MOHWA members still loyal to Comfort Beyang have not yet learned that they must be selective in their choice of fights and their ignorance- driven courage will cost them a fortune. It should be pointed out that Cameroon Concord News fight against deep-seated corruption in MOHWA is to make MOHWA great again as a massive scam has become part of the organization.

There is no sleep for the guilty and MOHWA’s management will not be enjoying a good night’s sleep for a long time as the Cameroon Concord News has decided to ramp up the pressure. The heat is on and the MOHWA president is already losing sleep even though she says Cameroon Concord News is “shooting but rubber bullets.”

By letting her ill-behaved, low class commoners and opportunists to come after Dr. Joachim Arrey, a man who has been in the business of writing for more than 40 years, Comfort Beyang has stirred a hornet’s nest and she should be ready to take all the killer punches which will be coming her way. She is used to not facing any opposition but the Cameroon Concord News is prepared to shatter that myth.

An attack on a Cameroon Concord Board Chair is a clear declaration of war and the Cameroon Concord News has a massive stomach for a fight and its journalists still have a lot of gasoline in their tanks. The Cameroon Concord News is a devil in alliance with the truth. It rejects any proposal for it to be angel in alliance with falsehood. Silence in the face of corruption and injustice is acquiescence which should be condemned by reasonable people.

Before the MOHWA leadership shows up with its law suit against the Cameroon Concord News, it will have to endure some massive blinding blows. And Cameroon Concord News will be throwing those blows until Comfort Beyang submits her resignation.

She has successfully orchestrated a massive scam within MOHWA and the Manyu Diaspora is supposed to finance her scam. MOHWA is an organization designed to lend a hand to the struggling Manyu girl child, but she and her collaborators have come up with many schemes or scams which are supposed to transform the organization into their piggy bank or ATM.

What is the rationale behind asking MOHWA groups all over the world to send 17% of whatever amount of money they raise abroad to the MOHWA home branch? Only MOHWA visionaries will provide answers to this question. This is unfortunately one of the sticking points which have caused MOHWA to splinter.

Besides EYUMEMA and NYENE MAWN, a bunch of women have already formed their own brand new organization in Yaoundé – BECHOKO NGOREH MANYU – which is also eroding MOHWA’s following, robbing the beleaguered organization of much-needed resources.

Cameroon Concord News’ objective is not to free MOHWA’s followers from their self-imposed blindness, after all it is difficult to free some people from the chains they revere but this campaign for healthy financial management within MOHWA will help many to understand the illegal dealings taking place within an organization which many people of Manyu descent once held so close to their hearts. 

But that love for MOHWA is gone. It seems like a cluster bomb has landed on MOHWA and the pieces are all over the place. However, all is not lost. MOHWA can be reinvented if its current leadership exits. But until they leave, donors should not give their money to an irresponsible leadership which has no regard for the people it claims to represent.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Group Chairman and Editor-in-chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

As the disgraced MOHWA leader digs in her heels in defiance of the numerous calls for her to resign in order to give upcoming clean-up operations a chance, more women are coming with incontrovertible and damning evidence to buttress allegations of malfeasance, rudeness and infighting in one of Manyu’s erstwhile iconic organizations.

While some naive and deluded supporters of the beleaguered MOHWA president who are blindly following her over the clift like lemmings have been soothing themselves by turning a blind eye to the facts, many Manyu women who were once members of the struggling organization are handing more incriminating evidence to the Cameroon Concord News for it to deliver more devastating blows to the MOHWA president who is currently suffering from insomnia as the heat turned on her becomes unbearable.

The calls for Professor Comfort Beyang to resign did not start with the publications in the Cameroon Concord News. Last year in Yaoundé during the organization’s Annual General Assembly, Mrs. Lucy Bawak, a lady who has the courage of her conviction, urged Professor Comfort Beyang to resign because of her manipulative and radioactive behavior. There is a video to that effect and Cameroon Concord News has it in its archives.

When a self-respecting lady decides to go down a war path, it is not because she loves fighting, but because she has been pushed to the wall by people who have no regard for age and dignity. If that is not infighting, what then is it?

But it is not Mrs. Bawak’s tirade against the MOHWA president which really points to the disagreement within MOHWA. It is the inhumane treatment Prof. Comfort Beyang meted to Mrs. Patience Abangma in South Africa. There is also a video wherein she was extolling her own academic achievements as if she was the first and last person to become a professor in Cameroon. She reminded Mrs. Abangma that she was rubbing shoulders with His Royal Highness Professor Abangma Nebo who was on her jury on the day she defended her thesis and despite Prof. Abangma’s questions, she still passed and that they were colleagues and Mrs. Abangma had no right to talk when she was talking.

It should be recalled that Mrs. Abangma was instrumental in the creation of MOHWA South Africa where her daughter is residing and regardless of her crimes and sins, Comfort Beyang had a duty of respecting a lady who is older than her. Manyu is an age-based society and MOHWA’s cardinal principle is respect. If MOHWA’s president is rude and arrogant, which moral values can she impart to young Manyu girls? a MOHWA South Africa lady asked.

Of more importance is the fact that money which was given to MOHWA by the Cameroon Ambassador in South Africa ended up in the MOHWA president’s purse and this money is not reflected in the organization’s financial statements, the lady in South Africa said.

All those MOHWA USA members, who erroneously think that what obtains in the USA obtains in other parts of the world, are simply manifesting their parochial knowledge of the world and using law suits to deter people from expressing their minds is a strategy whose time has passed. The strategy will not work and these blind followers should seek first to know the people they are seeking to threaten as some people are simply above their mess and ignorance.

Have these people suddenly forgotten that one reason why EYUMEMA walked away was because MOHWA leaders in America could not provide evidence of their reckless spending? These are people who lay claim to transparency and ownership of courts around the world. Is such behavior not financial malfeasance? And do they know that such behavior is punishable by law?

What about imposing a life insurance policy on people living in Europe and who already have policies in their countries of residence? Strangely, people living in Europe have to be covered by a life insurance policy in Cameroon, a country notorious for not having any reputable insurance companies. The MOHWA president has clearly demonstrated that her interest in MOHWA is clearly pecuniary.

What about compelling people in Europe to always send EUR 500 back home for MOHWA members to cook food for themselves and even travel home when a member dies? If money has to come from Europe for entertainment during funerals, what then is the purpose of a home branch? This is not the most interesting part of the issue. No accounts get rendered of the entertainment money sent from Europe and MOHWA leadership still has the effrontery to threaten people with law suits.

MOHWA needs rebranding. A lot has gone wrong with this organization and if its members, many of whom do not have the courage of their conviction, do not develop independent minds, the same issues which resulted in the formation of EYUMEMA and NYENE MAWN will continue and more MOHWA members will end up in the warm and broad embrace of EYUMEMA which is already inspiring a lot of hope.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Group Chairman and Editor-in-chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

Cameroonians in Ireland are mourning the tragic death of Eric Njolai who passed away in the early hours of Friday morning in the Fingal County constituency.

The much respected Cameroon Anglophone elite moonlighted as president of the biggest North West cultural and development group (NOWACIRA) in the Irish State.

The Cameroonian North West community in Ireland in a statement called Njolai a “renowned icon.”

‘’In the wake of Eric Njolai’s untimely passing, our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. Our community mourns the loss of a senior elite. May his legacy inspire future generations of Cameroonian accountants in Ireland to constantly evolve,’’ Eyombo Charles wrote on the CAMER ONE LOVE IN IRELAND forum.

“A life well lived. Rest in peace, Eric Njolai,’’ said Chief Diamond Esoh of the Global Movement for Change on Face Book.

The Njolai family has not given more details about his passing but has appealed for privacy to grapple with this devastating news.

Eric Njolai was a celebrated figure in the Cameroonian community in Ireland and even beyond before becoming a board member of the Baldoye Credit Union.

After his studies in the Federal Republic of Germany, he worked at Price Water House-an experience that catapulted him to the Irish banking sector.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Over the last month, MOHWA has been caught up in a terribly heart-breaking downward spiral with many of its members jumping ship, including some close associates of the president of the home branch who many accuse of financial misconduct and intimidation. The once popular Manyu organization is today a shadow of its former self as new Manyu women’s organizations see the light of day. MOHWA has become a rudderless ship as the organization’s leadership cannot deliver any meaningful results without the financial support it once enjoyed.

The creation of EYUMEMA in the United States which was once collaborating with the MOHWA home branch is still a bitter pill to swallow for many and the MOHWA leadership is yet to recover from this blow to the liver. Today, EYUMEMA is clearly the organization most Manyu women around the world are looking up to as they consider that MOHWA is a ship wrecked by greed, arrogance and intimidation. Speaking to some former and current members of MOHWA in Buea, Kumba, Mamfe and Douala, Cameroon Concord News discovered that the messages of frustration were the same. Many of those Cameroon Concord News spoke to were unanimous, pointing out that the president of MOHWA Cameroon, a Buea University professor, was clearly to blame for the chaos and demise of MOHWA around the world.

“We commend the Cameroon Concord News Group for the work it is doing to expose the ills which are robbing MOHWA of the reputation it once enjoyed. MOHWA was designed to help women come together for them to help the Manyu girl child, but ever since Prof. Comfort Beyang took over the reins of the organization, it has become a platform for Manyu educated women to display their degrees and personal achievements. This display of academic titles is choking the organization and many of us are now looking towards EYUMEMA. We hope EYUMEMA too will not fall into the same madness which is tearing MOHWA apart,” a frustrated lady from Kumba who elected anonymity told Cameroon Concord News.

The Manyu title disease which has destroyed many Manyu organizations has finally reared its ugly head in MOHWA and it is killing an organization which was once the beacon of hope for many Manyu women. Titles mean nothing if they are not used to mobilize people for development purposes. The people of Manyu must understand that titles have their contexts and using them in the wrong place only makes the title holder to be despised and ignored. Of what value is an academic title like a PhD in a social gathering where the different audience segments are supposed to work seamlessly together with the objective of achieving a common goal? Since when did a title like Sesekou become useful in a non-ekpe environment? Ekpe is part of Manyu culture and not Manyu culture and taking it to parties and churches is an abuse which must be punished if Ekpe is really a structured and development-oriented organization.

Using titles out of their rightful context is a total turn-off. Academic titles do not necessarily imply that the holder of such titles has the charisma and skills for good leadership. Great leadership does not require loud-sounding titles. Members of MOHWA should understand this so that when electing their new leaders in their upcoming convention they would focus on people who have the charisma and humility which good leadership requires.

The President of MOHWA who is also a University Professor should have known that holding the title of professor does not make her a genius. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Rousseau and many others have been considered as some of the finest minds the world has ever known, but none had an academic title. They all worked in the interest of society and humanity. None of us knows the school Socrates attended for him to be the best of his time and a key reference around the world today.

Also speaking to an influential Manyu lady residing in Douala and who held MOHWA so close to her heart, Cameroon Concord News could easily feel the frustration and disappointment which is eroding this lady’s happiness. She was angry and pointed out that many people had spoken to the MOHWA president for a change of course in order not to destroy the organization, but all the advice from senior Manyu ladies has clearly fallen on deaf ears.

“I am really heart-broken seeing the mess playing out. MOHWA is definitely on its last leg. Its demise is certain as many women gyrate towards EYUMEMA and other women’s groups. I have been a fervent supporter of MOHWA, especially in the days of Dr. Agbor Magdalene who ran the organization for many years. We all supported Comfort Beyang when she expressed an interest in running MOHWA and Agbor Meg campaigned for her, but today, she and Agbor Meg are not talking. Dr. Agbor Meg has already jumped ship and is a strong supporter of EYUMEMA.  I am thinking of jumping ship too. I am just waiting for the conclusions and recommendations of the upcoming MOHWA convention in August,” the disappointed lady who elected anonymity said.

Asked if there was someone who could validly replace the current president, the lady added that: “We have been looking for a possible replacement and most of the senior Manyu ladies in Cameroon have their eyes on a few young and dynamic ladies who are humble and can easily mobilize other women. We are already coalescing around one young lady who stands out and we are sure the next convention will be the game changer. The current president is on her way out. She is indeed staring down the barrel of defeat as she is increasingly becoming isolated and radioactive. She has created a toxic environment and even the hardcore members of her inner circle are already contemplating abandoning her. The ship is sinking and the disgrace is already hurting their reputation. Though in public they pretend to be loyal, most of them know that the end is near and that it will be in their best interest to be on the right side of history. MOHWA is bigger than anybody. The president has a choice – do the right and honorable thing by resigning or continue to hold on and end up with an empty shell in the name of an organization,” she added.

“MOHWA has been diminished. The defections are hurting us all. There are many senior Manyu ladies in Yaoundé who are sick to the stomach because of the imminent collapse of an organization which has brought joy and happiness to many Manyu ladies. If the current president had listened, EYUMEMA would not have walked away. EYUMEMA has the crowd and wherewithal. EYUMEMA’s war chest is huge and it is capable of accomplishing a lot in Manyu. The current MOHWA leadership did not need to threaten EYUMEMA with a law suit when we have traditional recourse mechanisms to address our differences. Anger against a sister should never reach the bone. Currently, the president is fighting with the leadership of NYENE MAWN over proprietary rights and this is only leaving her with a bloodshot eye. She knows she is sinking but her pride and arrogance will not let her throw in the towel. She will not win any of these fights as her financial base is hollow,” she stressed.

“However, though EYUMEMA and NYENE MAWN have walked away, there is still room for collaboration. We are all daughters of Manyu and our goal is to give the Manyu girl child a chance to see life in a different light. We cannot let one person destroy an entire organization which has stood the test of time. The current president is like a bad tooth which is making the entire mouth restless and uncomfortable. This bad tooth must be yanked out if the mouth must know its peace. We are all looking forward to the next convention or Assembly for a change of guard. We will work with all sister organizations to make Manyu a better place than we met it,” she concluded.

Disagreement is as old as time, but it is a demon which is destroying Manyu Division. People of Manyu descent must learn how to accept differences and, possibly, make something good out of those differences. The current MOWHA leadership should have understood that it is challenging to lead people who have money to run other own lives. It would have been in the best interest of Manyu Division if MOHWA had demonstrated flexibility in the application of its decades-old rules given that the times have changed and many people of Manyu descent now live out of their natural cultural environment.

MOHWA needs new leadership. The organization’s current leadership has not lived up to the glorious expectations of many of its members. The wave of defections and the creation of other organizations is testament to the frustration which has become MOHWA’s hallmark. If MOHWA must survive, then something has to change and the organization’s leadership must reinvent MOHWA. But the current MOHWA leadership lacks the trust of its members. It cannot be trusted, especially as it is using intimidation and fake legal procedures to frustrate those who have ideas which run counter to what it holds. Reconciliation should be the mantra of the next MOHWA leadership but MOHWA members must vote out the current leadership if their organization must continue to stand the test of time.  

 By Dr. Joachim Arrey     

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights requested on Wednesday better access to Cameroon’s restive separatist regions and called for revisions to an anti-terror law that rights groups say has been used to silent dissent.

Factions of secessionist militias have been battling government troops in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions since 2017, leading to thousands of deaths and displacing nearly 800,000 people.

“I have called on the government to facilitate humanitarian access to areas affected by conflict,” Volker Turk said after a two-day visit to the Central African country.

“I have also urged the government to revise the 2014 anti-terrorism law in this regard,” he said.

Amnesty International has described that law, which mandates the death penalty, as repressive and says it curtails rights, opens new tab protected in Cameroon’s constitution.

In a 2022 report, Amnesty found that the majority of people jailed from the Anglophone regions had been sentenced under the law.

In 2017 a journalist was sentenced to 10 years in prison on terrorism charges under the legislation.

Source: Reuters

The head of Cameroon’s National Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH) has said some managers and employees will appear before a UK court over suspected involvement in bribery offences linked to Swiss commodity trader Glencore (GLEN.L), opens new tab.

Adolphe Moudiki, SNH’s administrator and director general, had previously denied staff involvement but late on Friday issued a statement saying some employees had been identified as suspects and would appear before a British court on Sept. 10.

In June 2022, Glencore’s UK subsidiary pleaded guilty at a London court to seven counts of bribery in connection with oil operations in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and South Sudan.

On Thursday, Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) charged Glencore’s former head of oil Alex Beard with two conspiracies to make corrupt payments to government officials and employees of state-owned oil companies in Nigeria and in Cameroon.

“SNH welcomes the progress of proceedings against the perpetrators and accomplices of the acts of corruption that have tarnished its image,” Moudiki said in the statement.

He did not say how many SNH staff were involved.

Glencore’s UK subsidiary has admitted it paid bribes in Cameroon to SNH officials and others to the sum of 7 billion CFA francs ($11 million) to secure preferential access to oil between 2011 and 2016.

That raises the risk of cholera and other diseases in an area already facing extreme levels of malnutrition, where 500,000 people reside, including Yahia Ali.

Cameroonian lawyer and anti-corruption specialist Akere Muna said SNH should disclose identities of those involved and suspend all dealings with Glencore.

“The culprits are within Cameroon, the transactions that gave rise to the corruption took place in Cameroon yet they expect us to believe the solution will come from London,” said Muna, a former vice-chairperson of corruption watchdog Transparency International.

In July 2022, Cameroon’s state anti-corruption commission said an investigation into the bribery offences was underway, but it has not since shared further details.

SNH is a state company that sells the share of national crude oil production accruing to the state on the international market.

Source: Reuters

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk will conduct an official mission to Cameroon from 5 to 7 August.

During his visit, Türk is scheduled to meet senior Government officials, including President Paul Biya and Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute, as well as members of a wide range of political parties, officials of the Cameroon Human Rights Commission, representatives of civil society organisations, members of the diplomatic corps and UN entities.

The Human Rights Chief will also inaugurate new premises for the Central Africa Regional Office (OHCHR-CARO) in the capital Yaoundé. The Office covers Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

This is the first visit by High Commissioner Türk to Cameroon. Türk’s predecessor visited the country in May 2019.

A press conference will be held on Wednesday, 7 August in Yaoundé. Access will be limited to accredited media and details will be communicated locally.

Source: ohchr

Cameroonian authorities have released a young activist detained last week after posting a video on TikTok advocating democratic change in the country ahead of next year’s presidential election, his lawyers said.

Barrister Akere Muna, lead lawyer for Junior Ngombe, 23, told the media in Yaoundé on Wednesday that the activist had been granted bail and that no charges had yet been filed against him.

“After the investigation, authorities may decide to either drop the case or press charges,” said the lawyer, who is also an opposition politician.

Ngombe, a hairdresser and social media influencer with more than 12,000 followers on TikTok, was arrested in the country’s second city Douala on July 24 and taken to the gendarmerie headquarters, also known as the State Defense Secretariat (SED), in the capital Yaoundé, where he was detained.

The move drew widespread criticism, with rights advocates describing it as a crackdown on freedom of expression by the government of President Paul Biya.

Source: The East African