8, February 2020
French Cameroun: Hundreds March for Transition, Protest Elections 0
Hundreds of people have marched in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, calling for the cancellation of Sunday’s local and parliamentary elections in favor of a transition ending long-serving president Paul Biya’s regime The protesters say only a transition will lay the foundation for democracy. The government has again insisted that the elections must be held Sunday.
These are the voices of at least 500 men, women and youths dressed in black, singing as they march through the streets of Cameroon’s capital Yaounde Friday. They sang that Cameroon needs a political transition to end President Paul Biya’s 38 years in power, not the local and parliamentary elections the government is organizing on Sunday.
Fifty-eight political parties including the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement some old opposition political parties, such as the Social Democratic Front, Cameroonian Democratic Union, Movement for the Defense of the Republic and the National Union for Democracy and Progress are taking part in both elections are. All of them say they are going into Parliament to enact laws that can solve the crisis Cameroon is facing.
Among the leaders of the protest is Kah Walla, president of the Cameroon Peoples Party and former presidential candidate. She says Biya’s dictatorial regime has rigged the system and can never be ousted in an election.
Kah Walla says she is certain that if the elections take place, Biya’s Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement party will still have a majority that is loyal to the long-serving leader.
“We are not going to have a parliament that would be able to do any better than the outgoing parliament has done nor mayors who will be able to do any better,” Walla said. “Yes to political transition. We need an end to this regime, we need reforms of institutions including the electoral system and then we can talk about elections.”
Kah Walla said she was calling on all Cameroonians to join protests for a transition because it was unfortunate that since Biya became president of Cameroon 38 years ago, he has been deaf to calls for electoral reforms the opposition has been clamoring for.
The protests were organized by Stand Up For Cameroon, a movement launched by five opposition political parties, including Union of Cameroon People-Manidem and the Cameroon Renaissance Movement of Maurice Kamto, who claims he won the October 2018 presidential election and that his victory was stolen by Biya.
Stand Up for Cameroon says its objective is to create for a genuine political transition in Cameroon.
Minister of Communication and government spokesperson Rene Emmanuel Sadi says Biya enjoys legitimacy after a landslide victory, with 71% of the vote in the 2018 presidential poll, with Maurice Kamto in a distant second with 14%.
Sadi says the elections must take place as planned and that any person who wants to disrupt it will be arrested.
“It is suprising that some leaders of political parties are today putting forth various considerations either to boycott the elections or to simply demand their postponement,” Sadi said. “A vast majority of Cameroonians are also legitimately and impatiently aspiring to take part in the twin elections whose importance is secret to no one.”
None of the protesters were arrested in the march that apparently suprised the government and the police. Opposition parties have always complained of widespread irregularities, insecurity and low turnout in Cameroon’s elections.
They say Biya who has been in power for over 40 years, seven as prime minister and 38 as president, uses his party’s parliamentary majority to rule Cameroon with a iron fist.
Separatist fighters have also vowed that the elections will not take place in the English-speaking regions, and imposed a travel ban in the Northwest and Southwest regions. Civilians are fleeing the English-speaking regions, where there have been battles between the military and rebels. The civilians say they do not believe the government will be able to protect them.
Cameroon says polls will be opened on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Vote counting starts immediately afterward.
Source: VOA
8, February 2020
Maurice Kamto avoids meeting Ambazonians in Canada 0
Reports reaching Cameroon Concord News Group indicate that Prof. Maurice Kamto who is on a tour of Europe and North America, has avoided meeting Ambazonians in the city of Toronto in Canada.
The winner of the 2018 presidential election in Cameroon had said he would meet with separatists if he became the president of Cameroon.
But his actions in Toronto, Canada, have clearly indicated that he is simply paying lip service to the idea of meeting with Southern Cameroonians with a view to gaining a better understanding of their perspective.
Kamto, who was jailed for 8 months in Yaoundé for holding that he was the rightful winner of the 2018 poll, had made many public statements that it would be better to understand Ambazonians although in his view, secession was not an option.
His action in Toronto equates him to Paul Biya, the country’s contested president, who holds that he will never sit and talk with secessionists.
Because of this action in Toronto, Ambazonians have decided to withdraw their support of Kamto, a man they thought could be an ally in the peaceful resolution of the crisis that is tearing the country apart, a source in Toronto said.
“Kamto, like most Francophones, can never be trusted. He has proven in Toronto that we should never trust him,” an angry Ambazonian in Toronto said.
“We will be severing all our ties with his party and we urge all Southern Cameroonians to dissociate themselves from this man who seems to be selling illusions,” the Ambazonian who elected anonymity said.
Kamto, who is scheduled to go to the United States, will surely not be welcomed by Southern Cameroonians who now know that he cannot be trusted.
“We have already raised the issue with our fellow Ambazonian citizens in the United States and many have already declared him persona non grata. He cannot be trusted and we won’t encourage any of our leaders in the United States to meet with him,” the frustrated Ambazonian stressed.
Prof. Kamto, who is accompanied by several of his party officials, has stirred a hornet’s nest and he will surely be facing huge challenges in the United States where more than a million Ambazonians live.
“He has a choice. He can clean up the mess he has created. He should get in touch with Ambazonian leaders in the USA to schedule a meeting with them if he wants to remain a national figure,” he stressed.
“If he does not take corrective action, then he would have clearly demonstrated that his party is a regional party made up of Bamilekes,” he concluded.
Prof. Kamto should have understood that Toronto, Canada’s largest city, is home to thousands of Ambazonians and much of the money that is flowing to the two English-speaking regions of the country to fund the war comes from the Greater Toronto Area.
Many Ambazonians are based in Brampton, Mississauga, Ajax and Oakville and they are making significant financial efforts to ensure that Ambazonia becomes independent. They have been victims of marginalization and they hold that a divorce from Yaoundé will be the best option.
“Kamto and his people will have to talk with us. We are private sector operators and our money will keep on causing sleepless nights to whoever is at the Unity Palace in Yaoundé. We have the potential to sow chaos in Cameroon and avoiding us only makes it hard for whoever is running the country. Kamto must address this very fast before he goes down in our estimation,” an upset Ambazonian said.
By Joachim Arrey in Toronto