Headline News

25, July 2019

Ambazonia: “Sako Ikome and Chris Anu were corrupt and negligent” ⁰

A senior adviser in the Ambazonia Interim Government has expressed anger at the state of negligence and corruption that the Southern Cameroons revolution suffered under disgraced former Acting President Sako Ikome and Chris Anu accusing both men of living in luxury abroad instead of helping Ambazonia Restoration Forces in Ground Zero.

James Ndikum Tanifor said that 18 months after Dr Sako and Chris Anu took over the day-to-day running of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government; Ambazonians found themselves facing dictatorship, corruption and a policy of disregard for Ambazonians in Ground Zero.

Comrade Ndikum who hails from the Menchum County accused Sako and his gang of ceasing to follow the Interim Government’s system and tradition, citing as an example the violation committed against the Restoration Council and the humiliating way in which appointments were made in defiance to all Southern Cameroons democratic standards and laws, rules and regulations.

He observed that Dr Ikome Sako and Chris Anu spent the entire period they had in the Interim Government plotting against the Ambazonia leader, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe.

“It is about time that we rise up together so that the Southern Cameroons state will become a reality and the Interim Government’s institutions will be established, a permanent constitution will be drafted and a Southern Cameroons parliament will be elected to represent Ambazonia people everywhere” he said.

He called on Vice President Dabney Yerima to establish a clear and comprehensive political platform and an international partnership that does not exclude or marginalize any Southern Cameroons faction on political or personal-interests grounds.

Ndikum appealed for funding of Ground Zero fighters “before it is too late”.

By Sama Ernest in Wum

25, July 2019

Londoners protest against Prime Minister Boris Johnson ⁰

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in central London on Wednesday, July 24, to protest against Britain’s newly appointed Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The demonstrators took part in a planned street party in central London before marching to Downing Street. Describing his appointment as “dangerous”, some protesters said he could not be trusted and should not be prime minister.

Police put the prime minister’s residence into lockdown as the gates were blockaded by around 100 officers and dozens of riot vans. No arrests were made and the demonstration passed off peacefully. A second protest is planned for September 20.

Johnson took over from Theresa May on Wednesday after an audience with Queen Elizabeth, a moment that put an avowed Brexiteer in control of Britain’s exit from the European Union for the first time since the shock 2016 referendum.

He promised in his first speech as prime minister to lead Britain out of the European Union on Oct. 31 with “no ifs or buts” and warned that if the bloc refused to negotiate then there would be a no-deal Brexit.

(Source: Reuters)

25, July 2019

Biya regime blames opposition, Ambazonians for live-streamed prison riot ⁰

The Cameroon government officially responded to the “digital” riot that rocked the main prison facility in the capital Yaounde on July 22. The protests also led to a fire incident in the Kondengui Maximum Security Prisons.

A Ministry of Communication release dated July 23, 2019, said a group of detainees of the Anglophone crisis were at the heart of the chaos which was live-streamed on Facebook.

According to the release the detainees were authorised to organise a meeting to discuss the prevailing situation in the restive North West and South West Regions, “but the move later became violent.”

The release signed by Minister Rene Emmanuel Sadi, said no life was lost, that injuries were reported and no live bullets were used. Reports by rights groups however said there were injuries arising from heavy shooting at a point.

The government also confirmed a mass transfer of 77 inmates of the Kondengui Maximum prison to police and gendarmerie units in Yaounde for questioning.

Meanwhile the BBC Africa LIVE page is reporting that another government official who visited the facility was laying the blame at the doorstep of the main opposition leader, Maurice Kamto, who remains in jail over a treason charge.

Jean Claude Tilla, claimed supporters of Kamto’s party, Cameroon Renaissance Movement, CRM, were the key architects of the violence.

“We know that they are hiding behind the Anglophone problem to foment such trouble,” he told journalists.

Hundreds of pro-Kamto supporters are being held in the aftermath of disputed elections which incumbent Paul Biya won to secure a seventh term in office.

Kamto, a former Biya appointee, came a distant second in the vote but rejected the outcome, his poll petition was also thrown out by the Constitutional Court.

The Anglophone crisis in western Cameroon has snowballed into a call for independence by the English-speaking part of the country.

A government crackdown on protests against marginalization birthed a so-called independent Ambazonia republic, whose fighters continue to engage with state actors in the two regions.

Source: Africa News

25, July 2019

CRTV confirms death of retired Anglophone army general ⁰

State media confirms death of retired army general.

General James Tataw died on July 24, 2019 in France, following a protracted illness.

“He died after a medical evacuation on instructions from the Head of State,” a tweet announcing his death said.

He died at the age of 86.

25, July 2019

Nigeria anti-graft body seizes properties of ex-governor, family, cronies ⁰

Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, announced on Wednesday that it had began probing a two-time governor of the southern Imo State.

Rochas Okorocha, a member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, is currently serving as a Senator. The EFCC said its operatives had so far marked properties in his name as well as that of family members and cronies.

“It was the outcome of painstaking investigation, and as a result of the failure of those to whom they were traced to, to honour the EFCC’s invitation for interrogation. Operatives neither “raided” nor “harassed” anyone in the course of the action.

“They include: Dews of Hope Hospital traced to Dr. Paschal Obi, ex-Principal Secretary to Okorocha; Market Square Supermarket; All in One Shop, and premises belonging to Imo State Broadcasting Corporation now hosting Rochas Foundation College owned by Senator Okorocha,” an EFCC statement read.

“Others include: East High Academy and East High College, owned by Okorocha’s daughter, Uloma Okorocha-Nwosu; Royal Spring Palm Hotel and Apartment, a 16 block cum 96 flats and eight bungalow multi-million Naira estate traced to Okorocha’s wife,” it added.

State governors are powerful political voices across Nigeria, most of them have serially been accused of high-level corruption but they are shielded by immunity whiles in office.

A former governor of Ekiti Stae, Peter Ayodele Fayose, is currently being probed by the EFCC. In the north central Kano State, the incumbent governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, is the subject of a dollar bribe saga.

The ex-governor during his tenure which ended in March 2019 is no stranger to controversy. He justified and built a number of statues with over $1m of tax payers money.

He constructed Imo’s infamous statue avenue which has honoured among others, Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and South Africa’s Jacob Zuma. President Buhari also has one of the larger-than-life statues in Imo State.

In 2017, then governor Okorocha appointed a Commissioner for Happiness and Couples’ Fulfillment. He handed the portfolio to his sister Ogechi Ololo.

She had previously held the position of Deputy Chief of Staff and special adviser on domestic matters. The decision received flak on social media with many Twitter users asking whether there is really the need for the post.

Source: Africa News

24, July 2019

Trump Administration has decided to overthrow President Biya ⁰

US President Donald Trump after very intensive and productive discussions with officials at the US State Department has decided to oust President Paul Biya from power, Cameroon Intelligence Report has learned. Our contacts deep within the African Desk at the US State Department revealed that the White House will be ordering the CIA, the Pentagon and other agencies to devise a combination of economic, diplomatic and covert steps to achieve that goal.

We understand the Trump administration is not planning any military strike, but top officials at the US State Department have told President Trump that the 86 year old Cameroonian dictator is now a threat to the security of the Gulf of Guinea and must be removed, even if France refuses to consent to the mission.

A US military official serving with the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) was heard murmuring privately that it is no longer an argument about whether to get rid of Biya. That discussion is over. The White House decision is expected to launch the Trump Campaign on a course that will help secure the African America votes in the 2020 presidential elections.

People in the know have opined that any US led campaign against the Biya regime would be very swift and virtually free of casualties. Nevertheless, experts in the CEMAC region who are monitoring the deteriorating situation in Cameroon have all expressed the feeling that by jolting its military cooperation with Yaoundé and pushing the Germans to do same, a decision has already been made to force Biya out of office and what is remaining now is the how and when.

President Trump reportedly has not been too enthusiastic as he is now focused on former U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller who is testifying to Congress today Wednesday at a pair of televised hearings that carry high stakes for President Donald Trump and Democrats who are split between impeaching him or concentrating on the 2020 election.

Mueller, whose inquiry detailed extensive contacts between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia at a time when Moscow was interfering in the 2016 election with hacking and propaganda, is set to appear beginning at 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT) in separate hearings before the House of Representatives Judiciary and Intelligence committees.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in Mulheim an der Ruhr, Germany

24, July 2019

US: Mueller to testify at televised hearing with high stakes for Trump ⁰

Former U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller testifies to Congress Wednesday at a pair of televised hearings that carry high stakes for President Donald Trump and Democrats who are split between impeaching him or concentrating on the 2020 election.

Democrats, who control the House, hope his testimony will rally public support behind their own ongoing investigations of the Republican president and his administration, even as they struggle with whether to launch the impeachment process set out in the U.S. Constitution for removing a president from office for “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Mueller is not expected to deliver any new bombshells, according to Democratic aides, but rather stick to the contents of his 448-page investigation report about the 22-month-long probe of Russian election meddling. Mueller plans to deliver an opening statement before taking questions.

Democrats hope the 74-year-old former FBI director will give the American public a compelling account of Russia’s sweeping interference, the Trump campaign’s readiness to accept help from Moscow and Trump’s efforts to impede the Russia probe that Mueller investigated as potential obstruction of justice.

Trump, running for re-election in 2020, is hoping to move past the entire Russia issue.

“Seeing is believing in America. That report was voluminous. But most Americans didn’t read it. So they’ll see Mueller lay out the case,” said Representative Eric Swalwell, who sits on both the Judiciary and Intelligence panels.

Mueller’s appearance could also be a turning point for Democrats on the question of impeachment.

Many liberal Democrats are pushing for an impeachment inquiry against Trump, whose recent incendiary rhetoric about four congresswomen from racial minorities also has ignited a political firestorm. Eighty-nine House Democrats, about 38 percent of them, now want an impeachment inquiry against Trump, according to a Reuters survey.

That is well short of the 218 votes needed to adopt articles of impeachment in the House, which would trigger a trial in the Senate on whether to remove Trump. But the number backing impeachment could swell if Mueller’s testimony proves to be compelling.

“We hope Mueller’s testimony will be a watershed,” said Democratic Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, a Judiciary panel member.

The impeachment question has divided Democrats, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opposing such a move as politically risky for moderate Democrats on whose future the House Democratic majority depends. Some Democrats prefer to remove Trump from office the ordinary way: defeating him in next year’s election.

Mueller, who had expressed reluctance to testify, agreed only after being subpoenaed. Mueller, a former federal prosecutor and U.S. Marine Corps officer, is also known for favoring one-word answers at hearings and could prove too taciturn to satisfy Democrats’ hopes of a forceful narrative.

“Let us listen, let us see where the facts will take us,” Pelosi said of the hearings. “We’ll see what happens after that.”

‘Going to be disappointed’

Republicans in Congress are predicting chagrin for the Democrats.

“I think they’re going to be disappointed, just as they were when the Mueller report came out,” said Republican Representative Tom Cole.

Mueller’s report said the investigation found insufficient evidence to prove that Trump and his campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Russia. The report also did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump committed the crime of obstruction of justice but pointedly did not exonerate him. Attorney General William Barr, a Trump appointee, subsequently cleared the president of obstruction of justice.

“It is so important for him to say that the investigation did not exonerate the president,” said Representative Val Demings, another Democrat who sits on both panels.

Republicans are expected to raise questions with Mueller about the integrity of the origins of the Russia probe in the FBI during Democrat Barack Obama’s administration and the political leanings of the special counsel’s staff members. Trump has sought to portray the probe as an attempted coup.

The Justice Department on Monday sent a letter telling Mueller to limit his testimony to merely discussing the public report, a directive that the Judiciary Committee chairman rejected as out of line.

But even if Mueller’s testimony proves disappointing enough to deflate impeachment chances, Democrats expect their continuing investigations to produce revelations that could damage Trump’s re-election prospects.

The heart of the Democratic strategy is to focus Mueller’s testimony on several examples of potential obstruction by Trump, including his repeated efforts to get former White House Counsel Don McGahn to remove Mueller and then deny that he had been directed to do so.

Lawmakers will also emphasize attempts by Trump to his fired former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to redirect the Russia probe away from his 2016 campaign, and possible witness tampering in public statements seen to discourage his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen from cooperating with federal investigations.

Democrats have said the report includes shocking evidence of misconduct that would result in criminal charges against any other American. The Justice Department has a longstanding policy against bringing criminal charges against a sitting president.

(REUTERS)

24, July 2019

Chelsea beat Barcelona 2-1 in friendly ⁰

Frank Lampard’s Chelsea have overcome Barcelona 2-1 at the Saitama Stadium in Japan.

Kevin Abraham took advantage of Barca’s sloppy defense to put Chelsea in front in the 34th minute after rounding Marc-André ter Stegen.

The London Blues made it 2-nil with nine minutes on the clock through Ross Barkley, whose curling shot found its way into the back of the net.

The Catalan Giants, who did not have Lionel Messi on the pitch, scored a consolation in stoppage time as Ivan Rakitic’s super shot rippled the net.

24, July 2019

Kondengui Riot: Former Prime Minister Inoni Ephraim, ex-minister Olenguena injured ⁰

Cameroon’s security forces put down a riot by prisoners who ransacked and burnt a jail in the capital Yaounde overnight, witnesses told AFP on Tuesday.

The rioters, many of them government opponents or supporters of an English-speaking separatist movement in the country’s west, filmed their protest and posted elements to Facebook.

Several inmates were injured, prison sources said, including former prime minister Inoni Ephraim and ex-minister Urbain Olenguena Awono who were targeted by other prisoners.

Ephraim, who was jailed for 20 years after being convicted on corruption charges in 2016, was hospitalised.

“There were shots all night. It was like fireworks,” as the security forces fought the uprising, a resident told AFP.

Local media reported that no-one was killed, and no prisoners escaped.

Amnesty International on Tuesday called on authorities to avoid “excessive force” and to conduct an investigation into the use of “firearms and live ammunition”.

In a statement, the government said “no live fire was used during the operation” at the prison.

Calm appeared to have returned to the prison by Tuesday, an AFP journalist observed, with police and soldiers erecting a cordon around the jail.

On social media, the inmates demanded their liberation and better food.

Overcrowded jail

The over-populated central prison of Yaounde, known as Kondengui, was built to accommodate 1,500 inmates but is estimated to house more than double.

It hosts numerous people arrested since an anglophone separatist uprising started in 2016. Several are serving long prison sentences, others are awaiting trial.

“The crises are accumulating. More and more prisoners in an already overcrowded jail,” said Maximilienne Ngo Mbe, executive director of rights group REDHAC.

Cameroon is in the midst of a security crisis that has pitted separatist English-speaking regions in the west against the French-speaking population elsewhere.

In the north, the Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram also stages regular armed attacks.

The country is also facing political ructions, after the head of the opposition Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC), Maurice Kamto, and about 100 of the party’s supporters were arrested in January and remain in detention.

President Paul Biya has been in power for 36 years.

MRC secretary general Christopher Ndong told AFP that security forces had taken several prominent members of the separatist movement — those seen as the leaders of the revolt — from the prison to an unknown destination on Tuesday.

More than one in six people in Cameroon — 4.3 million — need humanitarian aid, an increase of 30 percent from 2018, according to UN aid officials.

Source: AFP

24, July 2019

French Cameroun Crisis: Christians escape as Boko Haram militants step up attacks in the Far North ⁰

About 200 families escaped with their lives when Boko Haram Islamist militants ransacked a mainly-Christian village in the Far North Region of Cameroon on 10 July.

Following several previous Boko Haram raids in the area, the families were sleeping in the bush to avoid further attacks when the armed gang stormed Roum village, in the Tourou area, setting fire to homes, killing livestock and plundering food stores and possessions.

Boy returns to burnt out home in Christian village ransacked by Boko Haram

A Barnabas contact said the villagers had lost everything and are now taking refuge at a local school. He estimated around 1,120 families in the area were “living in distress” following the attack on Roum, and Boko Haram’s destructive onslaughts on other villages including Goldavi on 5 July, Zeleved on 10 July and Amchide on 11 July.

He said, “The populations have all lost food stocks, clothing, sleeping sets and many other material goods and animals. These attacks led to great fear, psychosis, trauma and panic among the populations.”

The contact reported there had been a resurgence of attacks by Boko Haram since January 2019. He added that the impact of the onslaught is especially devastating because July, August and September are the lean months between harvests in Cameroon. It is also the rainy season when many roads turn to mud, and the security forces are less mobile.

More than 1,100 Christian families are “living in distress” in northern Cameroon following Boko Haram attacks on villages destroying homes, possessions and livestock

Christian villages in the far north of Cameroon are subject to attacks by Boko Haram militias attempting to establish an Islamic caliphate from north-eastern Nigeria all the way to northern Cameroon, which is predominantly Christian. The UN estimates that more than 170,000 Cameroonians, mainly Christians, have been forced to flee their homes by Boko Haram.

Source: Barnabas Fund