Headline News

15, August 2019

African leaders join Macron at commemoration of WWII landings in Provence ⁰

President Emmanuel Macron saluted Thursday a French army “that emerged from the shadows and exile” during the Allied landings on the Mediterranean coast 75 years ago and the sacrifices by fighters from France’s former colonies in Africa.

“The glory of all these soldiers of the Liberation is immense, and our gratitude must never fade. We will never forget anything, nor anyone,” Macron told veterans at the Boulouris national cemetery in Saint-Raphael.

He was joined by the presidents of Guinea and Ivory Coast, Alpha Condé and Alassane Ouattara, for a ceremony marking the 1944 operation which saw French forces take a lead role in freeing their country from Nazi Germany’s grip.

Only a handful of French soldiers had taken part in the Normandy landings a few weeks earlier, which for decades overshadowed the Provence landings that were nonetheless crucial in turning the war’s tide.

The offensive included the remnants of France’s free forces as well as thousands of soldiers from its African colonies.

“For decades these African fighters did not have the glory and the esteem they deserved for their bravery,” Macron said, adding that through their spilled blood, “France has a part of Africa in it.”

He urged the mayors of towns and cities to name streets and public squares in honour of soldiers from Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco as well as West Africa.

“These men make all of Africa proud, and express the essence of France: a commitment, a love of liberty and greatness, a spirit of resistance united by courage,” Macron said.

Condé also lauded the “shared memory of the French and African people,” saying that without the sacrifice of the colonial fighters, “humanity would not be able to keep fighting for peace.”

‘Nancy has a stiff neck’

Besides accelerating the German retreat, the Mediterranean landings were hugely symbolic for a French nation eager to emphasise its role in its own liberation.

“After the humiliating defeat of 1940, seeing a French army free national territory showed the entire world that France has the ability to fight with an established army,” said Florimond Calendini, director of the national memorial of the landings, in Toulon.

Some 450,000 Allied soldiers using more than 2,000 ships took part in Operation Dragoon, including 250,000 French fighters, with most of the rest from the US.

The French launched the assault shortly after midnight on August 15 by scrabbling up the rocky cliffs at Cap Negre, named for the rock’s dark colour.

Resistance fighters in the south had been alerted to the impending offensive the night before, when underground radio sent a series of coded messages using seemingly anodine phrases such as “Nancy has a stiff neck.”

As during the Normandy landings, locals would play a key role in harassing German forces as they fell back, helping the Allied soldiers to advance must faster than in the north.

Hitler ordered a retreat from southern France as soon as August 17, except for the strategic ports of Toulon and Marseille, but these fell within 10 days.

“In less than two weeks, all of Provence was liberated. It was a huge surprise for the Allies,” Calendini said.

Overlooked legacy

At the time, France’s “Army B” consisted of nearly 600,000 men, two-thirds of them from African garrisons in countries still under French colonial rule.

The force included around 233,000 “Muslims”, as they were referred to at the time — including Moroccan battalions and infantry sections from Algeria, as well as fighters from Senegal and other West African colonies.

There were also so-called Marsouins (“porpoises”), recruits from France’s territories in the Pacific or the Caribbean.

African troops in particular paid a heavy price, with 55,000 killed over the course of World War II.

Yet for years their sacrifices were largely overlooked by most French, and in 1959 the government added injury to the insult by capping their military pensions as African nations gained their independence.

France finally agreed in 2002 to increase the payouts to partially make up for the veterans’ lost spending power over the subsequent decades — though they were still far below those of French ex-soldiers.

Pressure continued to mount until then president Nicolas Sarkozy announced in 2010 that pensions would be the same for all its veterans, regardless of nationality or place of residence.

Sarkozy was the only former French head of state to attend the ceremony Thursday at Boulouris.

(AFP)

15, August 2019

Biya’s Final Push For Southern Cameroons: A journey of many dangers ⁰

President Paul Biya has again ordered a massive deployment of French Cameroun troops to Southern Cameroons. Many political analysts now think that the war in Ambazonia is going to take another twist. But the French Cameroun soldiers are now moving only on the streets of some key towns in the Fako County including Bamenda in the Northern Zone.

The Biya military strategy is to bring about 15,000 army soldiers and gendarmerie to the doorstep of Buea the historic capital of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia that has some 8,000 Ambazonia Restoration Forces in the outskirts of Muyuka, Tiko, Muyenge and Muea ready to take over the city. The war is not going well for French Cameroun military commanders, but taking the fight to Buea and Bamenda has always been what Yaoundé wanted at least to paint a picture of victory to the international community.

French Cameroun Defense Minister Beti Assomo, the Minister Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh and ailing General Rene Meka are now developing several strategies for the days ahead in Southern Cameroons.

One bold approach under consideration is to remilitarize the city of Victoria-Limbe, the main highway linking Muyuka, Tiko and Buea. Another would employ mechanized division to protect Francophone schools in Limbe and Buea to ensure a back to school for French speaking Cameroonians still residing in Southern Cameroons. Either way, Biya and French Cameroun are about to enter a complex phase of the war in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands the military regime in Yaoundé is making a transition and as a result, it is changing the tactics and techniques of the Southern Cameroons war due to enormous pressure from the international community.

We gathered that instead of the usual maneuvering in the forest and grass fields of both the Southern and Northern Zones of Ambazonia that has claimed the lives of hundreds of French Cameroun soldiers, the French Cameroun military will be operating in the towns and cities. The weapon of choice will no longer be the AK47s, but small arms will be dished out to French Cameroun servicemen and women dressed in civilian clothing. The deployment will also be different. Instead of being compact in barracks, they will be spread out in hotels.

For their part, Ambazonia Vice President Dabney Yerima has ordered Southern Cameroonians not to send their children to school due to the heavy deployment of French Cameroun forces in the territory. The exiled Ambazonian leader told Cameroon Intelligence Report that Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces will attack French Cameroun soldiers wherever and whenever with reliable intelligence about the location and inner workings of those troops stationed in hotels.

The final push in Southern Cameroons is also an attempt to intimidate the Fulanis of the Far North region who some reports have hinted are mobilizing to take up arms against the Biya regime. A special French Cameroun military aircraft has been transporting soldiers to the Far North region in their numbers recently. Yaoundé has so far observed that the Far North redeployments are for combating Boko Haram.

Urban warfare is most certain in this phase of the war in Southern Cameroons and the fighting is going to be centered in Buea, Limbe, Tiko, Bamenda and Kumba. French Cameroun’s security apparatus still controls Buea, Tiko and Limbe in the Fako County and in recent days, the Biya Francophone regime seems to be taken a variety of steps to send a message to the international community that Biya remains in control, including his recent decree decongesting the prisons.

However, the recent blackout in Yaoundé has been seen by some French Cameroun government officials that Biya and the CPDM no longer control basic services. Military deployments in Yaoundé of late also indicate that a major figure is about leaving the country through the back door. This last push in Southern Cameroons may as well be Biya last journey of many dangers.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

15, August 2019

Southern Cameroons Interim Gov’t Condemns Militias, Kidnappings ⁰

Fellow Ambazonians,

The Interim Government Condemns Militias, Kidnappings and Ransom Demands

I come to you with revolutionary greetings from your President Sisiku AyukTabe and his team in the Principal Prison Kondengui, Yaoundé.

The war was declared on us by the French Cameroun regime. More than three thousand of our people have been killed. Our villages have been burnt down and hundreds of thousands of our people are living in the forests and as refugees in Nigeria. We picked up arms as a last resort to defend ourselves and property.

Over the last six months our brave self-defence forces have faced enormous challenges. They have given their lives to create and build a new country that will be the envy of the world. One of the challenges now confronting us is that of multiple kidnappings and demand for ransom in our Country-The Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Yesterday, Tuesday the 13th of August 2019, we read from a son of Ossing village in the Manyu County that he intends to create a militia in the village to work in collaboration with the enemy. My office has also been informed that a Roman Catholic Priest was kidnapped and abused in Kikaikom, Bui County. The Chairman of The SDF, John Fru Ndi, confirmed recently that Atanga Nji Paul, Ekema Patrick and many other La Republique du Cameroun agents have militias active in Ambazonia. These rogue gangs rape, kidnap and demand ransoms. Their intention is to sabotage our revolution and we condemn this strongly.

Your Interim Government strongly denounces these atrocities-whether in the case of Dr Joachim Arrey forming a militia in his village to work with La Republique du Cameroun forces as he claimed or the kidnapping of the Priest by rogue gangs sponsored by the regime in Yaoundé and its surrogates. Those involved in this form of criminal activities aren’t working for the good of our struggle.

French Cameroun agents have infiltrated our revolutionary structures and are committing horrible crimes but we must be clever in our quest for self determination. All self-defence groups are hereby called upon to collaborate in rooting out all rogue elements from our Restoration Forces. Unity of purpose will root out these evil gangs.
Our quest for self-determination will succeed if we do the right things. Kidnappings, extortion and abuse of local population are not consistent with our values.

We have the backing of many international organisations and our quest for independence and freedom is legitimate. We can’t afford to let them and ourselves down by associating with groups that intimidate and abuse people. Our goal is to build a just, tolerant and progressive society.

Let’s continue our fight for self-defence, freedom and independence with integrity and decency. If we do this, we would meet the success we desire in the near future.

Short Live the Revolution; God Bless The Southern Cameroons, Ambazonia.

Dabney Yerima Vice President

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

15, August 2019

US: Six Philadelphia cops shot, police fear hostage situation ⁰

Six Philadelphia police officers were shot and wounded on Wednesday (August 14) in a shootout during a drug raid on a house and negotiators were urging the shooter to surrender as two officers remained trapped inside the home, police said.

Three hours into the standoff, Philadelphia Police said all of the wounded officers were in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police were serving a drugs warrant at a north Philadelphia home at around 4:30 p.m. when the male shooter entered the house and opened fire on the officers.

“Many of them had to escape through windows and doors to escape from a barrage of bullets,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross told a news conference.

The shooter continued to fire on a SWAT truck parked outside the residence in the Nicetown-Tiago neighborhood as officers tried to negotiate his surrender, Ross said.

Police called the man’s phone, talked with him on a bullhorn and involved a family member in the negotiations, Ross added.

“I’m worried about a potential hostage situation and we’ve got to get that resolved,” said Ross, adding that he believed the two officers trapped inside the home were not wounded.

“We are trying to get him to come out peacefully,” Ross said, declining to confirm whether there was more than one shooter. “There’s no indication that he’s trying to surrender, we do know that he is still alive, there’s no question of that because of the shots that keep ringing out.”

Police told local residents to remain inside their homes and stay out of the area after hundreds of rounds were exchanged.

Local television station Fox 29 reported some kind of movement by police around 7:30 p.m. when a large bang was heard.

Two other officers were also injured in a car accident while responding to the shooting.

There were reports the shooter was livestreaming the incident on Facebook.

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting and was monitoring the situation, the White House said.

Local media reported the shooter appeared to have a high-powered weapon and a significant amount of ammunition. The incident follows a string of mass shootings in California, Texas and Ohio in which gunmen used semi-automatic rifles.

“I’m a little bit angry about someone having all that weaponry and all that firepower, but we’ll get to that another day,” said Mayor Jim Kenney after visiting three of the wounded officers in hospital.

(Source: Reuters)

15, August 2019

Calls for international pressure to end crisis in Southern Cameroons ⁰

The continuing conflict and brutality in the NW and SW regions of Cameroon is causing huge unrest and loss of life. Torture, casualties and death are common amongst civilians, most of whom can only wish to bury their dead and hope for an end to the genocide that has engulfed these regions over the past six months, so as to give their children a reason to live.

Why people have left their homes:

* From fear of stray bullets, and fear of being shot and killed in cross-fire between warring parties, most especially the government forces who may not make a clear distinction between innocent civilians and secessionist fighters (‘Amba Boys’).

* Many homes have been torched with fire, which has become a common instrument of oppression, with many people shot dead on sight.

* Aggressive military behaviour and shock from the deafening sound of artillery being fired indiscriminately into civilian houses.

* The brutality inflicted by soldiers upon civilians, if they should find people in areas where gunshots are being fired by separatists.

* Frequent summary execution of detainees by the military, e.g., as witnessed in Kumbo, Tadu, Melim, Jakiri.

* Looting and pillage of shops and provision stores by government forces in places such as Shisong and Mbuluf, among others.

* Arrest and torture of government loyalists by secessionists who demand ransoms as conditio sine qua non [i.e., an essential condition] for release.

People living close to barricades and trenches on roads run for dear life because, if the military should meet them, they pay with torture, arrest and even death. They are considered to be accomplices of the Amba Boys.

Many schools, businesses, and houses lie derelict, covered by grass and weeds.

* People along the major roads in the conflict zones are victims of indiscriminate shooting from troubled soldiers returning from the battlefield.

* Advice from the separatists for people to relocate from conflict zone so as not to become victims of cross fire, as happened , for example, in February at Ndzenwai in Shisong’s Bui Division, near SAC Junction.

* Areas frequented by secessionists are often targets for the military who patrol these places at night.

* People caught in cross-fire are often considered to be separatist sympathisers and therefore become potential targets for the military to intimidate, shoot and kill and meet out brutality of the highest order.

* Destruction of food crops by government forces applying a scorched earth policy.

* The gruesome murdering of innocent civilians on the grounds that they do not disclose the hide-outs of separatists.

* Kidnappings and ransom demands to scare civilians across the political divide.

* Some people have left their homes for the bush to escape brutality from both sides on the grounds that they are selling out.

* There is insecurity as government structures have collapsed.

* All means of communication have been hampered and ruptured.

* There is a severe lull in economic activity because of the conflict.

* Some parents have taken their children to other areas to prevent them from joining the separatist militia and armed gangs.

Many are ill from the shock of deafening sounds of gunfire; others, wounded by bullets, die at home because they cannot meet hospital bills or because they lack the means to reach treatment centres, while still others decide to stay back and let fate take its course.

Given that many were forced to abandon non-harvested crops on their farms, provision of food has become an uphill task everywhere and many are starving. Normal activities are at a standstill, even in major towns such as Kumbo, where 380 civilians were killed and more than 700 homes torched from September 2018 to March 2019

Citizens in the restive anglophone regions of Cameroon are regarded as potential terrorists and, according to official thinking, lack concern for IDPs from the government side. This is the reason why the elderly, the sick and the handicapped are often burned in their houses when the military attack a locality such as Mah or Meluf. Most of the IDPs in the forests and the bush live in make-shift huts and houses constructed with salvaged materials and have no access to drinking water or sanitary products. Some are in villages, church houses, schools, health centres and community halls. Women and young people returning from farms are the target of soldiers who summarily execute them if they find them in a conflict zone such as Njavnyuy or Kitiwum.

Health Care: With scarce resources, no medical care is effective because of limited finance and there is no transport to ferry the sick to hospitals so that many die at home or on street corners. Due to the crisis, there is a dangerous precedent: the sick, the dying and the dead are moved to and from hospitals on wheelbarrows and stretchers. Most of the wounded are treated using crude medication or by traditional practitioners using unorthodox means.

Generally, the pain and misery are alarming. Some people die away from their locality and so are forced by circumstances to be buried where they lie by people of good will.

Women and Children: Women and children constitute the greater bulk of IDPs in anglophone Cameroon, above 70%. They are physically weaker and therefore vulnerable to physically challenging situations. With the school closure impasse, many girls have embraced prostitution and teenage pregnancy has become the order of the day. Many teenagers are pregnant and many of these are homeless. Children are the biggest victims in the crisis. Child soldiers are commonplace and are easily taken in by the separatists. Many in the separatist groups are youths in their teens. Some enlist to take revenge for the deaths of parents or relatives. Family ties are being loosened. The young and able-bodied men are enlisted into the fighting forces where they are taken care of, or can forcibly take care of themselves. The women and children are left to fend for themselves! Some women are forced to use unorthodox means to get bread and shelter for themselves and for their children. The young men are either forced by their families or by militias to join the fighters in order to “defend” their families from the oppressors. The situation is growing worse by the hour, as towns and villages are increasingly depopulated each day.

GENERAL EFFECTS

* Schools have been shut down.

* Many people remained locked up in jails in unknown locations.

* Salaries of people working with faith communities and private schools have remained unpaid since the end of January 2017.

* Spying networks rooted on bribery and corruption, have taken the cue to cause abductions and disappearances.

* Businesses dependent on the Internet have crumbled away in the North West and South West Regions, rendering many unemployed.

* Killings due to conflict rise on a daily basis.

* Kumbo, the second-largest city in the North West Region, has been nearly emptied of people due to violence, as have many smaller centres.

Richard Moncrieff the Program Director for Central Africa at the International Crisis Group has noted this when he says “Displacement is a very good indicator of trouble – people are leaving these areas because there is a lot of violence.”

International pressure, outspoken and clear, is needed to end human rights abuses, to create credible and effective avenues to hold those responsible to account, and to encourage the Cameroonian government to work towards peace.

Source: Independent Catholic News

15, August 2019

French Cameroun military detains pidgin news anchor Samuel Wazizi ⁰

Cameroonian authorities should immediately release without charge pidgin news anchor Samuel Wazizi, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police arrested Wazizi 11 days ago and handed him over to the military, which has since held him without access to his lawyer or family in Buea, the capital of the country’s English-speaking Southwest region, according to his lawyer and local news reports.

Wazizi, popularly known as “Halla Ya Matta,” works for the Buea-based independent station Chillen Muzik and Television (CMTV); he was arrested on August 2 and was initially held at the Muea police station, according to his lawyer, Barrister Lyonga Edward Ewule, and local news reports.

According to a statement posted on CMTV’s Facebook page on August 6, Wazizi was picked up at 11:00 a.m. August 2 by Muea police who “claimed that he was being invited by their boss to get information about a certain ‘pidgin news.’” CPJ could not confirm the exact location of his arrest in Muea.

According to the CMTV statement, the police said Wazizi was detained in connection “to the Anglophone armed conflict of which investigation is still going,” and the police refused to allow his colleagues to see him in detention.

The conflict between security forces and separatist fighters seeking a breakaway nation called Ambazonia in the two English-speaking regions in the west of the country has escalated over the past year, according to news reports.

Ewule told CPJ that Wazizi was accused of “collaborating with separatists” and “spreading separatist information,” but has not been formally charged. Ewule said a statement was taken without the presence of a lawyer, although he was later given access to his client, who was also able to see his family while in police custody. Ewule said his client’s phone was searched and, according to the police, “separatist messages” were found. However, “having such information is part of his journalism job,” said the lawyer.

“Authorities must stop trying to force journalists like Samuel Wazizi to toe the government line about the separatist conflict in Cameroon by harassing and intimidating them through illegal detentions and flagrant violations of the rule of law,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ Africa program coordinator. “The fact that Wazizi is being detained by the military, which has no jurisdiction to investigate terrorism-related charges, also raises serious questions about due process and the journalist’s safety. He must be released immediately with no condition.”

Wazizi was denied bail because police said his case related to potential charges under the anti-terrorism law, Ewule told CPJ. He was informed on August 6 that Wazizi would be handed over to the judicial police, the competent authority to investigate, but instead his client was transferred the next day to the military’s 21st Motorized Infantry Battalion in Buea, Ewule said. Wazizi has since been held without access to a lawyer or family, Ewule told CPJ.

Ewule told CPJ that today he filed a habeas corpus application in the Fako Division of the High Court in Buea to force authorities to either produce Wazizi in court and justify his detention, or order the journalist’s release.

In the application, which was reviewed by CPJ, Ewule said Wazizi had denied all the allegations and “believed he was being detained in connection with his critical views he expressed during the pidgin English news program on CMTV which is strictly connected to the practiceof his profession as a journalist, and this I strongly believe as a fact.”

CPJ contacted Charles Manda, an adviser to Communication Minister Rene Sadi, on his cellphone for comment, but the line was poor. CPJ followed up via messaging app and an email to the address provided by Manda, but did not receive a response by the time of publication. Police spokeswoman Joyce Ndgem told CPJ she did not know the case and then rejected the call when CPJ called back. In response to WhatsApp messages, Ndgem told CPJ that if it had a correspondent in Cameroon, it should ask that person to see her instead.

U.S.-Congress funded Voice of America reported today that Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji said Cameroon’s journalists “have one main objective, just to sabotage government action, to promote secessionist tendencies.” He added, “Those who do not want to respect the laws will be booked as being recalcitrant and will be treated as such.”

Cameroon is the third worst jailer of journalists in Africa, after Egypt and Eritrea, with at least seven journalists behind bars for their work on December 1, 2018, according to CPJ’s annual prison census. CPJ published a special report in 2017 about Cameroon’s abuse of overly broad anti-terror legislation to crack down on critical reporting and to stifle dissent.

Culled from Committee to Protect Journalists

14, August 2019

When will President Biya die? ⁰

For 37 years, the Cameroonian dictator has transformed himself into a cult master so to speak expecting citizens and cabinet ministers to bow in homage. When Biya appeared before the Cameroonian people lately, it was evidently clear that Mr. Biya also known as the “monarch” is now a colony of diseases. Cameroon Intelligence Report senior correspondent in Yaoundé observed recently that Biya is suffering from a failing heart, a failed prostrate and loss of memory which makes it hard for him to carry out his duties as a head of state. So, when will Biya die?

Moving around in diapers over the last seven years, the 87 years old health is now a huge concern not only to his closest collaborators but to the international community. He has not been seen ever since he appeared on state television with the out gone French ambassador to Cameroon.

He loses his mind during conversations and for many months now, it is his wife, Chantal Biya and her relation, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh who also moonlights as Minister-Secretary General at the presidency of the republic that have been pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Ngoh Ngoh and Defense Minister Beti Assomo have ordered the army to make a final push in Southern Cameroons. In the days ahead the world will witness more killings in Ambazonia all in a bid to get children back to school and avoid sitting on the negotiating table with Southern Cameroonians.

Biya is definitely not aware of this direction that his government has taken but senior Cameroon political commentators have blamed it all in Biya’s own political misjudgments and his refusal to acknowledge his mistakes.

The young Beti Ewondo French Cameroun political elites around him and the ailing Justice Minister Laurent Esso will not allow Mr. Biya to accept political responsibility to end citizens’ fear and the war in Southern Cameroons.

No one in Yaoundé knows when Mr. Biya will be willing to step down! No one knows when he will tell Francophone soldiers to stop killing innocent Southern Cameroons civilians including women and children. To be sure, Biya continues to head a government that no one takes responsibility, no one apologizes, and no one resigns.

All over the country, citizens are afraid of him and his killer squad, the gendarmerie, the police and the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR). There are no more combative press conferences in Yaoundé due to rising tensions in the city between the Bamilekes of the Western region and the Betis of the South.

Under the “One the one and indivisible Cameroon” principle, all media houses in French Cameroun have ignored the sufferings of those they once referred to as our “Anglophone Brothers”.

However, French Cameroonians are beginning to see for themselves the failures of the monstrous liability of a head of state they help in creating. Everything in French Cameroun, their cities, their homes have all been pushed into an abyss.

But none in the Biya Francophone regime is heartbroken by the atrocities committed daily by Francophone army soldiers in Southern Cameroons. This explains why their leader, President Paul Biya till this day has offered no concessions to Southern Cameroonians.

Biya does not have a conscience!! Correspondingly, many citizens have been asking recently when Biya will die.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

14, August 2019

UEFA Super Cup:Frenchwoman referee, 3 Africans in Liverpool vs. Chelsea clash in Istanbul ⁰

It is an all-English final for the clash in Turkish capital Istanbul to decide who takes home the European Super Cup. In other words, which of the two sides will be crowned the best European club side.

The UEFA Super Cup is a tie between winners of the Champions League and Europa League, in this case; Liverpool and Chelsea respectively.

Liverpool defeated Tottenham by two unanswered goals in the Champions League final whiles Chelsea beat Arsenal by 4 goals to one. The then Chelsea manager Mauricio Sarri quit at the end of his first season in London following which Chelsea legend Frank Lampard was appointed.

It is a historic match given that for the first time a female referee Stephanie Frappart from France will handle a major UEFA competition final.

Liverpool go into the game with a big boost having won their first 2019/2020 Premier League game 4 – 1 against Norwich City. They, however approach this game without their first choice goalie, Allison Becker, who was injured in the game.

Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard, will be hoping for a win to assuage the heavy Premier League loss to Manchester United. The Blues lost 4 – 0 at Old Trafford.

The game comes up at 7 pm GMT. It will feature three African players all on the side of Liverpool. Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Joel Matip of Cameroon.

Speaking of the female referee feat, Chelsea manager said: “In terms of how much respect the (women’s) game is getting, how many people are watching it, the interest in the game…

“I think we were very slow everywhere on this and now we are trying to make strides and there’s a long way to go but in terms of tomorrow I think it’s a huge moment and it should be very well addressed and we’re all very pleased and I’m pleased that it’s a historical moment that is one more step in the right direction I’d say.”

Source: Africa News

14, August 2019

S. Cameroons crimes is now an epidemic: Does VP Yerima care enough to look for a cure ⁰

Vice President Dabney Yerima’s deliberate silence over the poor conduct of some Ambazonia Restoration Forces in areas like Manyu, Bui, Menchum and Kupe Muanenguba is very disturbing! There are reports of horrible crimes being committed by Southern Cameroons Self-Defense Forces in Ground Zero which is slowly but sure pushing the local population away from the struggle.

We of the Cameroon Concord News Group opined recently that Southern Cameroonian fighters are no saints and popes. The situation has been made all the more complicated by the criminal elements financed by the French Cameroun government and some rogues who have become a threat to the local population.

These rogues that have infiltrated the Ground Zero Defense Council and the Ambazonia Military Forces kidnapping and molesting even Roman Catholic priests such as the case in Kikaikom in Bui and Akwaya in Manyu must be rooted out of our midst. Vice President Yerima should and must make sure that they be made to pay for their crimes.

Cameroon Concord News Group believes and fervently too that they are giving the revolution a bad name and this must be addressed forthwith. The people of Southern Cameroons should at no time be associated with the crimes being committed in our territory.

If the French Cameroun government’s stock in trade is killing, Ambazonians should let it accomplish its mission, after all the more people it kills, the more likely is the independence of Southern Cameroons. Let us give the international community more evidence of the French Cameroun government’s irresponsibility and wickedness.

The so-called activists living in faraway lands should be told to stop calling on those rogue elements that have been marauding our villages and towns to commit crimes in our names; we must know that we will be losing the sympathy of the international community that is breathing down the government’s throat.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

14, August 2019

African Americans lack proper access to US banks ⁰

Many black people in the United States have difficulty saving money partly because they lack access to traditional banking services, contributing to the growing racial wealth gap in the US, a new study has found.

Many African Americans depend on more expensive alternative financial services like check-cashing counters since there are fewer banks in non-white neighborhoods, according to the study published on Tuesday by McKinsey & Co.

Increasing access to basic banking services, like checking and savings accounts, could save individual black Americans up to $40,000 over their lifetime, the report found.

“Black families are being underserved and overcharged by institutions that can provide the best channels for saving,” said the report authored by McKinsey partners Shelley Stewart and Jason Wright.

In majority-white communities, there are an average of 41 banks and financial institutions for every 100,000 people, compared with 27 in neighborhoods that are majority non-white, the study said.

However, more expensive alternative financial services like payday lending are more readily available in black neighborhoods, the report said.

Additionally, banks in black communities typically require higher account balances to avoid service fees, the study said.

The US racial wealth gap has expanded significantly over the last two decades, with the wealth of the average white family growing 10 times higher than the average wealth of a black family, according to government data.

The white household had a net worth of $171,000 while average black and Hispanic households had a median net worth of $17,600 and $20,700 respectively.

“When you bridge that gap, the money is not just going to black pockets, it’s going to everyone’s pockets,” Wright told Reuters.

America’s racial income inequality and corporate greed has become a focus of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.

Critics say the tax policies of US President Donald Trump has funneled vast amounts of money to the wealthiest Americans while offering only modest benefits to lower income taxpayers.

Source: Presstv