Cameroon held birthday celebrations across the country for President Paul Biya, who turned 89 on Sunday. Supporters wished Biya, who is Africa’s oldest and second longest-serving leader, a long life, while some opponents said it’s well past time for him to leave office.

The country’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Civic education said more than 2,500 young people turned out to celebrate at the sports complex.

Cameroon’s National Youth Council said it organized the birthday celebration in collaboration with the government of Cameroon.

Biya was not physically present at his Yaounde birthday celebration. His representative, Ferdinand Ngo Ngo, Secretary-General of Cameroon’s presidency said Biya is delighted that young Cameroonians love the president.

Ngo Ngo said other nations envy Cameroon because of Biya’s exceptional leadership qualities.

Similar activities were held in towns and villages throughout Cameroon.

The government said young people came out voluntarily to celebrate Biya’s birthday, but critics say they were paid $5 each to take part in the birthday event. During past election campaigns, critics also say Biya has used money to buy people’s votes.

Biya became president in 1982. He took over from Cameroon’s first president, Ahmadou Ahijo. Biya had served as prime minister since 1975.

He has won all multiparty elections since 1992, and the opposition has always complained of heavy election rigging by Biya.

In 2008, Biya abolished the constitution’s two-term limit.

Denis Nkemlemo, a spokesperson for the opposition Social Democratic Front, said Biya should leave power if he loves his people. Nkemlemo questioned Biya’s ability to lead as he is getting older.

“It beats everybody’s imagination. For 40 years somebody is president and nobody around him thinks that there can be a Cameroonian to take the relay baton,” Nkemlemo said. “This is somebody who is very old, who has not been able to physically attend many occasions that demand his presence because of his age and tiredness and all the other physical disabilities that go with age.”

The government says Biya is in excellent health. The last time Biya was seen in public was when he presided over an Africa Cup of Nations final game between Senegal and Egypt at Yaounde’s Olembe stadium. He spent close to 4 hours at the match and the closing ceremony of Africa’s top football event.

The 89-year-old Biya is Africa’s oldest president. He is the second-longest serving leader in Africa after his neighbor, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, of Equatorial Guinea. Obiang has been in power since 1979.

Source: VOA

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government, Comrade Dabney Yerima has issued a very serious warning to all Anglophone CPDM political elites against allying themselves with the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé.

“Any British Southern Cameroonian who thinks they will be victorious by allying themselves with the Biya French Cameroun regime is seriously wrong and their certain destiny will be defeat,” Dabney Yerima said on Monday.

Dion Ngute, Paul Tasong, Victor Mengot, Elung Paul Che and Paul Atanga Nji including several others passing for cabinet ministers in the Biya French Cameroun regime have been waging a war on Southern Cameroons for over five years now. The invasion has been seeking to keep the people of British Southern Cameroons under continued French Cameroun dominance and political control.

The war in Southern Cameroons, which has been enjoying unstinting arms, logistical, and political support on the part of the French administration headed by Emmanuel Macron, has killed thousands of Southern Cameroonians and turned the entire Southern Cameroons homeland into the scene of Africa’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The Ambazonia Interim Government has called Southern Cameroonians serving the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé as, “French government’s main instrument” in the war in Ambazonia, saying the 88-year-old Biya and his Francophone political elites have intensified their military campaign in Southern Cameroons on France’s orders.

The exiled Ambazonia leader, however, asserted that the French Cameroun aggressors would eventually suffer defeat and experience loss over the war.

“As long as the Ambazonia people are steadfast, the Federal Republic of Ambazonia will avoid defeat and be victorious,” Yerima noted.

Facing up to the French Cameroun military onslaught, Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards and other armed Southern Cameroons Self Defense Groups have vowed not to lay down their arms until the Federal Republic of Ambazonia is completely liberated from the scourge of the occupation.

By Chi Prudence Asong

The Southern Cameroons Interim Government has warned that La Republique du Cameroun’s never-ending military operations and the atrocities committed by Francophone army soldiers against the Ambazonian people will not go unpunished.

In a statement released on Sunday, Vice President Dabney Yerima, said burning down villages, forcing people to flee their homes, and killing young Southern Cameroons men will not go unanswered. He described the killings going on Southern Cameroons as a crime against humanity.

The Southern Cameroons exiled leader said the current French Cameroun policy would never achieve the so-called one and indivisible Cameroon, rather it is galvanizing the Ambazonia people’s resistance.

Elsewhere in the statement, Vice President Dabney Yerima condemned the attack on QRHS Okoyong in Manyu and saluted the brave Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards for standing up against the Biya French Cameroun aggression across the entire Southern Cameroons.

For over five years now, the Francophone dominated government in Yaoundé has been engaged in intensified military activities in Southern Cameroons and continued deployment of French speaking troops to several other areas in Southern Cameroons has led to further escalation.

The international community under strong French government influence has turned a blind eye to the crisis in Southern Cameroons and the Biya regime extensive use of lethal force and extrajudicial killing of English speaking Cameroonians. Violence by Francophone army soldiers against Southern Cameroonians and their property have become a daily occurrence throughout the entire Southern Cameroons territory.

By Isong Asu

The Lamido of Garoua who is also a very powerful political and traditional figure in the North region has been arrested and charged with murder.

His Majesty Ibrahim El Rachidine was charged by the police for the death of Ali Youssouf, a family relation to the Monarch reportedly killed inside the palace on January 31 2022.

A source at the Garoua police station hinted Cameroon Concord News that a total of 9 vigilante members providing security for the Lamido have also been arrested and have been arraigned before the Military Tribunal.

Our source said the Lamido’s men arrested were found with guns, axes and other items.

The CPDM government had from the very beginning ignored calls for a proper investigation into the murder of the outspoken young royal. But pressure came to bear from the local population and the media.

By Rita Akana

This week, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed a resolution introduced by Congressmember Karen Bass, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, condemning ongoing violence and human rights abuses stemming from Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis.

“The ongoing crisis and violence taking place in Cameroon at this very moment is something that deserves the attention of the world,” said Congresswoman Bass. “Since the first introduction of a similar resolution in 2019, the violence and unrest has continued. Both the government and armed groups must be held accountable for their role in the violation of fundamental human rights. This resolution we passed reaffirms that the United States continues to hold the Government of Cameroon responsible for upholding the rights of all citizens and also calls for all parties to immediately exercise restraint and ensure that protests are peaceful. It also urges the Secretary of State to hold individuals accountable for these human rights violations in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon. I urge my colleagues to join me in passing this important resolution when it comes up for a vote on the House Floor.”

“This bipartisan resolution condemns the terrible abuses perpetrated by the Government of Cameroon against the northwestern Anglophone population and simultaneously calls on those Anglophone groups that have responded to this abuse with violence of their own to seek dialogue and a peaceful resolution for their differences,” said Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), Ranking Member of the Africa, Global Health and Global Human Rights subcommittee. “Chairwoman Bass and I share a grave concern about the horrific human rights violations in Cameroon. In 2018, I chaired a hearing on the human rights abuses there, and her resolution today similarly brings attention to ongoing atrocities in the country. We will continue to press the government to respect the rights of English-speaking Cameroonians.”

“There’s a deep bond shared not only between the sister cities of La Crosse and Kumbo, but also between the whole of Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District and Cameroon,” said Congressman Ron Kind (R-WI). “The devastation that our Cameroonian friends are experiencing as a result of the ongoing violence is heartbreaking. In recent years, I’ve had the opportunity to visit and speak with officials on the ground, and I’m proud to see the House Committee on Foreign Affairs continue its important work to call for an inclusive dialogue to achieve peace by passing my and Chairwoman Bass’s bipartisan resolution.”

The resolution is calling on the Government of Cameroon and all armed groups to respect the human rights of all Cameroonian citizens, to end all violence, and to pursue a broad-based dialogue without preconditions to resolve the conflict in the Northwest and Southwest regions.

Culled from Bass.house.gov

The Attack on Queen of the Rosary High School (QRHS), Okoyong, Manyu

Fellow Ambazonians,

The Interim Government of Ambazonian is informing Southern Cameroonians that last night, 10thFebruary 2022, unidentified armed men raided Queen of the Rosary High School (QRHS), Okoyong, in Manyu County.

The assailants set fire on dormitories and administrative buildings while students were asleep. Ambazonia Intelligence Services have now confirmed that no student was killed, but some few sustained minor injuries. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the children put through this ordeal.

The Interim Government of Ambazonia condemns this cowardly act firmly and warns that it will take steps to disarm rogue gangs operating with impunity in Ambazonia. Our legitimate fight is against the invading army of La Republique du Cameroun, not against our student population.

Any attack on a school in Southern Cameroons is shameful, distasteful, outrageous, and unacceptable and the perpetrators of these sorts of crimes do not represent our cause and people.

Cooperation between our Ambazonian self-defense forces and local communities in Ground Zero is vital for our success. We must confront the dangerous enemy we all face with unity and purpose. This requires wisdom and self-restraint.

I take this opportunity to reiterate the position of your Interim Government that school campuses are no go areas for any Southern Cameroons group, be they Amba fighters.

Thank you

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

As Cameroonian journalist Amadou Vamoulké “celebrates” his 72nd birthday today in so-called “preventive” detention, in which he has now spent more than 2,000 days, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reiterates its appeal to the UN to do everything possible to obtain his release given his extremely fragile state of health and urgent need of treatment.

As well as spending his birthday like most days, in the main prison in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital, Vamoulké is also due to spend part of it at the Special Criminal Court (TCS) for his 99th appearance there since his arrest in July 2016. Because of the imminent threats to his health, RSF has referred the case to the urgent attention of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, nearly two years after an initial urgent appeal that went unanswered.

RSF has asked the Special Rapporteur to intervene as soon as possible in favour of an emergency evacuation for medical reasons, and has provided details of Vamoulké’s extreme vulnerability due to his age, his poor conditions of detention and the serious neurological illness diagnosed in September 2019. And RSF reminds the Special Rapporteur that, despite medical reports attesting that Vamoulké’s condition requires urgent and appropriate care that cannot be provided in Cameroon, he has repeatedly and deliberately been refused such care by the Cameroonian authorities.

“As Amadou Vamoulké spends another birthday in prison, we urge the UN to press the Cameroonian authorities to release him before it is too late,” said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF’s Africa desk. “The authorities continue to ignore repeated calls for this journalist’s release despite the extreme fragility of his state of health, his age and his imprisonment during a global pandemic. The rapid spread of Covid-19 in Cameroon’s overcrowded prisons and his status as a vulnerable person with regard to this virus expose him to the possibility of irreparable damage to his health and constitute grounds for his immediate release.”

Vamoulké has spent more than five and a half years in “provisional” detention since his arrest on 29 July 2016 on the basis of claims that he misspent government funds as director-general of the state radio and TV broadcaster CRTV. Despite nearly 100 hearings, all adjourned, prosecutors have been unable to produce any evidence or testimony to support these allegations.

RSF has taken many initiatives with both Cameroonian and international authorities with the aim of obtaining this journalist’s release. Following an RSF referral, his detention was deemed to be arbitrary by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in June 2020. In this decision, the Working Group also said he had been deliberately denied medical care and announced that it was submitting the case to the Special Rapporteur on the right to health because of the urgency of his medical situation. RSF had already contacted this Special Rapporteur in May 2020. However, despite these requests and the urgency of the situation, no response has so far been provided by the Special Rapporteur. Cameroon is ranked 135th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

Culled from RSF

It is no longer news to highlight that Cameroonian leaders are oppressive, and they rule not to bring prosperity and happiness to their people but to line their pockets and oppress their people.

The Southern Cameroons crisis, which has played out for more than five years and has consumed thousands of lives, is unquestionably the outcome of government policies and decisions designed to marginalize a section of the country’s population. 

Much infrastructure has been ruined during the fighting and confidence in the government is at its lowest.

Millions of Southern Cameroonians have lost faith in the government, and it is incumbent upon the government to rebuild that confidence, especially by reviewing the current political dispensation which leaves much to be desired.

It is the government’s responsibility to ensure that the conflict, which has killed thousands and ruined the economy of the two English-speaking regions of the country, is addressed. Its silence over the last five years seems to be deliberate and it is unfortunately not golden.

However, the government alone cannot bring about peace in Cameroon. It needs responsible and honesty parties for it to play its role. The Southern Cameroons revolution which started with a protest by lawyers and teachers seems to be bereft of honest and well-intentioned leaders.  

Over the last three years, those who lay claim to the leadership of a revolution which started in 2017, have clearly demonstrated their greed.

The unquestionable honesty and leadership demonstrated by people like Dr. Fontem Neba, Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor-Balla and Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe when the revolution was in its embryonic phase, has slowly but surely given way to incredible dishonesty. 

Today, the revolution is being considered as a milking cow by the leaders who spend most of their time fighting each other because they want to be in control of the resources placed at their disposal by the Southern Cameroonian Diaspora. 

But more dangerous is the ignorance that is playing out on Ground Zero. The rogues who pass off as fighters have shot the revolution in its leg.

Many Southern Cameroonians have carefully jumped ship because of the ignorance many of those who claim they are fighting to liberate the population are displaying. 

The rogues now kill for money. Kidnapping has become a lucrative business and this is sometimes fostered by the leaders leaving in the safety and comfort of the United States and other Western countries.

When a revolution is designed and implemented by illiterate criminals, it is doomed to failure.

These illiterate criminals are destroying anything in their path. Schools, hospitals, and government offices are all being burnt by people who do not even understand how development plays out. Who destroys his own infrastructure because he is angry with the government?

Today, the Queen of the Rosary Secondary School (QRC), Okoyong, Manyu, Division, one of Cameroon’s best girls’ schools, has been torched by these miscreants who clearly belong to a different epoch.

Their excuse is that the students were practicing to participate in Youth Day celebrations. If these so-called fighters were worth their salt, why could they not go to the grandstand to disrupt Youth Day activities? 

The Cameroon Concord News Group strongly condemns this irresponsibility, and it is urging QRC past students across the globe to organize a massive fundraising campaign which will make it possible to replace what has been destroyed by those “sons of Satan”.

The Cameroon Concord News Group pledges its support to OPSANs whenever they launch this fundraiser to rebuild the school. QRC has produced some of the brightest minds in Cameroon and it deserves our support. 

By Joachim Arrey in Canada and Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in the United Kingdom