A military court in Cameroon has sentenced an opposition party leader to 25 years in prison following trial that has been branded as unfair by Amnesty International.

Aboubakar Siddiki, President of the main opposition party in northern Cameroon, ‘Mouvement patriotique du salut camerounais’, has been convicted of charges including hostility against the homeland, revolution and contempt of the President.

However, Amnesty International has said Aboubakar Siddiki who was arrested in August 2014 together with Abdoulaye Harissou, has been convicted despite “no credible evidence being presented to the court”. They were accused of being involved in a conspiracy to destabilise the country.

“Aboubakar Siddiki is the latest victim of the Cameroonian authorities’ strangling of opposition voices. Alongside Abdoulaye Harissou he has already spent more than three years in detention, suffered torture and now he must face a future behind bars on the basis of a politically motivated and deeply flawed trial,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, Amnesty International’s Lake Chad Researcher.

In the same trial, Abdoulaye Harissou, was also sentenced to three years prison for non-denunciation. A report by Amnesty International claims that the two were held incommunicado for over 40 days in an illegal facility run by the General Directorate of External Relations and subjected to torture following their arrest in 2014.

Initially charged with complicity in murder, illegal possession of arms, hostility against the homeland, revolution, non-denunciation and contempt of the President, their trial began on 22 January 2016. On 9 October 2017, all charges except ‘non-denunciation’ were dropped against Harissou, but those against Siddiki were maintained.

The court also dropped all charges against three journalists – Baba Wame, Felix Ebole Bola and Rodrigue Tongue –who were charged in 2014 with ‘non-denunciation’ of information and sources in relation to the same affair.

Amnesty International has called on the Cameroonian authorities to release and drop all charges against Aboubakar Siddiki and Abdoulaye Harissou while advising the Central African country to refrain from ever using military courts to prosecute civilians.

The government denies the charges are political. Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds arrested in a crackdown in recent months on protests in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions. Residents there say they suffer social and economic marginalisation in the predominantly Francophone country. The protests have become a lightning rod for opposition to President Paul Biya’s 35-year rule.

Source: Malawi 24

A huge consignment of war equipment that was discovered in Mbengwi in the night of August 2nd to 3rd has been presented to the Chief state prosecutor at the Military Tribunal in Yaoundé. The equipment was presented alongside three of the six suspects arrested in connection to the discovery.

The group led by Dassi Alfred is in a French Cameroun court after the Biya regime claimed preliminary investigation had been carried out by security services. It also marks the start of a concocted legal proceedings against Southern Cameroonians accused of attempting to destabilize the country.

The weapons exhibited at the Yaoundé Military Tribunal included semi automatic fire arms, night vision equipments with laser rang finders, glasses and shielding fire episcope, bipods and tripods for precision weapons, explosives, detonator cords, chargers for sniper rifles, explosive charge containers and explosive device switches, timers.

The French Cameroun government revealed that these war arsenals were uncovered in Mbengwi, Momo State by security forces following a tipoff from intelligence services. The so-called government spokesman and Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary in a press conference granted September 2017,  said the group was preparing to carry out attacks against defense, security and administrative  authorities.

Source: CRTV

President Biya has sacked the Police Commissioner at the head of the 14th District Public Security Station in Yaounde.

The celebrated bribe taker , Commissioner Nyllanke Luc Sylvain was also accused of serious misconduct related to police ethics.

The sacked commissioner, occupied this post since 2014 until his ousting on October 25, 2017.

By Eyong Johnson, CCN

The Francophone Minister of Transport has suspended as a precautionary measure and subject to prosecution, the General Travel Agency following a serious traffic accident that occurred on Tuesday the 24^th of October, 2017 between Boumnyebel and Sombo on the National No. 3 road, commonly known as the Douala-Yaoundé highway.

Cameroon Concord News can now confirm that 15 people died and the death toll is expected to rise. The remains of the 15 were dropped off at the morgue of the Edea Regional Annex Hospital, where many wounded are being cared for.

Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo told state radio and television that his decision was based on the recurrence of traffic accidents involving the travel agency. The driver of the bus who has been involved is also punished with a withdrawal of his driving license for a period of 12 months.

Cameroon ranks among the most underdeveloped countries on the face of the earth despite its natural and human resources. Cameroon is bereft of infrastructure. Its hospitals have been reduced to consultation clinics. Its roads have consumed more lives than HIV and malaria put together.

Cameroonians have lost faith in the government. Years of unemployment have reduced them to sorry spectators of events in their own country. Many have died of preventable illnesses and for many, the shadow of uncertainty is permanently looming large on the horizon.

By Sonne Peter, CCN

At least 12 people were killed today  Tuesday the 24^th of October 2017 in the morning following a traffic accident on the Yaoundé- Douala highway, the two main cities of La Republique du Cameroun.

The colision occurred between a transport vehicle and a truck precisely between Sombo and Boumnyebel two localities in the Central region. The bus was coming from Douala in the Littoral region and had 70 passengers on board.

According to our information, 12 people were killed on the spot after the shock. Thirty people were seriously injured.  We gathered that the death toll is expected to rise following the late arrival of first aid.

By Sama Ernest, CCN

Digital applications which will enable decentralised services of the Ministry of Communication provide the central service with adequate information within the shortest possible space has been presented in Yaounde. The initiative was presented by the Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, on October 20, 2017 in a meeting with the Regional Delegates of Communication.

Speaking on the delegation of the Minister shortly after the meeting, the Interim Secretary General, Felix Zogo, said the idea is intended to boost up strategies of digital communication which will enable the government to be proactive, interactive and permanent on the social media. He said the platform will facilitate the exchange of information from the different regions and this will in tend aid the government in making informed decisions.

Zogo furthered that the different social networks will be maximised and government communication rendered more visible. The Regional Delegate of Communication at the South West Region, Rosette Achu Muna Bih, said the pioneer meeting in the digital sphere warrants decentralised services to provide information to the government within the framework of promoting a well drafted communication policy.

She said the intensive communication strategy will supply hierarchy with the happenings in their different regions. “We therefore have as an obligation to henceforth constantly update the platform with clear and precise information on what transpires in our respective regions,” she stated. The platform, to be operational in the near future, will therefore give supplementary visibility to government’s communication mechanisms.

Source: Cameroon Tribune

The French Cameroun dictator who left Yaoundé Thursday, September 14, 2017, finally returned to the nation’s capital on Saturday, October 21, 2017.

Paul Biya spent 36 days abroad. Between September the 17^th  and September the 24th, Biya was seen in New York in the United States taking part in the 72nd regular session of the UN General Assembly.

But between September the 2 5^th  and October 20th, 2017, President Paul Biya and his entourage stayed in an unknown destination in Europe.Through a funny return trip program signed by the State Protocol Service at the presidency of the Republic, it was revealed that the Cameroonian presidential couple was staying in Geneva, Switzerland.

In a shameful and disgusting show of support to the frail leader,  the Ministers of Higher Education and and Transport, Prof. Jacques Fame Ndongo and Edgard Alain Mebo Ngo’o were among the crowd of suffering militants of the ruling crime syndicate who waited all night long at the Nsimalen International airport to welcome the man who has msiruled Cameroon for 35 years.

By Rita Akana, CCN

Cameroonian security forces have stopped a demonstration in the port city of Douala on Saturday organised by the main opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) in solidarity with the embittered Anglophone regions.

The planned demonstration led by Littoral regional SDF Chairman and activist Jean-Michel Nintcheu was banned by the authorities on Thursday “to prevent violence and damage to public property”.  The party ignored the ban and decided to go ahead with the protest which was joined by Kah Walla, the leader of another opposition party the Cameroon People’s Party (CPP).

Some leaders of the SDF were detained including Nintcheu, the regional president Emmanuel Ntonga and two journalists of Equinoxe TV who were released after a warning. Security forces were stationed at several positions in the city and the Omnisport Stadium of Bepanda where a rally was to be held followed by a march to the Ecole Publique de Deido roundabout.

Despite the heavy security deployment and rains, some protesters came out in small numbers carrying placards demanding the release of those arrested. Cameroon’s English-speaking North West and South West regions are facing repression from the government and security forces after protests since November 2016 in demand for fair distribution of wealth while others are calling for independence.

Several hundreds have been arrested while dozens killed during the protests which have been banned by the government. Human rights groups condemn the government’s violent response to the peaceful protesters. President Paul Biya, who is in Geneva is expected to return to the country on Saturday.

Source: Africa News

• As Discrimination Stirs Discontent
• Protest Against Political, Economic Discrimination Fuelling Clamp Down
• Country Heading Towards Pogrom

Few days before October 1, 2017, the atmosphere was charged on the two campuses of University of Bamenda and University of Buea. On the orders of President Paul Biya, troops were drafted from the Francophone region to Anglophone towns and cities to carry out a specific mission- stop, by all means, the symbolic proclamation, by students and university teachers, of the “Republic of Ambazonia,” a name for Anglophone Cameroon.

The political union of both Anglophone and Francophone Cameroon, two separate and sovereign legal entities, came into existence on October 1, 1960 via a referendum; whereby Anglophone Cameroun opted to join a united and indivisible Federal Republic of Cameroon.

According to Mesang Rosine Noutsa, a student of University of Bamenda, the soldiers moved into the hostels and residential quarters on the campus in the wee hours of October 1, and started brutalising students and families of lecturers.

“It was a scene of horror, and I have never witnessed such an ugly incident in my entire life,” she declared on her sick bed at the General Hospital, Bemenda, where many students and teachers were receiving treatment for wounds inflicted on them by the soldiers.

The repression by the soldiers was also carried out at the University of Buea. Unconfirmed reports indicate that some students and teachers were allegedly killed by the soldiers on these two campuses.

According to Amnesty International, and eyewitnesses, who spoke to Al-Jazeera, an international satellite television, at least 17 peaceful and unarmed protesters were killed by soldiers drafted to the campuses by Biya.

“In order to avoid further bloodshed, the security forces must cease unnecessary and excessive use of force, and protesters should be peaceful if they want to make their voices heard. The government should investigate these killings,” declared Illaria Allegrozzi, a researcher with Amnesty International in the Lake Chad basin.

Vice Chancellor of University of Buea, Professor Horace Ngomo Manga, and Vice Chancellor University of Bamenda, Professor Theresa Akenji Nkou, were both summoned for a meeting with the Higher Education Minister, Jacques Fame Ndongo. At the meeting, which took place in Yaounde, capital of Cameroun, the two vice chancellors were told, in very clear terms that their campuses would remain closed until “all secessionists were cleared from the campuses.” The meeting only lasted for 10 minutes.

According to diplomatic sources, in order to escape arrests, many ring leaders of the symbolic attempts to declare the Republic of Ambazonia, fled into Nigeria through bush paths, to where they reside a large community of Cameroonian students and teachers on Nigerian university campuses.

Discontentment of Anglophone Intelligentsia
IN an exclusive interview with University World News (UWN), Professor Samuel Wara, Head of Department of Electrical Engineering, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, who is a native of Bamenda, Anglophone Cameroun, provided useful insights into the past and present complex history of his country, with particular reference to the difficult relationship with Francophone Cameroun, and the role of the Anglophone intelligentsia in the possible resolution of the current problems in the land.

“Anglophone university community in Cameroun has always played a vital role in the misfortunes and fortunes of the English speaking region of our country. It was the intellectuals, who canvassed and supported a United Nations- sponsored referendum in 1961, in which our people massively accepted the idea that we create a federation with Francophone Cameroun,” he stated.

“It was Professor Bernard Nsokika Folon, Professor Carlson Anyangwe, and Fon Gorji Dinka, a renowned lawyer, who produced, in 1984, a manifesto called the New Social Order in which they stated clearly that by reverting to the name French Cameroon it had at independence, President Paul Biya, had “seceded” from the union and so the English speaking part of Cameroon has the right to revert to its “independence” before 1961. And the new state was named Ambazonia.”

And in 2005, Anglophone Cameroon was registered and recognised as Republic of Ambazonia, with Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO), an international organisation affiliated to United Nations,” he informed.

Wara, while shedding light on the current political situation in Anglophone Cameroon, revealed that Bamenda and Buea universities’ communities are in the forefront of what he called, “the struggle for the emancipation of the people of Anglophone Cameroon.”

Instances of marginalisation and discrimination against the Anglophones, which the intelligentsia are fighting against include:
•The National Entrance Examination into schools that develop the human resources are set by the French Subsystem of Education. This makes it difficult for Anglophones and Francophones to compete on an equal playing field. The examination board members are all Francophones, a development, which places some bias against Anglophone candidates. Important examinations into professional schools are set in French only, sometimes sparingly in the English-speaking region.
•There are five ministries in charge of education. None of them is Anglophone.
•State institutions put documents and public notices in French with no English translations.
•Most heads of government offices only speak French, even in the English speaking region. Visitors and clients to government offices are also expected to speak French.
•Most senior administrators and members of the Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies in the Anglophone region are French-speaking, and there is lack of effort by them to demonstrate an understanding of Anglophone culture.
•According to the 1961 constitution, the vice president was the second most important person in state protocol. Today, the Prime Minster (appointed Anglophone) is the fourth most important person in state protocol, after the President of the Senate and the President of the National Assembly.
•Of the 36 ministers, who defended the budget for the ministries last month, only one was Anglophone.
•Most of the military tribunals in Anglophone Regions conduct their courts in French.
•Financial documents such as COBAC Code, CIMA Code and the OHADA Code are all in French. These documents are international treaties and conventions to which Cameroon is a signatory.
•Magistrates in Anglophone Cameroon are disproportionately Francophone. In addition, other government –appointed officers such as the senior divisional officers, commissioners, and commandants are disproportionately Francophone.
• There are Francophone principals in Anglophone schools, hospitals, banks and mobile telephone companies.

IN an exclusive chat with UWN, Professor Augustine Awasum, a veterinary surgeon, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, who hails from Anglophone Cameroon, said that best solution to put an end to the current  bloodbath in Anglophone region of his country is to create an enabling atmosphere for dialogue by all stakeholders.

He is of the view that all students, teachers held in prison by the government must be released unconditionally. And the universities of Buea and Bamenda must be reopened as soon as possible. “This inevitable dialogue should be supervised by the African Union, and the United Nations, with a view to ensuring that mutual agreements reached at the negotiation table are legally binding on all the parties. The minimum condition to guarantee peace, progress and meaningful development is to reinstate the October 1, 1961 constitution, which guarantees true federalism where Anglophone and Francophone regions are equal partners,” he concluded.

Source: The Guardian