Headline News

Southern Cameroons Crisis: The world’s most neglected conflict

17, April 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: The world’s most neglected conflict 0

The central African nation of Cameroon is better known for football, but its bloody, under-reported conflict deserves our attention. The right of minorities to self-determination is at the heart of violence blighting the lives of millions of unarmed civilians.

The Vatican has been increasingly diplomatically engaged, encouraging the Cameroon government to participate in inclusive peace talks, mediated by a third party. A webinar, hosted by the Liberal Democrats, on 19 April 6.30 – 8pm explores these issues.

Cameroon has been ruled by President Paul Biya, age 88, since 1982. He continues to win elections that no international monitor considers free and fair, and his country is ranked among the world’s most corrupt and repressive by Transparency International and Freedom House, respectively.

In 2016, Biya’s Francophone-dominated regime tried to impose French-speaking judges and teachers on the English-speaking regions, representing 20% of the population. Peaceful Anglophone protests were crushed with what impartial human rights groups described as disproportionate force. The UN estimates 700,000 civilians (out of six million Anglophones) have fled to the bush and beyond. UNICEF says one million children are out of school. Local civil society groups believe 5,000 people have been killed. Meanwhile, hundreds of opposition figures are imprisoned without due process.

Armed militias have emerged, demanding a sovereign country called “The Federal Republic of Ambazonia,” and rights monitors believe all armed sides are behaving with impunity, with unarmed civilians caught in the middle. The former colonial powers, the UK and France, offer bland calls for the respect for international human rights law, but neither government will apply pressure on Cameroon to attend inclusive mediated peace talks offered by the Swiss and the Vatican. Cardinal Parolin, the Papal envoy, visited Cameroon in January, and rights monitors suggest that Pope Francis is the only world leader commanding the respect of President Biya.

The webinar will explore a cross section of views on the way forward. Speakers include Dr Chris Fomunyoh from the National Democratic Institute in Washington DC, and Juliette Paauwe of the Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect.

Source: Independent Catholic News

Yaoundé: ‘End of an era’ as Chief Dr Tabetah Ashu Tarkang James of Mbinjong village dies

16, April 2021

Yaoundé: ‘End of an era’ as Chief Dr Tabetah Ashu Tarkang James of Mbinjong village dies 0

The people of Mbinjong, Upper Bayang Sub Division in Manyu were yesterday mourning the death of legendary traditional ruler Chief Tabetah Ashu Tarkang who died at the extension of his palace in Yaounde on Thursday after a long battle with an undisclosed illness.

A family source hinted Cameroon Concord News that he died after visiting a private clinic in late afternoon yesterday. He was surrounded by his wife and some family members and he died very peacefully after a long illness that started last year.

His funeral is due to be held at his Mbinjong Village following directives from Minister Victor Mengot who also moonlights as senior elite from Mbinjong.

Cameroon Concord News Group Chairman Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai, who wrote so many stories about the late Chief on the pages of the Herald newspaper, was amongst the first to pay tribute to the Manyu academic.

“It’s a very sad day and the end of an era,” he said. “I’ve known His Royal Highness Chief Dr Tabetah since the 90s and we had great days in MECA Yaounde and so many great moments in SWELA. He was a great mentor and a marvellous person to work with. We’ll miss him.”

Chief Tabetah was best-known as a peace maker in MECA Yaoundé particularly when the Agbor Tabi brothers were at daggers-drawn-positions.  

The onetime Special Adviser to Prime Minister Peter Mafany Musonge, whose wealth was believed to run into hundreds of millions of FCFA, also enjoyed something of a playboy image. He dated a string of beautiful women and finally got married to Sophie Besong Tabetah.

Chief Tabetah was credited with changing the face of Manyu politics with his calm approach to every political situation.

He remained one of the most prominent sword less patriotic Manyu soldier right up to his death, even though he had adopted a considerably lower profile in recent years.

Dr Tabetah Ashu Tarkang James was born in Mbinjong and was one of the Manyu children that the late Dr AD Mengot gave the opportunity of conquering education home and abroad.

He came to the fore in the 90s as lecturer at the Higher Teachers Training College in Yaoundé and pushed for the CPDM government to adopt a considerably more political view of the admission process into the Higher Teachers Training College.

Chief Dr Tabetah Ashu Tarkang James was a chartered member of the ruling CPDM party and bon viveur.

By Isong Asu in London

Football: Arsenal, Man Utd, Roma and Villareal head to Europa League semifinals

16, April 2021

Football: Arsenal, Man Utd, Roma and Villareal head to Europa League semifinals 0

With their season on the line, Arsenal’s players produced a devastating first-half performance Thursday to beat Slavia Prague and reach the Europa League semifinals.

They’ll meet a familiar face there.

Arsenal’s 4-0 win in the Czech capital—secured courtesy of a three-goal burst in six minutes from the 18th—clinched a 5-1 aggregate victory and set up a last-four match against Villarreal, which is managed by Unai Emery.

The Spanish coach spent an underwhelming 18 months at Arsenal as Arsene Wenger’s replacement in 2018-19 and is rebuilding his managerial career at Villarreal, which beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 and advanced 3-1 on aggregate.

Manchester United and Roma complete the semifinal lineup.

United is back in the last four for a second straight season after beating Spanish team Granada 2-0 for a 4-0 aggregate win.

Roma drew 1-1 with Ajax to squeeze through 3-2 on aggregate.

Arsenal and Roma were under pressure to advance because the Europa League represents their only chance of winning a trophy this season and their only realistic route into next season’s Champions League, owing to their lowly current placing in their domestic leagues.

Arsenal is ninth in the Premier League and Roma seventh in Serie A.

The winner of the Europa League earns an automatic spot in the far more lucrative Champions League.

Sending a message

Arsenal sent a message before and during the win over Slavia.

The hosts learned the day before the game that their defender, Ondrej Kudela, had been banned for 10 games for racially abusing Rangers’ Glen Kamara during a round-of-16 game last month.

Before kickoff, as Slavia’s players stood in a line at the center circle, Arsenal’s players took a knee in a symbolic gesture in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, with Alexandre Lacazette doing so right in front of the Slavia team and staring at the players.

Arsenal responded to having an early goal by Emile Smith Rowe ruled out for offside by VAR by scoring three times in quick succession, first though Nicolas Pepe in the 18th and then Lacazette—from the penalty spot—and Bukayo Saka.

That meant Slavia, the runaway leader of the Czech league which hadn’t lost at home in nearly 18 months, needed to score four goals to qualify. By halftime, the hosts had essentially given up as they removed some of their key players to preserve their condition for the league.

Lacazette, continuing as striker with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sidelined after contracting malaria, added a fourth in the 77th minute.

“The boys were really at it from the start,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. “It is a really important win in a crucial moment. We won in a convincing way.”

Arsenal lost to Chelsea in the Europa League final in 2019.

Villarreal’s goals were scored by Paco Alcacer and Gerard Moreno at the end of the first half, with Zagreb — the last-16 conqueror of Tottenham — grabbing a consolation through Mislav Orsic.

Villarreal is in the semifinals of the Europa League for the first time since 2016.

Cavani milestone

Edinson Cavani scored his 50th goal in European competition to lead United to victory over Granada at Old Trafford.

The 34-year-old Uruguay striker met a flicked header back into the middle of the area by Paul Pogba with a left-foot volley into the bottom corner in the sixth minute.

A 90th-minute own-goal by Jesus Vallejo completed a second straight 2-0 win over Granada.

United lost in the semifinals to Sevilla last season and has been defeated at that stage three other times — twice in the English League Cup and again in the FA Cup — under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Roma will look to inflict another last-four loss on United after surviving a scare against Ajax, which took the lead through Brian Brobbey’s lobbed finish in the 49th to tie the score on aggregate at 2-2.

Edin Dzeko equalized in the 72nd and Ajax couldn’t find the goal that would have taken the match to extra time.

Solskjaer was part of the United side that beat Roma 7-1 at Old Trafford in the Champions League quarterfinals in 2007.

Source: AP

Cameroon: Professor Messanga Nyamding takes CPDM drama to the north

16, April 2021

Cameroon: Professor Messanga Nyamding takes CPDM drama to the north 0

Professor Messanga Nyamding, the former faculty member of the International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC), who was recently transferred to Ngaoundere by the country’s higher education minister, Fame Ndongo, who also doubles as an indefatigable professional dancer, has finally arrived his new duty station.

Messanga Nyamding’s transfer, which is a disciplinary measure for his incisive criticism of his own party, the ruling CPDM, also known as the crime syndicate, is gradually transforming him into a clown and rock star at the same time.

Upon reaching his new duty station, the notorious professor, headed to a local restaurant where he ate a one-kilometer long loaf of bread with an entire pot of meat before heading to the university where he will be imparting knowledge to young Cameroonians.

The minister of higher education, Fame Ndongo, had said on national television that the frustrated professor of international relations would be received in his new obscure university as a hero.

He made this declaration while seeking to prove that Professor Messanga Nyamding’s brutal and sudden transfer was not politically motivated.

Professor Messanga Nyamding had criticized the secretary general at the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, on national TV, pointing out that the all powerful secretary general was fostering corruption in the civil service by promoting nepotism and mediocrity.

Cameroon has long been known for its legendary corruption and it has, on two occasions, won the world cup for corruption under the watchful eyes of Peter Mafany Musonge who was the country’s prime Minister at the time.

Messanga Nyamding who is cash strapped has accepted his humiliation and has grudgingly moved to Ngaoundere, but he wants to make political out of his misfortune.

As predicted by Fame Ndongo, Professor Messanga Nyamding was received with pump and pageantry by motorcycle riders of Ngaoundere. But the Chancellor of the Univerisy, Professor Chinje, was not willing to see Messanga Nyamding enjoy his rock star status. She did her best to rain on Messanga Nyamding’s parade.

Instead of being a beautiful event, the CPDM drama ended up being a COVID-19 super spreader event, with the boisterous and flamboyant Nyamding spraying the deadly virus across the entire city. What was supposed to have been a simple event to escort Professor Nyamding ended up being a super spreader event, with onlookers and participants ignoring all COVID-19 safety protocols and with Messanga Nyamding coughing and blowing his nose irresponsibly.

Professor Messanga Nyamding might not have had the joy and privilege of being escorted to his new duty station because of Prof. Chinje, but he did at least draw attention to himself.

His objective has always been to draw the attention of the country’s president, Paul Biya. He has been looking forward to a good appointment but his dream seems to be turning into a nightmare as his political comrades have resorted to persecuting him as a means of shutting him up for good.

Yesterday’s event in Ngaoundere is by no means the last we will be seeing from the frustrated and flamboyant Nyamding. He needs a political appointment and recognition and he will stop at nothing when it comes to achieving his objective.

Nyamding is hungry. He is cash strapped and while he has taken the humiliation from Professor Fame Ndongo and Mr. Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh lying down, he has not taken his eye off the ball. Cameroonians will be hearing from him soon as he remains a key member of the CPDM comedy cast.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Many women in poor nations can’t say, `No sex’

15, April 2021

Many women in poor nations can’t say, `No sex’ 0

Less than half the women in 57 developing countries are denied the right to say “no” to sex with their partners, to decide whether to use contraception, or to seek health care, a U.N. report said Wednesday.

The report by the U.N. Population Fund said the data covers only about one-quarter of the world’s countries, over half in Africa. But the findings “paint an alarming picture of the state of bodily autonomy for millions of women and girls” who don’t have the power to make choices about their bodies and their futures without fear or violence, it said.

The fund said only 55% of girls and women in the 57 countries are able to decide whether to have sex, whether to use contraception and when to seek health care such as sexual and reproductive health services.

“The denial of bodily autonomy is a violation of women and girls’ fundamental human rights that reinforces inequalities and perpetuates violence arising from gender discrimination,“ said the fund’s executive director, Dr. Natalia Kanem. “The fact that nearly half of women still cannot make their own decisions about whether or not to have sex, use contraception or seek health care should outrage us all.”

According to the report, “My Body Is My Own,” percentages vary across region.

While 76% of adolescent girls and women in east and southeast Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean can make decisions on sex, contraception and health care, less than 50% can in sub-Saharan Africa and central and south Asia, the report said.

There are also differences within regions. Citing one example, the report said that in three countries in sub-Saharan Africa — Mali, Niger and Senegal — less than 10% of adolescent girls and women control all three of those decisions.

Regional difference between countries on the three decisions are less pronounced elsewhere but still vary widely, ranging from 33% to 77% in central and south Asia, from 40% to 81% in east and southeast Asia, and from 59% to 87% in Latin America and the Caribbean, the report said.

The fund, which now calls itself the U.N.’s sexual and reproductive health agency, also cited inconsistencies within countries.

In Mali, for example, 77% of women take independent or joint decisions on contraception but just 22% are able to do the same when it comes to health care, the report said. In Ethiopia only 53% of women can say “no” to sex, while 94% can independently or jointly make decisions about contraception.

Kanem said in the forward to the report that many women are also denied the right to choose the person they marry, or the right time to have a child “because of race, sex, sexual orientation, age or ability.”

“Real, sustained progress largely depends on uprooting gender inequality and all forms of discrimination, and transforming the social and economic structures that maintain them,” she said. “In this, men must become allies.”

Source: Toronto Star

US: Cameroon Man Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Defrauding Bourbonnais Bank, Others

15, April 2021

US: Cameroon Man Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Defrauding Bourbonnais Bank, Others 0

A citizen of Cameroon, Lovette Namatinga, 34, has been sentenced to serve 48 months in federal prison for defrauding a Bourbonnais, Ill., bank of nearly $300,000. At the sentencing hearing, on April 13, 2021, Senior U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm further ordered that Namatinga pay restitution in the amount of $278,201 to the bank and numerous other individual and business victims of the defendant’s fraud scheme.

Namatinga, of Owings Mills, Md., has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since he was arrested on Oct. 7, 2019, at Washington Dulles International Airport by FDIC Office of Inspector General agents.

On Sept. 21, 2020, immediately prior to jury selection before his trial, Namatinga pleaded guilty to all counts of the indictment, four counts each of bank and wire fraud, as charged, related to his  defrauding Municipal Trust and Savings Bank, Bourbonnais, Ill. Namatinga admitted that he carried out the fraud from about February to April 2019, by falsely representing to the bank that the secretary of one of the bank’s customers requested that cashier’s checks be sent to Namatinga’s fraudulent company known as Keiko San Products Alimenticious, LLC. Namatinga is the registered agent for Keiko, and the four checks were mailed to his home address. Once the checks were deposited into Keiko bank accounts, Namatinga then transferred money from those accounts to his personal account or withdrew cash from those accounts.

In addition to the fraud committed through Municipal Trust & Savings Bank, Namatinga used his fraudulent business and multiple associated bank accounts to deposit and launder fraud proceeds from various other victims throughout the United States. Namatinga’s scheme, known as a business e-mail compromise scam, was just one such scheme in 2019 that resulted in more than 23,000 victims nationally, with an average loss of $75,000 per complaint, according to FBI crime statistics.

The FDIC Office of Inspector General conducted the case investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene L. Miller represented the government in the prosecution.

Source: United States Department of Justice

Federal Republic of Ambazonia: Leader welcomes Ramadan with special message

15, April 2021

Federal Republic of Ambazonia: Leader welcomes Ramadan with special message 0

As millions of Muslims commenced the Ramadan fasting, the leader of the Ambazonian nation and head of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe shared a warm message to welcome the holy month expressing wishes to all Muslims in Southern Cameroons and around the world.

To the Muslim community,

Dear brothers and sisters of the Muslim community,

During this Holy month of Ramadan, know that we are together. As you sacrifice in fasting and prayer, it is our hope that Allah will meet you/us at the point of need. He is faithful and will give our people the freedom they deserve. Be strong and courageous in the pursuit of the goals that you set for yourself, your family and our nation, insha’Allah. Amen

Ramadan Mubarak

Sisiku AyukTabe

Covid-19-Ambazonia Crisis: Yaoundé politics is to please China, Russia and Britain at the same time

15, April 2021

Covid-19-Ambazonia Crisis: Yaoundé politics is to please China, Russia and Britain at the same time 0

While Denmark in Europe has given up using the AstraZeneca vaccine, the Biya regime instead announced the acquisition of 400 thousand doses of the dangerous British vaccine.

Prime Minister Dion Ngute recently received 200,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from the Chinese government and now his Minister of Public Health has told the nation that 400,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine will be arriving on April 17.

The Danish government said it was abandoning the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19 because of its “rare” but “serious” side effects. Denmark became the first EU member state to drop the British solution to the coronavirus.

Despite well informed opinions from the European Health regulator and the WHO in favour of AstraZeneca, the vaccination campaign in Denmark is continuing without the AstraZeneca vaccine, observed the director of the Danish National Health Agency, Søren Brostrøm, during a press conference.

However, Yaoundé which of late has been signing doggy business deals with UK authorities all in a bid to please the British and attract sympathy and cover-ups for crimes being committed by Cameroon government army soldiers in English speaking Cameroon had pleaded for the Russian vaccine before receiving 200,000 doses of the Chinese Sinopharm.

Yaoundé Covid-19 politics is indeed to please China, Russia and their British partner at the same time!

Thus, after the 200 thousand doses of Sinopharm vaccine, the Biya regime has now made it public that 400 thousand additional doses of the British vaccine is en route to Yaoundé. In May, at least one million doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik will also be in Cameroon.

Last Monday, the Francophone Minister of Public Health launched the vaccination campaign in front of the media in order to convince the most reluctant.

The suspension of AstraZeneca in Denmark adds to the reluctance of Cameroonians both in La Republique and in Southern Cameroons who are already mostly opposed to vaccination against Covid-19.

Citizens of the two Cameroons believe that it is necessary to return to natural plant-based treatments that have proven their worth, particularly traditional pharmacopoeia or African solutions.

According to a majority opinion in the divided country, the epidemiological situation of Covid-19 is not so alarming as to create any panic.

As at 9 April 2021, French Cameroun had 3386 active cases. Out of some 61,731 cumulative cases, 56,926 were cured and 919 died.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Much of Cameroon is losing power daily in massive blackouts

15, April 2021

Much of Cameroon is losing power daily in massive blackouts 0

A war of words has reportedly erupted between Cameroon’s Electricity Regulatory Agency (Arsel) and the concessionaire for the distribution of electrical energy in Cameroon (Eneo). The regulator has accused the company of numerous acts of abuse against defenseless Cameroonian consumers, serious breaches and recurrent violations of the law.

Most of French and Southern Cameroons, including the capital Yaoundé and many major towns, lost power for days recently in one of the biggest blackouts to affect Cameroon ever since President Biya took office. The cause is not immediately clear as power failure continues to affect the entire nation.

Cameroon Concord News understands the Arsel-Eneo tug-of-war is a CPDM crime syndicate technique to shift the blame from failed government policies and corruption deep within the energy sector to Eneo.

On Monday, the Francophone dominated regulatory agency said in a statement that Eneo was involved in what it painted as non-respect and violation of the public electricity distribution regulations; abusive suspension of electricity supply to customers; untimely cuts in electricity supply, over-billing and imaginary frauds.

Added to this complex relationship between Arsel and Eneo, some customers, supplied by delivery points regularly connected to the metering equipment fixed outside their homes or offices have also been accused of fraud and gross violation of Article 13 of the energy regulation.

It is a common practice in French Cameroun particularly in the cities of Douala and Yaoundé for French speaking Cameroonians to take electrical energy outside the quantities measured by the meter by falsifying the indications of the meter, as well as breaking of the seals. 

The so-called Cameroon energy regulator has given Eneo a warning notice to comply with the law within a week. However, every aspect of the Cameroonian life is linked to the ruling CPDM crime syndicate where no one takes responsibility, no one apologize, and no one resigns.

Also playing the game of the consortium of crime syndicates, the Cameroonian League of Consumers (LCC) in a publicized declaration, congratulated Arsel for the formal notice against Eneo. A copy of the LCC statement signed by its executive president Delor Magellan Kamgaing was sent to the presidency of the republic.

For several months now, all major towns and cities in Cameroon have been suffering from untimely power cuts, causing serious economic repercussions and considerable domestic damage.

The company Eneo attributes these blackouts to the collapse of the electricity transmission network, the maintenance of which is a source of much ink and spit.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Iran nuclear talks resume under shadow of Natanz attack

15, April 2021

Iran nuclear talks resume under shadow of Natanz attack 0

Talks to save the Iran nuclear deal resume in Vienna Thursday amid new tensions, with Tehran preparing to ramp up uranium enrichment in response to an attack on a facility it blamed on arch-foe Israel.

After a positive first round of negotiations aimed at resurrecting the 2015 agreement scuttled by Donald Trump, Iran’s push towards enrichment levels needed for military use “puts pressure on everyone,” a European diplomat told AFP.

Tehran says the move is a response to Israel’s “nuclear terrorism” after an explosion on Sunday knocked out power at its Natanz enrichment plant.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement but public radio reports in the country said it was a sabotage operation by the Mossad spy agency, citing unnamed intelligence sources.

“It definitely complicates things,” the diplomat said, ahead of the talks between the remaining members of the deal — Germany, France, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and Iran — resuming at 1230 pm local time (1030 GMT).

But events of the past few days have also “reminded both parties that the status quo is a lose-lose situation”, and have “added urgency” to the talks, said Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director at the International Crisis Group think tank.

“It is clear that the more the diplomatic process drags on, the higher the risk that it gets derailed by saboteurs and those acting in bad faith,” Vaez added.

 ‘Only viable solution’

Known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the deal has been disintegrating since former US president Donald Trump dramatically withdrew from it in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions, prompting Iran to retaliate by exceeding its agreed limits on nuclear activity.

Britain, France and Germany have expressed “grave concern” over the most recent enrichment move, while also rejecting “all escalatory measures by any actor”.

China and Russia also strongly back the United States returning to the deal, believing it addresses the most pressing concerns with Iran.

Russia’s representative in Vienna said the deal remained the “only viable solution which can bring the Iranian nuclear programme back to the agreed parameters.”

But the Joe Biden administration, while agreeing on the JCPOA’s value, has stressed that it is waiting for Iran to first roll back steps away from compliance that it took to protest Trump’s sanctions.

An American delegation is attending the talks “indirectly”, staying at a separate hotel.

Washington is “very open-eyed about how this will be a long process,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Wednesday.

“It’s happening through indirect discussions, but we still feel that it is a step forward.”

‘Not much time’

In the meantime, Tehran is reducing its “breakout time” — time to acquire the fissile material necessary for the manufacture of a bomb, said the European diplomat.

Under the JCPOA, it had committed to keep enrichment to 3.67 percent, though it stepped this up to 20 percent in January.

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said its inspectors visited the site at Natanz for “verification and monitoring activities” on Wednesday, and that Iran had “almost completed preparations” to enrich uranium to 60 percent purity.

Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful.

Its foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the Natanz attack had unleashed a “dangerous spiral” and warned Biden the situation could only be contained by lifting the sanctions Trump imposed.

“No alternative. Not much time,” he added.

“It was unrealistic to expect Iran not to respond to such a humiliating attack at the heart of its nuclear programme,” the ICG’s Vaez said.

“But the only thing that in the past two decades has effectively curtailed Iran’s nuclear program has been diplomacy, not sanctions or sabotage.”

(AFP)

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