The Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Alamine Ousmane Mey, recently signed an agreement with the government of South Korea totalling XAF 23.21 billion (US$38 million) for the execution of five development projects in the country.

Part of the funds will be channeled to the next phase of an ongoing project to upgrade and digitize the country’s civil status registration system.

Ousmane Mey signed the agreement on behalf of Cameroon, while the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Cameroon, Nam Ki-wook, appended his signature for his country.

Cameroon is fully on a journey to digitize its civil status registration system and several actions have been taken in this regard. Already, a pilot using the OpenCRVS platform for birth registration in 20 municipal councils of the country has been completed, and a new course of action is awaited. In May, the country held a national forum of mayors to discuss hindrances to civil status registration.

Ousmane Mey said $4.8 million out of the $38 million grant will be deployed to subsequent activities of the project which seeks to set up a robust, efficient and secure foundational identity system for the country.

A project in Cameroon dubbed the “Support Program for the Modernization of the Civil Registration System” (PAMEC) is supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and it is within that framework that this latest grant funding from Korea has been made available, said the Ambassador. The project also has the financial support of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

While underlining that the funding agreement underpins the good state of relations between the two countries, the diplomat urged the government of Cameroon to implement the project in a transparent and accountable manner.

Another digital project to benefit from the financing, according to the partners, is the second phase of a program to digitize Cameroon’s public contracts procurement system, known as “e-Procurement System Development Project.” This project, to get $5.6 million from the package, is a continuation of efforts by the country to simplify procurement procedures of public contracts by enhancing transparency and efficiency.

A “Smart Campus” project is also part of the lot, according to Ousmane Mey, and will get $8 million from the grant. He says the project seeks to promote digital government efforts in the public administration and modernize service delivery in the public service.

Apart from these three projects related to digital, the two others to benefit from the Korean financing have to do with the provision of potable water schemes in four council areas, and the strengthening of the country’s emergency medicines management system.

Source: Biometricupdate

Cameroon continues its inevitable free fall into chaos as the Biya regime skips from one mistake to the other.

The country’s economy has bottomed out, with more than 70% of the country’s graduates being unemployed or underemployed, while their parents struggle to make ends meet.

Cameroon has the lowest salaries in the CFA Franc region and with escalating living cost, Cameroonians are going through hell.

Many parents have to help sustain their adult children, most of who are graduates but cannot find jobs due to bad governance and corruption.

While the poor economic situation is stressing up Cameroonians, the country’s administrative officials are doing their best to stifle any dissenting voices.

The country’s minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji, an ex-convict, is noted for using the law abusively to sow fear in Cameroonians.

Over the last few years, intimidation is being used as a dissuasive tool to nip any anti-government actions or plans in the bud.

Recently, it is the Senior Divisional Officer for Mfoundi, a division in the Centre Region, who issued a press release intimidating anybody who might think of planning or supporting a people power revolution in Yaoundé.

With the country’s president, Paul Biya, at death’s door, administrative officials, who know how bad things are in Cameroon, are now trying to stave off any protests in the country through unconstitutional and undemocratic means.

However, their efforts will surely not last for a long time as Cameroonians are sick and tired of the chaos the Biya regime has thrown at them.

Cameroon is ripe for a revolution and only genuine reforms and sincere dialogue can help the country avoid the political chaos which has been playing out in other African countries where dictators have lasted in power for decades.

By Alain Agbor Ebot

Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces have arrested an individual in Ekok in Eyumojock Sub Division in Manyu on charges of directing a disinformation campaign against the Ambazonia Interim Government and manipulation of Anglophone public opinion against the struggle.

The official Southern Cameroons Broadcasting Cooperation news agency said the individual, whose identity was not immediately available, had manipulated the minds of ordinary people in Eyumojock Sub Division through a disinformation assault on the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, spread lies against the Ambazonia leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, desecrated the national Ambazonia flag and participated in CPDM rallies banned in the entire Southern Cameroons.

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima has been quoted as saying that Amba intelligence forces managed to hoax the counter-revolutionary agent into Eyumojock from Yaoundé and capture him in Ekok.

The development comes only a few days after Amba forces identified and arrested an individual in Bui in the North West on charges of espionage for the Francophone regime in Yaoundé.

The Ambazonia Interim Government said in a statement late last week that several other pro French Cameroun fugitives wanted in Ambazonia will be arrested this coming December.

By Besong Eunice Nchong with files from Kingsley Betek

Brenda, daughter of Paul Biya, the president of Cameroon, has shared a photo of herself kissing another woman.

In a recent social media post, the president’s daughter revealed that she is in a relationship with Brazilian model Layyons Valença.

In the accompanying caption, Brenda openly expressed her love for the model and declared her lesbian status.

“I am crazy about you and I want the world to know,” Brenda wrote, adding a love heart emoji.

This is not the first time that the two women have shown their closeness on social media.

Brenda, who is 26 and a singer, also shared an article published by Le Monde, wherein the magazine reported that she had “come out”.

Paul Biya, 91, became Cameroon’s president in 1982 and he is one of Africa’s longest-ruling leaders.

Since 2016, the country’s penal code provides up to five years of imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 CFA francs (305 euros) in the event of sexual intercourse between two people of the same sex.

Human rights groups have previously criticised Cameroon’s strict laws against members of the LGBT community.

There have also been questions about whether Brenda’s sexuality is a privilege that can only be enjoyed by a select few in the country.

Bandy Kiki, the Cameroonian LGBT activist, said anti-LGBT laws in the country “disproportionately target the poor”.

“It highlights a harsh reality. Wealth and connections create a shield for some, while others face severe consequences,” Kiki said.

President Biya and the Cameroonian government are yet to officially comment on the issue.

Source: The Cable

Aboubacar Siddiki, known as Babadjo, was released from prison in Cameroon on June 21 after serving a three-month sentence for insulting a local governor. Moments after he stepped out of the prison he was rearrested on charges of disturbing public order, demonstration, and hate speech. Babadjo’s lawyer told Human Rights Watch that these charges are based on claims by the Cameroonian intelligence service that Babadjo’s supporters were planning to demonstrate to celebrate his release. 

Babadjo, a member of the National Union for Democracy and Progress (Union nationale pour la démocratie et le progrès), was first arrested on March 8 at his home in the city of N’Gaoundéré, in the region of Adamawa, after he criticized the region’s governor on a WhatsApp group. His friends and local human rights defenders told Human Rights Watch that the governor ordered his arrest.

That wasn’t Babadjo’s first run-in with authorities. In 2020, he was arrested for a song he released that criticized local officials. He is currently detained at the gendarmerie headquarters in N’Gaoundéré. On June 24, his lawyer filed a habeas corpus petition before the high court, which is expected to rule on the case on July 4. Babadjo, his relatives and friends said, has diabetes and requires specialized medical care.

“This latest arrest of Babadjo exemplifies the government’s repression towards opposition and dissenting voices,” said Aboubakary Siddiki, president of another opposition party in northern Cameroon, Mouvement patriotique du salut camerounais. “The crackdown is increasing ahead of the 2025 vote as we see political meetings and political coalitions banned.”

Cameroonian authorities have cracked down on opposition and dissent for many years. In March, the territorial administration minister, Paul Atanga Nji, banned two opposition coalitions, the Political Alliance for Change (Alliance politique pour le changement), led by Jean-Michel Nintcheu, and the Political Alliance for Transition in Cameroon (Alliance politique pour la transition), led by Olivier Bile.

Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, 91, in power since 1982, is serving his seventh term. He was last re-elected in 2018 after a contested vote-counting process which sparked a wave of political repression and a lethal crackdown on peaceful protests.

That Babadjo was rearrested as he left prison underscores how the Cameroonian authorities are silencing freedom of expression in the country. Authorities should release Babadjo, drop the charges against him, and ensure he has access to adequate health care while in detention.

Culled from Human Rights Watch

The Francophone 92-year-old head of state is now receiving some form of hospice care at his palace in Mvomeka’a.

The aim of hospice care is to improve the lives of people who have an incurable illness.

To be accurate, Hospices provide care for people from the point at which their illness is diagnosed as terminal to the end of their life, however long that may be.

Biya’s daughter Brenda reportedly flew to Cameroon recently on a private jet to see him.

Cameroon Intelligence Report sources hinted this reporter that it is strictly forbidden to share any update on the president’s health and government officials in Yaoundé have simply been told to always say that President Biya is doing ok.

However, a well-placed CPDM official contacted by our Yaoundé City reporter on Sunday said President Biya’s days on earth are now numbered.  “Biya is coming to the end that, as I told you some weeks before, he is presently on that journey that you only can live at the very end.”

Biya finally entered hospice care after the fifty second edition of the so called national day of Cameroon was celebrated on 20th May 2024.  He made a rare public appearance to attend the reception at Etoudi supported by two of his aides and appeared frail.

We understand the ruling CPDM party is preparing to announce his candidature for the 2025 presidential election.

“Biya is not going to miss an election!” a source at the Prime Minister’s Office told this reporter. “2025 is very important to Biya. I mean, that’s the person he is” our source concluded.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Three people were killed after an improvised explosive device went off along the Bali-Batibo road in the Northwest, witnesses and local police said on Thursday.

Police told the local media that the blast occurred late Wednesday when a vehicle carrying passengers stepped on the device, which was planted along the road to target soldiers who regularly patrol the region.

The victims, according to witnesses, were three local civilians who were returning from a market.

Police said they believe the incident was set up by armed Ambazonia fighters, who have been operating in the region since 2017.

Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces want to secede from the largely French-speaking Cameroon and create an independent nation in the English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest.

By Fon Lawrence with files

Illicit drug usage in Cameroon has been on the rise for many years, but the use of hard drugs in Kumba is alarming and many youths find it pleasurable to get involved in the use of these drugs which are ruining many lives in Kumba.

Not long ago, some residents, especially women and mothers in Hausa quarter, a neighbourhood in Kumba lll Sub-division, took to the streets to protest against hard drugs which have turned their children into addicts.

To show their seriousness, the angry protesters carried placards denouncing the sale and use of these hard substances in the area, going to the hideouts of those who supply them to the youths.

In their determination to call them to order, the angry women destroyed two locally constructed thatched houses which were considered as the trading floor between the drug suppliers and the addicts.

“Our children are in very bad shape because of these drugs. They steal our money at home just to buy these drugs which make them recalcitrant. They do not assist us with house chores,” one of the women said.

“My son does nothing at home. Sometimes, he doesn’t sleep at home. He only comes when he needs food or a change of clothes. These men selling to them are destroying our children. We had issued a warning before but they did not listen,” another protester highlighted.

Since the neighbourhood is sparsely populated, it was easier for the perpetrators to be fished out from their hideouts.

According to reliable sources, the men who sell to those addicts are making a fortune out of our children, while destroying them, reasons why the angry population took upon themselves to address the issue.

By Cecilia M. Manjang

At least five people were killed and 25 others injured in a road accident in the West region, according to police and medical authorities.

The tragedy occurred Tuesday evening after the brake of a passenger bus failed as it was descending a steep hill at La Falaise locality in Dschang town of the region, local police said.

The victims included children, teenagers and women, according to Regional Hospital Annex of Dschang, where the injured were treated.

The children were mostly students who had finished the semester and were travelling to spend holidays in other parts of the country, police said.

Some 1,500 people die in road accidents each year in the central African nation, according to estimates by the Ministry of Transport.

In early June, Cameroon launched a campaign initiating tough road safety measures, including the deployment of additional traffic officers, in a bid to curb rising road accidents in the country.

Source: Xinhuanet