Air travelers have been warned that a “technical issue” affecting lighting at Cameroon’s largest airport, Douala International Airport, will affect their journeys, a government official said on Thursday.

Cameroon’s Minister of Transport, Jean Ernest Massena Ngalle Bibehe said, there had been a problem with the lighting on the runways.

“The malfunctions are linked to an insulation fault of cables,” Ngalle Bibehe said in a statement on Thursday.

“This situation had as a direct consequence the postponement of certain flights departing from this airport and the unfolding of other flights which were to land there, thus causing disruptions in the operating programs of the airlines,” he added.

The minister assured that competent authorities were actively working to ensure normal activities resume at the airport in the shortest possible time.

Source: Xinhuanet

Prime Minister Dion Ngute was questioned by Francophone prosecutors recently about Cameroon’s response to the coronavirus outbreak and the alleged disappearance of the country’s coronavirus relief fund.

The prosecutors are reportedly looking into how about $335 million of Cameroon’s coronavirus relief fund has gone missing.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands that Prime Minister Dion Ngute, who was questioned as a witness for three hours in his residence in Yaoundé is not under any criminal investigation.

Equipment for the coronavirus pandemic in the country has also gone missing. Reports say some seven government ministers have so far been called to answer questions before an auditing panel over the matter.

Accordingly, the funds that had been allocated to ministries went missing along with the personal protective equipment donated to Cameroon by the Chinese mega-investor Jack Ma to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

As a result, the 88-year-old President Paul Biya, ordered the investigation. But reports say Cameroonians are doubtful that the investigation will lead to any meaningful outcome.

A source at the Ministry of Public Health hinted this reporter that the money was used to pay accrued salaries owed the military.

By Rita Akana in Yaoundé

Medical charity MSF on Tuesday asked Cameroon to let it resume work in the country’s insurgency-riven English-speaking west, saying tens of thousands were deprived of medical care.

MSF (Doctors Without Borders) was banned from working in the Northwest region on 8 December on the grounds that it was “colluding” with armed local groups.

A bitter independence struggle by English-speaking rebels has been raging in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions since 2017.

Members of the anglophone minority in the French-speaking country have long complained of being marginalised.

In the past four years, more than 35 000 people have been killed and over 700 000 have fled their homes to escape the conflict.

“Given the scale of the health needs of the population, MSF urges the Cameroonian government to immediately lift this suspension,” the group said in a statement.

It added that “tens of thousands of people were without access to free and vital health care”.

MSF runs the sole free ambulance service in the region, supports several health centres and trains medical staff.

It said its workers regularly faced threats from government and non-state agents.

Source: AFP

At least two people have been killed and four others seriously injured Tuesday following a dispute over land in Cameroon’s Far North region, a government official said.

Jean Lazare Ndongo Ndongo, prefect of Logone-et-Chari division of the region, said that the feud flared early Tuesday in Makary subdivision after villagers of two rival communities paid a visit to the disputed parcel of land. A traditional leader and a notable were killed and scores of houses were set ablaze, he told local media.

“The situation is now under control. Culprits will be punished,” Ndongo said, adding that government forces have been dispatched to the area to restore peace and order.

Authorities have asked the villagers to desist from using force to settle disputes in the subdivision where militants of terror group Boko Haram are reported to be active.

Source: Xinhuanet

The French Cameroun Senior Divisional Officer for Kupe-Muanenguba, Jean-Marie Tchakui has confirmed the Amba attacks that claimed the lives of two Cameroon government army soldiers and a civil servan in Southwest.

The troops were killed in one incident, in Nguti on Friday, Mr. Jean-Marie Tchakui, told journalists during a press briefing.

“There were three soldiers. Two were killed on the spot,” said Tchakui. “And one was able to escape although he was wounded”,

“Our two soldiers died while on their way back from guarding a factory shut down due to threats by secessionists,” he added.

In the second attack, a delegate from the economy ministry in neighbouring Ndian Division was killed.

“What is certain is that he was murdered. His body was found,” Lawrence Nwafua, Senior Divisional Officer for Ndian Division was quoted as saying during Friday’s situation report.

The War in Ambazonia has already claimed at least 40 000 lives, almost all of them civilian children, men and women, murdered by Cameroun troops in a series of targeted killings, organized massacres, and killings by fire in over 400 villages burnt down to ashes across Ambazonia. Over half a million people have been forcibly displaced as refugees living in various countries and especially in refugee camps in Nigeria. Over another half a million people have become IDPs hiding in forests, caves and hills due to forced displacement. Additionally, over 1.5 million people are facing a humanitarian disaster.

Republique du Cameroun uses not only arson and the destruction of food, livestock, and crops in the fields as weapons of war. It also uses rape. Rape of Ambazonian women and girls by Cameroun government troops is systematic and widespread. This agonizing situation is compounded by the fact that a high percentage of Cameroun troops are HIV positive and also has other STDs. When they rape they infect the women and girls. This appears to be part of the genocide agenda of Cameroun. Reports are now emerging of scores of school girls raped, impregnated and infected by Republique du Cameroun’s troops. This poses a nightmare not only of the HIV and STD infections but also of rampant teenage pregnancies. Cameroun troops have burnt down health facilities and killed health workers in rural and semi-urban areas. Accessing health facilities or health practitioners is a huge challenge for rural and semi-urban folks.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Three gendarmes were killed by Ambazonia Restoration Forces in the Northwest region, the latest deaths in a bloody four-year conflict.

The attack on Saturday follows the murders of two soldiers and an official in the neighboring Southwest region in two separate incidents. Five other French Cameroun officials are still in Amba protective custody in Ndian Division.

“Three gendarmes who were at a checkpoint were attacked and killed” by Southern Cameroons Self Defense forces at Ngoketunjia. The French Cameroun civil administrator of the county Quetong Handerson Kongeh confirmed the Amba attacks and added that two of the three killed had been decapitated. A fourth managed to escape.

He said a large number of Amba fighters overwhelmed the gendarmes who “could not defend themselves.”

A bitter independence struggle by English-speaking Cameroonians has been raging in Southern Cameroons since 2017.

British Southern Cameroonians have long complained of being marginalized by the French-speaking majority and 88-year-old President Paul Biya, in power for 38 years. From 2017, their demonstrations devolved into a bloody conflict.

Ambazonia Restoration Forces have extended their violent attacks against police and soldiers to civilians suspected of aiding the Francophone dominated army.

UN and international aid groups say both army troops and Southern Cameroons forces have committed abuses and crimes against civilians.

In the past four years, more than 37,500 people have been killed and over 700,000 have fled their homes to escape the conflict.

By Rita Akana with files

Restoration Forces: Our Responsibility in Battle

My Dear Restoration Forces,

The people of Southern Cameroon and the Interim Government of Ambazonia salute your courage and resilience in defending our homeland from the invading and occupying forces of La Republique du Cameroun. For nearly five years, these forces have committed heinous atrocities on our people and property. They have burned over 521 of our villages, killed over 20,000 of our people, including women and children. Their day of reckoning is looming as your successes on the battlefield over the last weeks are demonstrating. Your resilience is proof that nothing will stop us from achieving our collective goal. This time, it is total independence of our homeland or resistance forever.

Self-defense is a right, and it is a core component of our liberation struggle. As you continue to discharge the enormous duty of protecting our people and reclaim our land, the Interim Government of Ambazonia wants to counsel that you must observe international law at all times. War is a dangerous undertaking, but it has rules of engagement. We must achieve our goals of freedom whilst staying on the right side of international law.

The support and adoration you have received thus far for your work are well earned. But recently, there have been disturbing videos, images and messages on social media from the conflict in our country. These are the hallmarks of a regime on its last legs. Local militias loyal to the regime in Yaoundé have been carrying out atrocities, and they intend to pin some of these criminalities on you. So, you must be vigilant and not duplicate their savagery and cruelty. The Interim Government condemns atrocities like beheadings, kidnappings, extrajudicial killings, and torture robustly.  As self-defense and pro-independence forces, you must not engage in any of these activities. However, we must understand that there will be consequences for our actions one day. POWs must be treated humanely at all times as they have rights that are protected under international law.

The Interim Government wants to be very clear that our Country Sundays must remain in place till further notice. However, as you continue to make significant advances on the ground, your Interim Government will pursue diplomatic avenues to help achieve our goal. We call on the UN to commission a UN Security Council Mandated Fact-Finding Mission to investigate the atrocities during this conflict. Such a mission will curb the loss of lives and bring this war to an end.

To all in Ground Zero, the Interim Government of Ambazonia urges you to persevere, for victory is coming our way soon. Therefore, remain focused as soon, we will be free at last.

Thank You,

 God bless the Federal Republic of Ambazonia

Dabney Yerima

Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi has won Iran’s 2021 presidential election by a landslide, according to the final results by the Interior Ministry.

At a presser on Saturday, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli said out of a total of 28,933,004 votes cast in the presidential election, Raeisi garnered over 17.9 million votes, followed by Mohsen Rezaei who secured 3.4 million.

Nasser Hemmati garnered 2.4 million votes, and Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi won almost one million votes.

Orf said he was not offering precise figures because vote counting was still ongoing and said he was merely providing preliminary updates.

Rouhani, Qalibaf meet Raeisi

Later in the day, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf turned up at the campaign HQ of Raeisi to congratulate him in person.

Following the meetings, the three briefed reporters on the content of their talks.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (L) meets with President-elect Ebrahim Raeisi to congratulate him on his election win, June 19, 2021. (Photo by president.ir)

Rouhani thanked all those in charge of holding, overseeing and providing security to the election process.

The outgoing president said his team was fully ready to offer any cooperation or assistance to their successors.

Similarly, Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf said the legislative branch stood fully ready to cooperate with the president-elect’s administration.

In turn, Raeisi pledged all-out efforts to resolve the country’s problems, especially those affecting the people’s livelihoods.

To achieve that goal, he said, he would consult with the outgoing administration, the parliament, and the elites.

Raeisi has been the chief of Iran’s Judiciary since 2019. The Muslim cleric has formerly held several other posts in Iran’s judicial branch since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Raeisi is associated with the Principlist camp, but he said he ran in the election this year as an independent when he announced his presidential bid last month.

He was campaigning with the slogan “Popular Administration, Strong Iran” on a platform of uprooting corruption in the executive branch, fighting poverty, creating jobs, containing inflation, and corruption.

Source: Presstv

Seven soldiers have been killed in an ambush in Bambili in the northwest region of the country.

The soldiers were ambushed while on duty in the restive northwest region where a gruesome insurgency is currently unfolding.

The insurgency, which has displaced more than one million English-speaking Cameroonians, has already resulted in the killing of more than 7,000 Cameroonian civilians.

More than 3,000 soldiers have also been killed and more than two thousands of them have been seriously injured.

The government of Cameroon has not been releasing the numbers and names of soldiers killed in battle for fear that such news could demoralize its military.

Last week, some three army soldiers were hastily buried by their colleagues after Southern Cameroonian fighters ambush government soldiers in Otu in the Southwest region to hide the reality on the ground.

Sources close to the ministry of defense in Yaounde have disclosed that the government is hiding the numbers and, in certain cases, it tells the families of the soldiers that their children have simply defected or escaped from the military.

The sources add that more than 1,000 army soldiers cannot be accounted for by the military and there are no efforts by the government to establish the truth about their whereabouts.

More on the Bambili story will be yours as details come in.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai