Cameroon’s defence ministry said Monday it would prosecute seven soldiers suspected of summarily killing two women and their two children, a video of which was distributed on the internet to widespread outrage.

“Seven soldiers arrested on suspicion of extrajudicial executions in the Far North region will be brought before a military court in Yaounde… where they will be tried in line with the law,” communications official Cyrille Serge Atonfack Guemo told AFP.

The charges are for joint participation in murder, breach of regulations and conspiracy to commit these crimes, he said.

The date of the trial has yet to be set.

“Cameroon does not compromise over behaviour that is incompatible with law relating to war, human law and the protection of people and their belongings,” he said

The killings occurred last July in a region plagued by cross-border raids by Boko Haram fighters from neighbouring Nigeria.

The assailants in the video accuse the four of being members of the jihadist group.

The Cameroonian government initially branded the video “fake news” and a “horrible montage” but said it would investigate. It made seven arrests the following month.

Amnesty International for its part said it had “credible evidence” that the men in the video were Cameroonian soldiers.

The United States and Britain were among those which called for a probe and to hold those responsible to account.

Cameroon’s armed forces have also been accused of abuses in two western regions where anglophone separatists have launched an armed campaign against the predominantly French-speaking state.

Acts of violence there have been committed by both sides, say monitors.

According to the International Crisis Group think tank, 1,850 people have been killed, while more than 530,000 people have been forced from their homes, according to UN figures.

Source: AFP

President Paul Biya left Cameroon on Sunday for “a brief stay” in Europe amidst growing global indignation over human rights abuses in the country.

The crisis in the English speaking western part of the country is causing outrage from the United Nations to the sports fields and movie theatres as social influencers also demand intervention.

“This is genocide and we are acting like it does not matter. African leaders keep acting like the presidency is the birthright or inheritance,” Nollywood Stella Damasus tweeted on June 18, in an attempt to raise awareness on the civil war in Cameroon that appears to be passing under the international radar.

Under the hashtag #helpcameroon Ms Damasus pleaded with “everyone who has social media and can type a message” to spread the word.

“People are dying, babies are being killed please. We can put a post on our pages and condemn this,” she wrote, asking people with connections with the UN or any agency to “reach out to them and speak out.”

The actress’ was not a lone voice.

Source: The East African

On the 4th of June 2019, a joint Cameroon Concord News and Cameroon Intelligence Report investigation revealed that Sako Ikome, the disgraced former Acting Interim President of Ambazonia had moved to a cheaper accommodation. This forced relocation, to a smaller apartment in a cheaper area of town, was as a result of the Interim Government not being able to afford his rents and utility bills.

A close acolyte of his, who elected anonymity, allowed our cream of reporters in the United States the information that his financial situation is very dire. To alleviate his financial woes, all the members of his bogus 75 man cabinet have been levied a sum of $500 each. This latest attempt at fundraising is due to the fact that despite all the noise on social media by some pro Sako comedians referring to him as their President, they still aren’t giving him their hard-earned money.

Our reporters were showed hard evidence that the bank accounts of the Sako crime syndicate are empty. A great portion of the funds he intends to raise are intended to guarantee his rents and bills for the foreseeable future.

At a time when G0 and G1 are in grave need of maximum financial support, it defies logic that this failed leader is most concerned about his rents and immediate well being. In an attempt to divert attention and scrutiny from his criminality, Dr Sako released bogus information over the weekend that he was in negotiations with La Republique du Cameroun in Switzerland.

The fake story once again went viral on social media. In a new twist, our chief correspondent in Geneva debunked the story of Sako being invited to Switzerland and alleged that Sako is a con man.

By Asu Isong in London

Southern Cameroons is Africa’s biggest humanitarian crisis. Millions of dollars in international aid are needed to support people caught up in the conflict that has rocked the Federal Republic of Ambazonia-Africa’s newest nation.

A conference has been announced in Munich, Germany to support Southern Cameroons. The Munich Conference is expected to bring together accomplished Southern Cameroons women from all the nooks and crannies of Europe and even beyond to rise to the challenge of raising the money needed to help millions of Southern Cameroonians whose lives have been torn apart by the devastating war of independence.

The organizers of the Southern Cameroons European Women Conference (SCEW) also intend to raise significant funding to meet the immediate and longer-term needs of those affected.

SCEW was born after the Brussels European Conference of 31st March – 2nd April, 2017.

It is an association that is made up women across the European Continent, whose origin is Southern Cameroons / Ambazonia. The association was born out of need.

Since the wake of the crisis in October 2016, the French Cameroon government has been persecuting the people of Southern Cameroons. Many have sought for refuge in neighbouring Nigeria, while thousands have fled into the forest within the territory.

The French Cameroun military has set homes and villages in flames. Thousands have also been wounded, others arrested and thrown into prisons and many have been killed in the course of fighting to restore the sovereignty of the homeland.

SCEW welcomes all initiatives that work positively to the liberation of homeland. The upcoming SCEW Conference, is the first ever women’s conference since the wake of the crisis. This will take place on Saturday 13th July 2019 in Munich Germany. This conference will be crowned by a fundraising Gala.

Some of the objectives are to identify the potentials of the Southern Cameroons woman and empower the women so that they can play key roles in the quest for self-determination. We understand that the Munich conference will inter alia diagnose and analyze the challenges in the Ambazonia Revolution and make recommendations.

The women are also planning to build a collaborative platform with other stakeholders in the Revolution so as to create greater impact on GZ and G1. This conference is just the beginning of greater things to come.

By Asu Isong and Chi Prudence Asong

More than 80 per cent of schools in the English-speaking North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon are closed, as the security situation and living conditions continue to deteriorate due to the three-year conflict between the Government and armed groups, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, reported on Friday.

Speaking to journalists at the UN offices in Geneva, UNICEF Spokesperson Toby Fricker said that some 1.3 million people, including around 650,000 children, are now in need of some form of humanitarian assistance. Around 450,000 of these people, half of whom are children, are internally displaced.

Thousands of people do not have access to essential basic services, such as healthcare and safe drinking water, and livelihoods have been destroyed, the spokesperson told reporters. The ability of humanitarian organizations such as UNICEF to deliver aid, is being hamstrung by the conflict, he added.

Children and their families are suffering from the effects of armed violence; attacks on their homes and schools; abduction, sexual violence and recruitment into armed groups; and imposed lockdowns, or “ghost-town” days, set in place by non-State armed groups.

Future of an ‘entire generation’ at risk

The school closures are the result of a ban on education imposed by militia groups, which has affected more than 600,000 children, seen at least 74 schools destroyed, and exposed students, teachers and school personnel to violence, abduction and intimidation.

Mr. Fricker said that targeting education is “putting the future of an entire generation of children at risk, children who with the right support and opportunities can build a more stable and prosperous future.”

He pointed out that, when children are out of school, they face a higher risk of recruitment by armed groups and are more likely to be exposed to child marriage, early pregnancy, and the accompanying trauma and long-lasting emotional distress that these experiences bring.

UNICEF has helped some 15,000 displaced children attend formal schools in host communities outside the affected region, and trained teachers to provide psychosocial support for children dealing with the effects of conflict and displacement, said Mr. Fricker, adding that UNICEF is working with religious and community leaders to attempt to re-open schools

The three-year crisis in Cameroon escalated out of protests in the Anglophone region, calling for greater autonomy. Following a visit to the country in May, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet warned that the situation risks spiralling “completely out of control, if measures are not taken to reduce tension and restore trust”.

UNICEF has called on the parties to the conflict to protect all children and their families; allow humanitarian access to all people in need, according to international humanitarian law; and to protect and re-open schools, and ensure safe learning spaces for children, without conditions.

Source: UN News

The connection of Guterres-favored China and Cameroon continues: “Fifty-nine students from the Confucius Institute in Cameroon received a scholarship on Friday from the Chinese ambassador Wang Yingwu.  The scholarship was shared among the students who performed exceptionally well in the Chinese proficiency test (HSK) and during the class.

Ariane Zetchounag, 24, level 2 student at the Confucius Institute and a receiver of the Chinese ambassador scholarship, said the prize will assist her in learning Chinese language more proficiently.  “By studying China and its culture, these young Cameroonians will be carriers of the message of friendship between our two countries,” ambassador Wang said.

Friday’s ceremony also congratulated the outstanding Chinese teachers of the 2018-2019 school year.  One of the awardees was Gao Yajia, who is leaving Cameroon after volunteering for two years.  “It’s an unforgettable moment, and I’m so grateful to my students, my colleagues, and my family who I missed so much during my stay abroad,” Gao said. She was very attached to his Cameroonian students, “one day we would meet again in China.”   Yeah.

Others are bought in, including the EU. On June 13, state media of China which props up Biya and has essentially purchased Guterres and the UN he runs reported: “YAOUNDE, June 13 (Xinhua) — A European Union (EU) official on Thursday praised efforts by the Cameroonian government to initiate dialogue to end the conflict in the country’s troubled English-speaking regions.  “We welcome the statement by President (Paul) Biya and the declaration that the Prime Minister (Joseph Dion Ngute) made in the regions showing opening for dialogue,” said Gerardus Gielen, head of the European External Action Service Central African Division.” The EU, which allows Guterres to rough up and ban the Press right in the UN, is hitting a new low with this.

Source: Inner City Press

Officials with UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency, warned Friday that conditions in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions continue to deteriorate with 1.3 million people now needing humanitarian aid.

The armed violence and attacks have forced 450,000 people from their homes, about half of them internally displaced children, said UNICEF spokesman Toby Fricker during a press briefing in Geneva.

“Thousands of people lack access or have reduced access to basic services such as healthcare and safe drinking water, and livelihoods have been destroyed,” he said. “As of December 2018, an estimated 40 percent of health facilities in the South-West region were not functioning.”

More than 80 percent of schools in the English-speaking regions of the country’s northwest and southwest have been closed, with some children out of school for three years now. At least 74 schools have been destroyed and more than 300 students and teachers have endured abductions.

“The targeting of education is putting the future of an entire generation of children at risk, children who with the right support and opportunities can build a more stable and prosperous future,” Fricker said.

The aid workers, based in centers in Buea and Bamenda, need US$20 million to respond to the emergency, and UNICEF is appealing to donors and the international community for help.

Cameroon’s crisis began with peaceful protests, led by lawyers, teachers and other professionals, against structural discrimination in October 2016. Their calls for reforms sparked a wider movement that was crushed by 86-year-old President Paul Biya, who has been in power for nearly four decades.

An armed separatist movement evolved in response to the political and social tensions, which have warranted the concern of the African Union, European Union and others in the international community.

Source: Africa Times

A tribute was held Friday at an army headquarters in Yaounde to the 17 soldiers and eight civilians killed June 10 by Boko Haram in Darak, on Cameroon’s northern border. Retired teacher Clement Ndzana was among the hundreds who came to honor the fallen soldiers. He said the sacrifices made by the military were not in vain because Cameroon has remained united and none of its territory is under the terrorists’ control.

The government of Cameroon also celebrates its military for protecting state institutions and defending the country against Boko Haram and separatist forces in the northwest and southwest.

But not everyone in the country approves of the military’s actions. Some accuse the military of heinous crimes, including the killing of civilians and burning of homes.

Mary Yekong, 60, said her family of four has lived in a room in Obili, a neighborhood in Yaounde, for five months. They fled from the northwestern village of Meluf, which she said government soldiers attacked. The soldiers torched at least 30 houses, including hers, she said.

Yekong said the family ran, leaving behind their old and sick mother, when the Cameroon military arrived and began shooting indiscriminately in the air. She said that from where she was hiding, she saw two of the troops carry their mother out of the house before setting it ablaze. The government blamed separatist fighters for the burnings, in which nine people were killed, but Yekong said she thought the military was responsible because the attackers used armored cars, which separatist fighters lack.

Rights groups have accused Cameroon’s military of conducting extrajudicial killings and burning down of homes in its campaign against separatists and Boko Haram insurgents. In one of its reports, Amnesty International said investigators gathered credible evidence that Cameroonian soldiers were pictured in a video carrying out the horrific extrajudicial executions of two women and two children. The government insists the army is professional. However, Col. Jean Legrand Mvondo Akoutou, director of Cameroon military justice, acknowledged there had been some cases of alleged abuse that were being investigated by a tribunal. He said suspects were to be presumed innocent until found otherwise.

Akoutou refused to give examples but said many cases of abuse had been punished.

Source: VOA

Cameroonian authorities should immediately release journalist Paul Chouta and drop criminal defamation and false news charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On May 28, in the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde, five police officers arrested Chouta, who works as a reporter for the privately owned Cameroon Web news website, in response to a defamation complaint filed by French Cameroonian writer Calixthe Beyala, according to Cameroon Web editor-in-chief Emmanuel Vitus, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app, and a person with knowledge of the case who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal.

Chouta was detained at the local police headquarters following his arrest, and on May 31 was denied bail, according to his lawyer, Emmanuel Simh, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app. On June 10, he was charged with defamation, spreading false news, and hate speech; the hate speech charge was dropped the following day, and Chouta was sent to the Kondengui maximum security prison in Yaounde to await trial, according to Vitus and the person with knowledge of the case.

His next court appearance is scheduled for July 9, Vitus said.

“Instead of holding Paul Chouta in a maximum security prison, authorities should release him and encourage Calixthe Beyala to seek redress through civil remedies, not criminal action,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal in New York. “Criminal defamation and false news laws have no place in a fair and just country, and Cameroon should change such laws.”

If found guilty, Chouta could face up to six months in prison and a fine of 2 million Central African francs ($3,447) for the defamation charge, and up to five years in jail and a fine of 1 million francs ($1,723) for the false news charge, according to the Cameroonian penal code.

In several posts on Beyala’s personal Facebook page, which CPJ reviewed but which have since been deleted or set to private, Beyala alleged that Chouta and other unspecified individuals made defamatory allegations about her personal life on social media and on the Facebook news page Le TGV de l’info, which Chouta manages.

CPJ called Beyala and messaged her on Facebook and WhatsApp, but did not receive any response.

Cameroonian Deputy Justice Minister Jean De Dieu Momo told CPJ via WhatsApp message that he was “not aware if web journalist is a profession organized by Cameroon law,” and declined to comment further on the case.

CPJ called and sent messages to Charles Manda, an adviser to the country’s communications minister, and Joyce Ndjem, the national communications chief for the Cameroonian police, but did not receive a response.

Chouta received repeated anonymous threats in recent months, and was attacked outside his home in February by suspected government agents, as CPJ reported at the time.

Vitus told CPJ that he suspected that the government’s harsh charges against Chouta, along with denying him bail, were in retaliation for his reporting on the government. The editor described Chouta as a vocal critic of Paul Biya, Cameroon’s president since 1982. Chouta’s recent reporting covered topics such as the arrest of a former Cameroonian government official and abuse allegations against police and a pro-government journalist.

Cameroon is the third worst jailer of journalists in Africa, after Egypt and Eritrea, with at least seven journalists behind bars for their work on December 1, 2018, according to CPJ’s annual prison census. It is the second-worst jailer of journalists on false news charges in the world, after Egypt, according to the census.

Source: Committee to Protect Journalist

Fellow Ambazonians,

The Interim Government hereby informs the people of the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia and the general public that with immediate effect, Comrade Chris Anu is no longer Secretary of State for Communications and Information Technology. He, therefore is no longer a member of Cabinet.

Following the announcement of 14th May 2019 reconstituting the pre-5th January 2018 Cabinet and a Call to Service issued by Vice President Dabney Yerima on 22 May 2019, Chris Anu retorted in his public broadcast on ABC TV on 25 May 2019 that he will not work under the leadership of President Sisiku AyukTabe.

In a follow-up letter issued on 26 May 2019, Vice President Dabney Yerima notified Chris Anu that by rejecting the call to duty, he had given up his position as Secretary of State for Communication and Information Technology (SoS DCIT)
Accordingly, Comrade Chis Anu no longer speaks for the Interim Government and the people of Ambazonia.

Henceforth, whatever he says in the name of the revolution whether on his ABC TV, Facebook page or any other media platform should be considered as his personal opinion, which he is legitimately entitled to.
Any attempt to publicly articulate any views as representing the position of the Interim Government would be treated as gross misrepresentation with all the consequences associated thereto.

While we appreciate his service and contribution to our struggle, we also cannot overlook his mounting excesses that have become a liability to the revolution. We trust that he will continue to play a useful role in the revolution in his capacity as a private citizen.

On behalf of the entire Cabinet and the people of Ambazonia, I want to thank Comrade Chris Anu for his contribution to our struggle. We wish him well in all his future endeavours.

The Under Secretary of State for this department, Comrade Milton Taka assumes the role temporarily as Secretary of State for the DCIT until an appointment is announced in due course.

Thank You,
God Bless The Federal Republic of Ambazonia

Dabney Yerima

Vice President