A journalist who has been held in Cameroon for ten months for “propagating false news” has started a hunger strike, a media trade union said Thursday.

Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) and local press unions regularly denounce what they say are arbitrary detentions of journalists critical of Cameroon President Paul Biya and his government.

Emmanuel Mbombog Mbog Matip, director of the Climat Social daily, “is on hunger strike” in a prison in the capital Yaoundé, said Alex Koko, head of the national journalists’ union Synajic.

RSF said another journalist, Paul Chouta, had been jailed for 23 months on Tuesday, but as that sentence was equal to the time he has already spent in detention he was released on Thursday.

The Cameroon authorities did not reply to an AFP request for comment late Thursday,

Cameroon sits a lowly 135th out of 180 nations in RSF’s press freedom index.

Source: AFP

There are strong indications of embezzlement against several Biya regime ministers in the context of the management of covid-19 funds.

A report that has just been made public by the Francophone dominated Audit Chamber of the Supreme Court listed 30 cases of mismanagement against the Ministers of Public Health and Scientific Research.

Minister Manaouda Malachie of Public Health is particularly indexed in the report as the supreme culprit. The Minister paid for 16 ambulances that were never delivered.

Another ruling CPDM party criminal cited in the report is Minister Madeleine Tchuenté of the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation.  The Institute of Medicinal Plants which depends on her ministerial department was authorized to produce five million tablets of both Hydroxy Chloroquine and Azitrhomycin.  Madam Madeleine Tchuenté and her gang decided to import these medicines from an Indian company known as “ZANEKA” and had them rebranded and repackaged as “Made in Cameroon”.

Minister Laurent Serge Etoundi Ngoa of Basic Education and Dr. Taiga in charge of the Ministry of Livestock and Animal Industries could not provide evidence or any documentation on their management of COVID-19 funds. 21 cabinet ministers are under investigation and 19 have so far gone through the Supreme Court audition.

The corruption crisis has already been dubbed “Covid Gate” and is it currently generating a lot of under-the-table talk. Cameroon Concord News understands several highly placed government officials have been questioned at the Special Criminal Court and according to a correspondent with our sister publication Cameroon Intelligence Report a wave of arrests has taken place at the Ministry of Public Health.

It is vital to include in this report that the IMF had ordered Cameroon to provide information on the management of funds allocated to combat the covid-19 pandemic.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

Unity Day activities in Cameroon were marred this week by clashes between separatists and government troops.  The violence left at least 16 people dead and 60 houses burned.

Local media reported that streets in Cameroon’s English-speaking towns and villages were deserted Thursday as the central African state celebrated its National Day, also known as Unity Day.

Meanwhile business activity went on as usual in French-speaking towns and villages.

Efang, also known as Big Number, calls himself the supreme general and commander of separatist fighters in the English-speaking North West and South West regions.

He said on social media that he asked fighters to make sure all English speakers remain at home as a sign of protest against National Day.

He says the English-speaking North West and South West regions no longer consider themselves part of the French-speaking majority state of Cameroon. He says English-speaking Cameroonians should not celebrate a national day imposed by the Yaounde government, which is using military might to deprive English speakers of their freedom.

Efang also said fighters and government troops clashed this week in the northwestern town of Kumbo and villages, including Buh, Takijah, Meluf, Oku and Ndop.

Genesis Tamu is a farmer in the village of Buh. He says villagers found six corpses after the military left Buh on Tuesday night. He spoke to VOA via WhatsApp.

Tamu says he saw Cameroon troops setting fire to houses in the northwestern village of Buh. He says when the troops left, villagers found out that 35 of their houses were torched and property, including mattresses, pigs and goats were looted.

Tamu said on Thursday morning, village elders were still searching for missing villagers, who may have either been killed or arrested by the military, or may have escaped to the bush for safety.

Catholic Church officials said about 60 houses were torched in Buh, Tadu and Oku, but did not say whether separatists or army troops were responsible.

The military said violence ahead of National Day resulted in the deaths of 16 people.

General Valere Nka, commander of government troops fighting rebels in the North West region, says the military remained professional during their raids on separatist camps.

“We cleared many camps. Our men in the field are observing the humanitarian law. Our men secure the vulnerable, the children and women,” said Nka. “We need their collaboration to succeed in this operation. We need to win hearts and minds.”

Nka said many suspected separatists were arrested and are helping in investigations.

Philemon Yang is Cameroon’s immediate past prime minister and remains a close ally of President Paul Biya.

He says fighters should drop their guns and rejoice that the government has done much to attend to the needs of disgruntled English speakers. 

He says the government is in a permanent dialogue to make all Cameroonians feel comfortable and proud of their nation. He says the government of Cameroon after a 2019 national dialogue, granted a special status with more autonomy to Cameroon’s troubled English-speaking regions. He says every Cameroonian should know that there is no state in the world without problem. He says Cameroonians should stop all attempts to destabilize their country.

Separatists have rejected the special status and promised to make the English-speaking regions ungovernable until they are granted their independence.

Source: VOA

Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute survived an attack by gunmen who shot at his convoy at the entrance to Muea town on Thursday, CRTV, the official French Cameroun state news agency reported.

Dion Ngute was not hurt, but some members were wounded when Ambazonia Restoration Forces fired at his vehicles in the Fako constituency, according to Cameroon government security sources in Buea. A shootout reportedly ensued between the Amba fighters in Muea and elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) and police officers protecting the CPDM official. The Ambazonian Self Defense troops eventually fled.

Also unharmed were some pro French Cameroun Biya acolytes, who had accompanied Chief Dr Dion Ngute and other government officials who travelled to the South West to give the impression that the Francophone dominated regime in Yaoundé is winning the war in Southern Cameroons. No group in the now Federal Republic of Ambazonia has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Violence has surged in the beleaguered oil-rich Southern Cameroons. The mineral-rich but poverty-stricken territory has been unstable since the 88-year-old President Biya declared war against the English speaking peoples of Southern Cameroons.

Thousands of people have died since the war erupted four years ago and more than a quarter of the population has fled their homes. Of these, 75,000 are refugees in neighbouring Nigeria.

Even though bloodshed has reportedly receded in intensity over the last few months, violence remains chronic. Ambazonia groups hold sway over nearly all of the Southern Cameroons rural territories.

At the time of filing this report, huge flames were reported at GBHS Muea, just after the ferocious gunshots targeting the prime minister.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files

The leader and manager of an eight-man conspiracy has been ordered to federal prison for his role in a scheme to steal over $726,000 from a South Korean company, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.

Frankline Bate Okpu, 35, is a legal permanent resident of Houston and pleaded guilty Jan. 25.

Today, U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes ordered him to serve 36 months in prison. He was also ordered to pay $350,938 in restitution. Not a U.S. citizen, he may face removal proceedings following his prison term.

Okpu had orchestrated a scheme to steal money from Daesang Corporation, a producer of consumer foods based in Seoul, South Korea.

In the summer of 2017, Daesang sought to import frozen pork and chicken products from the United States for the upcoming Moon festival in South Korea. They contacted Trinity Food – a company who had held itself out to be a legitimate supplier of frozen food products.

Daesang communicated with Trinity via e-mail and whatsapp, ultimately entering into a contract with them. Daesang wired $726,000 into an account at a Bank of America in Houston that belonged to Okpu. Between September and December 2017, Okpu and his co-conspirators transferred the money to other accounts and converted it for their own use.

Okpu recruited others to set up bank accounts and cash checks at various banks in Houston; Miami, Florida; and Los Angeles, California, for a share in the stolen money.

Daesang never received the product they paid for and sought help from U.S. authorities.

Previously released on bond, Okpu was taken into custody following the sentencing today where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Seven others have pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme. A final man – Pascal Ayuk Ayuketta, 39, a citizen of Cameroon, is a fugitive and a warrant remains outstanding for his arrest. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact the nearest U.S. Marshal’s office at 1-877-WANTED-2 or through the web.

The FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Gallagher prosecuted the case.

Source: Justice.gov

Sally Mboumien constantly hears the heartbreaking stories of rape, sexual assault, and defilement. “The story usually goes like this: You either come at a police checkpoint, and the officer asks you to provide your identification, all this time he would be eyeing the young lady to satisfy his sexual exploits,” Mboumien said.

The founder of Common Action for Gender Development (COMAGEND), said the officer would then hold off the identity papers and wait until everyone has left. Then accuse the lady of committing a crime before asking her for sexual favor or to date him so she can go scot-free. “At least one in three girls experience this in Northwest and Southwest Cameroon,” she said, adding that the police officers usually defend themselves by saying it was consensual, which in most cases isn’t.

There have been nearly 500 recorded rape and sexual assault incidents in the first quarter of this year alone. In 2020, the UN reported 4,300 related cases.

“Sexual violence is growing in such large proportions that we fear for the future,” Omam Esther, Executive Director of Reach Out Cameroon, a non-governmental organization, told DW. “We don’t know what may happen the next day. This conflict has aggravated the phenomenon of sexual violence, where people take advantage of the most vulnerable in our communities to the most, especially the girls and women.”

Both the government soldiers and separatist fighters are accused of commiting sexual violence

Call to ‘stop the flow of blood’

Several women in the restive region, who wished to remain anonymous, said the violence had reached a dangerous level. “It’s painful when I look at it. They have killed my brother, but what can I do than to beg for peace,” one woman said.

Another woman lamented the endless bloodletting: “We don’t sleep. There are incessant killings every day. We want an end to hostilities. We want that they should put down the guns, stop the flow of blood.”

According to the UN, the Anglophone crisis has claimed more than 3,500 lives. Over one million have fled their homes. Many of them are women and children who are victims of sexual and gender-based violence.

“The question is, are the victims ready to talk?” Mboumien pondered.

“When you have a few who want to tell their story, at some point, they are threatened. Remember, most of these crimes are perpetrated by those in uniforms or fighters who have the guns.”

Hunger strike to raise awareness

Meanwhile, at least one thousand women embarked on a hunger strike this week to draw global attention to the conflict. The women are pressing US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to step in and help restore peace in the troubled country.

The hunger-striking women are urging French President Emmanuel Macron to intervene

“I have not eaten for seven days. I am very weak, hungry, devastated, dehydrated. As I am speaking, I have a severe headache,” one of the women on hunger strike told DW.

Harsh as it may be, the women say they will continue starving until world leaders find reasonable solutions to the crisis. “We are not backing out now. We are not backing down. We will continue the hunger strike,” Frida Baye Ebai, the coordinator of the strike, said. “We call on other sisters to join us. It’s a personal commitment. We are not forcing anyone,” Ebai told DW.

She said the women’s identity would remain a secret for fear of reprisals either from government troops or the separatists.

“I have lost children because of this crisis. I have lost nephews. We are

the ones who feel the pains of childbirth,” one striking woman said, adding that they are the ones who feel the pain of children growing up without a parent. “That’s why we are taking this firm commitment to go on this hunger strike.”

No let up in violence

Fighting has reached alarming levels in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions. The recent attack took place in the locality of Galim in the neighboring French-speaking West region, with separatists carrying out a daring raid on a military outpost. The fighting left 12 separatists and four soldiers dead.

Awa Fonka Augustine, governor of the West region, said the government was very concerned by the escalation. “The head of state [President Paul Biya] has stretched an olive branch and has requested for dialogue. Why do we continue killing ourselves in this manner? It is really regrettable, and it’s an act to condemn.”

The Anglophone crisis in its fifth year, started out a protest against marginalization

The Biden administration has already signaled a readiness to act, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying it was time for the US to act decisively on Cameroon’s crisis.

The conflict began when teachers and lawyers in the Anglophone region took to the streets on October 6, 2016. They were protesting alleged government efforts to assimilate the two Anglophone regions’ legal and educational systems into the French system. The government retaliated by using lethal force. Consequently, an armed separatist movement that has since splintered into different factions emerged.

Culled from Deutchwelle

The tug of war between Prime Minister Dion Ngute and Justice Minister Laurent Esso took a very disturbing dimension yesterday in Douala, the economic capital which is Minister Laurent Esso’s constituency.

The so-called premier was in Douala with the CPDM begging bowl to meet the business community but failed to observe proper protocol. The Southern Cameroonian who moonlights as prime minister and head of government arrived Douala with his own seat, red carpet, food and drinking water.

Pro Minister Esso French Cameroun media houses accused Chief Dr Dion Ngute of hating the Sawa people and by extrapolation Minister Laurent Esso as he reportedly refused to attend a CPDM Littoral close door meeting and also turned down Douala police protection during the visit.

Dion Ngute was in Douala yesterday for a number of engagements including one with the business community known as GICAM.

A senior official at the Littoral Governor’s Office told Cameroon Concord News that it was deeply regrettable that the crisis in Southern Cameroons is now tearing the ruling CPDM party apart.

In a personal attack on the Southern Cameroons pro French Cameroun political elite, a Laurent Esso aide boasted that the prime minister will soon be arrested and he will be forced to show respect for Minister Esso.

The Star Building declined to comment on the happenings in Douala.

By Fon Lawrence in Douala