According to French publications, Law Enforcement News and the Parisien, a Cameroonian colonel has claimed diplomatic immunity in Paris, France after being accused of raping his daughter while in the country on military orders. This colonel is reportedly the assistant defense attaché to Paris from Cameroon.

On May 26th, 2024, the stepmother of the 16-year-old victim called police after the child complained of vaginal pain and after she admitted her father had raped her, this incident being the third time.

On May 27th, 2024, the Paris Prosecutor’s Office called the suspect, who immediately claimed diplomatic immunity. Over the past week, the French Foreign Ministry has been in contact with the Cameroonian Foreign Ministry and is reportedly in talks to remove the colonel’s diplomatic immunity so the Paris Prosecutor’s Office can act.

The child was placed in a temporary home, but immediately ran away, her current whereabouts are unknown, and the Cameroonian embassy has not released a statement.

France has, perhaps, the strongest European relations with Cameroon and was the first nation to recognize sovereignty in 1960.

Source: Atlas News

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has arrested a Cameroonian national for allegedly collecting at least P4 million in exchange for fake dollar bills at a hotel in Makati.

Members of the NBI Cybercrime Division posed as investors to apprehend Khan Fonkam, who allegedly promised to convert fake US dollars into real currency using a chemical process.

The NBI agents recovered the fake US dollars in Fonkam’s hotel room.

The scheme, known as the “black dollar” scam, involves convincing victims to pay money for chemicals purportedly needed to convert counterfeit currency into real dollars.

The suspect’s arrest stemmed from the complaint of a victim, who reported that Fonkam gave him a suitcase of fake money in exchange for P4 million.

The NBI said the victim met Fonkam through social media.

“The agreement was to split the amount, with each of them getting $2.5 million. The victim shelled out P4 million to buy the chemical,” Van Homer Angluben, executive officer of the NBI Cybercrime Division, said.

Fonkam is being held on charges of estafa and illegal use of false treasury bank notes.

Source: The Philippine Star

President Paul Biya has ratified two financing agreements totaling €79.11 million (about CFA52 billion). The deals aim to support the implementation of the Hydro-Agricultural Development Project covering 15,280 hectares in the Mbéré, Vina, and Faro-et-Déo departments in the Adamaoua region. The first agreement, valued at €76.23 million (around CFA50 billion) is a buyer credit and the second, worth €2.89 million (nearly CFA1.89 billion), is a commercial credit. These deals were concluded with the British group Standard Chartered Bank on January 30 in Yaoundé.

This financing is part of the three-year Emergency Plan to Accelerate Economic Growth in Cameroon (Planut), specifically focusing on territorial development. It marks the initial phase of an ambitious program to develop 35,000 hectares of cultivable land in Cameroon. The project, to be technically implemented by the Spanish company Incatema, involves constructing irrigation systems for extensive cultivable areas, building 100 kilometers of roads, establishing several production units, and procuring various agricultural equipment.

Additionally, the project includes conducting a financial study to ensure youth employment and facilitate the marketing of agro-pastoral products. Besides enhancing food security, this initiative is expected to boost the country’s economic growth, as outlined by the Ministry of Economy, Planning, and Territorial Development. It also aligns with Cameroon’s commitments in combating climate change, including its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

In the medium term, the project aims to enhance the capacities and productivity of a national agriculture resilient to climate change. Long-term objectives involve developing a smart second-generation agriculture, combining structural transformation and environmental preservation. Furthermore, it aims to “give stronger impetus to the government’s import-substitution policy, aimed at producing more to meet domestic demand and reduce imports,” according to Economy Minister Alamine Ousmane Mey.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Gunmen suspected to be separatist fighters have killed a municipal councilor in Cameroon’s war-torn English-speaking region of Northwest, according to local and security sources.

Councilor Mathias Bang of the Zhoa Council in the Menchum Division of the region was ambushed and killed by 5 a.m., local time, Wednesday in Befang locality, a council official said.

“He was heading to Bamenda on a motorcycle when they (gunmen) stopped him and shot him. He died on the spot. The motorcyclist was seriously injured. He is in the hospital,” the official who asked not to be named said. “We condemn this senseless killing and demand that authorities do something about it immediately. We can’t continue dying like flies.”

There has been renewed fighting in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest, where an armed separatist conflict has been waging since 2017.

Last week, gunmen attacked a bar in Bamenda, chief town of Northwest, killing two people and injuring 39 others.

Separatists want to create an independent nation in the regions.

Source: Xinhuanet

A military gunboat belonging to the Rapid d’intervention Battalions, BIR, have capsized at Idabato high sea during an exchange of gunfire between government forces and the Black Marine. No casualties yet as at the time of this report.

One student and a police officer were injured on Tuesday after Ambazonia fighters attacked a school in Bamenda the chief city in the Northwest, according to local and security sources.

Amba fighters opened fire in front of the school where students were sitting for a public exam, a local security source said.

“A police officer was shot in the leg and another student was also shot. Students were dispelled. Our brave soldiers are pursuing the terrorists,” the Biya regime source said.  The injured student and police officer have been sent to a hospital for treatment.

Separatist fighters in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest frequently kidnap teachers and students. In 2019, they abducted 170 students and their teacher in Kumbo locality of Northwest region.

Since 2017, government forces and separatist fighters have been clashing with each other in the two regions where the separatists want to create an independent nation.

By Queen Besumbu Agbaw

At least two persons were killed late Saturday when a makeshift bomb exploded in a crowded bar in Bamenda, according to local and security sources.

An army official said that the improvised explosive device detonated in a neighborhood just meters away from a police station.

“People were gathered to watch an important final match when the explosion occurred. The perpetrators of this terrorist act will be pursued and punished according to our laws,” the official, who requested anonymity, said.

Several people were injured, and the death toll could rise, the official said, adding that security forces often frequented the bar.

Although it remains unclear who planted the explosive device, local authorities have attributed the attack to separatist fighters active in the region since 2017. The separatists aim to establish an independent nation in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest.

By Fon Lawrence with files

Gunmen suspected to be separatists on Monday shot dead three officials, including a mayor, in Cameroon’s war-torn English-speaking region of Northwest, according to the army and officials.

Innocent Ngong — mayor of Belo council, one of his deputies, as well as Aaron Aghi Ngong — chief of basic education in Belo subdivision were ambushed and killed on their way to attend Cameroon’s National Day celebration in the subdivision, the region’s governor Adolphe Lele L’Afrique said.

“Measures have been taken to trace the authors of that killing and we will be informed on all the development concerning that situation,” L’Afrique told reporters in Bamenda, chief town of the region.

Cameroon celebrated the 52nd National Day on Monday but separatist fighters in the country’s Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest imposed lockdown to disrupt celebrations.

The regions have been ravaged by a prolonged armed separatist conflict after separatists declared the “independence” of the regions in 2017.

Source: Xinhuanet

Cameroon marked on Monday the 52nd anniversary of its National Day with military and civilian parades nationwide.

In the capital Yaounde, Cameroonian President Paul Biya presided over the celebration that saw hundreds of soldiers and civilians march past in front of national and international dignitaries.

Marches took place in all the 10 regions of the country including war-torn Anglophone regions, where separatist fighters had imposed a lockdown to disrupt the celebrations.

May 20 is one of the most important days on the Cameroonian calendar. On this day in 1972, Cameroonians voted in a national referendum for a unitary state as opposed to a federal state which existed at the time. ■

Defense forces parade during the national day celebration in Yaounde, Cameroon, on May 20, 2024.

Defense forces parade during the national day celebration in Yaounde, Cameroon, on May 20, 2024.

Students parade during the national day celebration in Yaounde, Cameroon, on May 20, 2024.

Cameroonian President Paul Biya watches a civil parade during the national day celebration in Yaounde, Cameroon, on May 20, 2024. 

Culled from Xinhuanet