Cameroon

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Bitter war of words erupts between IG and Yaounde over attacks on Mbororos

20, December 2019

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Bitter war of words erupts between IG and Yaounde over attacks on Mbororos 0

The regime is Yaoundé has revealed that a total of 272 Mbororos in the Northern Zone have been killed by the Ambazonia Restoration Forces because of their opposition to the armed struggle waged by the people of Southern Cameroons against French Cameroun colonial rule.

The Biya regime says the deaths in three years of conflict for the North West Mbororos community alone are disturbing. The Fulani subgroup mainly composed of shepherds including a large number of Muslims, herders and traders.

Yaoundé further pointed out that the death toll was reported by the Mbororo Association of Ntambang, Bamenda III region of the North West Cameroon and specified that 189 Mbororo women have also been raped by Ambazonia Forces.

A senior aide to the Ambazonia Vice President Dabney Yerima reacting to the report observed that the Mbororos have always lived in harmony with the people of Southern Cameroons and that they too are victims of the French Cameroun genocidal campaign currently going on in the Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia.

Kum Peter indicated that Yaoundé was simply attempting to attract free money from Saudi Arabia to finance its military and its senseless war against the people of Southern Cameroons. He added that the Mbororo leadership had earlier rejected a French Cameroun demand that its peace loving people should help the Cameroon government army in intelligence gathering.

By Sama Ernest in Bamenda

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Kidnapped SDF mayors, municipal councillors released

19, December 2019

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Kidnapped SDF mayors, municipal councillors released 0

Two mayors and 19 municipal councillors of Cameroon’s main opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), who were abducted last week in Northwest, one of the two troubled Anglophone regions of the country, had been released, party officials confirmed on Wednesday.

The elected officials were reported to have been kidnapped by armed separatists who warned them against running for general elections scheduled for next year in the country.

Officials said ransom was paid for their release. No further details about the release of the officials were provided by the party.

Cameroon will hold municipal and parliamentary elections on Feb. 9, 2020, but separatists have vowed to disrupt the elections in the Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest.

Source: Xinhuanet

Placating the International Community: Yaounde to begin secret trial for soldiers who killed civilians in viral video

17, December 2019

Placating the International Community: Yaounde to begin secret trial for soldiers who killed civilians in viral video 0

A military court sitting in the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé will begin hearing a case involving seven soldiers who killed two women and their children in 2018.

Hearing is scheduled to start in January 20. Authorities have disclosed that the hearing will not be open to the public.

A video of the killing was released and subsequently went viral on social media forcing the government to constitute a probe after having initially rejecting it as “fake news.”

The BBC Africa Eye’s in an investigative piece that dissected the gruesome killing of two women and their babies by security forces deployed in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents.

The piece employed technology – satellite imagery, available news footage and matched it with the video of the shooting that drew widespread condemnation when it surfaced on social media.

The BBC work tracked when it possibly happened – dating as far back as 2015 and identified two of the soldiers involved.

The other gruesome killing was also shot in the same region and involved soldiers opening fire on a dozen young men who were lying prostrate.

A lawyer defending the seven soldiers, Sylvestre Mbeng, said he believes the trial has been made private because the authorities fear there could be damaging revelations.

Human Rights group Amnesty International has called for justice for the women and their children. The United States government openly slammed the incident and asked that a through probe be held.

Source: Africa News

Douala: Central African experts meet over anti-poaching drive

17, December 2019

Douala: Central African experts meet over anti-poaching drive 0

Experts from central Africa met in Cameroon’s commercial capital Douala on Monday to work out a regional plan to combat poaching.

“Illegal wildlife crime continues to pose serious threats to wildlife populations. The forest elephant is especially in danger in Central Africa,” Cameroon’s Minister of Forestry and Wildlife Jules Doret Ndongo told reporters. “We want to fight against the growing trend of poaching, especially trans-boundary poaching and insecurity in protected areas.”

Ndongo said the meeting will review progress made in anti-poaching in the 10 member countries of the Central African Forest Commission.

The regional bloc is intensifying measures to enforce field wildlife crime units and set policies at the national and regional levels.

Central Africa owns the Congo Basin, the world’s second largest rainforest with almost 2 million square kilometers of humid forest.

According to World Wide Fund for Nature, Central Africa has experienced a 62-percent decline in the number of forest elephants between 2002 and 2011 due to commercial poaching, and it has been deteriorating over the years with cumulative losses of up to 90 percent in some landscapes in the region between 2011 and 2015.

Source: Xinhuanet

Ambazonia Restoration Forces arrest candidates to protest 2020 elections

17, December 2019

Ambazonia Restoration Forces arrest candidates to protest 2020 elections 0

Separatist fighters in western Cameroon have abducted at least 40 candidates for parliament and local councils, in an effort to derail elections set for February. The government is promising to free the hostages and protect candidates and election officials for what it says must be successful polls.

In an audio shared by separatist fighters, Samuel Nforba, a candidate for the February 9, 2020 local council election, says he is being punished by separatists for defying their warning that no one should vote or be a candidate in the joint local council and parliamentary elections.

Among those listening to the audio is 51-year-old teacher Wilson Bate. He says the separatists should free innocent Cameroonians who simply want to carry out their civic duties.

“It’s embarrassing. I feel very bad that politicians should be kidnapped for simply wanting to perform their fundamental rights,” he said. “Government should do all what it can to make sure that there is a safe ground for all political events, make sure that they provide the necessary security for these upcoming elections.”

Separatists have been fighting since 2017 to detach English-speaking Northwest and Southwest Cameroon from the rest of the country and its French-speaking majority.

Cameroon’s government declared the regions were peaceful enough to hold the elections; but, last week, nearly 40 people running for council seats were abducted in the Northwest town of Jakiri.

Another three were kidnapped in the Northwest town of Bamenda for being in possession of voter cards.

Prince Ngwese Ekosso, chairman of the opposition United Socialist Democratic Party, says conditions are not peaceful enough to hold the ballot.

“There is need for the resolution of the conflict before we can be able to venture into elections in Cameroon,” he said. “The country is going through one of the worst crises and the separatists have made their point the tension is going to continue.”

Cameroon's minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji, speaks in Garoua Boulai, Cameroon, Oct. 23, 2019. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA)
FILE – Cameroon’s minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji

Paul Atanga Nji, Cameroon’s minister of territorial administration, says the government is making efforts to free the hostages — and maintains the elections must take place as planned.

“In the Northwest and Southwest, the head of state [President Paul Biya] has given firm instructions to the minister of territorial administration, to the minister in charge of defense, that we have to do everything that it takes for this elections to hold properly. It is just but normal that we will uplift the security network in those two regions before, during and after the process,” he said.

The abductions come at a time when Cameroon’s parliament is meeting to debate the so-called special status President Paul Biya ordered as a solution to the separatist crisis.

Some lawmakers say only the creation of federal states, one in the English-speaking regions and the other in the French-speaking areas, can stop the separatist war that has killed more than 3,000 people.

The separatists have rejected the proposed special status, saying they want nothing but an independent state.

Source: VOA

Southern Cameroons bloodshed continues with 21 dead in Batibo, Widikum and Ekok

16, December 2019

Southern Cameroons bloodshed continues with 21 dead in Batibo, Widikum and Ekok 0

Beginning a new week of violence, 21 Southern Cameroonians were killed in both the northern and southern zones of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia by French Cameroun troops loyal to the regime in Yaoundé.

The Cameroon government soldiers stationed at the border town of Ekok in the Eyumojock sub constituency and those in Batibo and Widikum fled the areas, outgunned by Ambazonia Restoration Forces and reportedly opened fire at innocent Southern Cameroons civilians eye witnesses said.

Additionally, a bomb exploded at the Batibo residence of the renowned SDF MP, Hon Joseph Mbah Ndam which was home to a regiment of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) – the French Cameroun elite force carrying out the genocidal campaign in Southern Cameroons.

The explosion at the Mbah Ndam residence set roofs ablaze as Francophone soldiers who had been deployed to Batibo and Widikum to help the Social Democratic Front stage public rallies rolled into Batibo and Widikum shooting and setting fire on the entire Batibo, sparing nothing.

Our chief correspondent in Mamfe reported that houses, shops and even government buildings along the Bamenda-Mamfe highway were razed down completely by the French speaking soldiers. Southern Cameroonians have been devastated beyond what one can describe.” he added.

The Batibo and Widikum destruction comes after shootouts on Saturday evening in Fotabe and Tinto that killed 14 people. Four Francophone soldiers are also believed to be missing.

By Sama Ernest and Rita Akana

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Restoration Forces Allegedly Set Hon. Enow Tanjong’s house ablaze

15, December 2019

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Restoration Forces Allegedly Set Hon. Enow Tanjong’s house ablaze 0

Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces have burnt down a house belonging to one of the pro Yaoundé members of parliament from the Manyu County, Enow Tanjong.

The residence, said to be located in Fotabe (Tinto) the chief settlement in the Upper Banyang sub constituency, was reportedly set ablaze on Saturday night over what the angry Southern Cameroonians called bad representation and lack of benefits of dividends of democracy in the union between French and British Southern Cameroons.

The Ambazonia Restoration Forces claimed in an audio message aired in the Kenyang language that they had earlier warned the former governor and now MP to leave French Cameroun and return home.

The veteran politician who was brought back into active politics via a diabolic harsh ploy against Hon. Rose Abunaw engineered by Minister Mengot was said to have arrived in the area accompanied by trucks loaded with Francophone gendarmes to discuss the February 2020 parliamentary elections.

Unconfirmed reports say the attack on the Tanjong’s residence resulted in a shooting with several injured. The French Cameroun gendarmerie station in Tinto is yet to confirm the incident.

Meanwhile, a source also told Cameroon Concord News that another cause of the incident was the ban on French Cameroun elections throughout Southern Cameroons by the Ambazonia Interim Government.

The Manyu County is very tense as people in the rural areas are staying indoors and might not likely partake in the municipal and parliamentary polls for fear of being arrested by the Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon Records Daily Boko Haram Attacks Along Nigeria Border

14, December 2019

Cameroon Records Daily Boko Haram Attacks Along Nigeria Border 0

Authorities in Cameroon say Boko Haram terrorists have been launching daily attacks on villages along the Nigeria border, killing at least 30 people and injuring scores in the past few months.

Cattle rancher Lamsi Guidjo, 55 years old and speaking through an interpreter, asked for temporary housing at the central Mosque in the town of Mora, on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria.

He said Boko Haram militants attacked his ranch in Werwack village on Tuesday and it is not safe for him to return.

Guidjo was told by villagers that Boko Haram killed five people in the attack.

Midjiyawa Bakary, governor of Cameroon's far north region, presides over a security meeting in Maroua, Dec. 11, 2019. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA)
Midjiyawa Bakary, governor of Cameroon’s far north region, presides over a security meeting

The governor of Cameroon’s far north region, Midjiyawa Bakary, said the attack on Werwack was just one among a hundred they have recorded in the past three months.  

At a high-level security meeting Wednesday in the city of Maroua, Bakary said the Boko Haram attacks left at least 30 people dead in villages around Mora, Tokombere, Limani, Kolofata and Ashigachia. Participants at the meeting recommended that traditional rulers, the clergy and civilians work with the military to help reduce the attacks.

Boko Haram fighters usually step up their attacks at the end of the year when cross-border traffic between Nigeria and Cameroon increases so they can steal supplies, Bakary said.

But Theress Doudou, a 26-year-old teacher at the Mora government school, blames the attacks on the absence of Cameroon military in the villages. She said the troops left just months ago, claiming they were no longer needed because peace had returned.

Swaibou Issa, a researcher on Boko Haram at the University of Maroua, said Boko Haram’s firepower has only been weakened but its fighters are still a threat along the border.

“The engagement, the commitment of our political authorities is clearly defined that no matter the cost, they want peace,” Issa said. “It is their duty to protect civilian populations, it is their duty to fight those who are not willing to go for peace. The two processes always go together in a war.”

Boko Haram terrorists have been fighting for a decade to establish an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria’s northeast, and began attacks inside Cameroon in 2014.

The Islamist insurgents have killed more than 27,000 people and displaced 1.8 million since 2009.

Source: VOA
 

9 US Lawmakers call on Biya to address the deteriorating situation in Southern Cameroons

14, December 2019

9 US Lawmakers call on Biya to address the deteriorating situation in Southern Cameroons 0

A group of 9 members of the United States Congress have called on French Cameroun head of state, Paul Biya to demonstrate leadership in resolving the prolonged conflict in Southern Cameroons. In a letter written by Representatives Karen Bass, Christopher H. Smith, Ron Kind, F. James Sensenbrenner Jr, James P McGovern, David M. Cicilline, IIhan Omar, Ron Wrigh, and Tim Walberg, the US lawmakers called on Biya to implement a comprehensive strategy that addresses the killings currently going in Southern Cameroons.

“The situation is not getting better, as your government asserts: it is getting worse. According to the United Nations, as of November 2019, more than 2,000 people have died, as many as 71 0,000 people have been internally displaced, and 44,000 refugees have fled to neighboring Nigeria due to the ongoing conflict in the Northwest and Southwest. Roughly 2.6 million people in these areas are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, and more than 855,000 children, the majority of whom are internally displaced, do not have access to education. Your lasting legacy as President of the Republic of Cameroon also depends on this commitment” the lawmakers wrote.

Full text of the letter can be found here and below.

His Excellency Paul Biya President of the Republic of Cameroon

Unity Palace, Etoudi

P.O. Box 100 Yaoundé

Republic of Cameroon

Dear President Biya,

As members of the U.S. Congress, we are writing to express our deep concern over the ongoing insecurity and violence in the predominantly Anglophone Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon. Conflict between your security forces and non-state armed groups has led to an ever increasing number of casualties and of internally displaced persons and refugees, and has kept hundreds of thousands of children out of school for going on a third year in a row. These factors are having devastating social, political, and economic impacts on the regions, on the country itself, and more broadly in Central and West Africa.

The situation is not getting better, as your government asserts: it is getting worse. According to the United Nations, as of November 2019, more than 2,000 people have died, as many as 71 0,000 people have been internally displaced, and 44,000 refugees have fled to neighboring Nigeria due to the ongoing conflict in the Northwest and Southwest. Roughly 2.6 million people in these areas are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, and more than 855,000 children, the majority of whom are internally displaced, do not have access to education. Ongoing insecurity and violence in the Northwest and Southwest have had a ruinous effect on the economy as documented by Cameroon’s leading employers’ confederation, the Groupement Inter-Patronal dii Cameroun. GICAM noted that Ghost Towns effectively shut down economic activity for 30.6 percent of the time in the past two and a half years and that the situation is getting worse. The conflict has severely hurt the timber, agro-industry, cocoa, energy, telecommunications, tourism, and transport sectors.

Given the failure of various internal initiatives to halt the crisis and bring peace to these regions of Cameroon, the government of Cameroon should demonstrate political will by engaging in the Swiss-led facilitation process, which could lead to future negotiations between the Cameroonian government and the opposition in the Northwest and Southwest, as well as the diaspora. A process of inclusive negotiation and institutional reforms would lead to greater power-sharing and decision-making, facilitate peace, and save Cameroonian lives. Children, particularly in rural areas of the Northwest and Southwest, need to resume their education, but that is not going to happen until there is a resolution of the conflict. We know you value education: the conflict in the Northwest and Southwest, if left unchecked, could very well lead to a generation of unskilled and underdeveloped people who are prone to unemployment, and prone to violent extremism and criminality. A peaceful and inclusive resolution of the crisis would strengthen bilateral ties and lead to greater trade and investment between our two countries.

Military action cannot solve this conflict. We understand that non-state armed groups are responsible for horrific acts of violence and we condemn those acts in the strongest terms. But a broad spectrum of international and domestic experts disagree with the Cameroonian government’s assertion that non-state armed groups are responsible for most of the violence: on the contrary, there is consistent and convincing evidence from a variety of unbiased and independent sources that Cameroonian security forces are responsible for the majority of killings of unarmed Cameroonian citizens and destruction of property including the burning of homes. There is evidence of soldiers dragging wounded people out of hospitals and their lifeless bodies found abandoned later. Soldiers have raped women, either for opportunistic or punitive reasons.

Promises for national dialogue have been made by the government, and some positive gestures have been carried out including the release of 333 lower level Anglophone prisoners and 225 political prisoners including Cameroon Renaissance Movement leader Maurice Kamto. There is evidence that government officials at the sub-Divisional Officer level deliberately misused their positions to prevent opposition candidates from registering and the government has blocked attempts of opposition parties to organize and hold rallies on spurious security grounds while allowing the ruling party to celebrate openly and lavishly the anniversary of your rule. Some opposition parties have voiced skepticism that the government and the national elections body ELECAM will be able to conduct February 9 municipal and legislative assembly elections in the Northwest and Southwest.

If there is not a durable ceasefire in the Northwest and Southwest, February elections, let alone plans for bilingualism, decentralization, DDR, reconstruction, and resumption of education are unlikely to succeed. A process of inclusive negotiations and a genuine commitment to establish peace is a necessary condition for all of the good suggestions from the national dialogue to move forward.

Many of us in congress are currently assessing U.S. policy toward Cameroon. As you know, the United States recently terminated the designation of Cameroon as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country under the African Growth and Opportunity Act because the Government of Cameroon engages in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights. This follows the U.S. decision in February of this year to scale back military assistance to Cameroon, also because of human rights violations. Further considerations regarding U.S.-Cameroonian relations will depend on your commitment to engage in sincere dialogue. Only sincere dialogue can lead to an end to the violence and insecurity in the Northwest and Southwest, allowing people to return and rebuild their homes, children to return to school, and economic activity to resume safely.

 Your lasting legacy as President of the Republic of Cameroon also depends on this commitment.

Sign: Hon. Karen Bass, Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Hon. Ron Kind, Hon. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr, Hon. James P McGovern, Hon. David M. Cicilline, Hon. IIhan Omar, Hon. Ron Wrigh, Hon. Tim Walberg

Yaounde lays cornerstone for Chinese-aid new parliament building

13, December 2019

Yaounde lays cornerstone for Chinese-aid new parliament building 0

Cameroon’s House Speaker of National Assembly Cavaye Yeguie Djibril on Thursday laid the cornerstone for a new Chinese-funded parliamentary complex.

The new building will improve the working conditions of lawmakers and strengthen China-Cameroon relations, Djibril said here at the groundbreaking ceremony.

“The new architectural jewel will contribute to the beautification of the capital … This, once again, demonstrates the excellent relationship existing between our two countries,” he said.

“We thank the Chinese government for their continued support of our various developmental programmes,” he added.

Chinese Ambassador to Cameroon Wang Yingwu said at the ceremony that the construction of the new building was a reflection of the “rich and dynamic” relation between the two countries.

China will continue to support Cameroon in its quest for peace and development, Wang added.

The construction project came two years after a fire ravaged part of the parliament building in November 2017.

Source: Xinhuanet

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