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The Anglophone crisis in Cameroon: Ambazonia is bleeding

3, November 2020

The Anglophone crisis in Cameroon: Ambazonia is bleeding 0

The Anglophone problem in Cameroon is often described as the evolution of the Anglophone’s awareness from the feeling of being marginalised, exploited and homogenised politically, economically and socially by the Francophone-dominated state and even the Francophone population.

The failure to promote the rule of law and democracy creates an environment for conflict, often exacerbated by marginalisation, discrimination, inequality and inequity.

The bitterness of citizens roused to violence is usually entrenched in lack of basic services and public infrastructure, corruption, lack of personal and economic security and lack of transparency and accountability of government to its citizens. Thus, the greatest problem of African countries is their failure to protect the economic, political, social and cultural concerns of their people. This year, 2020, has been marred by a series of human rights violations from Lagos to Kumba. Africa is bleeding.

On 24 October 2020, at least eight children were killed and dozens wounded by a group of armed men at the Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy Kumba, in the Southwest Region of Cameroon. There have been a lot of attacks in Cameroon since 2016. However, these attacks have intensified dramatically.

Since the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon began in 2016, hundreds of people have died, more than 70 villages have been destroyed, about 160,000 people are internally displaced while 35,000 people have sought refuge in Nigeria, Cameroon’s neighbouring country. This crisis has also led to months of general strikes, innumerable days of internet shutdown and the loss of academic years.

What began as a peaceful strike by teachers and lawyers in 2016 led to a conflict between the government and an armed separatist movement of the Anglophone region. This crisis is a serious threat to efforts to build national harmony and unification in Cameroon and has led to the re-establishment of strong contentions and conducts in support of secession and/or federalism by Anglophones. This is because at the centre of this conflict is the Anglophones’ wish to secede from Cameroon and form their own independent state called Ambazonia.

Many analysts contend that the conflict is a result of the unmanageable historical animosity between Cameroon’s Anglophones and Francophones in terms of varying language, culture and identity. Thus, if the differences in identity, language and culture are the primary drivers of the conflict as these analysts contend, it is quite surprising that Cameroon, one of the most ethnically diverse countries in Africa, has to a great extent avoided conflict until 2016.

This crisis goes way beyond language, culture or identity. It is a resurgence of an old problem known as the Anglophone problem. The Anglophone problem is often described as the evolution of the Anglophone’s awareness from the feeling of being marginalised, exploited and homogenised politically, economically and socially by the Francophone-dominated state and even the Francophone population in Cameroon.

The Anglophone problem is driven by the marginalisation and discrimination against the Anglophones in Cameroon in decision-making nationally; the dilapidation of the region’s infrastructure; the exploitation of the region’s rich economic resources by successive Francophone administrations without much beneficiation to the local communities; and marginalisation in human resource development and deployment by the inundation of Anglophone regions with Francophone employees and workers.

It is driven by the marginalisation of the Anglophones in the allocation of economic resources by the Francophones, especially by the mismanagement of the economic patrimony in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon; the common law system and the francophonisation of the English educational system; gradual erosion of Anglophone identity; the predominance of French and Francophones in official documents and public offices respectively; as well as the second-class citizenship of the Anglophones when compared with the Francophones.

The principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty may bar international actors from intervening. However, one can start from the low hanging fruit. For example, European media can call out President Biya for always spending his time and his country’s resources in Switzerland and other European countries without reasonable justification.

Atrocities and the killings of the innocents cannot continue and must stop. While President Paul Biya of Cameroon has made several commitments to end the conflict in Cameroon, there has to be a genuine commitment for the equal and equitable distribution of resources to the Anglophone regions as enshrined in the preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of Cameroon 1996, which stipulates that all citizens “have equal rights and obligations” and “the state shall provide all its citizens with the conditions necessary for their development” and that the state has a positive obligation to ensure that it protects the rights of the minorities. This must be upheld by the government of Cameroon.

Even if there is a commitment on the part of the Anglophones and the government of Cameroon to end the conflict and there are resources to do so, there may be an issue with the authorising environment. This is because President Biya began his rule in Cameroon in 1982 and is serving his seventh term, making him one of the longest-serving presidents in Africa and the world.

This means that for an average Cameroonian, s/he has only known one president since birth. Since the early 1990s, it has been speculated that President Biya is aloof to the needs of his people and has made very few public appearances. He is termed an absentee president who regularly spends extended periods in Switzerland with the excuse from his government that he goes to Switzerland to work without being disturbed. This deficit in governance, as well as the economic apartheid of the Anglophones, are some of the reasons for the demand for a change in the system of government from autocratic to democratic rule.

The bilateral partners of Cameroon such as France, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and other national, regional and international organisations should put pressure on the Cameroonian government to put in place a course of action to assuage the situation, partake in a genuine national dialogue and transform the governance archetype. The government of Cameroon should allow for negotiation and mediation during the national dialogue between parties, where necessary.

The principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty may bar international actors from intervening. However, one can start from the low hanging fruit. For example, European media can call out President Biya for always spending his time and his country’s resources in Switzerland and other European countries without reasonable justification.

Last, the African Union has a huge role to play in this crisis. Just like the Confederation of African Football (CAF) deprived Cameroon the right to host the Africa Cup of Nations in 2019, the African Union can strip Cameroon of the benefits that it enjoys from the continental body and may also place economic and political sanctions on Cameroon such as travel bans and restrictions on access to services in the international arena until it resolves the Anglophone crisis.

Thus, it is imperative to acknowledge that the Anglophone crisis may continue to simmer if the Anglophones still feel marginalised. Therefore, the government of Cameroon must make a conscious effort to address the concerns of the Anglophones, particularly in the allocation and management of economic resources and representation in state institutions.

Source: Daily Maverick

Africa needs a few Donald TRUMPs

2, November 2020

Africa needs a few Donald TRUMPs 0

The USA presidential elections are less than 24 hours away. Unfortunately, I don’t have a vote. Otherwise, Trump could count on my vote 100%.

As an African, you might be wondering why I am pro-Trump. That is exactly the stereotype that drives me towards Trump. Yes, I am Black, but I would rather be voting for Trump.

I strongly believe that Africa would be a much better place today, if it had such leaders as Trump. Why is that?

1. Trump is not a career politician. I am more interested in results than political correctness. In any case, political ideologies and practices in Africa today are still essentially “copy and paste” from the colonial masters; and that is one of the major problems facing Africa today.

2. Trump is already a successful businessman. He does not need the presidency for daily subsistence. Most African leaders get into politics, not to serve, but primarily as a means to make a living. Consequently, they easily succumb to financial improprieties.

3. Trump puts America first. I really wished that the African leaders put Africa first. They appear to put their pockets and the interest of their colonial masters and mentors first.

4. Trump stands for small government. I am sick and tired of Africans looking up to the government for everything, and the leaders continuing to give the impression that citizens livelihoods are at their mercy. Most of the developed world was built by the private sector, with the governments only providing the enabling environment. For example, most of the UK’s vital public services (water, electricity, telecoms, railways) only became state corporations through a process of nationalization from private ownership after the 2nd world war. These companies have since been privatized, a sign that the government is not such a good manager.

5. Trump has strong self-belief and stays the course. The leaders closest to Trump that Africa has had, irrespective of ideology include Kwame Krumah of Ghana, Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, Patrice Lumumba of Congo DRC, Nelson Mandela of South Africa, and now Paul Kagame of Rwanda. Most of today’s leaders have no ideology, and are only interested in gaining and keeping power, at all cost.

6. Trump has a great family. Success is contagious. No unsuccessful leader can raise such very successful children. This competency inevitably translates into success for business, careers and country.

7. Trump embodies the “Power of One”, a phrase I borrowed from Cameroonian writer Patrice Nganang. History, innovation, and significant milestones are often initiated and led by ONE person, be it sports, entertainment, innovation etc. Trump is a true leader and we need such leaders in Africa.

8. Trump brings contradiction and innovation. Some may call it division, but I am tired of the African talk of unity as a pre-requisite for all human progress. No, No. Unity in Africa means that people should FOLLOW whoever is in a position of leadership without question. The physically strong quickly fight themselves into positions of power and preach unity as a tool to keep power. If anything, Africa needs more division (diversity) than unity (conformity) within a level playing field.

Win or lose on November 3rd, 2020, Trump is my hero. I wished we had a few TRUMPs in Africa today. But I have no doubt that the African Trumps will emerge.

I would appreciate your constructive comments. And if you think this article makes interesting reading, please share.

Gene Worifah

Nov 2, 2020

US: Trump vows to defy polls, Biden calls on voters to ‘take back our democracy’

2, November 2020

US: Trump vows to defy polls, Biden calls on voters to ‘take back our democracy’ 0

Donald Trump vowed to again disprove the polls as he sprinted through five swing states Sunday, while his opponent Joe Biden urged supporters to “take back our democracy” by voting in two days.

The last-minute scramble came as polls showed Biden maintaining his overall lead — but with some slight tightening in key states including Pennsylvania, where he leads by four points, and Florida, now a tossup, according to a RealClearPolitics average of polls.

With Americans galvanised by the stakes, the election has already mobilised a record number of early voters.

“We’re now leading,” Trump insisted before a raucous rally of supporters in Washington Township, Michigan.

“Look, we’re leading in Florida. We’re leading in Georgia… They say it’s a very close race in Texas. I don’t think so. They did that four years ago and I won in a landslide.”

Snow flurries fell on Trump and the crowd as he shivered and joked repeatedly about the brisk winds and freezing conditions.

He warned, in a state long dependent on manufacturing, that Biden had “spent 47 years outsourcing your jobs, opening your borders and sacrificing American blood and treasure in endless foreign wars.”

Biden and his wife Jill began the day attending Mass at their Catholic church near their home in Wilmington, Delaware.

The former vice president spent the rest of the day in a neighbouring state that is vital to both men’s prospects: Pennsylvania.

At a drive-in rally in Philadelphia, Biden said: “In two days, we can put an end to a presidency that has divided this nation.”

“It’s time to stand up, take back our democracy,” he said.

“We can do this. We’re better than this. We’re so much better.”

‘Almost criminal’

He also continued to hammer Trump over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic — which he called “almost criminal” in an earlier speech to supporters — following the country’s worst week for new cases ever, with more than 1,000 Americans dying daily.

Yet the president has continued to shrug off the seriousness of Covid-19 — going so far as to accuse doctors of inflating virus death tolls for profit.

At his third rally of the day in Hickory, North Carolina, Trump called for businesses and schools to reopen and touted signs of a recovering economy — though economists say underlying factors do not bode well. 

His extraordinary conflict with doctor Anthony Fauci, the widely respected government expert on infectious diseases, also continued.

In an interview in the Washington Post published Saturday, Fauci said bluntly that without “an abrupt change” in the country’s public health practices, Americans face “a whole lot of hurt ahead.”

But he praised the Biden campaign which — in contrast to Trump’s mass rallies — follows health guidance in its public events.

Fauci’s remarks drew a sharp rebuke from a White House spokesman, Judd Deere, who called it “unacceptable” for Fauci “to choose three days before an election to play politics.”

Fears of tensions on election night and afterward, with vote counting expected to continue due to the large number of mail-in ballots, were further stoked by a report that Trump could declare victory prematurely.

The Axios news site reported that Trump has told confidants he would declare victory Tuesday night if it looks like he’s ahead.

Trump called it a “false report” but also repeated his argument that “I don’t think it’s fair that we have to wait for a long period of time after the election.”

He has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that mail-in ballots are open to fraud, and warned Saturday of “bedlam in our country” if no clear winner emerges quickly.

When asked about the report, Biden said: “The president is not going to steal this election.”

Boarding up

In another sign of how unusual and tense the race has become, Biden also denounced the alleged harassment of one of his campaign buses by Trump supporters on a Texas highway — an incident the FBI confirmed it is investigating.

The election takes place in a deeply divided country, with feelings so raw that gun sales have surged in some areas.

Businesses in some cities, including Washington, are protectively boarding windows, and police are preparing for the possibility of violence.

Trump started an exhausting Sunday schedule with successive rallies in Michigan, Iowa, North Carolina and Georgia before an unusual 11:00 pm rally in Florida.

On Monday, both Trump and Biden will campaign again in Pennsylvania, which Trump won in 2016 by less than one percentage point. The president will later return to Michigan, and Biden reportedly is adding a last-minute stop in Cleveland, Ohio.

Biden’s former boss Barack Obama, who has excoriated Trump in his appearances on the campaign trail, will hold an election eve rally in Miami, the campaign announced.

A record 93 million early votes have already been cast, according to the nonpartisan US Elections Project.

In Trump’s 2016 victory, he was able to flip the crucial states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and, by an especially narrow margin, Michigan.

But polls show Biden, despite his more cautious and reserved campaign style, ahead there while also pushing Trump onto the back foot in traditionally conservative battlegrounds like Georgia and Texas.

Source: AFP

Yaounde: Director of Presidential Security General Ivo Yenwo is reportedly in a coma after declining health

2, November 2020

Yaounde: Director of Presidential Security General Ivo Yenwo is reportedly in a coma after declining health 0

There has been so much media speculation about the health of the Director of the Presidential Security, General Ivo Yenwo.  The military leader who hails from Southern Cameroons has not been seen in the public eye for more than a year now. Ivo Yenwo was even suspected to be dead last year. Now, a Cameroon Intelligence Report source in Yaoundé has reported that the army general is in a coma.

Our informant with strong ties to the General Ivo Yenwo family has assessed him to be in a very poor state, but his life has not ended.  This is coming after several previous speculations that the soldier who reportedly protected President Biya during the April 6 failed coup was already dead after failing to make public appearances for over a year.

Six months ago, he was expected to appear before the Special Criminal Court in Yaoundé over an issue linked to one of the bodyguards of National Assembly Speaker, Cavaye Djibril but this did not help with the rumors of his death. The general has not shown up for many important military occasions and events and this has become a very big deal.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Southern Cameroons Crisis: more pressure is needed

2, November 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: more pressure is needed 0

The panic that is within the ranks of the ruling crime syndicate is testament to the fact that the government is under enormous pressure.

When the political opposition called for a nation-wide demonstration on September 22, 2020, to root out the country’s sit-tight, ailing and incompetent president, Paul Biya, from power, surrogates of the old and bed-ridden president swang into action to ensure the opposition’s call was not heeded by a public which is really tired of the incompetence and corruption that have become the ruling cabal’s hallmarks.

The country’s entire Amada was deployed in Douala and Yaoundé to intimidate opposition supporters who are getting bolder by the day.

But this strategy did not deter Cameroonians who are gradually figuring out that real political change in their country will never come through the ballot boxes which are usually loaded  with fake ballots by the country’s ruling party that has been in power for more than half a century with nothing to show for.

New elections are coming up in December 2020 and these regional elections are only designed to prove to the international community that the Yaoundé government is decentralizing as per its 1996 constitution that has never been respected.

The outcome of the election is already known. The tactics will be the same. A few votes will be granted to hungry political leaders like Cabral Libii and others just to legitimize the election.

The ruling CPDM is going to win big, and of course, through the foul means it has always used to win every single election for 38 years.

Intimidation and all corrupt practices will be on hand to ensure Mr. Biya’s party stays in power against the will of the Cameroonian people.

The election will be a total waste of time as the results are already known. Even if all political parties make common cause, the ruling party will steal the victory like it did in the 2018 presidential election.

The leading opposition figure, Professor Maurice Kamto, was robbed of his victory and to silence him, the military was deployed and he was illegally incarcerated for over six months.

A tactic that seems to have been lifted from a Soviet script. In Cameroon, those who vote are indeed not those who count the votes. This clearly implies that the ruling CPDM will always resort to its old antics to perpetuate itself in power.

Cameroonians should, by now, know that elections do not count and that the ruling CPDM will never yield an inch of its power if those who run that party are not arrested and hauled to jail in a people power revolution.

Southern Cameroonians have clearly understood that the Yaounde regime can never be trusted and the economic and political catastrophes generated by the Southern Cameroons crisis have weakened the government and demonstrated that greater pressure on the kleptocrats and gerontocrats who have hijacked power is the best path to walk.

And this path is spreading pain and insomnia among government officials who are completely overwhelmed by the Southern Cameroons crisis.

Initially, the government and its parasitic surrogates had declared that there was no Southern Cameroons crisis.

Opportunists like the country’s territorial administration minister, Paul Atanga Nji, a notorious ex-convict, and CPDM ideologue, Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, who is scared of imprisonment because of some dirt he left at the ministry of the environment, gave the impression that all was well and that the demonstrations by the Southern Cameroonian population against marginalization in 2017 were simply a figment of the imagination of those who wanted to sow chaos in the country.

But today, the same Atanga Nji is losing sleep over an issue he said never existed. The Francophone leadership seems to have outsourced the stress to him and this invisible enemy is gradually consuming him.

He has been aging prematurely and a source close to one of his numerous girlfriends in Yaounde has indicated that the barefaced territorial administration boss is suffering from chronic erectile dysfunction due to stress.

His recent hasty trip to Kumba to demonstrate the government’s sympathy towards families whose children had been killed in a macabre slaughtering of students by undercover military men was a clear demonstration of the enormous stress that the government was taking because of the Southern Cameroons crisis that has put the country in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Atanga Nji’s stress was all over him to the point where he was mixing up administrative units even as he is the territorial administration boss. Kumba is in Meme Division in the Southwest region, but Atanga Nji, a secondary school dropout, kept on saying that Kumba was in Fako Division despite the numerous corrections from his collaborators.

The confused territorial administration boss even wanted to use the Bible to bamboozle the crowd but was promptly stopped by a lady who claimed she was under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

The lady’s intervention was more proof that the population is no longer scared of government officials and that the people will continue to challenge the government to reveal the truth about the killings in Kumba.

The Yaounde government is used to mowing down its own people. It also has a track record in hiding the truth. A few months ago, army soldiers slaughtered some 23 people in Ngarbuh, a little town in the country’s Northwest region.

Initially, the government clearly denied having conducted any operations in that locality but when pressed by the international community that had evidence, the dishonest government reluctantly admitted to the massacres.

But Ngarbuh was not the first and everybody knew it would not be the last. Muyuka, Muyenge, Santa, Kwakwa and other Southern Cameroonian towns have been victims of the government’s diabolic and Marchiavellic schemes.

The pattern is the same. Denial first and acceptance second. The same strategy has also been used in the country’s Far North region where a woman and her baby were shot point blank by Cameroon army soldiers. Thanks to the BBC’s superior technology, the lying Yaoundé government was caught red-handed.

The truth about Kumba will soon be out. The government knows who is behind the killings. It is revealing less than it knows.

But if Cameroonians have to rob themselves of their irresponsible government, then they must step up the pressure. They must create multiple pressure points both at home and abroad to ensure the criminal syndicate really belongs to the past.

It is time to flush the corrupt and incompetent government out and this will only be achieved through pressure and unity of purpose.

Southern Cameroonians must make common cause with their counterparts in East Cameroon if they must achieve anything.

Going solo may not yield the right dividends. The Biya government has a way of reincarnating. If it must be flushed out, then the different factions involved in the Southern Cameroons crisis must make common cause with the objective of stepping up pressure on a crumbling corrupt and ineffective government.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Group Chairman/Editor-In-Chief

Survey of Southern Cameroonians Reveal Overwhelming Support for Full Independence

2, November 2020

Survey of Southern Cameroonians Reveal Overwhelming Support for Full Independence 0

The Coalition for Dialogue and Negotiations conducted a survey of Southern Cameroonians from October 16 – 24 to gauge their aspirations on key aspects of their homeland. This survey that drew three thousand seven hundred and forty-nine (3,749) respondents is probably the largest survey of its kind of Southern Cameroonians.  1A similar survey conducted by Cardinal Tumi last year had over 1,000 respondents. Despite the ongoing war, the largest share of survey respondents (38%) was from Cameroon.  The remaining respondents were from the United States (23%), United Kingdom (7%), Nigeria (6%), Germany (4%), Canada (3%), South Africa (3%), United Arab Emirates (3%) and other countries.

The results suggest a strong preference for greater autonomy among Southern Cameroonians.  Eighty six percent (86%) of respondents chose full independence as the best form of state to address root cause of conflict.  Seven percent (7%) chose federation and four percent (4%) selected confederation.  Only one percent (1%) chose Government-sponsored “Special status”.

Eighty percent (80%) of respondents preferred a UN-mandated body as best mediator of the armed conflict. Nine percent (9%) chose the Swiss-led process. Only one percent (1%) of respondents thinks the Government of Cameroon should mediate.

On the legal system, the vast majority (87%) of respondents prefer an independent judicial system based on common law. Another ten percent (10%) chose common law system controlled by central government.

While Anglo-Saxon Educational system was favorable (57%), many Southern Cameroonians would like to see a newly developed educational system (38%). It is worth noting that the latest wave of the Anglophone crisis was sparked by protests by Lawyers and Teachers in 2016.  Lawyers protested against the erosion of the common law in the two English-speaking regions, while Teachers protested against the dilution of the Anglo-Saxon educational system in the same regions.

Most Southern Cameroonians would like to see their Elder Statesmen and women play a more active advisory role to end the armed conflict. Most respondents also prefer their traditional leaders to serve only as custodians of culture and traditions. A sizeable minority are happy for their traditional leaders (chiefs and fons) to play a more active role in local administration, so long as they are exempted from political parties.

On the economy, an overwhelming majority of Southern Cameroonians (95%) rejected the CFA franc as their currency.  On matter of security most respondents (96%) do not approve of Gendarmes as their law enforcement officers. Eighty percent (80%) of them preferred locally instead of centrally controlled police forces.

It is worth noting that these trends are steady across different segments of the population including gender, age groups, and level of education. There was no major difference in results even after adjusting for gender imbalance.

Deeper statistical analysis also showed that the choice of form of state was highly correlated with citizen’s preferences for their ideal system of law and order, economy, and education.  Those who prefer an independent judiciary system, reject the Franc CFA, prefer an Anglo-Saxon educational system, or reject the Gendarmes, also tend to prefer full independence.

These compelling results confirm three things about the ongoing armed conflict: First, negotiations are inevitable to end the war. Second, independence must be part of any negotiations.  It cannot be excluded given its strong appeal among Southern Cameroonians. Finally, to resolve this conflict there must be a truly inclusive dialogue involving the full spectrum of Southern Cameroonian opinion. Cosmetic policies that do not address the root cause(s) and true aspirations of Southern Cameroonians will inevitably fail as we have seen with the recent Grand National Dialogue and evidently the special status proposed as a solution to the armed conflict.

We thank 4Most, a Credit Risk and Analytics Consultancy Firm in London, United Kingdom, for analyzing the data and for presenting their findings.

About the Coalition for Dialogue and Negotiations

The Coalition for Dialogue and Negotiations (CDN) is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) with the specific goal of facilitating dialogue and negotiations towards ending the war in Southern Cameroons. CDN is made of professionals from all works of life and over 20 partner organizations worldwide advocating for an end to the war. CDN members work with its partners to strengthen international involvement in resolving the conflict and building durable peace in the conflict affected territories.

Ambazonians sought refuge from violence in the U.S. The Trump administration is sending them home in death planes

1, November 2020

Ambazonians sought refuge from violence in the U.S. The Trump administration is sending them home in death planes 0

They fled political imprisonment, torture, rape and the threat of death in Cameroon, made their way to South America then up to the U.S. border to make what they thought would be a clear case for asylum. Now they are awaiting imminent deportation on what their lawyers refer to as “death planes” because of the high likelihood they will be killed by their government upon return.

NBC News reviewed documents submitted in the cases of three Cameroonians who are now facing deportation after their asylum cases proved unsuccessful. They are among more than 1,500 Cameroonians who applied for asylum in the U.S. this year, nearly double the number who applied in fiscal year 2019, despite COVID-19’s downward impact on overall immigration.

The pleas for asylum are growing because conflict between Cameroon’s government and the African nation’s English-speaking minority, known as the Anglophones, has grown in recent years, as has the risk of violence against the Anglophone population. But during the Trump administration the percentage of cases in which Cameroonians win asylum has dropped from 80 to 54. The decline is in large part due to tough immigration judges appointed by the Trump administration and new policies that raise the bar on what it takes to prove and qualify for asylum, according to immigration attorneys and Democratic members of Congress.

“These people are fleeing political persecution. It’s the very reason we have an asylum system in the first place,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who, along with three other Senate Democrats and 81 nonprofit organizations, has asked the Trump administration to halt the deportations of Cameroonians.

“The United States has a moral obligation not to turn our backs on civilians fleeing from conflict. These individuals are targets for both government forces and armed separatist groups. Allowing their deportation under these circumstances would place their lives at risk,” the senators said in a letter to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a 35-year-old Cameroonian named Justice Bantar in ICE detention is figthing to get his case heard by an immigration judge, according to his lawyers. Despite presenting evidence, including photos of scars from being hit on the bottom of his feet, Bantar was not able to make his case in immigration court that returning home was a risk, because an asylum officer did not find he had a “credible fear of persecution” if he were returned, the first bar in establishing asylum.

In a phone interview from ICE detention with NBC News on Oct. 16, Bantar said he was scared for his life and worries he will be detained and killed on his return. His lawyer, Joseph Giardina, submitted photos and sworn affidavits from his friends and family, laying out the story of how Bantar was taken prisoner after he rescued his sister from kidnapping by separatists.

The Trump admin sent him ‘home’ to a land where slavery lives on

The military questioned Bantar about the location of the separatists, beat him and detained him for four days with no food, according to the statements of friends and family. During those four days he was tortured with electric cables and wounded under his feet. He escaped prison with the help of an English-speaking guard, but his family soon decided he should flee the country to save his own life, according to testimony submitted by Giardina on Bantar’s behalf.

But it was not enough to get Bantar in front of an immigration judge. David Leopold, former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said Bantar’s “statements and supporting affidavits articulate a protected group, e.g. persecution on account of political opinion or membership in a particular social group,” which is needed to establish a case for asylum.

In rejecting asylum for another Cameroonian Anglophone man awaiting deportation from the U.S., the Bureau of Immigration Appeals said he “was apparently not chased” when he escaped the prison where he had been held and tortured for 28 days. The man, who asked for his identity to be withheld from publication, had been arrested by Cameroon’s military on suspicion of hanging anti-government posters. When he escaped, the military went to his house, mistook his cousin for him, and shot and killed his cousin, according to documents he submitted in U.S. immigration court.

“This is stunning,” Leopold said, upon reviewing the case. “He detailed the manner in which he was beaten, indeed tortured; forced to lay on the floor as soldiers hit him with batons and leather ropes.”

“Here it looks like the immigration courts cherrypicked facts to get to a denial,” Leopold added.

The man told NBC News he traveled more than eight months to reach the United States.

“I heard the U.S. is one of the best countries for human rights protection. I was so happy when I arrived that I could be protected. My government said they were going to kill me. I knew if I could come here, I would be protected and my life would be saved.”

Now, facing deportation, he said, “I’m afraid my life will be taken away. It hasn’t been long since they harassed my family because of me. Others who have been deported or gone through the same situation, many of their families don’t even know where they are. I am likely to be killed.”

The man’s lawyer, Ruth Hargrove, said her client would be deported on a “death plane” because of the almost certain execution he would face upon return to Cameroonian authorities. She said there is a warrant out for his arrest in Cameroon.

In a third case reviewed by NBC News, a Cameroonian woman was denied asylum after an immigration judge said her testimony was “very vague.”

“With respect to her injuries after the … incident, the respondent stated that she was hospitalized for eight days. However, she was not able to give the court any specific information about the reason for such a long stay in the hospital, other than she was admitted because she was raped,” said Judge Meredith Tyrakoski.

NBC News previously reported on Cameroonian asylum seekers being pulled off a deportation flight as the Department of Homeland Security investigates allegations that they were forced to sign their deportation papers through intimidation and physical brutality.

The Trump administration recently announced its refugee limit for the upcoming fiscal year will be 15,000, a historic low.

The Departure of Homeland Security and Department of Justice, which oversees immigration courts, did not respond to requests for comment.

Source: NBC News

Schools at the heart of Cameroon’s separatist conflict

1, November 2020

Schools at the heart of Cameroon’s separatist conflict 0

Schools are “weapons of war” in a separatist insurgency in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions, but the massacre of eight young children in class last week brought a new level of horror.

Since violence erupted in 2017, the kidnapping of youngsters, attacks on teachers and the destruction of schools have been frequent in the western part of the mainly French-speaking country.

Secessionist groups kill civilians, while the army is also known for brutal attacks on non-combattants in its drive to crush forces seeking a breakaway state.

On October 24, gunmen on motorbikes rode up to a bilingual school in the town of Kumba and opened fire on girls and boys aged between 12 and 14.

At least eight children perished and about a dozen more were wounded and taken to hospital, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

“The school is used as a weapon of war in this conflict,” Ilaria Allegrozzi, regional Central Africa researcher for Human Rights Watch (HRW), told AFP.

“The separatists don’t want the children to be in the schools, institutions which they equate with central authority,” she said.

“Most of the teachers appointed to the Anglophone regions are Francophone,” Allegrozzi added, in a country where French is used by a majority. The English-speaking regions are a post-colonial heritage.

Syllabuses for history and civic education lessons are seen as biased instruments of government policy by separatists, who have in recent years introduced a strategy of school boycotts.

In November 2019, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that some 855,000 children were not attending school in the Anglophone regions.

About 90 percent of state-run primary schools, totalling more than 4,100 establishments, and 77 percent of the state-run secondary schools were not functioning or completely closed down, UNICEF found.

‘People began to believe again’

The start of the new school year on October 5, 2020, was markedly different.

“The government and Anglophone civil society put a lot of pressure on the separatist groups to let their children go back to school, and schools that had been closed for years began to reopen,” said Arrey Elvis Ntui, the senior researcher in Cameroon for the independent International Crisis Group.

“After three years of almost total school shortages, people began to believe again in the institution, the classrooms were packed,” said Jacques Ebwea, a political analyst based in Buea, the chief town of the Anglophone Southwest region.

“It was a success. Unfortunately, Saturday’s attack will dampen the enthusiasm of many people,” he added.

Blaming separatists for the killings, Communications Minister Rene Emmanuel Sadi declared that “the goal of the secessionists is to break the momentum observed in the resumption of classes for the 2020/2021 school year in the Northwest and Southwest regions, and thereby dissuade parents from sending their children to school.”

On Tuesday morning, false rumours of new attacks spread panic at schools in Limbe and Buea in the Southwest, where frightened pupils tried to flee the premises while their scared parents were rushing to fetch them.

“I don’t know if I’m going to send my child back to school,” said Desire, a resident of Kumba. “If the situation deteriorates any further, I will send him elsewhere, to Douala or Bafoussam.”

Both towns are on Francophone territory and Douala, a big city and port, is the economic capital of the country.

‘Could happen anywhere’

“There is general panic in the area,” said Semma Valentine, a teacher in Bamenda, the capital of the Northwest region. “All parties concerned in the conflict are to blame for this situation.”

“Parents must have the courage to send their children to school, but we also need the government to guarantee the safety of these establishments.”

Stephen Afuh, chairman of the Presbyterian Education Authority Teachers Trade Union (PEATTU), warned that “what happened in Kumba could happen anywhere at any time.”

He remarked on the difference between urban areas and the rural ones where many schools could not reopen.

“To ensure security in schools, the government should call a ceasefire, recognise its mistakes and open a dialogue between all parties to examine the causes of the conflict and to find solutions together,” Afuh said.

Confronted with Saturday’s attack, a “deeply outraged” government chastised the Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy in Kumba for reopening without authorisation, which meant that it “could not benefit from the same protective measures as other places of learning”.

In Cameroon, nevertheless, it is common practice for schools to open without the required authorisation.

“Keep the schools open, make sure they have the authorisations to function,” Secondary Education Minister Pauline Nalova Lyonga said in English during a visit to the site.

“The school that works will guarantee our joint existence.”

Source: AFP

Southern Cameroon Crisis: Italian Federation For Human Rights makes urgent appeal following the Kumba massacre

1, November 2020

Southern Cameroon Crisis: Italian Federation For Human Rights makes urgent appeal following the Kumba massacre 0

On October 24, masked armed men killed at least 7 innocent school children and left many wounded in their classrooms in Kumba, in the Anglophone region of Cameroon.

This astonishing crime is not the first in a region where there are concrete risks of a genocide, as the international community is apparently unwilling to take concrete measures. In February 2019, about 12 children and a pregnant woman were massacred in cold blood in Ngarbur.

The Cameroon government initially put the blame on the ‘separatists’ groups; only after pressure from the international community, it acknowledged that the killing had been done by government forces.

Regarding this recent case (the Kumba Massacre), the Cameroon government is accusing the leadership of the Ambazonian self-determination forces for the atrocities, notwithstanding the fact

that the Cameroon government has not provided any proofs and similar accusations in the recent past have always been proved to be fake.

The Ambazonian leadership claims the Kumba Massacre was done by Cameroon government militias. In this situation, trustable international investigations are necessary. We believe that actions should have been taken earlier by the international community to avoid such a heinous crime. As many innocent lives have already been lost, we should aim to putting a permanent end to the conflict.

It is certain that with the ruthlessness of the Cameroon government, the resolve of Southern Cameroons self-determination forces and the nonchalant behavior of the international community, the war will continue, and more massacres and atrocities will take place.

If we really don’t want this to happen again, we should consistently act to favor a peaceful solution. The Cameroon government had and has the primary responsibility to end this war it started. The so-called separatists would have no one to fight if Cameroon calls a ceasefire and accepts negotiations as the separatists have done.

The crisis in the Cameroons has been ongoing since 2016, when lawyers from Anglophone Cameroon were brutalized by government military and security operatives during a peaceful protest in Bamenda, Buea and other cities.

Southern Cameroons leaders in exile in Nigeria were abducted and illegally transferred to Cameroon and subjected to trial in military courts in a foreign language, against international law.

They are today serving life sentences, despite a Nigerian High Court judgement asking for their release. The ongoing conflict in Cameroon may amount to acts of genocide. Some experts already call it as genocide.

This claim should not be underestimated by the international community.

Mr Paul Biya, who has been in power as President of Cameroon since 1982, thanks to wide-scale fraud in elections, violent repression and imposed changes in the Constitution, declared war on the 30th of November 2017 on the people of former British Southern Cameroons.

While the government of Cameroon claims that the conflict in Cameroon is an internal matter, the leadership of Southern Cameroons is of the opinion that it is an international dispute.

We believe that a conflict between two countries that came together in 1961 under the auspices of the United Nations cannot be the internal affair of one of the countries.

We therefore believe that it is the responsibility of the international community to create a framework for both sides to be heard in order to put an end to the conflict between them.

Bringing the two sides to the negotiating table is necessary, but till now the efforts have all failed because Cameroon was and is still unwilling to commit to any genuine, internationally mediated dialogue.

We are suggesting that the international community should use any possible leverage to intervene in this conflict. The lives of people, including children, in the English-speaking part of Cameroon matter. Children have not been protected and have missed out of school for four years.

It is clear to us that Cameroon, which is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, has violated all Commonwealth principles and disrespected Commonwealth of Nations values. The people of Southern Cameroons should be given a platform by the African Union, the European Union, and the United Nations to put forth their claims.

We would like to suggest some key points for an urgent commitment by the international community:

An investigation on all the atrocities that have taken place in Southern Cameroons since 2016 should be carried out by independent observers, which should include the African Bar Association and the African Forum for Restorative Justice;

Cameroon should immediately call a ceasefire and an end to the war it declared;

Economic, financial and other sanctions should be placed on Cameroon to force it to accept peaceful negotiations;

Travel restrictions should be imposed on certain Cameroonian state officials whose names are attached to this document;

The UN should send peacekeepers into the Southern Cameroons;

The people of the Southern Cameroons should be given the opportunity at the UN to present their claims;

The rights to self-determination of the people of Southern Cameroons should be respected and their will ascertained through a fair, UN-organized referendum. First signatories

First signatories

Prof. Antonio Stango, President of Italian Federation for Human Rights (FIDU)

Prof. DJ Omale, President of African Forum for Restorative Justice

Sergio D’Elia, Secretary-General of Hands Off Cain (International League of Parliamentarians and Citizens for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide)

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Biya’s strange and short-lived phone tax law

1, November 2020

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Biya’s strange and short-lived phone tax law 0

In October, the government of Cameroon announced a strange new tax as part of its 2019 finance law. The new law states that Customs clearance fees must be paid for mobile phones and tablets shipped into the country,  that this clearance fee is 33% of the cost of whatever phone or tablet shipped into the country.

While import duties are standard fare all over the world, Cameroon’s phone tax differs in two interesting ways. The first and most important distinction is that it allows phone dealers to pass the import duty to the person who buys the device.

The second is that in order to collect the clearance fee, your mobile network provider is authorized to make deductions from your airtime account.

While the new tax appeared strange and unreasonable to Cameroonians and foreign observers, the country’s ministers thought it was innovative.

According to a joint statement of ministers on September 29, “apart from being a means of ensuring a more secure Customs revenue collection process, this innovative method of customs clearance payment is also aimed at enhancing the security of mobile communications in Cameroon.”

The mechanics of Cameroon’s phone tax

The specifics of the new law shows that whenever anyone buys a phone in Cameroon and connects to any network, the network determines if that is the phone’s first ever connection. It does this by detecting the unique IMEI number of every phone.

If the network determines that no clearance fees were made for that particular device, the user of the device gets a message telling them the tax amount owed. You can choose to pay off the tax amount in full or in installments that will be deducted from your airtime.

Another part of the new regulation asks your mobile network to charge you a fee when you download apps. For every app you download, the network deducts a fee of 200 CFA Francs(36 cents).

Declining revenues from phone imports driving new taxes

Despite how absurd the new taxes are, the major reason behind it is the drop in revenue in customs revenue. According to one government communique, “less than 100 million CFA Francs are collected per month out of the approximately 2 billion collected in the 2000s.”

According to the government’s calculations, nearly 4 million telephones are imported into Cameroon per year. For them, that represents a potential of 13 billion FCFA in revenue per year.

By collecting less than 100 million CFA, the government says it is facing a shortfall of nearly 12 billion per year.

How do you solve a revenue shortfall this large? If you’re the Cameroonian government, the answer is to multiply revenues by 2500% within one year.

Unrealistic revenue projections and timelines like this explain the introduction and implementation, on October 15, of the phone tax.

Cameroonians ask government to #EndPhoneTax

When the phone tax went into law on October 15, Cameroonians pushed back. Using the hashtag, #EndPhoneTax, people took to Twitter to show their displeasure.

From October 14, several thousand tweets were posted with the hashtag and some point, #EndPhoneTax was on the list of trending topics on Twitter. Facebook wasn’t left out, as people also pushed back against a policy many considered to be wicked and ill thought out.

Interestingly, it coincided with protests in Nigeria, Congo as well as Namibia from issues ranging from police brutality to gender based violence.

All four countries used social media to press home their positions as well as help the international community understand what they want from their government.In Cameroon, the government has been forced to listen.

Cameroon suspends phone tax

On October 21, following days of online protests, the government of Cameroon said it will be suspending its unpopular phone tax. The country’s President, Paul Biya told Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute to suspend the tax and look into alternative ways of increasing customs revenue.

The President reportedly asked for a more comprehensive plan which he will review. But it is still worth noting that if the government remains wedded to the dream that it will raise customs revenue 2500% in one year, then more absurd policies will be introduced.

For now, Cameroonians will be secure in the knowledge that they have won this round and will be encouraged to push back against bad policies in the future.

Source: Techcabal.com

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