On the fourth day of the Africa Cup of Nations in the Fako County, Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards acted on the threat that was made public by the Southern Cameroons Interim Government.

A dozen Amba fighters fired AK-47s into the air less than a quarter-mile from where the Malian national  team was practicing, spooking the players off the field and drawing  Francophone army soldiers into a shootout that killed a taxi driver and his passenger.

In Molyko,Buea, a Southern Cameroons self defense force tossed a homemade bomb from a cab window, wounding three police officers. A bus of Gambian footballers, startled by the chaos, raced back to their hotel.

Troops and Ambazonia fighters exchanged fire in Buea and several people were wounded in the gunfight.

In a rare public evaluation of self defense actions by Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards,the Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government, Dabney Yerima has lauded the Federal Republic of Ambazonia’s ever-increasing power in  nearly all Southern Cameroons constituencies, saying the enemy received Ambazonia’s resistance message of strength during the Africa Cup of Nations.

The exiled Southern Cameroons leader furtherred that La Republique du Cameroun recently  acknowledged the power of Ambazonia Self Defense Forces, citing the confession made by the Francophone governor of the South West Okala Bilai as an example.

French Cameroun governor Okala Bilai had said the attack deep inside Buea threatening the Africa Cup of Nations meant that Biya regime troops were operating without complete superiority for the first time ever since the conflict started five years ago.

Yaounde has received the message of Amba fighters power, Dabney Yerima said, stressing the need for the Southern Cameroons diaspora to invest in the Bank of Ambazonia and the Big Rubbergun Project to help Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards to grow stronger every day and to be able to defend the homeland.

Elsewhere in his comments, Vice President Dabney Yerima pointed out that fire power is not simply AK-47s, armored cars and expired Made in France military trucks but also the spiritual readiness of the human forces and the oppressed people.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

At least five people were killed and several others injured on Tuesday in an accident involving a bus and a truck on the outskirts of Cameroon’s capital city of Yaounde, according to the police.

The accident occurred on the Yaounde-Ebolowa highway precisely at the Mengueme locality by 10 a.m. when a 30-seater bus lost control and collided head-on with the truck, police said.

The bus then plunged into a steepy bush, causing enormous damage.

Five people died on the spot and the injured were rushed to a local hospital, eyewitnesses said.

Such accidents in Cameroon are often linked to the poor state of roads and drivers’ ignorance.

The Ministry of Transport estimates that 1,500 people die in road accidents each year in the Central African nation.

Source: Xinhuanet

The Southern Cameroons Department of Foreign Affairs has condemned the international community including FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the silence on crimes against humanity being committed by Francophone army soldiers in British Southern Cameroons.

The Ambazonia Department of Foreign Affairs, in a statement released on Tuesday, said the brutal La Republique regime and its backers in Paris, were racing against time using the Africa Cup of Nations to implement its French colonial settlement plans in the entire British Southern Cameroons as part of attempts to distort historical realities and keep the people of Southern Cameroons under French Cameroun dominance forever.

The statement signed jointly by Vice President Dabney Yerima and Professor Carlson Anyangwe said such bids were meant to serve French geo-political and colonial interests in the Gulf of Guinea and is intended to shut the door on the establishment of an independent and sovereign British Southern Cameroons state with Buea as its capital.

The Southern Cameroons Department of Foreign Affairs noted that French Cameroun troops deployed to Southern Cameroons recently due to the Africa Cup of Nations have targeted innocent Southern Cameroons civilian population particularly those in the rural areas.

The Yerima-Anyangwe statement then denounced the deliberate silence maintained by the international community over French Cameroun crimes in Buea, Bamenda and Limbe which includes ethnic cleansing, the killing of an SDF Senator as well as malicious repressive measures against the people of Southern Cameroons.

The Ambazonia Interim Government held in the statement that Yaoundé is fully and primarily responsible for ongoing violations and crimes in the entire Southern Cameroons.

By Isong Asu in London

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government Dabney Yerima says Ambazonia leader Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, who is currently being held by the French Cameroun regime, helped create a self defense front in Southern Cameroons against the presence of French Cameroun occupation forces.

Vice President Dabney Yerima made the comments on Saturday, while addressing an Ambazonia security forum on the way forward for the the struggle and the Southern Cameroons refugee crisis via zoom.

The Southern Cameroons exiled leader noted that the presence of Francophone soldiers in  the Federal Republic of Ambazonia has brought about nothing other than destruction, bloodshed and displacement stating that the targeted killing of Senator Kemende by troops loyal to the French Cameroun regime will have severe repercussions for the entire French Cameroun administrative apparatus in Southern Cameroons after the Africa Cup of Nations.

Yerima highlighted that the late SDF Senator made great grounds across the entire Southern Cameroons, adding that all Southern Cameroons restoration groups can draw valuable lessons from his martyrdom.

French Cameroun has occupied Southern Cameroons for many years and continues to massacre Ambazonian people and looting the territory’s natural resources. It was French Cameroun that created the Atanga Nji Boys and President Biya and his gang, therefore, bears complete responsibility for the extremists’ crimes and acts of terror committed by Francophone army soldiers deployed to Southern Cameroons.

By Chi Prudence Asong

He is accused of financial misappropriation by the so-called Special Criminal Court. The French Cameroun political elite has been held in pre-trial detention since January 5 at the Kondengui  Maximum Security Prison.

This week in Yaounde, pro Biya state prosecutors questioned Jean Claude Atanga Bikoe the general manager of a CPDM creation known as Road Fund dedicated to the financing of road maintenance and direct payment to private companies for services provided under contracts awarded after competitive bidding.

Cameroon Intelligence Report correspondent covering the Special Criminal Court reported that Jean Claude Atanga Bikoe was arrested on the basis of several damning reports which is still to reveal the exact amount  stolen by the GM.

The pro Biya regime judges also accused the former GM of complicity in the misappropriation of public property, forgery and use of forgeries in public writing, in the context of the financial management of the Road Fund.

The presidential decree that created the Road Fund as a public administrative establishment in 1996 stipulates that its general manager ensures its daily management by collecting and transferring financial resources into the Fund’s bank accounts or public treasury. Hon. Jean Claude Atanga Bikoe was installed at the head of the Road Fund in 2012.

Jean Claude Atanga Bikoe’s arrest comes in the wake of the presidential speech at the end of the year. The 88-year old Paul Biya announced, among other things, the resumption of the fight against misappropriation of public funds.

Depicting the Special Criminal Court established to prosecute alleged corrupt government officials and the several Alibabas responsible for pilfering from the public treasury as President Biya’s court is no misnomer. Cameroon Concord News Group calls it the President’s court because it is one instrument of power through which Biya is reining in on perceived opponents from within his CPDM power conduit.

 An attribute of a genuine court is the fairness of the trial proceedings in cases which are brought before the court for trial. It is not the number of convictions entered against accused.  A court is legitimate and recognized as such because of its exercise of judicial, executive, legislative and administrative independence.  A court that is independent must be accessible to all citizens after all, is equality before the law, not a constitutionally protected value? The Special Criminal Court is lacking in these attributes of impartiality, judicial independence and accessibility.  It is perceived more as President Biya’s Court than a Court of Justice.

Establishing this court was President Biya’s way of saving himself the embarrassment of being humiliated during his perennial trips abroad as the President of the most corrupt country in the world.  This ranking of the country as the most corrupt or one of the most corrupt countries had a potential to hamper President Biya’s personal pecuniary interests far from the borders of Cameroon.  There was therefore a personal interest need to establish the court.  Another personal interest need was to avail himself of a legal tool under his direct control to consolidate absolute power, blackmail potential rebels and competitors within the system and to stifle any form of institutional opposition. He perceived the court as a tool with which to whitewash his more than thirty-eight years of corrupt governance and the rape of the economy.

With the war against Boko Haram and the war in Southern Cameroons, the fight against corruption using the Special Criminal Court has afforded Paul Biya justification contest in the next institutionally flawed elections in order to eternalize power purportedly to direct the war against so-called terror and the war against corruption.  True to the name the President’s Court, the President has exclusive preserve in referring cases to the Special Court and the power to terminate them. He decides who will be arrested, who will be investigated and who will serve time and who will not.

In one instance, he ordered a detained late Minister Bapes Bapes released from remand custody at Kondengui when a warrant was issued for his arrest without the presidential fiat.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Rita Akana

Armed fighters have stormed a town in south west Cameroon close to the training base used by the Mali and Gambia teams at the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Mali team has suspended training prior to their match against Tunisia in nearby Limbe this afternoon, according to the Cameroon News Agency. Mali are due to play Tunisia in the opening game of Group F at the Afcon, this afternoon [Wednesday].

Brighton’s Yves Bissouma and Southampton’s Moussa Djenepo both play for Mali and Manchester United youngster Hannibal Mejbri, Arsenal’s Omar Rekik and Nottingham Forest’s Mohamed Drager are part of the Tunisia squad.

Two people are reported to have died following an exchange of gunfire between separatists and government forces at the central market in the town of Buea and five people have been injured, say local reports.

The west of Cameroon has been racked by an escalating conflict between the local English-speaking population and the government of the largely French-speaking country.

Sportsmail reported last month how the tournament mascot, Mola the Lion, was forced to wear a bullet proof vest and was escorted by heavily armed soldiers when he visited the region to promote the competition.

Armoured vehicles and heavily manned army checkpoints have been prominent in the town in recent weeks, with security checks on entry points to nearby Limbe.

‘The Malian team has suspended training and left the Molyko stadium,’ the Cameroon News Agency, reported today.

Separatists, who have objected to hosting games in the west of the country – an area they call Ambazonia – have threatened violence. They have claimed responsibility for the attacks.

One of the host cities, Limbe, is within the westernregion and just 13 miles from Buea.

‘Two civilians (men) have been found dead at the Buea Central market following exchanges of gunshots between Ambazonia and government forces,’ the local news agency added.

In a video posted online, armed men can be seen moving through the streets and there appears to be audible gunfire.

Source: DailyMail

Three Algerian journalists covering the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon (AFCON) have been robbed and stabbed by unknown assailants.

The journalists, moving together as a team with other colleagues, were attacked on Sunday night when they were leaving their hotel in Douala.

Items carted away included a bag containing money, a phone, and a computer.

According to an Algeria news outlet, one of the three journalists that sustained stab wound is a special envoy of Algeria Press Service (APS).

“CAF is aware of an alleged incident involving three Algerian journalists in Douala, Cameroon on Sunday night, 09 January 2022.

“CAF is liaising with local government authorities to understand the details of the incident as this is now a police investigation.

“We are also reaching out to the three journalists and wish them speedy recovery. For now, we will await a detailed report of what transpired.

“The safety of each and every individual attending the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations is a priority for CAF and also our partners, the Cameroon government,” the medium stated.

Source: Sahara Reporters

Armed Cameroon government army soldiers visited the home of Senator Kemende Henry in Bamenda early yesterday, the Southern Cameroons political elite spent months of self-imposed exile in Yaounde calling for an end to the war and upon returning home maintained a kind of deliberate silence, according to three acolytes of the senator.

But after anti-French Cameroun sentiments erupted in Bamenda this week against the Africa Cup of Nations, unidentified gunmen believed by Southern Cameroons activists to be working on behalf of the Biya Francophone regime in Yaounde shot dead the senator at Mile II Nkwen, Bamenda III Sub Division.

“It is a message. No matter who you are, how peacefully you object – if you go out and criticize the 88-year-old President Biya, you’ll be killed,” said one of Senator Kemende’s friends, who sued for anonymity for fear of reprisal from Cameroon government troops.

Cameroon Intelligence Report interviews with three senior Anglophone officials in Bamenda and six pro Yaounde CPDM militants depict a pattern of mass arrests, intimidation and torture, and in many cases targeted killings of Southern Cameroonians by soldiers loyal to the Biya Beti Ewondo regime in Yaounde.

Southern Cameroonians still serving the Francophone dominated Biya government including the Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji are all viewed as corrupt and Southern Cameroonians now say federalism alone will not provide a long lasting solution for the English speaking people of Ambazonia.

Several  Southern Cameroons activists have been shot dead recently in Bamenda, Buea and Limbe in what appear to be targeted assassinations, according to local human rights groups and the Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima. Dabney Yerima said Ambazonia Intelligence hinted him that Cameroon government soldiers were behind the deaths because those killed had been openly critical of the Africa Cup of Nations and had also received threats based on their anti French Cameroun activism.

In a statement released by the Southern Cameroons Department of Foreign Affairs, the Ambazonia Interim Government stated that the killing of Senator Kemende Henry amounts to what they view as a campaign intended to silence Ambazonia Ground Zero leaders and causing them to abandon the struggle or consider fleeing the country.

The Biya regime’s declaration of war on English-speaking citizens following the killing of some four gendarme officers in Agborkem German in the country’s Southwest region some five years ago, will go down in history as a faux pas which will haunt the country for a very long time. Thousands have been killed and maimed in a war very much driven by arrogance and ego, and many families will be entering the new year with a lot of pain in their minds.

The war itself was avoidable. There was no justification for a full-blown armed conflict in a country that is still at grips with massive and complicated development issues. Cameroon needs all its citizens to come together to give the country a shot in the arm, but the government does not seem to see things this way. 

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Authorities in Cameroon authorities say at least 25,000 villagers in the northeast who fled communal fighting to neighboring Chad last month have returned. But hundreds were left homeless by the fighting between ranchers and fishers, and more than 75,000 are reluctant to go home.

Cameroon’s ministry of territorial administration says at least 25,000 civilians who fled intercommunal violence along its northern border to Chad have returned home.

A statement read on Cameroon state radio CRTV on Monday said the civilians are returning because the area is once again peaceful.

The governor of Cameroon’s Far North Region, Midjiyawa Bakari, said a December peace mission to convince armed men to drop their weapons was a success.

He spoke to VOA via messaging application from Maroua, the capital of the Far North Region.

Bakari said thousands of civilians who fled to Chad because of the intercommunal violence between Arab Chao and ethnic Mousgoum have been returning to Cameroon each week since December 16. He said the returnees are responding to Cameroon President Paul Biya’s appeal for them to return home, seek peace, and develop their communities.

But Bakari said several hundred returnees were left homeless because their houses were torched in the conflict.

Authorities say clashes between ranchers and fishers over water and land erupted along the border on December 7, leaving at least 10 people dead and scores wounded.

The U.N. says the violence between the two communities pushed at least 102,000 civilians to flee to neighboring Chad.

Among the civilians who escaped to Chad is 41-year-old mother of two Anne Djigoue.

She told CRTV she returned from the Chadian capital N’djamena on January 2 when envoys sent by Cameroon’s government convinced her it was safe.

Djigoue said fighting between Arab Choua ranchers and ethnic Mousgoum fishers has brought agony to both communities. She said a few returnees are privileged to live in tent houses while a majority sleep in the open air. She said all of them need houses, water, and food.

Cameroonian authorities say many of those left homeless were able to stay with relatives or in village mosques or churches.

Mounouna Foutsou is minister of youth affairs and civic education in Mayo Danay on Cameroon’s border with Chad.

He said some of the returnees are seeking help.

Foutsou said as community leader in Mayo Danay, he has an obligation to plead with citizens living in Cameroon’s northern border to help their brothers and sisters returning from Chad. He said people who are not affected by the clashes should share their lodging, food, and water with returning civilians whose houses or farms were torched during the conflict.

Cameroonian authorities say they have rebuilt three markets that were torched in the conflict and are supplying food, seeds, and mattresses to resettle people affected by the clashes.

But community leaders say over 75,000 of the villagers who fled to Chad are still reluctant to return.

The Cameroon Civil Society Organization says it will be difficult to convince many of those who fled to return without the government reconstructing homes and plantations that were destroyed.

Source: VOA