Basile Atangana Kouna, former minister of Water and Energy sacked from the government on March 2, has not been seen at his home ever since the Yaoundé regime issued an order preventing him from leaving the country.  The former baron of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate was expected at the Yaoundé Special Criminal Court yesterday, as part of an anti corruption operation launched by the regime.

Basile Atangana Kouna did not appear before the investigators and Cameroon Intelligence Report understands none of the judges at the so-called Special Criminal Court has communicated on the file. Strong rumors of his arrest in Kribi in the South region circulated recently with some insinuating that the former minister had attempted to escape to neighboring Equatorial Guinea by sea, before being arrested. The rumor was quickly denied by close aides.

There has been conflicting reports on former minister Basile Kouna in many French Cameroun newspapers. Some noted that he left French Cameroun territory a day after he was dropped from the cabinet and he is presently out of the CEMAC region en route to Canada. While others have reported that he attempted suicide.

Pretending to fight corruption and establishing the so-called Special Criminal Court was President Biya’s way of saving himself the embarrassment of being humiliated during his perennial trips abroad as the President of the most corrupt country in the world.  This ranking of the country as the most corrupt or one of the most corrupt countries had a potential to hamper President Biya’s personal pecuniary interests far from the borders of Cameroon.  There was therefore a personal interest need to establish the court.  Another personal interest need was to avail himself of a legal tool under his direct control to consolidate absolute power, blackmail potential rebels and competitors within the system and to stifle any form of institutional opposition. Biya has eventually perceived the anti corruption drive as a tool with which to whitewash his more than thirty years of corrupt governance and the rape of the economy.

By Sama Ernest

Ambazonian freedom fighters have released a senior official of the Ministry of Secondary Education recently held in protective custody. The Francophone governor of the South-West region, Okala Bilai confirmed the gesture and said Prof.  Ivo Leke Tambo, a hostage and chairman of the GCE Board, the body responsible for English-language examinations has now gained his freedom.

The top Cameroonian official was arrested by Southern Cameroons armed militants on Saturday at Alou in the Lebialem County in the Southern zone.

Biya regime claimed that the fighters had demanded a 100 million FCFA from Yaoundé. The government has not confirmed the payment of the money.  After his release, Prof Leke Tambo traveled to the French Cameroun capital city.

Cameroon Concord News understands two other senior officials, including a sub-prefect and an official of the Ministry of Social Affairs are still in the hands of the Southern Cameroons Defense Force.

By Rita Akana

At the invitation of Mr. XI JINPING, President of the People’s Republic of China, President Paul BIYA left Yaoundé on Sunday, March 18, 2018 with his wife Chantal BIYA , bound for Beijing, for a State Visit to the People’s Republic of China.

Biya is accompanied by a sea of cabinet ministers and barons of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate.

– Mr Lejeune MBELLA MBELLA, Minister of External Relations;

– Mr Samuel MVONDO AYOLO, Minister, Director of the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency of the Republic;

– Mr. Emmanuel NGANOU DJOUMESSI, Minister of Public Works;

– Mr MENGOT Victor ARREY-NKONGHO, Minister in Charge of Mission to the Presidency of the Republic;

– Mr ALAMINE OUSMANE MEY, Minister of the Economy, Planning and Spatial Planning;

– Mr Gaston ELOUNDOU ESSOMBA, Minister of Water and Energy;

– Mr. ALIM HAYATOU, Secretary of State to the Minister of Public Health, in charge of the fight against Epidemics and Pandemics;

– Mr Luc SINDJOUN, Special Adviser to the Presidency of the Republic;

– Rear Admiral Joseph FOUDA, Special Adviser to the Presidency of the Republic;

– Mr. Martin MPANA, Ambassador of Cameroon to the People’s Republic of China;

– Mr Simon Pierre BIKELE, Head of the State Protocol;

– Mr Christophe EKEN, President of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Crafts;

– Mr. Célestin TAWAMBA, President of the Ter Patronal Group of Cameroon.

Mancho Bibixy, a broadcaster and anglophone activist accused of “threatening Cameroon’s sovereignty” for his role in protests, has had his trial adjourned for the thirteenth since his arrest over a year ago.

He first appeared in a coffin at a protest in the western city of Bamenda in November 2016, saying the vessel was symbolic of anglophone Cameroonians “who seemed to have died before their real death” and who therefore should not fear speaking truth to power.

Mr Bibixy was arrested months later in January 2017.

Cameroon’s government say Mr Bibixy and others have threatened national sovereignty by “demanding the partition of Cameroon through the creation of the State of Ambazonia”.

At a previous hearing, he is reported by the Journal du Cameroun news site as having told the judge:

“I have a heavy heart because Cameroon is on the brink of a civil war. We find ourselves in this situation because our politicians have failed in finding tangible solutions to our problems.”

Source: BBC

Cameroonian secessionists on Wednesday shot dead a soldier in Kumba, a city in the Southwest region also known as K town.

25-year old Sardi Juvinal, a former student of Maroua high school in Cameroon’s far north, was murdered at his security post by heavily armed secessionists who have been demanding independence from the West African country for more than a year.

Why it matters: The soldier was murdered following the expiration of a 48-hour ultimatum by secessionists to Cameroonian authorities. Last weekend, the armed activists released a video showing a government official they had kidnapped pleading for his life.

Animnom Aron, a delegate for social matters in the Northwest region, who was abducted weeks ago, was heard saying he would be killed should the government fail to show that the secessionists’ leaders, arrested in Nigeria on January 5, and extradited to Cameroon on January 28, were still alive.

But the ultimatum came and went without any reaction from the government of President Paul Biya, an 80-something leader who has been in power for 36 years and plans to run for another term this year.

The crisis in Cameroon escalated in the dying months of 2016 and turned bloody last year. So far, about 40 security officers have been murdered by the secessionists and hundreds of activists have been killed by the Cameroonian military. Hundreds are being detained and hundreds are being monitored.

The activists say they want the Southwest and Northwest regions, where English is spoken compared to French elsewhere in Cameroon, to be independent. They have argued that they have been marginalized even though oil and other natural resources are located in their regions.

But millions of other Cameroonians who live in squalor and hopelessness have expressed shock and dismay at the insinuations that their lives were better off.

Many of French speaking Cameroonians have been battling Boko Haram terrorists in the country’s far north where thousands have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.

President Biya has not visited the region since the insurgency began in 2014. The lack of leadership had prompted other Cameroonians to argue that they all suffer from the same neglect and brutality from a government too old, too deaf and too blind to feel, hear or see the suffering of its people.

In the state of Maryland in the United States where the secession is being planned and funded, the activists believe they are closer to victory than never before.

Source: Today news Africa

A Manyu traditional authority in the Awanchi-Betieku clan is among the latest casualty in La Republique’s war against the people of Southern Cameroons that have already claimed thousands of lives since President President Biya launched the anti-secessionist war last year. Killed by still unidentified assailants, Chief Boniface Atchu Njang of Mbeme was a well-known man of peace and supporter of rural development.

In the French Cameroun police report, Chief Boniface Njang was on board a government patrol vehicle when motorcycle-riding suspects fired at him. Cameroon Concord News informant said Chief Njang succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds on his head and body.

By Judith Fon

This item is still developing

President Biya, who normally holds few ministerial council meetings, has summoned the government on Thursday, March 15 at the Unity Palace. Cameroon Concord News understands the council of ministers meeting will start at 11 am in Yaoundé.

We gathered that no debate has actually been planned during the forum. However, a well-placed source hinted that the 85 year old dictator intends to send a message to his cabinet.  The Secretary General at the President of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh noted in a press release that the agenda will focus on: A special communication from the Head of State.”

Some political observers have opined that Biya could address the Anglophone question and preparation for upcoming elections. The country is already in chaos with several polls holding this 2018. The senatorial elections have already been convened for March 25, as well as the municipal, legislative and presidential elections.

Tomorrow’s meeting is going to be the first ministerial council since the government reshuffle of March the 2nd, which saw the appointment of two Southern Cameroonians at the head of the two important ministries and the departure of some barons of the regime. The last Council of Ministers meeting in Cameroon dates back to October 2015.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

The bodies of three gendarmerie officers including the newly appointed Commander of the Nguti Gendarmerie Brigade, Guy Robert Lontsi have been identified at the Manyemen hospital by family members. The three were reportedly killed on Tuesday morning in clashes between security forces loyal to the Biya regime in Yaoundé and Ambazonian militants.

The suspected secessionists’ militants who recently declared their allegiance to the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia clashed in Nguti some few kilometers from Manyemen. Cameroon Concord News sources in the locality hinted that the Brigade Commander Guy Robert Berlin Lontsi was killed during the attack while two other gendarmes who sustained serious injuries later gave up at the Manyemen hospital.

A Cameroon government administrative official contacted by Camcordnews said a student gendarme was also injured during the deadly clashes. The government agent who sued for anonymity also added that Security forces neutralized three attackers and recovered firearms.

We understand the restoration forces targeted the Nguti Gendarmerie Brigade forcing most of the Nguti inhabitants to flee their ancestral homeland.  There are also reports that the new brigade commander provoked the situation when he ordered the arrest of many young people and was demanding families to pay colossal amount of money to the gendarmerie for their children to gain their freedom.

By Sama Ernest

The passport of French Cameroun CPDM baron who also moonlighted as Minister of Water and Energy, Basile Atangana Kouna has been confiscated by security agents in Yaoundé. Cameroon Intelligence Report understands the former cabinet minister has also been barred from leaving the country.

The decision to keep Basile Atangana Kouna under surveillance was made public via an order signed by the Delegate General for National Security on March the 8^th. The National Police boss hinted in the press release that it was the responsibility of all heads of border posts, airports and the ten Regional Delegates for National Security to ensure that Mr. Basile Atangana remains in Cameroon pending an investigation.

Things are falling apart deep within the ruling CPDM crime syndicate. We understand the former Secretary of State at the Ministry of Public Works, in charge of roads, Louis Max Ohandja Ayina has also been given a travel ban by the Biya regime.

Basile Atangana Kouna’s travel documents were withdrawn a day after he was relieved of his duties as Minister of Water and Energy.  Local media reported that the former minister tried to leave the country on March 7, aboard a Turkish airlines flight when he was restricted by security forces. Recently, a sea of CPDM personality were barred from leaving the country including the General Manager of the Cameroon Telecommunications Company, Camtel, David Nkotto Emane and some of his collaborators.

Pretending to fight corruption and establishing the so-called Special Criminal Court was President Biya’s way of saving himself the embarrassment of being humiliated during his perennial trips abroad as the President of the most corrupt country in the world.  This ranking of the country as the most corrupt or one of the most corrupt countries had a potential to hamper President Biya’s personal pecuniary interests far from the borders of Cameroon.  There was therefore a personal interest need to establish the court.  Another personal interest need was to avail himself of a legal tool under his direct control to consolidate absolute power, blackmail potential rebels and competitors within the system and to stifle any form of institutional opposition. Biya has eventually perceived the anti corruption drive as a tool with which to whitewash his more than thirty years of corrupt governance and the rape of the economy.

By Rita Akana with contributions from Soter Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroonians were shocked on Tuesday after seeing the dilapidated house of their first and late President, Ahmadou Ahidjo, who was known as the father of the nation.

Why it matters: Mr. Ahidjo was in power for 24 years, 8 months and 17 days between 18 February 1958, and November 4, 1982, when he resigned and handed over power to Paul Biya who was then Prime Minister. He was known as the man who built and united Cameroon at a time of political instability.

Mr. Biya remains in power 36 years after and he’s running for another term of seven years this year.

Mr. Ahidjo had been in charge before independence from France as interim head of State and Prime Minister between February 18, 1958 and January 1, 1960, when the French finally handed over after a brutal dictatorship. They also signed business deals that kept them in charge of the economy long after they officially left.

The pictures of the residence of the first Cameroonian President were published by Guibai Gatama, a journalist and activist who publishes L’Oeil Du Sahel newspaper. He said the residence of the former head of state in the Mayo-Oulo department in northern Cameroon had become a ghost of itself.

“It used to be a powerful place at the time,” Mr. Gatama, also from northern Cameroon wrote.

Source: Today News Africa