The fighting in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon which was designed to bring independence to the country’s English-speaking minority is turning out to be a massive disappointment to the people.

From every indication, the rebellion, which has triggered a wave of kidnapping and massacres,  is spreading pain and suffering among those who have been looking forward to that independence.

For over five years, the joy of independence has turned into a nightmare as rogues are using the ongoing socio-political crisis to commit atrocities in towns and villages in the Southwest and Northwest regions.

Summary executions and settling of scores have become rampart and envy, the sore of the soul, has been thrown into the mix and this has created a very toxic situation.

Yesterday in Ossing, a town some seven kilometres from Mamfe, the Division’s chief town, a man known as Peter Agbor, 37, was found hanging on a tree.

Initial reports spoke of suicide, but as the investigations continued, it was discovered that there were more questions than answers in the quest for the truth.

Sources in Ossing which saw Mr. Agbor hanging on the tree said he had been killed before being tied up to the tree, but no bullets or wounds had been found on his body, causing many people to think that he might have been forced to drink poison by his enemies who are suspected to be Amba fighters before being tied to the tree.

 Most people who spoke to the Cameroon Concord News on condition of anonymity said they suspected Amba fighters as Mr. Agbor did not have any enemies they knew of in the village.

However, the investigations are ongoing and some residents who have spoken to the police say they have an idea of what happened and they are helping the police with their investigations.

It is also being reported that some Amba fighters in Mfuni were head discussing the situation and one of the fighters claimed that he and his colleagues had taught Mr. Agbor a bitter lesson.

Mr. Agbor has been buried close to the cocoa tree where he was found dead according to the customs and traditions of the people of Ossing.

The police have promised to track down the criminals as pictures clearly point to a crime committed to hurt the victim’s family.

The position of his legs clearly indicates that it was not a suicide by hanging and Mr. Agbor could not have gone up the cocoa tree to tie up the rope and come down to stand on his feet and die.

Those who witnessed the situation said his eyes were closed which points to something else and his tongue was still intact and this does not happen when someone commits suicide by hanging.

Our correspondent in Mamfe is investigating the issue and will be delivering reports as he gets more information.

By Bryan Tambe Ashu

The Ambazonia Interim Government (IG) says claims by the Biya Francophone regime about school reopening in Southern Cameroons are aimed at covering up the continued crimes committed by Francophone army soldiers in the Southern Cameroons homeland.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima accused the French Cameroun regime of trying to market fake achievements and victories for the French Cameroun society and the international community.

However, Vice President Dabney Yerima stressed that Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards have the right to use all means at their disposal to face the French Cameroun enemy and respond to its crimes.

Dabney Yerima’s remarks came after defense minister Beti Assomo said recently that nearly all schools in Anglophone Cameroon have now been reopened.

Minister Beti Assomo further said all necessary security measures have been put in place to enable primary and secondary schools to resume in the rural areas of Anglophone Cameroon.

Cameroon government military has repeatedly said over the past five years that it has secured all academic institutions in Southern Cameroons. But schools have come under attack from both Cameroon government troops and Amba fighters.  

By Chi Prudence Asong

For some time now, Cameroon government forces have been scoring some points with the killing of some key Ambazonian forces such as Field Marshall and this seems to have emboldened the country’s army soldiers who have been staging raids in many parts of Southern Cameroons.

However, Ambazonian fighters are also hitting the soldiers where it hurts the most, blowing them up with IEDs.

The gains may not be significant, but they are sowing fear in political circles and even among the young soldiers who have been hastily recruited and sent to the killing fields of Southern Cameroons.

On Sunday, Ambazonian forces in Bafut used IEDs to blow up an armored car which was part of a military patrol team, killing at least three government forces.

Little victories like this one are serving as morale boosts to Ambazonian fighters who have vowed to bring about the total independence of Southern Cameroons.

By Miriam Metchane Ewang

Basil Atangana Kouna, an ex-convict and former minister sent to jail for robbing the country of massive financial resources was today seen at the Unity Palace, a place where no ex-convict should be seen.

The ex-convict was recently released following a special order from the country’s president, Paul Biya, on the grounds that the thief had returned CFAF 1.2 billion to the state.

Basil Atangana Kouna was picked up in Nigeria like a common criminal when he presented his diplomatic passport to check into a hotel in Nigeria.

The crook had disguised as a woman to fly out of the country, but landing in Nigeria did not imply that he was off the hook.

He was rapidly returned to Cameroon where he answered for the numerous white collar crimes he had committed when he was the Managing Director of CAMWATER.

A few months after his release, the criminal was received at the Presidency for reasons which are still unknown by the taxpayer.

In decent environments, this ex-convict is not supposed to get anywhere close to the corridors of power.

By Rita Akana

Another lake in Menchum Division is threatening to blow up and residents of the region have been packing up and leaving, fearing that what Lake Nyos did in 1986 could also happen in that small locality.

Despite a serious plea by the residents, the Yaoundé government has remained indifferent.

For now, the residents have left their homes and only show up from time to time to harvest their crops when they feel they can do so.

This item is developing

At least three Cameroonian soldiers were killed Sunday in an attack by separatist fighters in the war-torn Anglophone region of Northwest, security and local sources said Monday.

The attack took place Sunday night in the Bafut area of the region. A military vehicle carrying three soldiers ran on an improvised explosive device planted along a road by separatist fighters, and the explosion killed the three soldiers instantly, according to an army officer in the region.

Separatists also fired a rocket at a military vehicle in the region in an attack over the weekend, with several soldiers wounded, according to an army statement.

Also in the Southwest region, another English-speaking region, the army repelled an attack by separatist fighters on a gendarmerie brigade in Eyumojock, according to security reports.

In the past week, separatist fighters stepped up attacks on military positions in the two Anglophone regions where they attempt to establish an independent state.

Source: Xinhuanet

Education officials in Cameroon say improved security in its western regions have allowed more than 200 schools that had been shut by separatist threats since 2017 to reopen for the new school year. But critics note officials said the same thing last year only to see scores of schools shut down again following rebel attacks. School officials Monday assured schoolchildren, parents, and teachers that their safety is assured despite ongoing rebel threats against schools that reopen.

Cameron Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo said that top military and security officials met Monday to assess the security situation in the country’s western regions ahead of the new school year that begins September 5.

Assomo assured teachers and students that their safety in all western schools opened by education officials will be protected by government troops.

Ngwang Roland Yuven is the government official in charge of secondary education in the Northwest region.

Yuven says several hundred teachers have not yet reported to their respective schools.

“We expect all the school administrators and all the teachers to be where their schools are located,” he said. “Now if we have some communities where the issue of insecurity is at such a terrible level, it would not even be the teacher or the principal telling us, because all of us would see the realities on the ground. I have always reminded my collaborators, my teachers and principals that whatever difficulty that you have, the problems should be reported so that necessary action is taken.”

Bernard Okalia Bilai, the governor of Cameroon’s English-speaking Southwest region, says the government decided to open the schools in towns and villages where peace has returned. He says he is pleading with civilians who have kept children out of school for a long time to make sure their children have an education which is a fundamental human right.

“The situation being under control does not mean that we have seized all the guns circulating in some remote areas. But that is banditry. All the activities are resuming, life is coming back to normalcy, people are moving freely, but we must remain vigilant behind the government for schools to resume all over in the two{western} regions concerned and all over the republic [Cameroon],” he said.

The government says it has ordered its military to shut down community schools that do not respect the official academic calendar and curriculum prepared by the central government in Yaounde.

Separatists in English-speaking western Cameroon launched their rebellion in 2016 after what they said was years of discrimination by the country’s French-speaking majority. The rebellion degenerated into an armed conflict in 2017 when fighters ordered the closing down of schools and transformed some into separatist training camps.

The conflict has killed more than 3,300 people and displaced more than a half-million according to the U.N.

Source: VOA

The Manyu women’s development and cultural group, MOHWA, has clearly taken the driver’s seat in efforts aimed at driving development in Manyu Division. In conventions which took place in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, the women’s unity group is proving that there is strength in numbers.

Over the weekend, MOHWA United States raised some USD 80,000, the equivalent of CFAF 50 million and some of their enthusiastic members are saying that this is just the beginning. The money raised will be sent home for water projects in Manyu Division and for the rebuilding of the Mamfe District Hospital which was burnt down a few months ago. The figures for MOHWA UK and Canada are not yet in but there is a determined effort to change things in Manyu Division. 

Speaking about the demonstration of strength by Manyu women worldwide, we had a chat with Dr. Joachim Arrey of the Global Think Tank For Africa who had nothing but praises for these women who are now clearly demonstrating that theirs is also a development-oriented association.

“I have been reliably informed that MOHWA worldwide is changing the narrative. For long, many people thought that these women were just there to show-off their dresses and jewelry, but what happened in Maryland last week has clearly demonstrated that we, the people of Manyu, can count on our women when it comes to developing our Division. I have seen the videos and they speak volumes. The efforts in the UK, Canada and the United States speak for the women’s determination to bring much-needed help to the people of Manyu Division,” he said.   

“I have nothing but praises for them. They even liaised with their men to make their effort bigger and better. The results are in, and we must support these women so that they can continue leading us into a new era. Past criticism of this group could have helped to jolt its members into action. I consider those criticisms as a shock therapy. The women are doing well, and I hope Manyu ladies in other parts of the world will join the effort. The women deserve my respect, and I will urge them to keep it up. There is nothing that can defeat a bunch of determined, hard-working and beautiful women if they join forces to achieve something meaningful. I doff my hat to them,” he said.

“However, when organizing such major events, they should also liaise with the media so that their stories can be told. The media can also help to galvanize more support for such a women’s group which has a clear vision and strategy to achieve its goals,” he concluded. 

Meanwhile, in Mamfe, many people are talking about the new MOHWA which is now pro-poor and pro-action. Many people in Manyu Division are looking forward to seeing those MOHWA-financed projects string out of the ground. The people are full of praises for the women and are very grateful to those who engineered the idea of bringing Manyu women in a massive structure which is enabling them to demonstrate their strength.

Cameroon Concord News also spoke to a Manyu politician in Yaoundé who elected anonymity and he said that he was aware of what was happening in America and that he was very happy that the women have finally decided to take the bull by the horn. He called on Manyu leaders, chiefs, and administrative officials to come up with a Manyu development structure which should be able to drive development on the ground. 

“If the Diaspora has decided to give a helping hand to development efforts in Manyu, those of us here in Cameroon should be working with the Diaspora to ensure that our collective goals are realized. We cannot continue to be indifferent to changes taking place around us. The Diaspora is a key development force, and we should use this moment to change the Manyu development rhetoric,” he said.  

 “I am also urging the men, especially those of EKPE, to demonstrate that EKPE is not just a drinking and eating organization. The number of EKPE members in Cameroon and abroad should help us raise significant amounts of money towards the rebuilding of that hospital,” the politician said.

By Briyan Tambe Ashu

A Southern Cameroonian man has succumbed to the gunshot wounds he suffered after Cameroon government army soldiers shot him in Weh, Menchum Division just a week before his daughter’s wedding ceremony.

Cameroon Concord News correspondent in Wum, the chief town in Menchum Division reported that the yet to be identified man was shot by Francophone soldiers in the head as he was walking to the local market near his home in Weh.

The Ambazonia Interim Government confirmed in a communiqué that the 47-year-old suffered a critical injury in the head and succumbed to his wounds as he was being rushed to a hospital in Wum.

The exiled Ambazonian leader Dabney Yerima has been quoted as saying that the 47-year-old was unarmed and was simply heading to the Weh market before being shot.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that the father of three had sent out invitations to his daughter’s wedding, scheduled to be held this coming week.

Vice President Dabney Yerima condemned the killing, saying the Biya French Cameroun regime would persist with its acts of terrorism as long as the international community allows Yaoundé to continue to act with impunity.

Professor Carlson Anyangwe also condemned the killing and said, “La Republique du Cameroun seeks to continue with its policy of marginalization and occupation through repeated attacks on Southern Cameroonians and the daily killings of Ambazonia citizens, without being held accountable by the international community.”

According to the Ambazonian Interim Government, the French Cameroun regime has claimed the lives of some 45, 000 Southern Cameroonians since the start of the war in 2016.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

At least two Cameroon government soldiers were killed early Saturday by Ambazonia fighters in the Northwest region, army sources said.

Separatist fighters ambushed and attacked the soldiers in Mbot village of the region, according to a local army official who declined to be named.

“The soldiers were riding on a motorcycle when they were waylaid and shot at by the separatist terrorists. The motorcyclist who was transporting them was also killed in the attack,” the official said and added that army reinforcement was in pursuit of the fighters.

Since 2017, separatist fighters seeking to establish an independent state in these regions have been clashing with government forces in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions, Northwest and Southwest.

Source: Xinhuanet