the population is jabbed, the third-largest city of Brisbane and other parts of Queensland state were to enter a snap Covid-19 lockdown Saturday as a cluster of the Delta variant bubbled into six new cases.

“The only way to beat the Delta strain is to move quickly, to be fast and to be strong,” Queensland’s Deputy Premier Steven Miles said while informing millions they will be under three days of strict stay-at-home orders.

‘The war has changed’

The race for vaccines to triumph over variants appeared to suffer a blow as the US Centers for Disease Control released an analysis that found fully immunised people with so-called breakthrough infections of the Delta variant can spread the disease as easily as unvaccinated people.

While the jabs remain effective against severe disease and death, the US government agency said in a leaked internal CDC document “the war has changed” as a result of Delta.

An analysis of a superspreading event in the northeastern state of Massachusetts found three-quarters of the people sickened were vaccinated, according to a report the CDC published Friday.

The outbreak related to July 4 festivities, with the latest number of people infected swelling to 900, according to local reports. The findings were used to justify a return to masks for vaccinated people in high-risk areas.

“As a vaccinated person, if you have one of these breakthrough infections, you may have mild symptoms, you may have no symptoms, but based on what we’re seeing here you could be contagious to other people,” Celine Gounder, an infectious diseases physician and professor at New York University, told AFP.

According to the leaked CDC document, a review of findings from other countries showed that while the original SARS-CoV-2 was as contagious as the common cold, each person with Delta infects on average eight others, making it as transmissible as chickenpox but still less than measles.

Reports from Canada, Scotland and Singapore suggest Delta infections may also be more severe, resulting in more hospitalisations.

Asked if Americans should expect new recommendations from health authorities or new restrictive measures, US President Joe Biden responded, “in all probability,” before leaving the White House by helicopter for the weekend.

He did not specify what steps could be taken.

Source: AFP

31, July 2021

Catholic Women Association of Cameroon: Committed to serving the Church ⁰

The Catholic Women Association of Cameroon held its 9th National Congress from 23 to 25 July 2021 under the theme: “Catholic Women called to holiness for the sanctification and holistic development of the world.”

The national event, which brought together more than 500 Catholic women from different parts of Cameroon, was held in the Diocese of Ngaoundéré, north-central Cameroon, Adamawa Plateau.

During the closing Mass of Sunday, 25 July, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Apostles in Ngaoundéré, the Catholic women pledged to plant a new seed of mutual love that would inspire other members, especially a new generation of members. They will also double up on accomplishing works of mercy within communities.

Do not seek power and prestige

The local Ordinary, Bishop Emmanuel Abbo, addressed the women association and encouraged them to commit and dedicate themselves even more to the different apostolates in their dioceses. Bishop Abbo, nonetheless, admonished the ladies against the temptation of seeking power, prestige and honour at the expense of their calling as lay Catholics. He warned against unhealthy tendencies that undermine others.

Growing a new generation of young Catholic women

National Chaplain of the Catholic Women in Cameroon, Father Giles Ngwa Forteh, for his part, expressed the wish to see a new generation of Catholic Women grow, one whose language and life would be anchored on the law of love.

“Rediscovering the love of God and sharing must be our goal. Indeed, the hatred we see around us clearly indicates that the human heart has become seriously hardened. Only the Word of God can soften that heart and make people take actions that can transform the world. God renews us every time we approach him,” he said.

Source: Vatican News