The French Cameroun governor of the Northern Zone of Southern Cameroons said on August 5 2020 that Yaoundé has suspended the salaries of one hundred Southern Cameroons civil servants in his area of jurisdiction. Mr. Adolphe Lele Lafrique Tchoffo made the revelation during a meeting to evaluate the security situation in Bamenda, the chief city in the Northern Zone.

Speaking in French, the French Cameroun administrative officer noted that those affected by the decision were workers who have abandoned the place of work. The governor added that the administration took the decision to force “deserters” to return to service.

Since the outbreak of the crisis in Southern Cameroons nearly four years ago, several public servants have deserted their positions because of insecurity. Some of them have often been kidnapped and others killed by soldiers loyal to the regime in Yaounde or armed militia backed by the Cameroon government military.

Ambazonia Restoration Forces have also committed crimes including the murder of the sub-prefect of Batibo, Diteng Namata, who was kidnapped on February 11, 2018 and executed some days later.

By Fon Lawrence in Bamenda

The NIS Border Patrol Officers at Yala Border Patrol base in Cross River State arrested a Camerounian while carrying out routine check to forestall Irregular migration across the border in view of the closure of borders by the Federal Government to curb further spread of Covid-19.

 While briefing the Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service Muhammad Babandede MFR, the Comptroller of Cross River Command Okey Ezugwu, stated that the Camerounian by name Kouaha Dieudonne, Male, 42yrs old was apprehended with multiple passports of different countries which are not his own, two(2) passports a Camerounian and Guinea-Bissau passports bearing his name and other five(5) Nigerian passports belonging to other persons were found in his possession.

 The Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service Muhammad Babandede MFR has ordered for thorough investigation and report on the arrest, while commending the Comptroller of the Cross River Command and the Officers at Yala Border Patrol for a job welldone and display of professionalism, shunning inducement to effect the arrest. The arrested migrant will be prosecuted after necessary charges are established for his prosecution in line with Immigration law.

Source: prnigeria.com

On Friday 7 August, a humanitarian aid worker was murdered in the North West Region of Cameroon after reportedly being abducted from his home. He was working for a local humanitarian organisation providing food assistance for affected and displaced persons.

This incident followed the killing of a MSF community volunteer in the South West region of Cameroon in early July. In the crisis-affected North West South West Regions of Cameroon, over 680,000 internally displaced persons are in need of emergency assistance.

The President of the Ossing Community in the United Kingdom (ODCA-UK) has told Cameroon Concord News Group that the Elders and Kingmakers of the Chiefdom of Ossing have demonstrated integrity, honesty and sound judgment in the enthronement of Sessekou Prof Teddy Ako as the new traditional ruler of Ossing village in Manyu.

Mrs Evelyn Eyong who is leading one of the fastest growing cultural groups in the United Kingdom was cheerful and grinning with hope and expectation for her village. She said “Chief Teddy Ako is soft -spoken, extremely intelligent and knows the village inside-out”.

Chief Prof Teddy Ako who belongs to a small group of genuine Manyu academics has worked in various roles at Universities in Cameroun. He succeeds late General James Tataw who travelled to the land of his ancestors in July 2019.

The Chief Teddy Ako comes in as a senior Sessekou in his village and the natural successor from the Boh Ako clan of Ebarensi quarters where the Chieftaincy Stool now resides.

Mrs Evelyn Eyong said “at a time when many Manyu villages cannot organise succession plans for their Chiefdoms, Ossing village has remained true to the principles and foundations laid down by our forefathers”

“I hope many villages in Manyu will emulate the Ossing example” she furthered.

Mrs Eyong who in May 2020, was instrumental in organizing the Ossing community in the United Kingdom to raise funds which facilitated the reinstatement of electricity in the village, also revealed that “Chief Tedy Ako can count on ODCA-UK for maximum support towards any development projects in the village”

By Isong Asu

A road accident in Cameroon’s West region has killed at least 12 people and injured 58 others, according to local police.

The accident occurred early Sunday along the Bafoussam-Foumbot highway in the region, the police said.

Witnesses said a truck transporting more than 50 farmers attempted to escape from a police checkpoint but lost track and fell down.

Twelve people, including women and children, died on the spot, witnesses said.

The 58 injured, some in “critical condition”, have been sent to hospital, said the police.

Local authorities have ordered an immediate investigation into the tragedy.

Source: Xinhuanet

Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, has expressed optimism that the return of peace in Southern Cameroon will pave the way for the return of thousands of Cameroonian refugees to their home country.

This is as the Cameroonian Consul General in Calabar, Onono Patrice, commended the government and people of Cross River State for showing tremendous hospitality to the refugees.

Ayade, who spoke while receiving a delegation of consular officials, led by Patrice, at the governor’s office in Calabar, commended the Cameroonian government for taking steps to bring normalcy to the troubled parts of the country’s South.

“I am delighted to host you today as you come as a messenger to deliver the message of the impending visit of my counterpart in South West Cameroon. I want to hereby tell you that I have without hesitation approved the courtesy visit which you will organise with the secretary to government and my commissioner for foreign affairs. They will work with you towards fixing a date that will be suitable for me to receive him here in Calabar afterwards embark on a journey to Obudu,” he said.

Earlier, the consul general told Governor Ayade he was instructed by President Paul Biya to intimate him of the desire of the governor of that country’s South West region to visit the state.

“Our visit this morning was instructed by the Republic of Cameroon President, Biya. He had instructed a consul visit to our refugees in Cross River State and this consul visit is a mission of the governor of the South West region which shares border with Cross River state. And Cross River State is hosting about 62 percent of the Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria,” Patrice said.

Source: Sunnews

Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute on Thursday appealed for “more sustained” funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to support African countries striken by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ngute made the appeal at the start of a video conference with the African governors of the World Bank Group and IMF. “It must be admitted that the crisis will have a significant impact on African economies.

This is why I call on the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to take more sustained and ambitious actions in favour of Africa in terms of access to funding,” he said.

He said African states need to develop strategies to be more resilient to future external shocks and crises by strengthening health infrastructure and putting human capital at the center of development policies.

Delegates, including ministers of finance and central bank governors from 54 African countries, have discussed issues related to the response to COVID-19 and the recovery strategies of various countries during the two-day conference hosted by Cameroon.

Source: Xinhuanet

An avalanche of condemnation from human rights advocates has followed new of the death of a Cameroonian detainee under shocking circumstances.

Tangem Thomas Nganyu, 57, a former monk and metal sheet engineer died at the Yaounde Central Hospital on Wednesday, chained to his hospital bed, his lawyer, Barrister Nicodemus Amungwa Tanyi said.

“Tangem died in chains to the satisfaction of the prison and justice administrators,” the lawyer said.

Tangem was one of hundreds of English speakers arrested in the wake of a bloody conflict in the country’s two English speaking regions of the Northwest and Southwest, where armed separatists have been fighting since 2017 to create an independent Anglophone state called Ambazonia.

NEGLECT CLAIM

Reports say he was arrested in Buea, in the Southwest region over three years ago and whisked to an overcrowded maximum security prison in the capital where he fell ill.

Tangem’s family said prison authorities neglected his illness until late last month when he was rushed to the hospital after his condition deteriorated.

Images of him cuffed to a hospital bed despite his poor health inundated social media platforms prior to his death.

The Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA) condemned the poor treatment of the detainee who it said was arbitrarily arrested and detained in very poor conditions, leading to worse state.

“CHRDA is concerned about the fact that he was unable to get proper medical attention, a right enshrined under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Cameroon Criminal Procedure Code,” the organisation said in a statement.

“We call on Cameroonian prison authorities to provide better medical services to inmates and not subject them to any form of inhumane and degrading treatment,” CHRDA said further.

Tsi Conrad, one of the detainees of the Anglophone crisis currently serving a 15-year jail sentence, said Tangem died from pain and misery.

“Without judgment, he prayed to go home. Three years behind bars in a dungeon of pain, hope made way for delusion. For nothing, Pa Tangem Thomas died in body but his soul now looks from above at his foe,” Tsi wrote from jail.

The government is yet to make an official statement about what observers describe as inhumane treatment.

JOURNALIST’S DEATH

Tangem’s death comes barely two months after the government confirmed that another detainee of the Anglophone crisis, Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe alias Samuel Wazizi, died in military custody in Yaounde.

Police arrested the journalist on August 3, 2019 in the South West region. He was transferred to military custody on August 7 then ferried to the nation’s capital Yaoundé six days later, according to the military.

Though he died on August 17, 2019, his death was only confirmed in June. The military also denied accusations that he was tortured to death, saying he died “as a result of severe sepsis.”

Commentators say the two deaths show the precarious conditions which some inmates arrested in connection to the socio-political crisis in the Anglophone regions are going through in detention facilities across the country.

The two English speaking regions of Cameroon have remained volatile since a peaceful demonstration by teachers and lawyers, over perceived marginalisation, morphed into an armed conflict in 2017.

Over 3,000 civilians and hundreds of security forces personnel have been killed in the Anglophone regions since the crisis started, according to Human Rights Watch.

The UN estimates that at least 700,000 others are internally displaced.

Source: Daily Nation