Headline News

14, June 2019

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Three university students kidnapped in Bamenda ⁰

Three students of the University of Bamenda in Cameroon’s troubled Anglophone region of Northwest were kidnapped Thursday night in the town of Bambili, local officials said Friday.

“Gunmen invaded the student hostels in the night and took them away. We have no idea where they were taken,” Michael Djomo, a student of the university who witnessed the abduction said.

“It was a terrifying experience.” School authorities said government forces have started a search and rescue operation. No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

Adolph Lele Lafrique, governor of Northwest region, has repeatedly said that kidnappings, which have become rampant in the region where separatists have been fighting government forces in a bid for independence, are orchestrated by “gang of criminals.”

Source: Xinhuanet

14, June 2019

Sudan: Ex-president Bashir charged with corruption ⁰

Sudan’s ex-president Omar al-Bashir was on Thursday formally charged with corruption, following the completion of an investigation by state prosecutors.

Bashir was overthrown and arrested in a coup by the military on April 11 after months of mass protests against his autocratic 30-year rule.

The charges were related to laws on “suspected illicit wealth and emergency orders”, the public prosecutor’s office said without giving more details.

Bashir had already been charged in May with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters.

Prosecutors had also ordered his interrogation on suspicion of money laundering and financing terrorism.

It has not been possible to get a comment from Bashir since his ousting.

Sudan was placed on a U.S. list of sponsors of terrorism under Bashir, an Islamist former general who is also under indictment by the International Court of Justice over war crimes in the country’s western Darfur region.

On Wednesday, the top U.S. diplomat for Africa joined an international effort to press Sudan’s military rulers and the opposition toward a deal on a transition to democracy following the toppling of Bashir.

Stability in Sudan is crucial for a volatile region struggling against Islamist insurgencies from the Horn of Africa to Egypt and Libya. Various powers, including Russia and the Gulf Arab states, are trying to influence its path.

REUTERS

14, June 2019

Putin says US-Russia relations getting ‘worse and worse’ ⁰

Russian President Vladimir Putin says relations between Moscow and Washington are getting “worse and worse” due to the current US administration’s sanctions against Russia.

Putin made the remarks in an interview with Russia’s Mir TV channel published on Thursday, ahead of a G20 summit in Japan later this month at which he might meet US President Donald Trump.

Our relations “are going downhill, they are getting worse and worse,” the Kremlin quoted Putin as saying in the interview.

“The current administration has approved, in my opinion, several dozen decisions on sanctions against Russia in recent years,” he added.

“We really hope that common sense will prevail in the end,” said Putin.

“That with all of our partners, including our American partners… we can reach some decisions in the framework of the forthcoming G20 that will be constructive and create the necessary stable conditions for economic cooperation,” the Russian president stated.

Trump said on Wednesday that he would meet the Russian leader at the G20 summit in Japan, a day after Moscow said the idea for the meeting was “hanging in the air” and that there were no discussions on specifics yet.

The US president also expressed hope that his country would have “a great relationship with Russia,” while at the same time pledging to deploy 1,000 US troops to Poland.

PressTV-US sending 1,000 additional troops to Poland: Trump

Relations between the two countries remain strained over such issues as Syria and Ukraine as well as allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, which Moscow denies.

The Russian leader contrasted Moscow’s troubled relationship with Washington with what he referred to as ts blossoming ties with China, a deepening strategic friendship that has alarmed the US.

Putin also expressed certainty that his country will eventually restore its relations with Ukraine.

Source: Presstv

14, June 2019

Yaounde: Parliament set to ratify AFCTA deal ⁰

Cameroon’s National Assembly on Thursday began scrutinising a bill that will permit the president to ratify the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.

“It will be scrutinized by sub-committees and then discussed in the plenary and eventually adopted,” lawmaker Joseph Owona said.

Minister of Trade Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana is expected to defend the bill before the Financial Committee of the National Assembly on Thursday.

In April, Cameroon’s President Paul Biya told Executive Secretary of UN Economic Commission for Africa, Vera Songwe, that his country will ratify the agreement as soon as parliamentary session opens in June.

So far, 52 out the 55 African Union members have signed the agreement, which envisages a common market for the continent’s population of more than 1.2 billion.

Twenty-two members have already ratified the agreement, the minimum needed for the AfCFTA to take effect. The AfCFTA took effect on May 31.

Source: Xinhuanet

14, June 2019

Biya Regime Says 88 People including 16 soldiers Killed in Boko Haram Attack ⁰

More than 80 people were killed, including 16 Cameroonian soldiers, during an attack by suspected Boko Haram Islamists in the north of the country, the defense ministry said.

Eight civilians and 64 fighters also died in the pitched battle in the Darak locality of Cameroon’s Far North Region on June 9, while another eight fighters were taken prisoner, Defence Minister Joseph Beti Assomo said in statement handed to reporters in the capital, Yaounde.

Based in Nigeria, Boko Haram has been waging a violent campaign since 2009 to impose its version of Islamic law in Africa’s most populous country. Its attacks have left tens of thousands of people dead and the violence has spilled into Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.

Source: Bloomberg

13, June 2019

French Cameroun told to reveal details of Southern Cameroons detainees ⁰

Southern Cameroonians and the international community including rights groups are working to get information about Ambazonia detainees who are being held in isolation in French Cameroun detention centres. The Biya Francophone regime has successfully stripped Southern Cameroons detainees of all of their belongings and leaving them in very dire conditions and hundreds have been banned from family visits.

French Cameroun has been strengthening its crackdown on Southern Cameroons in recent months. The Yaoundé government has gotten a device from France that is producing a powerful radiation and attempting to stop Ambazonia radio and SCBC television signals from penetrating into Southern Cameroons, in a bid to stop the Southern Cameroons Diaspora maintaining contact with Ground Zero.

Cameroon Intelligence Report has gathered that Southern Cameroons prisoners are suffering from depression, headaches and fainting in French Cameroun jails. Vice President Dabney Yerima issued a statement on Monday calling these French crackdowns “systematic”.

A Cameroon Concord News Group investigation revealed that the Nera 10 and over 75% Ambazonian prisoners in French Cameroun detention centres are restorationists and that Interim President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe is firm determined, courageous and bold to carry Southern Cameroonians to Buea.

A senior aide to Sisiku Ayuk Tabe arrested with the leader in Abuja, Nigeria hinted that President Ayuk Tabe and his advisers have organised a legal team to defend not only the Nera 10 but all Ambazonians detained in various French Cameroun jails. Sisiku Ayuk Tabe has also developed a case theory and strategy which lawyers are to use for all Ambazonia detainee cases.

The aide who sued for anonymity due to the difficult situation the Southern Cameroons struggle is now facing further pointed out that the Interim President has ensured that not only the Nera 10 have food but has from his detention cell sent teams to provide food and health assistance to all Southern Cameroons prisoners in Yaounde, Douala, Bamenda and Buea detention facilities. The Ayuk Tabe aide revealed that the leader has reached out to several IDPs in Yaounde , Douala, Bamenda and Buea with food and medical supplies.

We gathered from the posting from Kondengui that President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe has developed and presented a new protocol which has been widely circulated and restoration of the Ambazonia Homeland is the main focal point.

The Ambazonia leader has reportedly written to several international organizations, prominent world figures and countries on the deteriorating human rights situation in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. The Southern Cameroons leader recently ensured that a petition was sent on behalf of Nera 10 to a human rights working group in Geneva.

We understand the Ambazonia leader saved the Southern Cameroons Interim Government that had been docile for over 8 months with ministers running from pillar to post while Southern Cameroonians were dying in Ground Zero.

By Rita Akana and Sama Ernest in Yaounde

13, June 2019

UK parliament rejects move to block no-deal Brexit ⁰

Members of the British parliament have rejected a key move by the opposition Labour Party meant to block a potential disorderly withdrawal from the European Union.

In a Wednesday session of the House of Commons, lawmakers voted 309 to 298 against Labour’s measure which sought to seize control of the parliamentary agenda from the government if it wants to go ahead with plans for a no-deal Brexit on October 31 this year.

Three years after Britons voted to leave the EU in a tight referendum, the government and the parliament in the country are still at odds on how to deliver on the results of the historic vote.

The Commons have rejected a Brexit deal by outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May on three occasions.

Conservative Party candidates seeking to replace May have declared their intention to implement a no-deal Brexit if the parliament fails to endorse the divorce agreement with the EU.

The Labour, however, has repeatedly vowed to block a no-deal Brexit, saying it will not allow the ruling Tories to take advantage of the political deadlock on Brexit to extend their grip on power.

PressTV-'UK may suspend parliament over Brexit’

Labour’s Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said after the Wednesday vote that the party would continue with its efforts to prevent the next Tory prime minister to bring Britain out of the EU without a deal.

“Labour stands ready to use whatever mechanism it can to protect jobs, the economy and communities from the disastrous consequences of a no-deal Brexit,” said Starmer, adding, “This is just the start, not the end of our efforts to block no-deal.”

Boris Johnson, the top candidate to win the Conservative Party leadership vote in late July and replace May, repeated his promise for a no-deal Brexit as he launched his official campaign earlier on Wednesday.

Johnson said the Tories could not withstand another delay to Brexit as it would inflict a huge loss on the reputation of the ruling party.

“Delay means defeat, delay means ruin,” said Johnson, adding, “We will simply not get a result if we give the impression that we want to go on kicking the can down the road and yet more delay.”

Source: Presstv

13, June 2019

Four killed in road accident in French Cameroun ⁰

At least four people died on Wednesday morning after a car carrying them collided with a truck in Cameroon’s Littoral region, police said.

The accident took place in Mbanga town, about 71 km Southwest of Douala, the capital city of Littoral region.

“The car collided head-on with the truck that was loaded with building material, resulting in the death of some passengers. About 12 persons critically injured in the accident were transferred to a nearby hospital,” a police official said.

The car was damaged beyond repairs according to witnesses.

The driver of the truck who survived the accident has been put in custody.

Deadly road accidents in Cameroon are usually caused by reckless driving, bad road conditions and overloading according to the Ministry of Transport.

Source: Xinhuanet

13, June 2019

Growing Opposition to President Paul Biya ⁰

Facing a growing pro-democracy movement, Cameroon is resorting to an old formula – namely unleashing government power in the form of threats, arrests and excessive force.

Hundreds of supporters of Maurice Kamto, leader of the opposition Cameroon Resistance Movement, have been filling the streets, demanding his release from detention but were detained themselves by security forces on June 8, 2019. According to his lawyer, Kamto could be charged with: insurrection, hostility against the homeland, criminal association, threats to public order, rebellion, group rebellion, and inciting insurrection.

A respected professor of international law, former dean of the faculty of Juridical and Political Sciences at University of Yaoundé II, and former chairman and special rapporteur of the UN International Law Commission from 1999 to 2016, Kamto has been locked up since January 28 after he challenged the sweeping electoral victory of President Paul Biya. His offenses could result in the death penalty.

He and his other jailed supporters are reported to have begun a hunger strike.

Ida Sawyer, deputy Africa director at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, commented: “The Cameroonian government’s crackdown shows that it is unwilling to accept a role for opposition parties, sending a chilling message to those who would dare challenge the status quo.”

She added: “The latest crackdown was consistent with the methods of a government whose security forces have committed grave abuses against civilians and dissenting voices in recent years.”

Local activists condemned authorities for denying lawful permits to protest – a violation of the Constitution. “We are exercising our constitutional rights,” said Christopher Ndong of the Cameroon Resistance Movement, “because we have a right to march and protest when things are going wrong.”

Human rights activist Jean Pierre Bengono also criticized the government of Paul Biya for deploying the security forces in riot gear to disperse crowds in Yaounde, Douala and Mbouda. Organized democracies need the opposition to check political excesses and discuss the well-being of its people, he maintained.

Kamto challenged the vote totals in the presidential election of October 7, 2018, and accused President Paul Biya, who has led the country for 36 years, of stealing his victory.

Beyond Cameroon’s borders, calls for his release have come from the UN Secretary-General, Amnesty International, and Board of The Hague Academy of International Law, in which Kamto serves, among others.

Government minister Paul Atanga Nji responded to the growing chorus of condemnation with a warning. “We can no longer tolerate those who undermine the laws of the republic. He [Kamto] has a hidden agenda to destabilize Cameroon. We will not give him the opportunity,” he said.

Source [IDN-InDepthNews

12, June 2019

Southern Cameroons Crisis: America Mulls Sanctions against Individuals ⁰

As the government of Cameroon steps up its killings of citizens in the northwest and Southwest regions, the American Administration is considering sanctions against:

1) Cavaye Yegue Djibril
2) Joseph Beti Assoumo
3) Rene Sadi
4) Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh
5) Fame Ndongo
6) Atanga Nji
7) Issa Tchiroma
as well as a number of military officials who have ordered their troops to kill civilians.

A source close to the State Department has hinted that a decision will be made before the end of the month, adding that measures being considered against these individuals include but not limited to the freezing of assets, travel bans and refusal of visas to their family members.

The US is still discussing with its partners and despite French efforts to plead Mr. Biya’s case, the Trump Administration has incontrovertible evidence against the Yaounde regime which makes it hard for the US to look the other way while Mr. Biya’s troops mow down their fellow citizens.

The Trump Administration is pissed off with the Biya regime for its continuous refusal to end hostilities in the two English-speaking regions of the country and its rejection of the call for inclusive dialogue.

The US undersecretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy, has been briefing Congressmen on the goings-on in Cameroon.

He has made it a duty to share the gruesome images coming from the two English-speaking regions of the country with US law-makers who are angry with the Cameroon government for its atrocities on its own citizens.

The latest being the mass killings in Ossing where soldiers killed a lady and her three children and buried them in a shallow grave.

Also, in Esu and Jakiri, soldiers beheaded many civilians. The people of Esu and Jakiri have been burying their dead today.

The world is shocked at those atrocities and the US is not amused, especially as the images have been shared with congressmen.

Relations between the two countries have been at their lowest ever since America withdrew its military assistance from Cameroon.

The Trump Administration is considering further measures that will help bring down the Yaounde government.

The American Administration is looking at its aid to the Cameroon government to see which of its loans and grants can deliver maximum pain to the Biya regime.

More will be yours in the days ahead in the Cameroon Concord News

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai.