A former American diplomat Herman Jay Cohen has called on President Biya to step down. Ambassador Cohen made public his position via a tweet message dated 22 September 2020 in which he advised the Cameroonian dictator to emulate the example of his Algerian counterpart, Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The much respected former US diplomat was reacting to opposition protest that took place in several major cities in French Cameroon. Cohen bluntly told President Biya to step down for the sake of his people, tightening international pressure on Yaounde while the wider world condemned Biya’s violent crackdown on protests on Tuesday.

 “Popular anti-government protests have spread from the English-speaking west of #Cameroon to the streets of the capital Yaoundé. President Biya should follow the example set by former President Bouteflika of Algeria and retire with the dignity and esteem of old age,” the former US Under Secretary of State for African Affairs wrote.

For several months now, Ambassador Cohen has been interested in the socio-political situation in Cameroon, especially the Southern Cameroons crisis. He has consistently called on the Cameroonian government to organize frank and inclusive dialogue with the jailed leaders of the Southern Cameroons Interim in order to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.

By Fon Lawrence

Scores of people prevented from participating in the French Cameroun protest in the cities of Douala and Yaounde have vanished and remain unaccounted for; a senior official of the MRC party of Prof Maurice Kamto who sued for anonymity hinted Cameroon Intelligence Report late on Tuesday.

Many MRC party officials have reportedly fled to neighbouring Equatorial Guinea and Gabon in fear for their own safety. CIR understands the Maurice Kamto supporters were made to disappear by the regime of 87 year old Paul Biya who is still clinging to power despite continuing widespread crisis in Southern Cameroons and Boko Haram attacks in the Far North.

A Roman Catholic priest who spoke to our Douala correspondent at the time of filing this report observed that those made to disappear after Tuesday’s protest shall face a similar situation like the Southern Cameroons prisoners of conscience and will be in jail without any court and they will be held there simply for their desire to live in a free country.

“During the demonstrations,” he said in clear English, “we still do not know the where about of 20 of our militants who were at the residence of our National Chairman Prof Maurice Kamto in Yaounde. The international community should understand that Cameroonians will not accept Biya anymore” — the MRC leader added.

“Everybody has seen all the killings and violence that Paul Biya and his gang have committed in Southern Cameroons and not one fact finding mission was organized to investigate this by the UN or the African Union” he furthered.

The MRC official spoke to CIR hours after thousands of French speaking Cameroonians took to the streets in Douala and Yaounde after the regime deployed large contingents of troops and police, and cordoned off key buildings, including the residence of Prof Maurice Kamto.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

Cameroon is bleeding. The people are exasperated and exhausted. The dictatorial, increasingly repressive regime of Paul Biya — one of the longest-ruling leaders in all of Africa — seems not to care about this predicament. Daily, the situation in our beleaguered country grows worse. Cameroon is adrift and crumbling, like a ship without a captain, sailing listlessly amid the ever-cascading waves that collectively batter us.

It is for these reasons that this week — the third anniversary of the outbreak of mass violence in our Anglophone regions — Cameroonians will take to the streets to once again chase our destiny by means of peaceful demonstrations. As a collective voice for change and reform, Cameroonians will again demand that Biya and his corrupt ruling cabal step down from the offices they no longer respect or deserve.

The people believe that demanding political change in Cameroon is the ultimate act of sacrifice and patriotism. They are prioritising the future of our country, something that the ruling regime has failed to do for several decades.

For Cameroon to meet the long-subdued aspirations of its people, a bold reform agenda must be advanced; a viable path for change, regardless of the present dangers. The situation demands leadership and it is evident that the regime is unwilling or unable to exercise the necessary courage.

As Cameroonians prepare for peaceful protests, they are concerned about the potential for state violence. In the past, our placards and chants have been met with gunfire, beatings, burnt villages, torture and extrajudicial executions, as well as rape as a weapon of war against our female colleagues.

The freedom to demonstrate and free speech are protected by Cameroon’s Constitution — and duly recognised in regional and international conventions to which our country is part of — yet these basic rights are not respected in practice. My patriotic colleagues and like-minded Cameroonian citizens are law-abiding people who reject all forms of violence. Cameroonians will maintain this stance regardless of the atrocities committed against us. But our plight and demands need to be heard by the international community. Too often, and for too long, our cries for freedom have been met with silence. 

The awakening of the Cameroonian spirit, and our peoples’ reclamation of its freedom, are not very different from similar battles that were fought elsewhere such as the apartheid regime in South Africa and in segregationist America. Nor is it dissimilar from the pro-democracy struggles against dictatorships that once stood and still stand in parts of Latin America, Eastern Europe and across the African continent.

No banning or outlawing of any movement has ever prevented a committed people from demanding or attaining their freedom. This is especially so in a context, like Cameroon, where avenues for political change have been systematically nullified through shambolic elections and equally sham persecutions of regime critics.

Today in Cameroon, the nexus between the unending civil war in our Anglophone regions and the imperative of new leadership in our capital city is clear. The Anglophone crisis is part of a deeper cancer in metastasis. The humanitarian disaster is a symptom, a horrific one, of a deeper problem of governance. And until that deeper problem is addressed by Cameroonians and international allies, then the longer the Anglophone crisis will linger. It will simmer and it will continue to kill.

Because I have encouraged people to exercise their democratic rights, I know I may be targeted and arrested by authorities, *as has become the norm.  Now, more than ever, the people must speak up against injustice.

But the people of Cameroon need international support. Their struggle needs the attention that a humanitarian crisis of this magnitude deserves. As of this writing, for example, the United Nations conservatively estimates that the ongoing conflicts in our country have killed more than 3 000 people and displaced nearly 700 000 more in the Anglophone regions — this represents about 20% of Cameroon’s total population.

The situation facing our country is dire, but it is not beyond repair. Our people understand that the time to act is now. It is incumbent upon them to both exercise their rights peacefully and to demand change, fearlessly and with bold conviction. Only with change at the top can they, as concerned citizens, begin to heal our country’s deep scars and once again place faith in their future as a united people. Inspired by the words of the great Nelson Mandela, our people are saying: “Never again shall it be that our beautiful land of Cameroon will again experience the oppression of one by another. Let freedom reign. And God bless Cameroon.”

Source: Mail/Guardian

Soldiers have been deployed onto the streets of Cameroon ahead of protests planned for Tuesday which call for President Paul Biya to resign amid escalating ethnic tensions.

Those planning to take part in the demonstrations, called by opposition leader Maurice Kamto, have been threatened with “life imprisonment” after government figures accused him of insurrection.

His Cameroon Resistance Movement has called for peaceful protests to demand Mr Biya’s resignation and that regional elections in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon be reformed to include marginalised communities.

Some 17 per cent of Cameroon’s population of 17 million live in the two Anglophone regions.

The military mobilisation comes as the government fears that demonstrations could spark severe public disorder as tensions continue to rise.

At least 3,000 have been killed and 730,000 people internally displaced in clashes with the security services over the past four years.

In June, the Norwegian Refugee Council said for a second year running that Cameroon topped the list as the most neglected crisis on the planet.

Opposition figures claim that scores have been arrested ahead of Tuesday’s protests.

According to eyewitnesses, men in military fatigues detained at least eight motorcycle-taxi drivers who were reading opposition newspapers.

Government minister Paul Atanga Nji said: “I want to sound a stern warning to unscrupulous politicians looking for cheap popularity with a hidden agenda that they will face the law in case of any public disorder.”

But Mr Kamto, who claims that the 2018 presidential election won by Mr Biya was rigged, insisted the protests would go ahead despite state oppression.

“Our fight against the dictatorship is heading towards its critical phase. Despite the essentially peaceful nature of our struggle for the freedom and development of our country, the regime once again resorts to terror and judicial barbarism,” he said.

“As I have said repeatedly, we want to get out of the dictatorship.”

Source: Morning Star Online

Four Cameroonian soldiers received 10-year prison sentences on Monday for the killing of two women and two children in an incident that sparked international outcry, their lawyers said.

They and three other soldiers were arrested after a video surfaced on social media in July 2018 showing uniformed men levelling rifles and firing at the victims, one of whom had a baby strapped to her back.

The video was one of several to emerge in recent years of alleged atrocities by Cameroonian forces during operations against Islamist Boko Haram militants in the north and Anglophone separatists in the west.

The trial started in January and has been conducted behind closed doors. On Monday, the court found three of the soldiers guilty of murder, while their commander Etienne Fabassou was found guilty of complicity in murder, according to his lawyer Sylvestre Mbeng.

All four were given ten years.

Another soldier received a two-year sentence for violating orders, while two others were found not guilty on all counts and released, Mbeng told Reuters.

Under Cameroonian law, some of the defendants could have faced the death penalty, although Cameroon has not executed anyone since 1997.

Mbeng said Fabassou would likely appeal the verdict as witnesses gave contradictory accounts of whether he gave the order to shoot.

Government and army officials initially dismissed the video as “fake news”.

But the soldiers’ eventual arrest and prosecution were welcomed by activists, including Amnesty International, who accuse government soldiers of repeatedly engaging in torture and extra-judicial killings in the far north.

The government denies systematic abuses.

“All victims of human rights violations perpetrated by Cameroonian security forces in the fight against Boko Haram deserve fair justice granted by ordinary courts,” said Amnesty’s regional director Samira Daoud in response to the ruling.

(REUTERS)

EVENT

The 15 September 2020 declaration by the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC) calling for an anti-government protest, nationwide, on Tuesday, 22 September 2020 is an internal regime-change struggle by the citizens of La Republique du Cameroun (LRC).

It detracts from the core aims of Ambazonia war of independence. However, 22 September is a significant national day in the historical evolution of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. On 22 September 2017, under the then Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Governing Council (SCAGC), headed by His Excellency Sissiku Julius Ayuk-Tabe, Ambazonians worldwide demonstrated their collective will for self determination.

 On that day, more than four-million armless and peaceful Ambazonians marched on the streets. They protested at chiefs’ palaces and colonial administrative offices within Ambazonia. Worldwide, over 2 million diaspora-based Ambazonians gathered in front of foreign missions and multilateral organizations including the United Nations Headquarters in New York, European Union in Brussels, and African Union in Addis Ababa.

Notably, on 22 September 2017, Ambazonians sent a clear and unmistaken message to the international community expressing their collective will and determination of freedom from illegal occupation and to become an independent sovereign state.

Consistent with the collective and unanimous will of the people of Ambazonia, His Excellency Sissiku Julius Ayuk-Tabe declared an independent state of Ambazonia on 1 October 2017. Our war of independence is the struggle of our lifetime. It aims to break the chains of slavery in our homeland and remains our collective responsibility and heritage to bequeath a free and sovereign Ambazonia state to our children and future generations. We must focus on our fight for freedom and stay true to our commitment without missing our goal.

ADVICE

Given the significance of 22 September in the independence struggle of Ambazonia and taking into consideration the current war environment, Ambazonians at home and in LRC are advised to:

⎯ Follow all guideline and order issues by Restoration Forces.

⎯ Ignore all instructions and orders issued by LRC administrators and government

officers.

⎯ Avoid all call for protest or demonstrations NOT called by Restoration Forces and

Ambazonia movements

⎯ Remain alert and vigilant at all times to stay safe.

⎯ Support and cooperate with our RF in our fight for freedom.

⎯ Stay home on 22 September 2020 as much as possible.

⎯ Celebrate 22 September 2020 only where RF approve and guarantee to provide security.

Long Live Ambazonia

ERIC O. EYOR

CHAIRPERSON, ASDP

A French Cameroun police officer deployed to Bamenda was shot dead on Saturday, September 19, 2020. Our correspondent in Bamenda reported that a police patrol was ambushed by Ambazonia Restoration Forces on Saturday afternoon at Mile 10. Two other Francophone police officials were injured in the ambush.

On 1 September 2020, another French Cameroun police officer was killed at Town Chemist, another bustling area in the city of Bamenda.

The war in Southern Cameroons that started following directives from the 87 year dictator in Yaoundé on October 2016 has prompted Southern Cameroonians to form self defense groups all over the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

The Francophone dominated army recently launched the so-called “Bamenda Clean” Operation that instead helped in pushing many young men and women to join the Southern Cameroons Liberation Force.

According to the Ambazonia Interim Government, the war in Southern Cameroons has already resulted in at least 35,000 deaths and forced more than 700,000 people to flee their homeland.

By Fon Lawrence

All military personnel have been put on alert in Cameroon for four days starting Monday, over fears the Tuesday protests could cause severe public disorder.

Members of the government have been quick to criticise the call for protests made by opposition leader Maurice Kamto, labelling his movement as an insurrection, forbidding all demonstrations, menacing any protestors with “life imprisonment” should they answer Kamto’s call on Tuesday.

Maurice Kamto, leader of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement has been calling for peaceful protests, demanding that President Paul Biya step down, and that regional elections in the anglophone regions be reformed, so to include the marganilised communities.

Since 2017, Security forces have been violently repressing activists demanding the Independance of the Anglophone regions. Instability, that has forced Half a million people from their homes.

Source: AFP

A statement from the Ambazonia Interim Government says Ground Zero-based resistance groups are fully prepared to respond to any act of provocation by French Cameroun electoral officers, warning that there are no red lines in dealing with enablers.

In the press release that was made public late on Saturday and signed by Vice President Dabney Yerima, the Southern Cameroons Interim Government said “soon and very soon, Ambazonia Restoration Forces will be targeting the French Cameroun military with resistance rockets.”

“There are no red lines in Ambazonian actions taken against the French Cameroun occupying electoral officers and the military” the statement noted.

Yerima called on Southern Cameroons frontline leaders to formulate a unified resistance program in the face of the continuous French Cameroun occupation and to bear in mind that peace with French Cameroun is an illusion.

Yerima furthered that Southern Cameroonians in Ground Zero have fought alone from the beginning till now and deserve unflinching material, financial and moral support from the diaspora.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Hundreds of French speaking Cameroonians in the diaspora have responded to calls from the main opposition leader Prof Maurice Kamto to express their rejection of the 87 year old President Biya.

Huge demonstrations were staged yesterday Saturday 19 September 2020, in Europe and America calling for the resignation of the National Chairman of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate.

The largest of all the demonstrations was recorded in the French capital of Paris and led by Wilfried Claude Ekanga of the MRC party.

Similar atmosphere was also witnessed on the streets of Milan (Italy), Berlin (Germany), Washington DC and Ottawa in Canada where French Cameroonians displayed banners calling on their Head of State to step down.

These rallies are being held under the direct supervision of Maurice Kamto who recently urged French speaking Cameroonians to take to the streets to put an end to the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime that has been in power for 38 years.

Cameroon Concord News Group understands similar demonstrations are planned in La Republique du Cameroun on 22 September 2020.

The German and the US embassies in Yaoundé have both painted Tuesday the 22^nd as high-risk day, since the authorities have already threatened to call on the security forces to prevent the said gatherings.

By Chi Prudence Asong