The Southern Cameroons leader, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, defied the Biya Francophone regime efforts to declare him irrelevant by addressing the people of Ambazonia via a French Cameroun newspaper, confirming that he is still committed to the liberation struggle of British Southern Cameroons.

In an interview with Le Jour newspaper President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe repeated his earlier position for genuine dialogue between the two Cameroons.

The Supreme Leader of the people of Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia told Le Jour that Yaoundé should demilitarize the entire Southern Cameroons territory and release all English speaking detainees in French Cameroun jails.

Six years into the war in Southern Cameroons, peace is still not back despite several initiatives carried out so far both by the regime in Yaoundé and by the international community.

Speaking exclusively to Le Jour newspaper, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe,reiterated the position of the Ambazonia Interim Government in an article published on Monday, December 5, 2022.  He also set out his conditions for his participation in the holding of a dialogue with the Biya Francophone regime Yaoundé.

“We propose first that Cameroon, which has declared war, declare a ceasefire and demilitarization of the English-speaking regions, the release of all those imprisoned because of this crisis, amnesty for exiled compatriots and international dialogue arbitrated by a neutral country and at a place agreed by both parties. As soon as these conditions are met, we will sit down if the government wants to negotiate, we will negotiate,” the Ambazonia Supreme Leader told Le Jour.

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides including Dr. Kimeng Henry, Dr. Kwanga, Professor Che Augustine Awasum, His Majesty Shufai Blaise and Dr. Nfor Ngalla, have been imprisoned at the Kondengui Central Prison for four years, after being arrested in Nigeria in joint military operation by Cameroon and Nigerian secret service officers.

“I am physically in prison, but morally and spiritually I am a free man. Those who put me here are more in prison than I am. I don’t have a problem with anyone, but I remain solidly committed to the struggle that began several years ago. This fight is for the liberation of Southern Cameroons- Ambazonia, from the oppression and misrule that plagues this country,” the Ambazonia leader said.

By Rita Akana in Yaoundé

Cameroon’s government is praising U.S. authorities for arresting three Cameroonian Americans accused of supporting separatist violence in the country’s western regions. The three, arrested a week ago and indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice, allegedly raised funds to abduct persons and use weapons of mass destruction in a foreign country.

Cameroon’s government has for years been urging the U.S. and Europe to crack down on separatists operating outside the country. Government forces have been battling separatist groups for five years.

John Billy Eko, inspector general in Cameroon’s External Relations Ministry, said the arrest of the three Cameroonian-born U.S. citizens indicates the U.S. has come to understand that some people who sponsor the separatist conflict live in America.

“We remain cautious and vigilant because the indictment is perhaps only the first phase of a judicial process which began with our government’s persistence in convincing American authorities to take action [against separatist sponsors],” he said. “So, we await trial and sentencing. There are many, many more unindicted co-conspirators and accomplices in the United States and elsewhere who were not cited in this indictment.”

Cameroonian lawyers in the U.S. say they have filed complaints against 200 Cameroonians and American citizens of Cameroon origin in the U.S. who are suspected accomplices to separatist violence.

Armed groups seeking to separate two predominantly English-speaking regions from Cameroon and its French-speaking majority launched their military campaign in 2017.

Eko said that since then Cameroon has appealed to friendly nations to take actions against separatist supporters working within their national territories.

On November 28, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the charges against Claude Chi, Lah Nestor Langmi and Francis Chenyi, all Cameroonian-born U.S. citizens in their 40s. The three arrested defendants are charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a conspiracy to kidnap persons and use weapons of mass destruction in Cameroon.

The U.S Department of Justice says in addition to more than $350,000 the defendants raised through voluntary donations, the three men conspired with others to kidnap civilians in Cameroon and hold them for ransom.

It says in some instances, U.S. citizens were extorted for ransom payments to secure the release of their kidnapped relatives living in Cameroon, with ransom payments subsequently transferred to separatist fighters to fund their operations.

“We have examined the case filed into court by the United States prosecutor. We had previously condemned kidnapping for ransom and the use of Ambazonia forces for personal benefit,” said Capo Daniel,spokesperson of the Ambazonia Governing Council, one of the chief separatist groups. “This war remains the primary cause of the chaos and the emergence of criminal gangs and cartels that seek to use Ambazonia to legitimize their criminal activity.”

Before last week’s indictment, Christopher John Lamora, U.S. ambassador to Cameroon, had condemned abductions for ransom and attacks on education.

“I have seen a lot of videos where people are calling for violence, where people are suggesting that killing students and preventing them from going to school is somehow a valid approach to resolving social concerns. It isn’t,” said Lamora, speaking to Cameroon state broadcaster CRTV. “The people in the diaspora, be they in the United States or elsewhere, who have been calling over the past several years for violence to stop. There is no question about that.”

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in prison for the material support charges, up to three years in prison for receiving money from a ransom demand charge and up to 20 years in prison for the money laundering conspiracy charge, according to the U.S Department of Justice.

Source: VOA

Scores of Cameroonians with physical disabilities petitioned the government on Friday for better representation in public office and political parties. Meeting in the capital Yaoundé, ahead of the International Day of Disabled Persons on December 3, activists said parties resist fielding disabled candidates. They also noted that not a single disabled person is in parliament or the president’s office.

Samuel Nyingcho, who has impaired vision, said the opposition Social Democratic Front rejected his request to run for local council in Tubah, an English-speaking northwestern town. Nyingcho said he was told that visual impairment hinders the ability to contribute to development.

“The national chairman of the Social Democratic Front, gave me a test to ascertain whether I was able to read and write and equally able to engage in community work,” he said. “That test I passed and then was given the opportunity to enroll as a councilor.”

But Nyingcho said after he registered, his candidacy was again rejected. Others with visual impairment began street protests and the party finally accepted his candidacy, he said.

The Social Democratic Front said that since his election in 2013, Nyingcho has been an exemplary council member, helping the community to build roads and to provide electricity and water.

Nyingcho is one of only 12 councilors with disabilities in Cameroon, out of some 12,000 nationwide.

Not a single member of parliament’s 280 members has a disability, and only one of the country’s 372 mayors.

Thirty-two leaders of associations of people with disabilities signed the petition presented Friday.

Coco Bertin, the founder of the Club for the Rehabilitated Young Blind People of Cameroon, said he signed because there is no reason qualified and educated people with disabilities should be denied better representation in public office and political parties.

He said more opportunities for those with disabilities would reduce or end the traditional belief that people with disabilities are a curse to their communities or victims of ancestral punishment for wrongdoing. Coco added that Cameroon will not be a country that ensures inclusion and equality of opportunity if people with disabilities are discriminated against.

Cameroon President Paul Biya appointed Douglas Achingale, who walks with crutches, deputy director general of the National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities in 2020.

Achingale said the disabled want to see exclusion stopped in schools.

“There are official texts which give children with disabilities some exclusive advantages during their admission in public schools, however, many educational authorities refuse categorically to respect this text,” he said. “The process to render public buildings accessible to persons with disabilities is slow, very slow indeed.”

The government says it has taken note of the plight of people living with disabilities.

Pauline Irene Nguene, Cameroon’s minister of social affairs, said Cameroon considers the fight against all forms of social exclusions as one of its immediate priorities. She said there is an ongoing advocacy with political parties, NGOs and the government for social exclusion to end.

The United Nations proclaimed the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in 1992 to mobilize support for the inclusion of persons with disabilities and promote awareness-raising about disability issues.

Source: VOA

Cameroon government forces have killed three Southern Cameroonians during an early morning raid in Banten, a village located in Bui Division in the North West Region in the latest onslaught that has made 2022 the deadliest year of violence ever since the beginning of the Anglophone uprising in 2016.

The fatalities included two Southern Cameroonian brothers, identified by our correspondent in Bui as Faraih, a Douala based mechanic and his brother Walidu, a local bike rider who were reportedly visiting their granny.  Our reporter in Kumbo, the chief town in Bui also stated that the two siblings were fatally shot after the Francophone army soldiers had stormed the residence of a local granddad identified as Pa Kongnyuy and murdered him on his sick bed.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that Faraih was shot in the pelvis while his brother Walidu was shot in the chest. A local trader, who had bought two brand new bikes for retail, saw his precious goods burnt completely.  

The Cameroon government troops left their base in Tahkija, Nkum Sub division in Bui and started the raids on Banten as early as 2:00 am on Monday November 28 2022.

A Banten resident contacted by CIR said the French speaking soldiers entered the village centre commonly referred to as Sanheiri breaking into houses and shops “And after looting and spending the day in the court yards feasting on stolen goods and even roasting a pig in front of the Central Mosque, the soldiers then moved through the village centre down into the valley where the local Catholic Church is located. The doors of the Catholic Church Banten were forced open and the sacred tabernacle where the Holy Eucharist is kept was emptied”.

This item is still developing  

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Bui

Rescue workers in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, are searching for people believed trapped under a landslide that killed at least 14 people and injured scores more Sunday. The victims were attending a funeral when the landslide occurred.

Civilians mourn as they join rescue workers in digging and searching for people they fear are trapped underneath a huge pile of debris.

The soil and stones collapsed Sunday evening on several hundred community members from Cameroon’s west region who had gathered for a funeral of people who died within the past month.

Rosette Ngeufack, 50, is among the mourners. She says she saw the ground collapse on scores of people including her two sons.Ngeufack says she is still searching for her 24-year-old son who was buried by the landslide alongside his motorcycle. She says she left the Yaounde central hospital at 2 a.m. after hospital staff reassured her that her 21-year-old son, also a victim of the landslide, is responding to treatment.

It is a tradition in Cameroon for communities to organize funeral events in towns after burial of their community members in villages.

People who attended the funeral prior to the landslide said they had prayed for the departed and were sharing drinks and food when the unfortunate incident occurred.

Nasseri Paul Bea, governor of Cameroon’s center region where Yaounde is located, visited the disaster site for the second time within 15 hours on Monday morning. He says that investigations carried out by Cameroon police indicate that some civilians are still trapped in the landslide.

Bea says he asked the government for more troops to assist rescue workers who for the past 14 hours have been searching for people. He says bodies removed from the disaster site are identified by the police and taken to the mortuary of the central hospital in Yaounde and then eventually to their family members.

Cameroon’s government says the landslide occurred when an 18-meter-high embankment collapsed on several hundred civilians attending a funeral in a house constructed in a risky area.

Bea said the embankment that gave way was not solid enough to stop the soil from collapsing.

Cameroon’s Housing Ministry Monday asked people living in areas deemed at risk of landslides to immediately to leave or be forced to relocate.

Yaounde, a city of about 3 million people, has had devastating floods caused by heavy rains within the past three months. The government says more than 25 houses constructed in risky areas have collapsed, injuring and killing scores of people.

Source: VOA

The US Justice Department announced charges Monday against three men who allegedly helped fund separatist fighters in Cameroon and supported the 2020 kidnapping of Catholic cardinal Christian Tumi.

The three men, US citizens of Cameroon origin,  are accused of raising $350,000 for arms and bomb-making materials for the separatist Ambazonian Restoration Forces operating in Cameroon’s English-speaking northwest region.

The funds also supported kidnappings by the separatists, including of Tumi and Sehm Mbinglo, a traditional chief in the troubled region.

Both were freed within days. Tumi, who died in 2021, had frequently sought to mediate between the government and the separatists in the mainly French-speaking country.

The Justice Department said Claude Chi, 40, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri; Francis Chenyi, 49, of St. Paul, Minnesota; and Lah Nestor Langmi, 46, of Buffalo, New York, were arrested Monday on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to support kidnappings and use weapons of mass destruction in a foreign country.

Each man held a senior position in an organization that supported and directed the Ambazonian Restoration Forces, according to the Justice Department.

The three “solicited and raised funds for equipment, supplies, weapons and explosive materials to be used in attacks against Cameroonian government personnel, security forces and property, along with other civilians believed to be enabling the government,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

They also conspired with people in Cameroon to kidnap civilians for ransom, it said.

It said they raised the funds from donations by others in the United States and other countries.

Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions have been gripped by conflict since separatists declared independence in 2017 after decades of grievances at perceived discrimination by the francophone majority.

The conflict has claimed more than 6,000 lives and forced more than a million people to flee their homes, according to the International Crisis Group.

Source: AFP

A landslide in Yaounde on Sunday killed at least 11 people gathered to mourn the deaths of several local people, the regional governor told state broadcaster CRTV.

Early Sunday evening, police pick-up tracks were taking away bodies covered by white sheets, an AFP correspondent at the scene reported.

Emergency services were trying to make their way to the site, as hundreds of local people frantically searched for loved ones.

The disaster happened in the working-class district of Damas, on the eastern outskirts of the capital.

Residents told AFP the accident happened as several families were gathered under large tents on waste ground at the top of a hill, when part of the ground beneath them gave way.

“For the moment, we have 11 bodies,” the governor, Naseri Paul Bea, told CRTV radio. “The search is continuing to find other bodies under the earth.”

The people had gathered to mourn members of their families who had died, he added.

Source: AFP

Karou Modou lived a happy life tilling her garden and rearing animals in her native Cherif-Moussari village at the foot of Mandara Mountains along the Cameroon-Nigeria border.

The 42-year-old mother of eight says her garden was all she had to provide and educate her children. But things changed in 2015.

Boko Haram terrorists attacked her village seven years ago, butchered her father and gunned down her son before abducting one of her daughters. The attackers, she says also burnt her harvest and went away with animals. In fear, Modou joined other villagers to flee for her dear life.

“It was difficult,” she remembers.

She narrates a laborious journey to safety passing through other villages like Nguetchewe and Koza before eventually finding solace in Zamai, 62km from Maroua, the Far North regional capital, joining other Cameroonian families who were also forcibly uprooted from their homes by the insurgency and were struggling to rebuild their lives in IDP sites.

Attacks on civilians

The Boko Haram insurgency began in Nigeria in 2009 before spreading across the Lake Chad basin countries, including Cameroon. They rapidly stepped up attacks on civilians in towns and villages, exacerbating security fears for a region that was already prone to banditry and trafficking.

According to an April 2021 UN report, the Boko Haram war in northern Cameroon has caused a major humanitarian crisis, with over 322,000 people displaced from their homes.

Of the displaced, Zamai is hosting nearly 4,000 in five sites, official figures showed.

Modou says integration and survival were an uphill task for her and the rest of the family members.

WFP initiative

The World Food Programme (WFP) has been helping the women rebuild their old livelihoods through an initiative Food Assistance For Assets Creation. It enables households to not only rely on WFP-donated food rations in the short term but also trains communities to support growing food and trade of produce between communities, according to Miguel Nzegang, WFP programme associate for Resilience and Livelihood Activities.

The UN Agency says it has created a water pond in the arid area to support agriculture and livestock activities and improve food security, secured land for community farms and erected a 150 metric ton capacity storage house for the community.

Nzegang told The EastAfrican that the project cannot take care of everyone in the community as a result of insufficient funding.

“Our biggest challenge is limited funding. For now, we are only able to reach 2,000 beneficiaries whereas the population of Zamai is over 30,000,” he said.

“We target the most vulnerable because we cannot reach out to everybody due to insufficient funding” he said.

“We need to provide them with full access to resources and opportunities so they can be effective contributors to food security and nutrition and efficient business and economic actors,” added Princess Sarah Zeid of Jordan, the WFP senior special adviser on Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition, after visiting the camp on November 2, 2022.

Hope turned into nightmare

Not everyone has been lucky like Modou though. Ali Aisha, 21, arrived at the IDP settlement more than a year ago but is still looking for bearing. She had been living with her uncle and schooling in neighbouring Borno State of Nigeria – the epicentre.

When she returned to Cameroon, her hope for a better life turned into nightmare. In 2019, they attacked her village, killing the men and kidnapped the women. The women are still missing.

“After fleeing, we just kept walking, wandering in the forest,” she explained, saying a military truck on patrol later rescued them. She hopes staying at the camp will help her get opportunities to train and be self-reliant.

Source: The East African

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government has underlined the need for intensive and productive dialog among all Southern Cameroons restoration groups in order to address ongoing differences in the struggle and respond to the challenges facing Southern Cameroonians.

Dabney Yerima made the comments in a meeting with members of the Ambazonia war cabinet on Tuesday.

The exiled Southern Cameroons leader also hailed all Amba fighters in Ground Zero and Ground One for their continued sacrifices, stating that the history of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia will never forget them.

The Ambazonia war cabinet members also exchanged viewpoints on the latest developments in Ground Zero and the plight of all Southern Cameroons detainees including Ambazonia refugees in neighboring Nigeria.

Dabney Yerima stressed that the Ambazonia Interim Government will continue to play a pivotal role in the struggle and that the Interim Government is keen to continue consultations and close coordination with every Southern Cameroons front line figure.

Vice President Dabney Yerima noted that the Interim Government attaches great significance to the Big Rubbergun Gun Project but donations from the diaspora has been very slow because of the nasty happenings in the USA.

By Chi Prudence Asong