At least four people died on Wednesday morning after a car carrying them collided with a truck in Cameroon’s Littoral region, police said.

The accident took place in Mbanga town, about 71 km Southwest of Douala, the capital city of Littoral region.

“The car collided head-on with the truck that was loaded with building material, resulting in the death of some passengers. About 12 persons critically injured in the accident were transferred to a nearby hospital,” a police official said.

The car was damaged beyond repairs according to witnesses.

The driver of the truck who survived the accident has been put in custody.

Deadly road accidents in Cameroon are usually caused by reckless driving, bad road conditions and overloading according to the Ministry of Transport.

Source: Xinhuanet

Cameroonian forces on Monday killed eight armed separatists in Bui, a division in the country’s troubled Anglophone region of Northwest, local officials said.

Among those killed were two separatist commanders, according to local sources. Mark Bareta, a popular separatist activist, confirmed the information on his Facebook page.

On the same day, a lieutenant of the Cameroonian army was killed and several other soldiers were seriously injured by armed separatists in the same region, a statement of the army said.

More than 430,000 people have been displaced internally since armed separatist forces declared the “independence” of the two English-speaking regions from the largely French-speaking country in November 2017, the United Nations said.

Source: Xinhuanet

The Ambazonia Vice President got more done in his first 38 days in office than any leader before and after Interim President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe or any since the days of Chief Ayamba and Justice Ebong. He took office in the depths of the Great Corruption deep within the Interim Government, signing executive orders to stabilize the Southern Cameroons Revolution boat.

Vice President Dabney Yerima is now the reason Ambazonians focus on the first 38 days. Of course, the Vice President does not have total control over his time in office due to some distractions coming from the disgraced Dr Ikome Sako, Barrister Fru John Nsoh and some Southern Cameroons comedians in the USA.

Vice President Yerima’s 38 days in office has been amazing. But how has his tenure compared with that of the former acting crew?

We looked at the performance of Yerima and his team in many areas of the struggle

Here’s how they stack up:

The IG under the command of VP Yerima secretly moved away from the reach of French Cameroun forces the family of 5 months old Baby Martha, shot at close range 10 times in the head by Cameroon army soldiers.

The reinstated IG coordinated funds to cover cost for emergency Medical assistance for a Southern Cameroonian who was shot in Kumba by the terrorist forces of Paul Biya and left to die. The IG is following on other cases.

Vice President Yerima’s team have coordinated funds and supplied 45 mattresses to our brothers in the Douala New Bell Prison who have been sleeping on bare floor for the past one year.  The IG is going to proceed to other detention centres where it will cater for the needs of our detainees.

The Interim Government’s humanitarian team has coordinated another round of legal, medical and food support chain to our detainees in Yaoundé. While this was not enough for our entire political prison population, the IG looks to scale that up in the days and weeks ahead.

The reinstated IG’s humanitarian assistance has been extended to provide food for prisoners in Douala, Bafoussam, Mbouda,Dshang and the IDPs scattered around the major towns in LRC. Specific attention will be provided to one of our IDPs in the French Cameroun Town of Douala diagnosed with Cancer.

In Nigeria, Vice President Yerima’s men and women have launched a pilot project that will assist our refugees. 20 pregnant women were provided assistance to welcome our new Ambazonian babies unfortunately born as refugees. They at least deserve a dignified birth.

10 other women from our refugee community in Nigeria were part of another pilot project for tailoring skills by the reinstated IG.

Some 20 of our refugee women were part of another pilot project aim at helping them to work at Bakeries.

By Sama Ernest

All Amba Boys are not good guys. They are not all bad boys. Judge for yourself whether their existence is justified or not and take responsibility now and later for your conclusion. I have been on the road most of these past two weeks. I broke from routine to attend to crucial family matters and other professional engagements. Most of my travels have been in Ground Zero. I have been seeing a bit of the pregnancy Ground Zero carries. When shall it be delivered? Find the answer elsewhere. In varied opinions, the Amba Boys are reining love, fear, discord, greed, generosity. They are taking charge of their space. They make their bed. They are lying on it. Some lie on their bed of roses, others on their bed of thorns. I have heard about the bad. I have seen some of the ungood. I have seen some good. Twice, a group blocked road transport through Bali along the Mamfe-Bamenda highway, from Bali to its outskirt villages, heading towards Batibo. For reasons yet to be made clear, they barricaded the road at several locations felling trees, dumping stones and furniture from houses and bars, other objects and divers types of debris; just any form of nuisance that could obstruct traffic. First, May 18-24 and next on June 1.

Friday, May 24, along the Mamfe-Bamenda road:

Our commuter vehicle runs into four groups of Amba Boys at different locations. Our driver who plies the road regularly, recognizes the leader of the group and asks him, “Na here you dey now?” (Is this where you are now?) To which the good-looking young leader of the armed group replies: “You noba hear say some new general don comot for here? Na me be new general for here.” (Haven’t you heard of the new general who has emerged here? It’s me the new general here.) He tells our driver how he survived military gunshots that hit his wrist. “Na only one catch ma foot” (Just one bullet wounded me on my foot.) Next, he counts four of us grownups in the vehicle and levies each of us 2000FCFA. “Wuna fours so, if wuna giih we two-two towin, we fiih take’am buy groundnut.” (If each of you gives us two thousand francs, that would enable us to buy some groundnuts.) Whatever “groundnuts” stand for. But as passengers obediently comply and the collection is in progress, a lieutenant of the “general” mounting guard about 60 metres away, fires a shot for reasons unknown to us and apparently, even to his general. All vehicles lined up for the same exercise take off in apparent fright. The general retreats from our vehicle, hopping a few steps backwards, looking in the direction of the shot as if to ascertain what would have provoked it. Our driver does like the others. He speeds off and returns the cash he had collected from passengers. Elsewhere, other groups did not impose a levy. Some simply asked for “any contribution”. Others asked for nothing, simply inspecting our vehicle to identify any “enemies” among passengers. Prime enemies are state defence and security officers. At a previous Amba checkpoint, one of them looked so intently at my older brother, the driver asked him jokingly, “Why are you looking at him like that? You think he is… (some word I guess suggested military or police).” To which the Amba “officer” replied, “You think he would tell you he is if he was?” But they let us go.

Friday, May 31, Bamenda-Mamfe road:

Rumours have flooded Bamenda that Amba Boys would barricade the Bamenda-Mamfe road again on Saturday, June 1. Reason: the Bali County Amba would be burying their “general” killed the previous Saturday. The circumstances surrounding his death remain obscure, but most claims hold he was not felled by a Government bullet. Varied versions say he was killed in a mutiny within his County unit. On this day, I am travelling that road, headed to Manyemen. On a bend at an uninhabited part of Bali, a bow-legged fellow in the middle of the road, points his Dane gun menacingly at a vehicle just ahead of ours. Ours and the other screech to a sudden halt. Another older-looking man emerging from the remote junction, shouts an order, “Don’t give any money. No one should give any money.” Few of the dozen members of the group have guns. Most of them have hammers and peak axes. Our driver enquires from them about rumours of a lockdown the next day. They all grow wild. Those with guns point them at our vehicles menacingly. The bow-legged man said to our driver, pointing his gun at him, “Why are you asking? Just let me see you along this road tomorrow!” Our driver, raising his hands, pleads for forgiveness. They order us to drive off. After delays from breakdowns, we arrive at Kendem Gendarmerie Brigade checkpoint, about 40 km to Mamfe at about 8.30pm, well after the 6pm curfew hour. We are bound to stay the night there, a flashlight from the unmanned roadside sentinel lighting the place, but no one there to attend to us, as the officers had retreated to their “barracks” for the night. However, at intervals throughout the long night, a torchlight flashes at us from another sentinel behind the barracks. Routine torchlight checks do not come from the Gendarmerie alone, though. We are apparently being watched by both sides. Occasionally, a torchlight flashes from the Bamenda road end of Kendem behind our vehicle. We can guess they are Amba Boys. Neither the Gendarmerie nor the Amba Boys approach us.

Saturday, June 1, Kendem:

At dawn, the Gendarme officers criss-cross their barracks, taking turns to bathe within our view and change into their uniforms in their rooms. At 7 pm, three of them walk towards the checkpoint, one activating his AK47. Paying no attention to us, they walk in bold military steps to the back of a house in the direction they often point during gun battles and routine alerts. He fires three shots. About 30 minutes earlier, shots from unknown persons had been heard from that direction at a distance in the bush. Were they exchanging morning greetings? After the shots, the officers remove their barricades and beckoned on us to approach. We walk towards them in a file, present our ID cards, board our vehicle and drive off headed towards Bachuo-Akagbe, the junction town to Mamfe (right turn) and Kumba (left turn). Along the way, we meet two groups of Amba Boys. The first group simply inspects our vehicle and asks for “anything”. A passenger offers 500 FCFA which our driver drops on the ground (their prescribed way of being given money) and they flag us to drive on. At the next Amba control, one of them notices a cob of maize protruding from a bag on the carriage of our vehicle. He asks for permission to take it. The owner in our vehicle gives her consent. The Amba Boy pulls just that cob of maize from the bag. They all smile and flag us to go.

Sunday, June 2, Mamfe-Kumba road:

In a different vehicle on this new trajectory, we run into an Amba checkpoint of about 15 armed combatants. A passenger we had picked up along the way, alighted at that checkpoint and to our amazement, he was greeted with camaraderie. “Na we officer” (He is our colleague), said one of them. My fellow passengers are bemused. “So dis boy too na Amba?” (So, this guy is also an Amba Boy?), one passenger asks. The astonishment could be understood. The young man in question wore neither of the famous Amba amulets. He wore a rosary with a crucifix. We drive off. A few paces away, possibly less than 300 metres, we drive into a Gendarmerie checkpoint.

Amba Terror?

Several Ambazonia units are in discord over sharing of the spoils of war. Revenue from free-will donations, ransoms, GoFundMe remittances disbursed by Diaspora warlords and levies are tearing some units apart. Occasionally, there are mutinies and inter-Amba gun battles. Sometimes commanders or generals are “neutralized” or disarmed and kept in captivity or overthrown or expelled. Some versions of the Bali County general’s death suggest he was killed because he disciplined some of his greedy lieutenants for indulging in different forms of extortion. At some Amba units, commanders or those in whom they entrust funds for safe keeping have reportedly fled with the said funds, some to the tune of millions. Some of such funds are raised through levies which villagers view as disguised forms of extortion. In one unit, the “ingenious” finance officer has obliged all cash crop farmers to surrender two-thirds of all their yields to the Amba treasury. Not only are some unscrupulous Amba units reaping from suffering masses, they are now executors of justice and “keepers of the seals”. They discipline “defaulting” villagers and have had to flog elderly men and women, especially over land disputes. Sometimes, some villagers acknowledge the wisdom in some of the actions of the Amba law enforcers, but on the whole, such actions have created an atmosphere of fear, left the impression of a reign of terror and made some people wish for protection from elsewhere.

Cameroon has detained hundreds more supporters of opposition leader Maurice Kamto, who is facing treason charges after leading protests and asserting that he won last October’s presidential election. The arrests happened Saturday as security forces disrupted a planned demonstration calling for Kamto’s release. Book seller Germain Kamte was found lying on the ground Monday in the Nlonkak neighborhood of Cameroon’s capital with bruises all over her body.

She told the people who found her that police stopped her and four of her friends, accused them of supporting a planned opposition protest, and then beat them. Kamte said the police beat her and four others severely, saying they were rude because two of the girls pleaded to be allowed to speak with their lawyers. Police kicked them all over their bodies, Kamte said, and used batons to beat them on their heads and under their feet.

Police refuse to respond

Cameroon police refused to respond to Kamte’s accusations, but routinely deny use of excessive force. Territorial administration minister Paul Atanga Nji said the police were deployed to maintain public order. He said the planned protest by supporters of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement party was illegal and its arrested leader, Maurice Kamto, a threat to stability.

“We can no longer tolerate those who undermine the laws of the republic,” Nji said. “He [Kamto] has a hidden agenda to destabilize Cameroon. We will not give him the opportunity.” Kamto’s supporters had promised to defy yet another ban on protests Saturday and demonstrate for his immediate release, along with over 500 arrested and detained supporters. But Cameroon’s security forces disrupted the protest and detained about 200 more opposition supporters, according to the CRM party.

Crackdown condemned

CRM Secretary General Christopher Ndong condemned authorities for deploying troops to crack down and refusing their right to protest. “We have taken the pains to write declaring that we want to protest,” Ndong said. “For more than 300 subdivisional offices (administrative units in Cameroon), systematically the government has rejected it. We now use the constitutional right because it is in the constitution that we have a right to march and protest for things that are going wrong.”

Human rights activist Jean Pierre Bengono says Cameroon should not be using the military to stop protests. Bengono said no normal human being would be happy seeing the military of a country that is supposed to protect its people assemble every morning, ready to arrest those who simply want to express their opinions. He said all organized democracies need the opposition to check political excesses and discuss the well-being of its people.

Disputed election

Kamto declared himself winner of the Oct. 7, 2018, presidential election and accused the President of Cameroon, Paul Biya, who has led for 36 years, of stealing his victory. Biya was declared the winner with 71 percent of the vote, far ahead of Kamto’s 14 percent. Police arrested Kamto and his colleagues in January after days of peaceful protests turned violent, with security forces using riot gear to disperse crowds in Yaounde, Douala and Mbouda.

Source: VOA

Prospects for talks between authorities and separatist movements to end escalating violence in Cameroon’s English-speaking region are slim, a senior human rights official said, dismissing assertions by both sides to be open to dialogue.

A separatist insurgency broke out in 2017 following a government crackdown on peaceful protests in the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest, which complain of being marginalised by the French-speaking majority.

Prime Minister Joseph Ngute said government would be willing to talk to the rebels, but would not consider demands for secession – a position hard-line separatists said they will not accept.

Eleven movements representing Anglophone Cameroon, including the main armed factions, last month said they were willing to enter mediated discussions with the state.

Almost daily violence from both sides has intensified, forcing thousands of civilians to seek refuge in Cameroon’s French-speaking regions and neighbouring countries.

“There is no desire for dialogue. The abuses are from both sides and civilians are finding themselves in the middle,” Ilaria Allegrozzi, Senior Central Africa Researcher at Human Rights Watch, told reporters in Paris.

“The position of government is an almost complete denial and there is total impunity for violence.”

The oil, cocoa and timber-producing nation was among western Africa’s most settled until a few years ago.

The United Nations estimates since 2017 about 1,800 people have been killed and more than 530,000 displaced with 1.3 million in need. Authorities promised to act over accusations of rights violations by security personnel.

Allegrozzi, refused entry to the country in May because of her research, said it was clear the rebels were too divided to form a platform to negotiate, an element government was using to its advantage.

She estimated the total number of separatist fighters at about 3,000 with evidence they were acquiring more sophisticated weaponry.

The crisis has slipped beneath the international radar given President Paul Biya’s close co-operation with Western states in the fight against Islamist militant group Boko Haram in West and central Africa.

The United States is become increasingly critical of government and the separatist crisis was discussed for the first time at the UN Security Council last month.

Allegrozzi said the Anglophone population was increasingly in tune with independence. “There is a growing support towards the separatists and secession,” she said.

Source: Reuters

Non Recognition of a decision circulating on social media dismissing Seseku Ayuk Tabe as the president of Ambazonia.

Distinguish men and women, we want to acknowledge the support Ambazonian people have been getting from you in this difficult time. A friend in need is really a friend in deed.

We the Ground Zero council of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia based in Ambazonia or Southern Cameroons wish to call your attention on a purported fake release on the dismissal of His Excellency Seseku Ayuk Tabe as the president of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

We want to inform you that, as one of the major stakeholders working day and night in the back scenes on ground, we want to declare the following;

• His Excellency Seseku Ayuk Tabe is the only legitimate president of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.
• We will only accept dialogue in his presence
• We call for his immediate release and and for all those arrested during this crisis.
• We are ready to ask our security units to cease fire immediately if His Excellency Seseku Ayuk Tabe is released and dialogue begins.

The people of the federal republic of Ambazonia remain very jealous to their institutions and independence.

We call on you to press on LRC for an immediate end to the war.

We stand by the international community, our president and other major Ambazonian stake holders for a common political solution to the present situation.

Accept warm greetings from Ground Zero.

Cc:

• UN
• EU
• AU
• ECOWAS
• CEMAC
• US senate
• US Congress
• US under Secretary for African affaires
• Federation of Russia
• China
• Human rights watch
• Local and international press

Fellow Ambazonians, Good evening,    accept Revolutionary Greetings from President Sisiku AyukTabe and the collective leadership in detention.

As we speak, our people are confronted by multiple challenges. The most significant being a threat to our very own existence. A challenge not many people have been forced to confront in the course of their history. We are trying to deal with the fallout of a war of extermination imposed on our people by the French neo-colonial regime in next-door Cameroun in its effort to enforce its occupation.

Our brave restoration forces, whom less than 3 years ago were teachers, students, farmers, cab drivers, buyam sellam, and ordinary citizens, are fearlessly standing up to the cowardly French Cameroun government death squads that Burn down entire villages and shoot down babies in their sleep. The Cameroun Prime Minister now roams our streets begging for federalism, which less than three years ago, their President said could never be a topic for discussion. Our revolution is rooted in our inalienable right to self-determination, a right that can neither be given nor taken away by any government or legal power.    As a boy, my mum would often send me to deliver my grandfather’s roasted corn, boiled peanuts or roasted plums at his woodcarving shop in Bamenda. In his days before retirement my grandfather was a policeman in the former British Southern Cameroons.

As he snacked on the corn, my grandfather would call me by my clan name Nkur Nkur, and in a pensive tone as he contemplated the main problems facing our communities, and he would urge me to “please, fight for the freedom of our people from the lie we are living when you grow up!”. As young as I was, I didn’t get the full picture. He would tell stories of what it was like to have lived and worked in the democratic Southern Cameroons before the occupation.

It all became clear to me, when he was arrested as the Chairperson of the Cameroon Anglophone Movement (CAM), along with his comrades, and merciless beaten at the Gendarmerie Legion in upstation Bamenda. Their crime being their willingness to talk about their deep conviction in the need for a free and independent Southern Cameroons they could call home.

On my visit following their release, his legs were suspended on a stool with scary blood clots and blisters on every patch of skin on both legs. I wept in pain, but he repeated himself again in a semi whisper, looking at me straight in the eyes: “Don’t forget what I have told you, and even if I die, fight to liberate our people from this bondage.”   Every day, when I see the lifeless bodies of Our people of Southern Cameroons killed or wasted by the brutal forces of La Republique du Cameroun (LRC), the picture of my Grandfather’s legs appears before me;

When I hear our refugees are hungry and helpless, that picture appears before me; When I hear our IDPs especially the women lack sanitary towels, for their personal hygiene, that image appears before me; When I hear our boys who have committed themselves to defend homeland have no food or the right tools to use to defend us all, Grandfather’s words steer me in the face; When I hear we cannot afford the legal fees for our leaders in jail or cannot afford mattresses for most LRC captives of their senseless war and detainees in their filthy jails, that image hunts me; When I see our brothers distracted and fighting each other instead of the occupier and colonizer, that image hunts me; When I see our people on all streets, in all houses and in all communities; villages and towns willing to continue to sacrifice everything they have including their lives, resolved never to give up until we get into a fee Ambazonia, that image hunts me.   Many of us have similar stories like that of my Grandfather, of Ambalanders that came before us who on passing on to eternal glory bequeathed to us the call to free our motherland. That call seemed answered by the 2016 launch of the revolution for the independence of Ambazonia.   And tonight, I want to talk to you about the battle we are waging to resuscitate our revolution from a downward spiral triggered by the January 5, 2018, abduction and forcible return to the Cameroun regime, of the leadership of our burgeoning movement for the independence of Ambazonia. I am talking here of our leaders: Comrade President Sisiku Julius AyukTabe, Comrade Deacon Mr. Wilfred Tassang, Comrade Professor Augustine Awasum, Comrade Dr. Cornelius Kwanga, Comrade Dr. Henry Kimeng, Comrade Dr. Fidelis Ndeh-Che, Comrade Dr. Egbe Ogork, Comrade Barrister Shufai Berinyuy, Comrade Barrister Elias Eyambe, and Comrade Dr. Nfor Ngalla Nfor

These in addition to earlier detentions of other Ambazonian leaders like Comrades Mancho Bibixy, Patrick Ndangoh, Penn Terence, Dzenjoh Germaine, Tsi Conrad, Dasi Alfred, Tebit, just to mention a few.

Revolutionaries as a must should sacrifice for their people. We hail our leaders in detention for the Ambazonia Freedom Protocol that proclaims “Total Independence or Resistance forever”. This is an epitome of the words of revolutionary leader, Mandela, during the Rivonia Trial address in defending his revolutionary actions and goals, when he said:  “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”.  “Total Independence or Resistance forever” is your mantle, our vision and we can’t wait to meet in Buea in a free Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia.

The Cameroon military and government death squad the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), has since burnt down more than 206 Ambazonian villages, along with the old and the sick in their beds in some cases. They take their time to loot businesses and homes in some cases prior to burning down the villages as they did in parts of their country in the 1960s. They also make sure make sure to kill our pigs and dogs while they are at it. More than 2000 of our fellow Ambazonian citizens have been slaughtered, either by summarily execution, or randomly shot without cause by Camerounese soldiers. Beyond the malicious premeditated massacres, terror inducing tactics like deliberately dumping corpses to decompose in the village square have been deployed.

We currently have more than 2500 political prisoners being illegally held by the Cameroun regime: 20 in the Principal Prison in Yaoundé, 220 in the Kondengui High Security Prisons or central prison in Yaoundé, and 50 others in secret detention centers around Yaoundé. 600 in Buea, 116 in Douala, 4 in Edea, close to 200 in the Bamenda Central Prison with the rest scattered in detentions centers across Cameroon, from Mbalmayo, Bafoussam, Mbouda, Dschang, Bertoua, Foumban and of of recent Ngaoundere.

More than half a million of our people have been forced to abandon everything they worked for their entire lives to become refugees in Nigeria and other neighboring countries like Ghana, and millions are internally displaced in Ambazonia and across the border in Cameroun.   More than 100 of our villages have been deserted and taken over by grass, as tens of thousands of villagers flee into the forest to seek safety from the Camerounese military, and are now living in the forest exposed to all kinds of dangers.

The UN Security Council was warned in December 2018, that this conflict had become “one of the fastest growing displacement crises in Africa.” In April 2019, the UN reported that the conflict was affecting at least 4 million people. That is close to the entire population of Ireland or New Zealand, and more than the population of some 103 countries, members of the UN.

The sadness and anger of our people is not just about the material and human losses, but it is about a wrenching anxiety that the communities their ancestors built for thousands of years might be lost for good. I refuse to let that happen, and our resolve has been tested and our resilience to be free proven.   On my appointment as VP on May 14, 2019, and the reinstatement of this Interim Government, my team and I immediately set about a process for an in-depth multi-stakeholder appraisal of the revolution along with the deployment of multiple assessment teams to establish the exact needs of our revolution, and how to meet those needs. These assessment teams stretched from the needs of our sisters and brothers defending our communities to the exact location of every Ambazonian in need of assistance. The assessment also stretched from young people injured defending our communities in desperate need of vital care, to identifying the whereabouts of every Ambazonian being held by the Cameroun colonial regime. These assessment teams continue their work on the ground. Thus far the need has been revealed to be pretty substantial.

But make no mistake. We will fight the setback that followed the abduction of our leaders with everything we’ve got and for as long as it takes. We will make the Camerounese regime pay for the damage it has caused. And we will do whatever is necessary to get our revolution to recover its full vigor. Our resolve has been tested and our resilience to be free proven. Thank you my dear people for all your sacrifices. Buea is our prize and that we will together deliver to ourselves. Our women are increasingly taking the central stage.

Eleanor Roosevelt said: “A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.” We salute the women of Ambazonia for their selflessness and sacrifices for the struggle to the extent of digging graves to burial our children slain by LRC. In the same vain we invite all Amba women in the homeland and the diaspora to stand up and join your sisters, mothers and grandmothers. Take your place in history and provide the much desired leadership only a woman can provide to ensure the defense of the restoration of our independence quest just as the Federation of South African Women did in the famous march to Union Building on 9th of August 1956 that took the South African liberation movement to the next level.

Tonight I’d like to lay out for you what our battle plan is going forward: What we’re doing to overcome the challenges resulting from the January 5, 2018 abduction of our leaders, what we are doing to prevent a repeat of the breakdown in the functioning of our revolution as revealed by endless infighting following the kidnapping of leaders, and what we’re doing to ensure our refugees, IDPs and prisoners get a sustainable stream of support no matter what happens to the leadership of the movement at any given time.    Our revolution needs participatory democratic structures that do not rely on the character of individuals in leadership for accountability to reign in the processes of decision making. To establish such, we looked at the movement within the frame of a Unified Self-Defence, Unified Political Engagement of our community and a Coordinated International Outreach.

1. a) On Unified Self-Defence: We have been singularly focused on uniting our sisters and brothers defending our communities within a County by County and LGAs by LGAs platform to facilitate collaboration, quick territory-wide decision making, resources sharing and more importantly participatory decision making on self-defense related issues across Ambazonia. There is an urgent need for a unified and coordinated federal and county self-defense force powered by independent self-defense forces or those under our Local Government Area (LGAs) structures. This will be facilitated through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This we will achieve; it is a New Dawn.
2. b) Unified internal Political process: It is our goal to ensuring grassroots participation in decision making for transparency, accountability, and democracy.  My team and I categorically reject the prehistorical idea that revolutions are supposed to be dictatorships. The primary purpose of our revolution is independence from annexation and colonial occupation by the French neo-colonial regime in Cameroun; and with it freedom, equality, and justice. We must start practicing these virtues now. There will never be a calm enough time to practice these virtues that we admire.   Each department will build are both concepts not almost the same? Use one if that is the case public organizational collaboration platforms with transparent and open membership, to facilitate grassroots engagement with their work. Some of these platforms might be trade union-like institutions as in names like Ambazonia Association of Journalist or Ambazonia Association of Teachers.    Working with the rest of our team, in the days and weeks ahead, our various departments will present to our community blueprints, with timelines, measurable achievements, and public reporting schedules. These will allow our community to easily make inputs into their work, evaluate their progress or lack thereof, so we can make timely necessary adjustments to ensure our revolution is firing on all cylinders.   Our Health and Social Services (HSS) team has been trying to build such a platform to facilitate collaboration amongst organizations and individuals involved in Humanitarian activities within our community for a while now. These individuals and communities will get support from organizational change professionals in our team to complete that work.   Another example of an independent autonomous public organization in our community, in the Communications and IT domain this time, is SCBC TV. At this point I would like to make a separate comment on SCBC TV, considering some of the events that unfolded with it.

Resolution number 25 of the 4th conclave granted autonomy to SCBC to work towards self-sustainability as a broadcaster in the continent under an independent board. Months after that the board presented a clear plan of action that will see the Interim Government reserve 51% shareholding of the broadcaster as majority shareholder and the remaining 49% of shares to be open for Ambazonians to invest into the SCBC project as proud Ambazonian investors. This was to be for capitalization and to showcase Ambazonia’s first public-private business model; fulfilling both an advocacy and revolutionary education and information mandate.   There was an attempt to abort that national vision by fellow comrades through both inadvertently and sometimes deliberate misinformation, and unfortunately outright lies in some instances. Despite the difficulties and challenges that these incidences created for SCBC, it managed to ride the storm. It has remained the people’s TV station and remains the primary source of information for most of our people in Ground Zero. It must continue to be owned and used by all Ambazonians to promote our struggle. If there were any lapses in its operations, in this New Dawn, let’s fix them.

I thank all other independent Ambazonia-owned media initiatives and activists for their sacrifices and contributions for our freedom. We got a lot more work ahead of us. This is the time to redouble your efforts. Autonomous political institutions are the character of the 21st century global social justice movements, and we can optimize our revolution by developing structures that facilitate smooth exchange and collaboration with other global social justice movements.

My team and I understand that financial accountability has been one of the biggest challenges for leadership and movements and Organizations. The lack of accountability has sown the seed of mistrust that has demotivated most of the financially viable Ambazonians. To resolve this challenge in the weeks ahead, our first step towards collaboration will be to share a presentation on the tools and models on community and resource mobilization to be used by all movements and organizations in our struggle. A single platform will be made available from which Ambazlanders can donate to any organization of their choosing or a group of them with one donation.

All organizations who will sign up to collaborate on this initiative will have their own representatives sitting on an independent financial management board that helps organizations with their reporting back in a way that will reassure donors that the work is being done with their money and everything is accounted for. This sounds daunting but it’s a challenge we have brought together some great minds to help create as our first real step towards genuine collaboration and respect to independent movements and even groups advocating for our unconditional independence. This initiative is truly Ground-breaking. It is the inter-marriage of complexity, revolution, accountability, transparency and technology (ONE AMBAZONIA). Exact details on how we will roll it out will be you the people to own ONE AMBAZONIA in the days ahead.  To the initiator of this wonderful idea, the god’s of Ambazonia bless you and your team. This is a New Dawn.

My team and I wish to announce the creation of the Bank of Ambazonia (BoA) as a unique symbol of our revolution. AKA “The Ambazonian Ngangi House” will be organised as an informal financial institution (shadow bank) to spur sustainable resource mobilisation through a central but decentralised collection platform, expenditure management, accountability and to improve solidarity with all counties, countries and regions who will provide independently-elected board members or governors and elect the chairperson and deputy of the board. The BoA in time will amongst its objectives provide short-term loans to Counties to enhance and strengthen their capabilities to defend and provide humanitarian relief to their communities as well as provide a safe alternative for the Counties/LGAs to bank/save/move their money.

We further announce the Ngangi Money – a collaborative and networking platform for the Counties during which all Counties will contribute for the benefit of one county each week. In this case, we will be providing a reasonable amount of resources for impactful County support to the homeland. More details on the Ambazonian Ngangi House (BoA) and the Ngangi Money programmes will be provided in the weeks ahead. This is a New Dawn.

Nelson Mandela, quoting Marianne Williamson, inspired us with the following words: “As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others”. I employ all leaders of our revolution to be a spotlight of what we expect of our people within the quest of our liberation struggle.

We shall urgently embark on our homeland and diaspora community reconstruction / community social mobilization project through our local government areas; counties; countries and regions. In this regard, my team and I wish to announce a world-wide protest on Sunday September 22nd and Tuesday Oct 1st 2019 in the diaspora and a Ghosted Homeland on those two days as a manifestation of our collective resolve towards the complete restoration of the independence of Southern Cameroons – Ambazonia that was declared on 1st October 2017 by our President, Sisiku Julius AyukTabe. To this end, I call on all physical constituencies in the diaspora to get to work starting with their immediate community and constituency lobbying as a build up to our Independence Day. A detailed plan for the preparation of September 22nd and October 1st will be rolled out in the weeks ahead. This is a New Dawn.

We had planned to urgently create a database documenting genocidal crimes of the French Camerounese terrorist forces within the shortest possible time. To our greatest amazement as cabinet, some truly bona fide Ambazonians challenged themselves to this revolutionary responsibility and created an amazing website that captures the atrocities of the occupier, LRC. I employ you all to go visit the website: www.ambazoniagenocidelibrary.com. On behalf of all our people we commend and celebrate you, these sisters and brothers and call on all bona fide Ambazonians to emulate your example. We are truly proud of you. Please reach out to me directly. Data and information are the ingredients we need to dismantle LRC in diplomacy, the courts, communication and revolutionary public relations. The cabinet of the IG had created an Ambazonia Department of Statistics whose work was shelved. Your team will champion evidence collection against LRC again so that not even one atrocity is missing in our archives. Albert Mukong is so proud of your team and so are we. This is a New Dawn.

On credible and accountable leadership with integrity, we the people of Ambazonia have an opportunity for an inclusive nonpartisan and non-sectarian leadership in order not to compromise our legitimate legal history. This is against the backdrop of division within SC leadership, infighting and a negative image of our struggle to our people and the international community due to the perceived lack of integrity, accountability and moral compass. The biggest casualty are our people in the homeland. Einstein described insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”. Our collective selfless leadership action is compelling at this time to save lives and the suffering in our homeland. In his book, Attuned Leadership, Dr Khoza, commented that: Leaders are not just born to the role. They are born, then made – and sometimes unmade by their own actions. A leader who is not attuned to his or her followers soon becomes a leader in limbo and invariably then fails. Connectedness, compassion, empathy, integrity, humility, reasonableness and a determination to be effective are the keys to attuned leadership. Attuned Leadership provides a compass for the direction of ethical leadership. African humanism or Ubuntu, evokes both reason and empathy as the basis for ethical leadership.

1. c) Coordinated International Outreach We want to add our voice to that of sixteen major human rights organization and civil society organizations who signed the 7 February, 2019, petition, calling on the UN to Mandate an International Independent Fact-finding Mission to stop the killings, establish the facts on the ground and begin the process of ending the conflict. Of all aspects of our struggle, International outreach has been the one place we have been barely able to achieve any real victories. Despite the scale of the humanitarian impact of the conflict on our communities, we have not been able to pass a single resolution in the elected parliament or congress of a single country; even as the number of fellow citizens affected by the conflict reaches the 4 Million mark.

It is very important that we get down to the hard work of international outreach; using empirical knowledge from the works of other independence movements that went ahead of us. This is going to be of great importance in securing critical support and humanitarian assistance for our IDPs, refugees and political prisoners. The recent history of similar conflicts show that no exile community has the capacity to single handedly fund the needs of their refugees, IDPs, and political prisoners. Rather, independence movements mainly provided seed capital and prototypes of creative initiatives, which then get scaled-up to meet the required needs by the donor community.   Then there is the issue of mobilizing the global social justice movement to take up our course, of which we are just in the beginning stages of initiating working relations with major players. There is the issue of fighting the lobbyist of the Cameroun regime. Again, here we need a coherent strategy and coordinated messaging. We look to the white paper by our outreach (Foreign Affairs) department on deployment of independent autonomous organizing in days and weeks ahead.

I urge all activists and groups in our communities to engage these conversations and share their feedback on the state of affairs with our revolution as our various departments start putting out their whitepapers on how we hope to proceed. This is a New Dawn

As data comes in from our assessment teams on the field we will be offering adjustments to these white papers as necessary. If there are other ideas on how to achieve the goals of accountability and participation in the community, we would like to hear them. We understand that without our community’s engagement with the ideas in the whitepapers from our departments, no matter how good the ideas are, it will be an exercise in futility.

That’s why the second thing we’re focused on, is preventing a repeat of the breakdown in the functioning of our revolution as revealed by endless infighting following of the abduction of leaders.

The sudden absence of our leaders just as our revolution was breaking records in its capacity to mobilize our community at home and abroad created such pain and frustration that some of us ended up taking it out on our fellow comrades instead of staying focused on the enemy.

We ended up losing several comrades under conditions that could have been avoided. A toxic cloud of distrust, backstabbing and gossip continues to hang in the air. We must muster the courage to seek peace and unity with our fellow brothers and sisters to go beyond this cloud of suspicion to a place of enough struts to then build self-standing accountable and autonomous institutions with which to do the heavy lifting necessary to bring our independence to fruition.

I know we can make Buea a reality faster if we bury all the unproductive tensions in our midst, celebrate each other’s strengths and support each other’s weaknesses. When we to do so, a space for revolutionary Creativity, Accountability, Respect, & Excellence, that has been so severely undermined by our infighting will most definitely see the light of day again. That’s why we must make a commitment to grassroots participation that goes beyond calls for unity of the leaders of the various groups as a way to bring the community together. That will be the mark of a New Dawn

I make that commitment tonight. Since taking office on May 14, 2019, I have assigned teams formally and informally to do a need assessment on our people on Ground One, Ground Zero and our Prisoners of Conscience locked up in the various detention centres spotted in LRC and Ambazonia. It is the duty of this administration to get closer to our people and be as participatory as possible. We’ve reached out to sisters and brothers within and without the administration as well as organizations in and out of our community for assistance in their area of expertise and experiences to get problems solved. Some great men and women have given their all to make our revolution move forward. Because of your efforts, a handful of projects that were standing or forgotten have been reactivated.

So far, since May 2, 2019 after the President re-instated the Cabinet of 5th January 2018, I am happy to inform Ambazonians that:

1. The family of 5 months old Baby Martha, shot point blank 10 times in the head by the Camerounese military in her sleep, is under our CARE and save from LRC harm.
2. Medical assistance was also gotten for one of our brothers who was shot in Kumba by the terrorist forces of Paul Biya and left to die. We are following on other cases.
3. 45 mattresses have been supplied to our brothers in the Douala New Bell Prison who have been sleeping on the bare floor for the past one year. We are going to proceed to other detention centres where we will cater for our prisoners.
4. A humanitarian team has coordinated legal, medical and meals support to our detainees in Yaoundé. While not enough for our entire political prison population, we look to scale that up in the days and weeks ahead.
5. A pilot project of the same humanitarian assistance has been extended to provide food for prisoners in Douala, Bafoussam, Mbouda, Dschang and the IDPs scattered around the major towns in LRC. Specific attention will be provided to one of our IDPs in the Cameroon Town of Douala diagnosed with Cancer.
6. In Nigeria, we have launched some pilot projects that will assist our refugees. 20 pregnant women were provided assistance to welcome our new Ambazonian babies unfortunately born as refugees. They at least deserve a dignified birth.
7. 10 other women from our refugee community in Nigeria were part of another pilot project for tailoring skills and
8. Another 20 of our refugee women were part of a pilot project for Bakery training.

Like I said, our various Departments will present whitepapers and schedules for when they will be providing updates on their achievements.

Your Federal Republic of Ambazonia – Interim Government (FRA-IG) proudly informs Ambalanders of our agenda for “THE NEW DAWN – FRA IG CARE”. The renewal (new dawn) of your Federal Republic of Ambazonia Interim Government (FRA-IG) has started and my team and I are hard at work to put in place radical transformative action that will reduce the carnage on our people and increase our resistance, save lives and relief the suffering of the people both in Ambazonia and Ground One. Our approach moving forward will be project results-centered funded in-house or in collaboration with our partners.

The New Dawn: FRA IG-CARE would mean for us all: C=Creativity – We should all motivate our people, our teams and encourage innovation. A=Accountability – We will account to our people timeously, accept responsibility for our actions, outcomes and aspire to exceed public expectations. R= Respect – We shall exercise due regard for fundamental and people’s rights to question our actions as well as respect the rights of women, children and all those that live within Ambazonia and respect the laws of our land. E= Excellence – We adhere to the highest level of professional norms and standards.

For this to achieve its full potential we will need all hands on deck. This brings me to the question of our need for unity, unity and unity as a movement. I am referring here to reconciliation, peace, peace and unity with our fellow comrades, as it was before the abduction of our leaders.     To our brave restoration forces who now live under trees, sleep on bare stomachs, have sacrificed your livelihoods, jobs and families and literally given up everything you have including your lives to fight for our collective freedom, our words will never be able to express enough the depth of our appreciation to you. We commit to never abandon you until we get to Buea and beyond. To our parents, relatives and communities who have lost loved ones, their blood will never go in vain. Accept our deepest condolences.

To all patriotic Ambazonians who attended both the APNC Philadelphia and ASSC Berlin conferences, we thank you. My administration and I commit to implement all resolutions from both conferences that advance our cause.

I want again to publicly acknowledge my brother, Dr. Sako Ikome for all his efforts to advance this struggle I publicly stretch out a hand of peace and forgiveness of hurt feelings to him. He answered the call to duty when the Ambazonia movement for independence called in the capacity of AIP. We equally thank the collective of the leadership team that worked with Comrade Dr Sako. There is a lot more we can do together to contribute to the advancement of this revolution.

Allow me to start the process of our overall fence-mending and coming together by unbanning AGC and her defense organ ADF and SCYL and her defense organ SOCADEF with immediate effect.  I wish to use this opportunity to publicly stretch out to them, a hand of peace and forgiveness. Only together can we deliver motherland, Ambazonia. And again, if there are other ideas of how to achieve unity in our community, we would like to hear them.

Our Ambazonia Dream – Looking into the future post our restoration quest, the Ambazonia Dream is anchored on “Quality of Life” and acknowledges the urgent need to redress almost six decades of social and economic stagnation, injustice, rogue governance, dilution of democracy, freedom, liberty, culture, education and the legal system. A life of quality is a life of opportunity, the opportunity for steady productive employment and financial independence; the opportunity to own a home and retire in security; the opportunity to enjoy a clean and healthy environment; the right to peace, freedom and liberty, the opportunity to take our future in our own hands and shape it to our will. Fellow Comrades, Fellow Countrymen and women, these are the ideals for which we are killed daily, ideals we must have in our live time. We have already prevailed over LRC. Our people are committed to a free homeland and a free indigenous home they must have. We need to stand together and take ownership of our resource-endowed ancestral land and country. Our rich human capital – the curse of almost six decades that has seen Ambazonians thrown into all countries on the planet, one that has become a blessing as we bring back our experiences, expertise, skills and money to restore our statehood, rebuild our true home and regain our dignity as a people.

In Conclusion – We must be vigilant and learn our enemy’s actions and use them to sharpen our reflexes. For the pillar to be firm enough to hold up a house it needs to be buried deep, enforced with rocks, compacted and tested. Your friends are NOT going to do that for you, it’s your enemies who raise you up by default. My people, let those against us not shaken your resolve because it’s their hate and anger that empowers our resolve and it will be total independence or resistance forever.

To paraphrase Barack Obama’s in his 2004 address: This evening, if you feel the same revolutionary energy like I do, the same revolutionary urgency like I do, the same revolutionary passion like I do, the same revolutionary hopefulness like I do, if we do what we must do, I have no doubt that all across our nation, our indigenous home, the people will rise up as they did on September 22nd and October 1st 2017, and Ambazonia will reclaim its promise, and out of this long political and legal darkness a brighter day will come.   In July 2017 the then Chairman of the Governing Council Sisiku Ayuk Tabe was prophetic in our quest for our restoration when he said: They will Firstly “ignore us” – and they did; Secondly “then they laugh at us” – and they did; Thirdly “they fight us” – and they are; and lastly he foretold that “We will win” – We certainly shall win.

Our success is assured. We have achieved so much within a short time. One more key ingredient is necessary to take us across the finish line; UNITY. Be an Ambassador for ONE AMBAZONIA project and let’s match on to Buea soonest. ONE AMBAZONIA is your project. Make it happen. Ambazonia must be free soonest.

Thank you, And may God Bless Ambazonia It shall be Total Independence or Resistance forever

At least three civilians were killed and several others injured in violent clashes opposing the native Aghem population and the muslim community in Wum, Menchum County, the region’s Francophone governor Adolphe Lele Lafrique revealed.

Following “an attack staged by secessionist activists” in Thursday that led to the killing of a local Hausa community leader, “a group of Hausa and Aku youths” carried out Monday “targeted acts of vandalism,” killing two and injuring five, Lafrique said in a statement Tuesday.

The violence also caused “destruction of houses and property” of the both sides, he said, adding that prompt intervention of government forces on ground significantly contributed to check the situation from degenerating.

“Investigations are ongoing to identify and punish all those responsible for such unfortunate initiatives that undermine national unity, national cohesion and our territory integrity,” Lafrique said.

The attack, pitting a civil community against armed separatists, was the first of its kind since November 2017 when separatists began clashing with government forces to demand the independence of the minority two Cameroon’s Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest.

The Ambazonia Interim Government condemned “inter-tribal conflict” blaming the government for fueling the dispute in order to “weaken” support for the armed separatists from the locals.

At least 430,000 people have been displaced internally by the conflict, according to the United Nations.

Eight people were killed and several others injured on Saturday in Ekona, a locality in Southwest, one of the two troubled English-speaking regions of Cameroon, according to local sources.

“I personally saw over eight corpses, mostly men and a woman. They were lying in the bush. All of them were shot at close range,” a local resident who asked not to be named revealed on Saturday.

There were conflicting reports of the identity of the killed. Armed separatists claimed that all those were civilians shot by government forces, but the army said they were separatists killed in a counter-attack.

“The army received intel (intelligence) of the presence of several terrorists (separatists) in the locality and ambushed them on their way to attack a village. They opened fire the moment they discovered our position and we retaliated. About 10 of them were neutralized and others escaped with serious injuries,” an army officer who preferred not to be named said.

Since November 2017, government forces have been clashing with armed separatist forces who want the two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest to secede from the largely French-speaking nation and form a new country called “Ambazonia”.

Reported by Xinhuanet