News

2, May 2025

Biya regime joins Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition ⁰

Cameroon becomes 43rd member state of the Saudi-led coalition

The Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition announced that Cameroon has officially joined, becoming the 43rd member state of the coalition, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The step underscores a growing commitment to combating terrorism and fostering regional and international security and stability, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.

The announcement was made during an official ceremony at the coalition’s headquarters in Riyadh, where the flag of Cameroon was raised alongside the flags of the 42 member states; a powerful symbol of unity and solidarity in the fight against terrorism.

The event was attended by Maj. Gen. Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Moghedi, acting secretary-general of the IMCTC, Iya Tidjani, Cameroon’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, the Cameroonian representative to the coalition, a delegation from Cameroon’s embassy, and representatives of member states.

Al-Moghedi welcomed Cameroon’s admission to the coalition, describing it as a significant step that strengthens joint efforts to combat terrorism and enhances coordination and integration in the intellectual, media, financial, and military fields.

Source: Arab News

2, May 2025

“Pope Francis never forgets that Cameroon beat Argentina in the 1990 World Cup” ⁰

Bishops in Cameroon have gathered in the capital Yaoundé for their 50th Ordinary Plenary, but the death of Pope Francis and the conclave to choose a new pope that begins on May 7 in Rome, loom large at the gathering.

At a Mass to kick off the deliberations, the Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon, Archbishop Julio Murat told journalists that Francis’s legacy in Cameroon and the world will outlive his life on earth.

“The very fact of the Presence of all the Archbishops and Bishops of Cameroon here this evening to celebrate this Mass is a testament that the Pope’s Pontificate touched the very hearts of Cameroon,” Murat said.

“In his last testament, Pope Francis offered his life, his prayer, his work for peace and fraternity in the world. He himself preached many times about mercy, and the Holy Door of the Jubilee for Mercy was opened in the geographical heart of Africa, Bangui right next door to us,” the representative of the Holy See in Cameroon said.

That door was opened on November 29, 2015, by Pope Francis when he visited the Central African Republic.

“He [Francis] also promulgated the decree to make Baba Simon a venerable and presented him to the world –a Cameroonian. So his heritage will long last his life, and now we know he prays to us from heaven,” the archbishop said.

The President of the Cameroon Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya, added that the bishops were “united with the Universal Church in prayer for peace in his soul.”

“Pope Francis was a father to me,” Nkea told Crux.

“It is Pope Francis who appointed me Archbishop,” he said.

Nkea narrated little instances during which he had to be up and personal with the pope, like buttoning the pope’s cassock, and the pope asking him to take out his phone and record a greeting for the people of Bamenda.

“Pope Francis never forgets that Cameroon beat Argentina in the 1990 World Cup,” Nkea recalls the pontiff joking with him during one of his visits to the Vatican.

“His simplicity was phenomenal,” the archbishop said.

Lay Christians were also full of praise for the late pope. Pascaline Ndifor, a member of the Catholic Women’s Association, told Crux that she remembers Pope Francis for his humility.

“The memory I keep of him is that of humility, and his prayerful nature. This year, we are celebrating the Jubilee Year of Hope. It teaches us the humility and the simplicity the late Pope taught us-it is the way to Christ. That what touches me so much-the simple, spiritual life he teaches us,” she said.

Bessy Bah Awah also remembers Francis for his simplify and humility, recalling a time last year when she was among a delegation of Catholic women who visited the Holy See during which the Holy Father granted them an audience.

“He was very particular about the role of women in the Church. That touched me, and in addition to his humility, I think that he has left a great legacy-a legacy of humility, simplicity and love,” she said.

Maurine Dengo, a social worker, calls Francis “my social worker pope” because of the pontiff’s efforts to bring respite to “the less privileged, the vulnerable, the poor, the marginalized, the suffering…everything that has to do with my profession, Pope Francis was doing it.”

As the world waits for the Conclave to begin, Nkea says the Catholic Church in Cameroon is in unison with the Universal Church “to pray for the Cardinals who are already in Rome, in the conclave, to choose another Holy Father.”

“And as you can see, it is the Holy Spirit that guides the Cardinals in this exercise of choosing another Holy Father for us. And we pray, as the Holy Spirit has done all the time, he will give us a Pope who will manage the Church according to the heart of Jesus Christ,” the archbishop said.

Nkea said that that the 50th plenary of the bishops focuses on the daily running of the Church in Cameroon and to look at the future, especially in this year of hope.

He noted that the major issues preoccupying the bishops are “the socio-economic situation of the country” and the presidential election scheduled to take place in November.

The bishops had already issued pastoral letters about the two issues, and the archbishop of Bamenda called on Cameroonians to take a closer look at those letters in order to “ensure that everything is going to pass during the election month in peace and tranquility. This is what we ask of our people.”

Source: Crux

30, April 2025

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Biya appoints Johnny Razack as Chair of SNI ⁰

Johnny Razack has been appointed chairman of Cameroon’s National Investment Company (SNI), following a presidential decree signed on April 25. The 52-year-old senior civil servant takes over from Geoffroy Désiré Mbock, who held the position for five years.

The SNI acts as the government’s main investment vehicle, holding stakes in companies and helping create new businesses. Razack’s nomination comes at a turning point for the institution, which was restructured last year to take on a stronger role in shaping the country’s economic and industrial strategy.

Before his appointment, Razack served as Secretary General at the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, a position he had held since December 22, 2015. Over his career, he also managed government correspondence at the Prime Minister’s Office and spent several years overseeing union matters. He began his career at the Ministry of Economy in 2005 as acting head of personnel services.

Razack brings with him a solid academic background. He is a graduate of ENA Paris, part of the 2002–2004 “Léopold Senghor” cohort, which also included French President Emmanuel Macron. He also graduated from Cameroon’s ENAM in Yaoundé, class of 1998–2000, the same year as Health Minister Malachie Manaouda. A committed member of the ruling RDPC party, he also serves as a mission officer at the party’s central committee. He hails from Bénoué in the North region.

A fellow RDPC member commented that Razack’s appointment “shows the President’s trust in loyal, capable profiles to manage key pillars of the national economy.”

His nomination follows the recent reshuffle of the SNI’s board of directors. Eleven members were appointed, including Gwendoline Abunaw, Managing Director of Ecobank Cameroon, and Célestin Tawamba, head of the country’s main business federation GECAM. They represent the banking and private sector, respectively.

This move is part of a broader overhaul of the SNI, initiated by President Paul Biya on July 10, 2024. The reform transformed the SNI into a public capital company with a sharper focus on investment planning. Under the new structure, SNI now plays a dual role: as a government investor and as a consulting and research body. It is fully owned by the state.

The company’s capital was raised to CFA200 billion, to be released gradually over four years. The goal is to turn the SNI into a true investment holding. Plans are already underway to open its subsidiaries to new public and private shareholders. The strategy aims to better manage the state’s holdings and help build strong national companies.

The SNI’s new responsibilities are extensive. It will now screen industrial projects from the private sector by issuing financial and economic viability clearances before the state can step in. It will also assess public companies by conducting audits, performance reviews, and diagnostics. In addition, it will help prepare and monitor performance contracts between the state and these firms.

On top of that, the SNI will now handle venture capital and private equity activities, as well as act as a stock market intermediary and asset manager.

Razack’s appointment comes with big expectations. While he is seen as a trusted and well-connected civil servant with political weight and administrative experience, some in the business community question whether he has the hands-on experience needed to run an institution now tasked with high-stakes investment operations. Others are confident that his background and network could serve him well in navigating this new chapter.

Source: Business in Cameroon

28, April 2025

Vatican: Conclave to elect new pope will start on May 7 ⁰

The death of Pope Francis has set in motion a centuries-old ritual to select a new pope. Cardinals will meet in a secret conclave to elect the new global Church leader starting May 7, the Vatican said Monday. Cardinals have been gathering in Vatican City since the pontiff died on April 21, but few clues have emerged as to who they might elect.

The date of May 7 was decided during a closed-door meeting of cardinals at the Vatican, the first since the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, a source from the Holy See told Reuters.

Dozens of “Princes of the Church” from across the world have been gathering at the Vatican since the 88-year-old Argentine pontiff died on April 21.

But so far there are few clues as to who they might choose next.

Source: France 24

28, April 2025

Namibian minister sacked after being accused of rape ⁰

Namibia’s agriculture minister has been sacked after being accused of raping a 16-year-old girl five years ago.

Mac-Albert Hengari was arrested on Saturday after allegedly attempting to bribe the victim, now 21, to withdraw the case against him, local media quote the police as saying.

Hengari, who has denied any wrongdoing, is expected to appear in court in the coming hours.

This is the first major scandal for Namibia’s first female President, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, since she took office last month.

The statement from the president’s office did not indicate the reasons for the dismissal but said Hengari had also been dismissed from the National Assembly.

Hengari was nominated to parliament by the president to represent the ruling party, Swapo.

He is under investigations for multiple charges related to the case including kidnapping, rape and assault, local media report.

The opposition Independent Patriots for Change said Hengari’s arrest “on allegations of rape, kidnapping and forced abortion” was a “profound failure of leadership and exposes the hollowness of government rhetoric on gender-based violence”.

It said the case came against a backdrop of “widespread gender violence”, with 4,814 gender-violence cases reported last year. The country has a population of three million.

The party also criticised the vetting process, saying the president had appointed Hengari “despite a criminal investigation having allegedly been opened in November 2024”.

President Nandi-Ndaitwah last month unveiled a cabinet described as ground-breaking for female representation – with nine out 14 members being women, including the vice-president.

The 72-year-old won November’s election with a 58% share of the vote.

She is a long-term member of Swapo – which has been in power since the country gained independence in 1990 after a long struggle against apartheid South Africa.

Source: BBC

28, April 2025

Dozens of African migrants killed in US strike on Yemen ⁰

At least 68 African migrants have been killed in a US air strike on a detention centre in Houthi-controlled north-western Yemen, the armed group’s TV channel says.

Al Masirah reported that another 47 migrants were injured, most of them critically, when the centre in Saada province was bombed. It posted graphic footage showing multiple bodies covered in the rubble of a destroyed building.

There was no immediate comment from the US military.

But it came hours after US Central Command announced that its forces had hit more than 800 targets since President Donald Trump ordered an intensification of the air campaign against the Houthis on 15 March.

It said the strikes had “killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders”, including senior officials overseeing missile and drone programmes.

Houthi-run authorities have said the strikes have killed dozens of civilians, but they have reported few casualties among the group’s members.

The migrant detention centre in Saada was reportedly holding 115 Africans when it was hit on Sunday night.

Despite the humanitarian crisis in Yemen caused by 11 years of conflict, migrants continue to arrive in the country by boat from the Horn of Africa, most of them intending to cross into neighbouring Saudi Arabia to find work.

Instead, they face exploitation, detention, violence, and dangerous journeys through active conflict zones, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

In 2024 alone, it says, almost 60,900 migrants arrived in the country, often with no means to survive.

Earlier this month, the Houthi-run government said a series of US air strikes on the Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea coast killed at least 74 people and wounded 171 others. It said the terminal was a civilian facility and that the strikes constituted a “war crime”.

Centcom said the attack destroyed the ability of Ras Isa to accept fuel and that it would “begin to impact Houthi ability to not only conduct operations, but also to generate millions of dollars in revenue for their terror activities”.

Source: BBC

26, April 2025

Who will be the next pope? Key candidates in an unpredictable process ⁰

Who will be the next pope? The decision could have a profound impact on the Catholic Church and the world’s 1.4 billion baptised Roman Catholics.

It also promises to be a highly unpredictable and open process for a host of reasons.

The College of Cardinals will meet in conclave in the Sistine Chapel to debate and then vote for their preferred candidates until a single name prevails.

With 80% of the cardinals appointed by Pope Francis himself, they are not only electing a pope for the first time, but will offer a broad global perspective.

For the first time in history, fewer than half of those given a vote will be European.

And although the college may be dominated by his appointments, they were not exclusively “progressive” or “traditionalist”.

For those reasons, it is harder than ever to predict who will be elected the next pope.

Could the cardinals elect an African or an Asian pope, or might they favour one of the old hands of the Vatican administration?

Here are some of the names being mentioned as Francis’s potential successor.

Pietro Parolin

Nationality: Italian

Age: 70

Softly spoken Italian Cardinal Parolin was the Vatican’s secretary of state under Pope Francis – making him the pope’s chief adviser. The secretary of state also heads the Roman Curia, the Church’s central administration.

Having acted effectively as deputy pope, he could be considered a frontrunner.

He is viewed by some as more likely to prioritise diplomacy and a global outlook than the purity of Catholic dogma. His critics consider that a problem, while his supporters see a strength.

But he has been critical of the legalisation of same-sex marriage around the world, calling a landmark 2015 vote in favourin the Republic of Ireland “a defeat for humanity”.

The bookmakers may back him but Cardinal Parolin will be well aware of an old Italian saying that stresses the uncertainty of the pope-picking process: “He who enters a conclave as a pope, leaves it as a cardinal.”

Some 213 of the previous 266 popes have been Italian and even though there has not been an Italian pope in 40 years, the pivot of the upper echelons of the Church away from Italy and Europe may mean there may not be another for now.

Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle

Getty Images Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle wears a red cap on his head as he looks away from camera in a head and shoulders portrait, while he attends a Mass with newly appointed cardinals presided by Pope Francis at St. Peter's Basilica on 8 December

Nationality: Filipino

Age: 67

Could the next pope come from Asia?

Cardinal Tagle has decades of pastoral experience – meaning he has been an active Church leader among the people as opposed to a diplomat for the Vatican or cloistered expert on Church law.

The Church is massively influential in the Philippines, where about 80% of the population is Catholic. The country currently has a record five members of the College of Cardinals – which could make for a significant lobbying faction if they all back Cardinal Tagle.

He is considered a moderate within the Catholic definition, and has been dubbed the “Asian Francis” because of a dedication to social issues and sympathy for migrants that he shared with the late pope.

He has opposed abortion rights, calling them “a form of murder” – a position in line with the Church’s broader stance that life begins at conception. He has also spoken against euthanasia.

But in 2015 when he was Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Tagle called for the Church to reassess its “severe” stance towards gay people, divorcees and single mothers, saying past harshness had done lasting harm and left people feeling “branded”, and that each individual deserved compassion and respect.

The cardinal was considered a candidate to be pope as far back as the 2013 conclave in which Francis was elected.

Asked a decade ago how he viewed suggestions he could be next, he replied: “I treat it like a joke! It’s funny.”

Fridolin Ambongo Besungu

AFP Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo wears a green robe as he holds a smoking urn up above ornate gold wine cups and a cross on a table next to a book inside the Notre Dame du Congo Cathedral in Kinshasa on 9 February.

Nationality: Congolese

Age: 65

It’s very possible the next pope could be from Africa, where the Catholic Church continues to add millions of members. Cardinal Ambongo is a leading candidate, hailing from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

He has been Archbishop of Kinshasa for seven years, and was appointed cardinal by Pope Francis.

He is a cultural conservative, opposing blessings for same-sex marriage, stating that “unions of persons of the same sex are considered contradictory to cultural norms and intrinsically evil”.

Though Christianity is the majority religion in the DRC, Christians there have faced death and persecution at the hands of jihadist group Islamic State and associated rebels. Against that backdrop, Cardinal Ambongo is viewed as a fierce advocate for the Church.

But in a 2020 interview, he spoke in favour of religious plurality, saying: “Let Protestants be Protestants and Muslims be Muslims. We are going to work with them. But everyone has to keep their own identity.”

Such comments could lead some cardinals to wonder if he fully embraces their sense of mission – in which Catholics hope to spread the Church’s word throughout the world.

Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson

Reuters A mid-crop of Cardinal Peter Turkson looking solemnly ahead while wearing traditional religious robes along with others outside St. Peter's Basilica in April 2019.

Nationality: Ghanaian

Age: 76

If chosen by his peers, the influential Cardinal Turkson would likewise have the distinction of being the first African pope for 1,500 years.

Like Cardinal Ambongo, he has claimed not to want the job. “I’m not sure whether anyone does aspire to become a pope,” he told the BBC in 2013.

Asked if Africa had a good case to provide the next pope based on the Church’s growth on the continent, he said he felt the pope shouldn’t be chosen based on statistics, because “those types of considerations tend to muddy the waters”.

He was the first Ghanaian to be made a cardinal, back in 2003 under Pope John Paul II.

Like Cardinal Tagle, Cardinal Turkson was considered a potential pope a decade later, when Francis was chosen. In fact, bookmakers made him the favourite ahead of voting.

A guitarist who once played in a funk band, Cardinal Turkson is known for his energetic presence.

Like many cardinals from Africa, he leans conservative. However, he has opposed the criminalisation of gay relationships in African countries including his native Ghana.

In a BBC interview in 2023, while Ghana’s parliament was discussing a bill imposing harsh penalties on LGBTQ+ people, Turkson said he felt homosexuality should not be treated as an offence.

In 2012, he was accused of making fear-mongering predictions over the spread of Islam in Europe at a Vatican conference of bishops, for which he later apologised.

Peter Erdo

Nationality: Hungarian

Age: 72

A cardinal since the age of 51, Peter Erdo is highly regarded in the Church in Europe, having twice led the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences from 2006 to 2016.

He is well known among African cardinals and he has worked on Catholic relations with the Orthodox Church.

The archbishop of Budapest and primate of Hungary grew up in a Catholic family under communism, and he is considered a potential compromise candidate.

Erdo played a prominent role in Pope Francis’s two visits to Hungary in 2021 and 2023, and he was part of the conclaves that elected Francis and his predecessor Pope Benedict.

His conservative views on the family have found favour with some parts of the Church and he has navigated the “illiberal democracy” of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. During Europe’s migrant crisis in 2015, he said the Church would not take in migrants as it was tantamount to human trafficking.

Angelo Scola

Nationality: Italian

Age: 83

Only cardinals under 80 can vote in the conclave, but Angelo Scola could still be elected.

The former Archbishop of Milan was a frontrunner in 2013 when Francis was chosen, but he is thought to have fallen victim to the adage of entering the conclave as Pope and leaving as cardinal.

His name has resurfaced ahead of the conclave, because of a book he is publishing this week on old age. The book features a preface written by Pope Francis shortly before he was admitted to hospital in which he said “death is not the end of everything, but the beginning of something”.

Francis’s words show genuine affection for Scola, but the college of cardinals might not see his focus on old age as ideal for a new pope.

Reinhard Marx

Nationality: German

Age: 71

Germany’s top Catholic cleric is also very much a Vatican insider too.

The Archbishop of Munich and Freising was chosen as an adviser when Francis became pope in 2013. For 10 years he advised the Pope on Church reform and still oversees financial reform of the Vatican.

He has advocated a more accommodating approach towards homosexuals or transgender people in Catholic teaching.

But in 2021 he offered to resign over serious mistakes in tackling child sexual abuse in Germany’s Catholic Church. That resignation was rejected by Francis.

Two years ago he left the Council of Cardinals, the Pope’s most important advisory body, in what was seen in Germany as a setback for his career in the Church.

Marc Ouellet

Nationality: Canadian

Age: 80

Cardinal Ouellet has twice before been seen as a potential candidate for Pope, in 2005 and 2013.

For years he ran the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops, which chooses candidates for the episcopate around the world, so he has played a significant and formative role in vetting the future members of the Catholic hierarchy.

As another octogenarian, he will not be able to play a part in the conclave itself, which may hinder his chances.

Ouellet is viewed as a conservative with a modern outlook, who is strongly in favour of maintaining the principle of celibacy for priests.

He opposes the ordination of women priests, but he has called for a greater role for women in running the Catholic Church, saying that “Christ is male, the Church is feminine”.

Robert Prevost

Getty Images US cardinal Robert Francis Prevost attends the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Peter's Basilica on April 19, 2025

Nationality: American

Age: 69

Could the papacy go to an American for the first time?

Chicago-born Cardinal Prevost is certainly seen as having many of the necessary qualities for the role.

Two years ago Pope Francis chose Prevost to replace Marc Ouellet as prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops, handing him the task of selecting the next generation of bishops.

He worked for many years as a missionary in Peru before being made an archbishop there.

Prevost is not just considered an American, but as someone who headed the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

He is seen a reformer, but at 69 might be viewed as too young for the papacy. His period as archbishop in Peru was also clouded by allegations of covering up sexual abuse claims, which were denied by his diocese.

Robert Sarah

Nationality: Guinean

Age: 79

Well-liked by conservatives in the Church, Cardinal Sarah is known for his adherence to doctrine and traditional liturgy and was often considered opposed to Pope Francis’s reformist leanings.

The son of a fruit-picker, Sarah became the youngest archbishop aged 34 when Pope John Paul II appointed him prelate in Conakry in Guinea.

He has had a long and impressive career, retiring in 2021 as head of the Vatican’s office that oversees the Catholic Church’s liturgical rites.

While not considered a favourite for the papacy, he could attract strong support from conservative cardinals.

Pierbattista Pizzaballa

Nationality: Italian

Age: 60

Ordained in Italy when he was 25, Pizzaballa moved to Jerusalem the following month and has lived there ever since.

Pope Francis made him Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem five years ago and later cardinal, and Pizzaballa has spoken of the city as “the heart of the life of this world”.

Fellow cardinals will have been impressed by his deep understanding of Israelis and Palestinians and the ongoing war in Gaza.

However, his relative young age and inexperience as a cardinal may count against him, as could his affinity to Francis among cardinals seeking a change in direction.

Michael Czerny

Nationality: Canadian

Age: 78

Cardinal Czerny was appointed cardinal by Pope Francis and is like him a Jesuit, a leading order of the Catholic Church known for its charitable and missionary work around the world.

Although he was born in the former Czechoslovakia, his family moved to Canada when he was two.

He has worked widely in Latin America and in Africa, where he founded the African Jesuit Aids Network and taught in Kenya.

Czerny is popular with progressives in the Church and was considered close to Pope Francis. He is currently head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Human Integral Development.

Although a strong candidate, it seems unlikely the cardinals would choose a second Jesuit pope in succession.

Source: BBC

26, April 2025

Pope Francis going home to rest! ⁰

Pope Francis’ funeral has taken place in the Vatican, and his coffin has arrived at the church in Rome where he’ll be buried –

Pope Francis “touched minds and hearts” and wanted to “build bridges, not walls”, said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who led the service

Dozens of leaders and dignitaries – including Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky, and Prince William – joined an estimated 250,000 mourners, with 50,000 inside St Peter’s Square itself

Trump and Zelensky met inside St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral – the White House called the 15-minute talk “very productive” – and are due to meet again today

The Ukrainians also released a picture of Trump and Zelensky in conversation with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron

Source: BBC

25, April 2025

Rwanda and DR Congo set May 2 deadline for peace deal ⁰

Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday set a goal of reaching a draft peace agreement by May 2 and vowed to respect each other’s sovereignty following sweeping rebel gains.

The top diplomats of Rwanda, which has faced criticism for backing the M23 rebels, and DR Congo, which has seen major cities fall in its turbulent but mineral-rich east, signed a declaration in Washington in the presence of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The foreign ministers “commit to coordinate through existing channels to generate an initial draft peace agreement for the Participants’ mutual review no later than May 2”, it said.

The two countries “mutually acknowledge each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and commit to a pathway to resolve their disputes by peaceful means grounded in diplomacy and negotiation rather than hostile force or rhetoric”, the declaration said.

Without naming the M23 rebels explicitly, the statement said that both countries acknowledged concerns of the other and would “refrain from providing state military support to non-state armed groups”.

The two sides also said they would establish a “joint security coordination mechanism to counter non-state armed groups”.

In a surprise announcement Wednesday, the DRC and M23 rebels said they had agreed to halt fighting in the east of the country while they work toward a permanent truce.

Thousands have been killed in a conflict that has raged along the border of the two countries since January.

UN experts, the United States and other Western governments say that Rwanda supports the M23. Rwanda denies providing military support to the M23.

A new US envoy for Africa – businessman Massad Boulos, who is the father-in-law of President Donald Trump’s daughter Tiffany – visited both capitals this month and has called for Rwanda to halt support and withdraw “all Rwandan troops from DRC territory”.

Qatar, which has worked with Washington on a range of thorny diplomatic issues, spearheaded talks between Rwanda and the DRC.

The DRC has sought US support in part by offering to reach its own agreement with the United States on access to critical minerals found in the country that are vital for advanced technologies.

The joint declaration said the two sides expected “significant investments” facilitated by the US government and US private sector.

It said that the two countries would work with the United States on areas including mineral value chains and hydropower development.

Rwanda says its security in the eastern DRC is threatened by armed groups, notably the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, created by former Hutu leaders linked to the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda.

The M23 consists mostly of Tutsis.

Source: AFP

24, April 2025

Ambazonia Crisis: Pope Francis enduring call for peace, now a legacy ⁰

Since assuming leadership of the Roman Catholic Church three years before the 2016 outbreak of the security crisis in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions, Pope Francis has consistently advocated for a return to peace in the troubled area.

Following a 2023 pastoral visit to the Vatican, Archbishop Andrew Nkea of Bamenda, President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, detailed to international press the Catholic Church’s ongoing efforts, under Pope Francis’s direction, to resolve the conflict.

Archbishop Nkea’s statements highlighted the Church’s leading role in seeking a resolution. The Church provides aid to displaced persons, distributing food, shelter, and other necessities through diocesan Caritas organizations, with support from benefactors.

Additionally, the Church has attempted to mediate between the government and separatist factions operating both within Cameroon and abroad. The Church has consistently opposed the use of child soldiers and has emphasized the importance of maintaining open schools, stressing that education is vital for children’s future and the nation’s development.

Beyond institutional actions, Pope Francis has frequently made public pronouncements on the conflict. In September 2019, he expressed solidarity with the Cameroonian people, calling for prayers for a national dialogue aimed at resolving the crisis. He emphasized the need for “peaceful, just, and lasting solutions.”

In October 2020, following a school shooting in Kumba that resulted in student fatalities, Pope Francis condemned the crime as a “cruel and senseless act.” He called for an end to violence and the protection of children’s rights to education and a secure future. In January 2021, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin visited Cameroon to reiterate Pope Francis’s commitment to peace and reconciliation. After meeting with President Paul Biya, Cardinal Parolin conveyed the Pope’s support for peace initiatives.

“I am here to show the attention and solidarity of the Holy Father Francis towards Cameroon, especially at this time when it is experiencing a socio-political conflict in the Northwest and Southwest regions. We wish for peace to return to these regions,” Cardinal Parolin stated on the steps of the Unity Palace.

Pope Francis has consistently underscored the Catholic Church’s dedication to resolving the conflict. In 2022, during the national pilgrimage of Cameroonian bishops and faithful to the Marian shrine of Marianberg, he called for the restoration of “true and lasting peace” in Cameroon.

Like Moses, who did not see the Promised Land, Pope Francis departs without witnessing the peace he fervently prayed for in Cameroon.

Source: Sbbc