The Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé is moving slowly but surely towards approving dual citizenship laws as a move to end the crisis in Southern Cameroons and encourage Cameroonians living in the diaspora to support the so-called one and indivisible political fabrication.

Some docile French Cameroun MPs now say both Southern Cameroons and French Cameroun diaspora are a great partner in economic development whose relocation from their homeland should cease to be seen as a brain drain or loss.

A group of prominent members of parliament from the ruling CPDM crime syndicate have all supported a 421-page document comprising 1,245 articles whose purpose is to reform inter alia, the Civil Code, the Nationality Code and the organization of civil status in Cameroon.

The new law proposed by Biya and his Essingan gang seeks to provide a solution to the problem of dual nationality that was prohibited by the law of 11 June 1968 in Cameroon.

 Cameroon Concord News Group understands dual nationality has always caused tensions and polemics because of its application by the French Cameroun authorities with President Biya, Adolphe Moudiki of SNH, tennis super star Yannick Noah and football legends Samuel Eto’o, Patrick Mboma and Roger Milla allowed to move in and out of the country with European passports.

The predominantly French Cameroun MPs recently opined that Southern Cameroonians and French Cameroun citizens  living abroad can still contribute effectively to the Cameroonian economy without having to leave their foreign adopted countries.

The focus of the divided National Assembly in Yaoundé now is to work and develop modalities on how this engagement can be actualized without putting President Biya and his family at risk of losing power.

A well-placed source deep within the CPDM Central Committee who spoke to Cameroon Concord News but sued for anonymity pointed out that Biya and his acolytes were shifting their thinking after realizing that Cameroonians abroad can help the country immensely while living abroad.

Prime Minister Dion Ngute is expected to appeal to all Cameroonians who lost their citizenship to apply for reinstatement immediately when the new law is promulgated. Chief Dr. Dion Ngute is pushing for a united Cameroon as a nation to have strong bonds with its diaspora citizens who contribute a lot to Cameroon’s economic development.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Vice President Dabney Yerima, the leader of the Southern Cameroons struggle and the Interim Government has said that resistance is the only option left to free the Ambazonia homeland.

“The Biya Beti Ewondo French Cameroun reconstruction plan is a new CPDM crime ploy to keep Southern Cameroonians in perpetual slavery exploiting West Cameroonian land and resources,” Dabney Yerima said.

Comrade Yerima stressed that the people of Southern Cameroons would use all means available to get to Buea, the capital of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

In this week’s war cabinet briefing, the exiled Ambazonia Vice President also described French Cameroun’s decision on reconstruction of Ambazonia as an act of provocation.

The plan, which many political commentators have described as a “Nonsensical Nonsense” denies Southern Cameroonians everything including Federalism and the right to govern their homeland.

Interim Government protest against Special Status

The level of barbarism being perpetuated by the Cameroon government military and pro Biya government militias as they pursue their genocidal war and scorch earth policy to completely annihilate the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) is alarming.

So far, as a result of the on-going genocide in the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia), an estimated 21,000 people have been killed, over 298 towns and villages have been burnt down, over 120,000 people are seeking refuge in Nigeria and further afield, over 1million people are internally displaced or living in bushes and over 3,000 persons incarcerated in prisons and detention facilities.

French Cameroun President Biya and his military and private militia will be held accountable for these crimes. While not exonerating Ambazonian self-defense forces, we also know that Mr Biya’s government is doing everything through its private militia (popularly known as Atanga Nji Boys) to commit atrocities and link them to self-defense forces, so as to evoke international sympathy. Only an independent fact-finding mission can establish the facts and thus far, Mr. Biya’s government has resisted all requests by independent humanitarian organizations to visit Southern Cameroons and establish the facts.

By Chi Prudence Asong and Isong Asu in London

A Hanoian returning from Cameroon has tested Covid-19 positive, raising the nation’s active cases to 23, the Health Ministry confirmed Friday.

“Patient 353,” 31, is a resident of Hanoi’s Thach That District. He flew in from Cameroon, transiting in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Malaysia before arriving June 25 in Ho Chi Minh City on Vietnam Airlines flight VN9674.

He was quarantined upon arrival at the city’s District 7 Hospital and moved to the Cu Chi field hospital in the eponymous district after he tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

On Friday afternoon, one more patient was announced Covid-19 free at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi.

This patient, a Vietnamese man repatriated from Russia on May 13, was admitted to the hospital on May 17. He has tested negative for the virus twice and is now in stable condition. He will remain in the hospital for medical monitoring for another 14 days.

With the latest updates, Vietnam has 23 active cases after the recovery of 330 patients. Vietnam has also gone 71 days without community transmission of the Covid-19 virus.

The nation’s most critical patient, a British pilot, has made great progress after being comatose for more than two months, and doctors are preparing to discharge him from HCMC’s Cho Ray Hospital, where he has been treated for other serious health issues after recovering from Covid-19 more than a month ago.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected over 210 countries and territories and around 449,000 deaths have been reported so far.

Source: e.vnexpress.net

Cameroon says the temporary closure of most restaurants and border trade during the COVID-19 pandemic has dropped food prices by up to 70 percent.  While food sellers are suffering the lost income, cheaper prices have helped some of Cameroon’s poorest to cope during the economic disruption.

After the COVID-19 pandemic forced restaurants to close in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, a new way of business emerged to sell the surplus of cheap food. 

Trucks that used to deliver large quantities of food to the city’s eateries and hotels now go from street to street, selling fruit, vegetables, and chicken to the general public.   

But food distributors like Christoph Nanze say the pandemic is destroying their business.  

He says his wholesale buyers have dried up with restaurant closures and the banning of large gatherings and border trade. 

Nanze says they are suffering because vegetable, meat and chicken sellers no longer have access to markets in Nigeria, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.  Since the neighboring countries sealed their borders to stop the spread of COVID-19, he says, food prices have decreased sharply.  Nanze says the price of a 20-liter bucket of fresh tomatoes has dropped from $15 to only $4, while the price of a chicken that weighs 1.5 to 2 kilograms has fallen from $10 to about $3 to $4.

But in poor neighborhoods, where day laborers and laid off workers have been struggling during the pandemic, the cheap food is a blessing. 

Among the buyers is 39-year-old unemployed single mother of two, Amina Awah.  She says it is the first time in her life that she can afford to buy a few meals of meat per week for her children.  

She says she is very happy that food is now very cheap and poor Cameroonians like her can add chicken to their diet.  Awah says she does not like seeing people infected and dying from COVID-19 but, she wishes for prices to remain low so that the poor can also eat well.

But as the poor like Awah express joy, Cameroon’s farmers trade unions have called on the government to assist them.  

The Cameroon Poultry Trade Union’s Joseph Tchomb says the fall in food prices means members are unable to repay their loans. 

He says farmers are also discouraged from producing and, if no government assistance comes soon, Cameroon may face a food shortage.  

Tchomb says the COVID-19 crisis has exposed Cameroon’s fragile economy.  If the government does not give financial assistance to farmers and food sellers, he says, their businesses will crumble.  Tchomb says banks that gave out loans to traders should renegotiate the terms because so many people cannot afford to pay them back.

Cameroon’s Minister of Finance Louis Paul Motaze says the government is preparing a rescue plan for farmers.  He says the government plans to give farmers tax breaks and subsidies to ensure production.

Motaze says the government and Cameroon’s President Paul Biya are very much aware of the difficulties that traders are going through.  He says they are doing everything possible to assist them.  Although the government is already losing close to $2 billion in revenue due to COVID-19, says Motaze, Biya has removed taxes for food stuffs.

Motaze says the government has vowed not to allow the possibility of any food shortages.

Source: VOA

Cameroonian police are on high alert for dangerous weapons after two improvised devices exploded in the capital, Yaounde, a senior police officer said on Wednesday, according to a news report by Cameroon Online.

Didier Ngah, the police commissioner has said security has been enhanced and counter-terror measures have been put in place to secure the capital after two devices exploded on Sunday in the Central African country.

He did not give details about the explosion but local media reported that two security posts were attacked by gunmen using improvised devices.

Didier Ngah said in an order issued to police in the city that there will be systematic checks of all vehicles and neighborhoods in the capital in view of finding arms, ammunition, and dangerous drugs.

In January, Cameroon police chief, Martin Mbarga Nguelle has warned of possible separatist attacks in the capital, urging the police to adopt a higher level of vigilance in “sensitive posts” and to report any suspicious activities.

Armed separatists want the Northwest and Southwest English-speaking regions to secede from the majority French-speaking Cameroon and form a new country called “Ambazonia.” They have been clashing with government forces since 2017.

Source: Devdiscourse

Cameroon’s Anglophone region remains in the grip of a seemingly never-ending crisis, even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. International observers are increasing their calls to cease the violence, following reports of attacks and abductions of health workers.

The crisis in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon, now four years old, started in 2016 when lawyers and teachers took to the streets of Buea and Bamenda to protest the domination of French in Anglophone courts and schools.

The strike action quickly gained public sympathy and, on November 21, a popular uprising dubbed “the coffin revolution” took place in Bamenda demanding political reforms.

The situation escalated on October 1, 2017, when militant secessionist groups, led by Julius Sisiku Ayuke Tabe, symbolically proclaimed the independence of a new nation — including the two Anglophone regions — called Ambazonia.

Clashes between the Cameroon military and separatist fighters have led to over 3,000 deaths and many displaced persons.

Peace efforts continue

Cameroon’s prime minister in 2019 organized a national dialogue on behalf of the country’s government to seek solutions to the worsening crisis — yet hostilities have continued, despite a special status being granted to the two Anglophone regions.

The Archbishop of Bamenda, Andrew Nkea Fuanya, has now joined several organizations in calling for peace in Cameroon. He announced during an April 2019 audience granted by President Paul Biya to Swiss Ambassador to Cameroon Pietro Lazzeri that the Swiss Confederation had expressed its readiness to support national initiatives that can lead to lasting peace in the country.

The proposal was welcomed by the separatists. In a letter dated April 17, the archbishop challenged the warring parties to make the difficult decision to end the conflict, in the best interests of the people. The Catholic Church in Cameroon lost several worshippers and priests in the conflict.

Titled “Now is Time for Peace,” the letter read: “Seeking peace or a ceasefire is not a sign of weakness or cowardice. On the contrary, it shows maturity and proper care for the fatherland and genuine love for others.”

Locals struggle to access food

Separatist fighters in Mamfe in the Southwest region and Bali in the Northwest regions recently set up roadblocks, barring movement of people and goods from the two regions.

Commuters were stranded and goods in transit — especially perishables — quickly spoiled. Some families were forced to bury their loved ones in Mamfe because of the road blocks.

“I bought 50 bunches of plantains from mamfe to sell in Bamenda,” said Susana Timgum who explained how she almost lost her capital.

“They were all tied up in the truck and we were forced to sleep on the way for weeks. The bunches all got ripe. Thank God I was able to sell two weeks after the roads were opened.”

Hanson Song, another victim of the road block, said he missed seeing his son immediately after delivery.

“My wife was due deliveries asked her to relocate to Bamenda because it’s safe. She was delivered of a baby boy and I only get to see my son three weeks after,” he said.

Battles continue

A local mayor was killed in Mamfe in April by suspected separatist fighters who later asked people not to attend his funeral. Six young men were later slaughtered for bypassing the separatist injunction order and attending the funeral. In Kumbo, Northwest region, there are frequent gun battles between the military and separatists fighters.

Last week, 12 separatist fighters were killed in Jackiri and a separatist fighter died in Mbingo. In Mbangolan, Belo, Bafut, Kumba and Mamfe, unending gun battles have continued with fatalities on both sides.

Lockdowns force residents inside

One of the oldest forms of civil disobedience — adopted at the start of the Anglophone crisis — has remained. Ghost town operations and lockdowns force locals in the two regions to close their shops and remain indoors for days and even weeks at a time.

This usually happens every time a government organized event takes place. On Sunday June 21, all diaspora groups leading the separatist fighters on the ground called for a lockdown to disrupt a mobilization tour of the Northwest by Paul Tasong, the head of the government-created commission to reconstruct the two Anglophone regions.

Therese Ntum says she was taken by surprise and now has no food.

“My family is living on boiled corn,” she told DW. “We woke up on Monday to hear the news of the three-day lockdown. We did not buy enough food over the weekend. We do not know how we can survive until Thursday.”

Hardships felt by all

The escalating conflict has brought untold misery to the population, according to Professor Tih Pius Muffi, director of the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services (CBCHS).

“Essential drugs have not been able to reach hospitals,” he told DW. “Doctors’ clinics have gone without routine support services and patients can’t access health centers and hospitals. Some of these patients have died in their homes and some have reached the hospital too late.”

Stacy Lawong, who fled from Kumbo to Bamenda, lost all her certificates.

“Our house was burnt down while we were in the bush,” she told DW. “We ran to Bamenda. I can’t find a job. I cant move out because I do not have identification papers. We are surviving thanks to the benevolence of our neighbors and people of goodwill. Doing business in the two Anglophone regions has become difficult.”

Tanwi Godwill survives by selling raw banyans and plantains he buys from the divisions. His business no longer provides for him and his family.

“I always go to the bush market on the weekend to buy [food],” he told DW. “Now time and again, you get to the park just to hear the road is blocked. When you succeed [in buying something], ghost towns and lockdowns won’t allow you to [take the goods]. It is difficult.”

In an effort to sabotage the economy of the two regions, separatists have also started to burn down power transmitters and cut down pylons, leaving the lone power supply company ENEO to ration electricity, further crippling businesses and startups.

No hope for a swift end

President Biya has called on separatist fighters to drop their guns and come out of the bush. But tensions remain high.

He has addressed the nation several times during the crisis, however separatists maintain that he must first call off the war and initiate meaningful dialogue with all sides.

But, despite a call from the UN secretary general at the dawn of the COVID-19 crisis for a ceasefire, nothing has changed in the two Anglophone regions, where gun battles continue unabated.

Culled from Deutsche Welle

Boko Haram terrorists attacked and abducted at least 16 villagers in Cameroon’s Far North Region, authorities said on Tuesday.

Midjiyawa Bakari, the governor of the region, said the attack took place around 3 p.m. local time (1400GMT) in the village of Mainankoua, bordering Nigeria.

”They abducted 17 people, including 14 women and three men, but one of the men was released and returned to the village. 16 remain in captivity,” he said.

The governor said the terror group also attacked Sandawadjiri village near the town of Kolofata, adding that the army has launched a search and rescue operation in the area ”to find the hostages.”

Gen. Bouba Dobekreo, the commander of a joint military operation in the region, said the Cameroonian army neutralized three Boko Haram terrorists on Monday, while several others were injured.

Boko Haram launched a bloody insurgency in 2009 in northeastern Nigeria but later spread its atrocities to neighboring Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, prompting a military response.

More than 30,000 people have been killed and nearly 3 million displaced in a decade of Boko Haram’s terrorist activities in Nigeria, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Violence committed by Boko Haram has affected some 26 million people in the Lake Chad region and displaced 2.6 million others, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Cameroonian aid and health workers have welcomed calls by Nobel Peace laureates and former heads of state for a COVID-19 cease-fire in the country’s troubled western regions.  Fighting between Cameroon’s military and rebels has forced over a thousand health and aid workers to flee, putting tens of thousands of patients at risk in the middle of the pandemic.  Cameroon has so far confirmed 12,321 infections and 309 deaths from the virus.

Nobel Prize laureates calling for a COVID-19 cease-fire in Cameroon include Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi banker to the poor, and the former presidents of East Timor, José Ramos-Horta, and South Africa, FW de Klerk.  

They’re part of the Global Campaign for Peace and Justice in Cameroon, which on Monday urged the U.N. Security Council and the African Union to push for an end to the fighting.  

The group of 15, which includes three former U.S. ambassadors to Cameroon, wants a truce between the military and anglophone rebels in the troubled western regions so health workers can safely stop the virus. 

Cameroon’s health workers, hundreds of whom have fled insecurity in the region, welcomed the high-profile support.  

A man wears a mask while walking outside the entrance to the Yaounde General Hospital in Yaounde on March 6, 2020 as Cameroon…

Director of the Cameroon Baptist Convention of Churches’ Health Services Tih Pius spoke via a messaging app from the northwestern town of Bamenda.

“The COVID-19 has even placed a more serious problem now on the population because you need to identify these cases quickly, isolate them and treat those that you can treat while preventing more infections in the community,” he said.  “We are unable to reach out to do this.  Workers are afraid when they see all these arms by the government or by the non-government armed groups.”

Pius says four of their health workers were abducted in the region on Monday.

Tanyi Christian Eselekwe is with the Cameroon branch of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Foundation, a U.S. group providing aid to the troubled region. 

He says the foundation’s services were disrupted in May when armed groups abducted his staff and stole vehicles transporting humanitarian supplies.  

He also spoke via a messaging app from Bamenda.

“Our plea is that there is the need for a cease-fire to allow those who are affected by the crisis to receive the needed assistance,” he said.  “As humanitarian organizations, we work strictly based on the humanitarian principles and the international humanitarian law.  We do not take sides and we make sure that all our operations are geared towards relieving the sufferings of those affected by these crises.”

On social media, Cameroon’s anglophone rebel groups, who want independence from Francophone-majority Cameroon, had mixed reactions to the cease-fire call.

The Anglophone Defense Forces (ADF) said it supported a truce but warned that it would retaliate if provoked by Cameroon’s military.  

The Southern Cameroon Defense Forces had some members supporting a break while others called for continuing to fight for independence until the government withdraws troops.  

Cameroon’s military has indicated it would continue raids on separatist strongholds, which last week killed 24 rebels in the English-speaking northwest. 

Cameroon government spokesman Rene Emmanuel Sadi said they would comment on the calls for a cease-fire at what he called an appropriate moment.

The U.N. says Cameroon’s separatist conflict has left more than 3,000 people dead and displaced more than half a million in four years of fighting. 

Source: VOA

The killings in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions have continued as government forces and separatist fighters clash over the control of the resource-rich Southern Cameroons.

The fighting and killing are increasing and spreading amid a resurgence of a violent and insidious enemy – COVID-19 – that is spreading death and destruction across the country.

Government forces have been pursuing their campaign of intimidation and destruction across the two English-speaking regions, making it impossible for a return to normalcy in a region that has been ruined due to the fighting. These days, it is normal for civilians to be arrested for the flimsiest excuse. They are made to pay huge sums of money at the military barracks or police station. The socio-political crisis has transformed the people of Southern Cameroons into a sure source of income for the military.

Many young Southern Cameroonians have been arrested and shipped to Yaounde for crimes they have never committed. The law only seems to work in Yaounde and once in Yaounde, the Beti Mafia steps in to demand huge amounts of money. They Beti Mafia has transformed the Southern Cameroons crisis into a money-making machine and their intimidation and torture of Southern Cameroonians with a view to extracting money has resulted in many deaths.

The death of a Buea-based pidgin news journalist, Samuel Wazizi, is proof of the atrocities that are being committed by government forces. Samuel Wazizi was declared dead on June 2, 2020, after having been held incommunicado for close to 300 days.

The news of his death was made public by Equinox TV, a local French Cameroon network that has been covering the fighting throughout the crisis. The network revealed that the Buea-based journalist died on August 17, 2019, in military custody, 15 days after he was arrested in Muea, a small town located some 2 km from Buea. Mr. Wazizi was arrested by Buea police and illegally handed over to the military who transferred him to Yaounde, where he was allegedly killed by Cameroonian authorities.

As Cameroonians are still digesting the bad news about the death of Mr. Wazizi, new reports are emerging that security agents arrested Mr. Amba Denis in Tombel in the Southwest region because his name rhymed with the word Ambazonia. The behavior of army soldiers in the region is causing apprehension and revenge, making it hard for the situation to be brought under control even as some senior government officials like the country’s Prime Minister, Dion Ngute, are working behind the scenes for a negotiated peace settlement with the separatists.

Mr. Ngute, like many of his ministers, hold that an outright victory is an impossibility, but some regime hawks who are enriching themselves through the massacres and misery of Southern Cameroonians are still insisting that victory can be obtained in the battlefield.

Still in Tombel, last week, soldiers shot and wounded a widow in a raid many say was unnecessary. Elizabeth Sume, the victim of the military’s recklessness, had lost her husband last year and she has been battling diabetes for some time. The military’s shooting of her legs has only made matters worse for a widow whose financial situation is at best precarious.

Besides the killing, the military is also being accused of other atrocities which are hardly investigated by the country’s authorities. The government’s silence over these atrocities appears to be its approval of these crimes committed against civilians who only want to live in peace. There are many incidents involving the military in the two English-speaking regions where army soldiers are alleged to use force to extort money from the already impoverished civilian population.

The most embarrassing of all was when members of the Rapid Intervention Battalion were caught on CCTV in an armed robbery in the two English-speaking regions. A few months ago, some Gendarmerie officers were arrested for kidnapping a man in Buea and calling on the man’s family for a 2-million francs ransom. The money transfer number was traced by the police and the Gendarmerie officers were arrested, though there are no reports on whether they had been prosecuted for their crime.

The military’s atrocities are numerous and shocking. A few days ago, the small town of Bamessing in the North West Region witnessed military terror at its best. Civilians had to run into the bushes for their dear lives, as army soldiers showed up where there was a local meeting. Speaking to Cameroon Concord News Group’s correspondent in the Northwest region, a local of Bamessing said that the soldiers went to Mbulue, a neighborhood where the meeting was holding.

When the locals saw the military, they all fled in different directions for their lives. The irresponsible military then went ahead to collect the money (about CFAF 50,000) the population had contributed for community development projects. The soldiers also made away with meeting books and 9 motor bikes. Some natives of the town have fled to Yaounde and have vowed not to return due to military violence.

But it is not only the country’s military that is involved in atrocities and killings. Many armed groups have emerged, and some rogue elements are making the most of the situation to meet their financial and economic needs. Like soldiers, many armed groups are also extorting money from the population. In many cases, innocent people are kidnapped and taken to the jungle. They are only released when their families pay the ransom requested by the gunmen.

There have been many reports of scores-settling in the two English-speaking regions. Little disputes no longer get settled amicably these days. Those with guns have become judges and their justice system leaves much to be desired. Their penalties sometimes cause an entire family to migrate.

Recently, a group of armed men killed some five people in Eshobi, a village some 8 km from Mamfe in the Southwest region on the grounds that the five men had betrayed the rebellion. The armed men said those killed had revealed information to the military, making it possible for the military to kill one of their fighters. The region is today awash with weapons and law and order have simply crumbled. Many chiefs who used to settle minor disputes have fled their villages, as armed men keep threatening to kill them.

The chiefs are usually accused of supporting the government and the armed men are young and do not have any self-control. They are trigger-happy and never reluctant to kill for little amounts of money. Most villages have been deserted and schools in the rural areas of the two regions have been closed now for four years.

Many soldiers have been killed by armed men and in many cases in very gruesome circumstances. Yesterday, a military truck was blown up by separatist forces as a convoy of trucks made its way to Bui for a bloody military operation. It is being reported that the military took huge casualties.

Due to the ongoing killings in the two English-speaking regions of the country, a group of Nobel laureates has urged the government of Cameroon and separatist forces to cease fighting and let health workers tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

The Global Campaign for Peace and Justice in Cameroon on Monday asked the African Union, the Commonwealth and La Francophonie to urge the government of Cameroon to call for a “COVID-19 ceasefire.

Seven of the Group’s Nobel laureates and former heads of state include the 2018 laureate, Dr. Denis Mukwege; the former president of South Africa, FW de Klerk; and three former United States ambassadors to Cameroon.

The Southern Cameroons crisis has been a huge concern to the international community, especially as the country’s government does not seem to favor a peaceful resolution of a conflict that has hurt the country’s economy. It is hoped that with the intervention of the United Nations and foreign dignitaries, the government will reconsider its decision and will work towards a peaceful resolution.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai and Isong Asu

A group of Nobel Prize laureates has urged the government of Cameroon and separatist rebel forces to cease fighting and let health workers tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

The Global Campaign for Peace and Justice in Cameroon on Monday asked the African Union, the Commonwealth and La Francophonie to urge the government of Cameroon to call for a “COVID-19 ceasefire.”

Seven of the group’s Nobel Prize laureates and former heads of states include 2018 laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege, former president of South Africa FW de Klerk and three former United States ambassadors to Cameroon.

The declaration was made after the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for global ceasefire in countries in conflict to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.

“It is one of the great neglected conflicts of our times,” said Dr. Simon Adams, Executive Director of The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect.

“The question of why now is something many people will be asking but I think there are many people in the world who don’t know about Cameroon,” Dr. Simon, also a signatory of the declaration, told DW.

“While people in West Africa and in Cameroon are very aware of the suffering and hardship that has been endured for such a long time, it’s to the discredit of the United Nations Security Council that it has not formally addressed the conflict there and it has not been covered widely in the media.”

“We signed the declaration because we want to see more international attention brought to what is one of the most devastating conflicts affecting Western Africa at the moment,” Dr. Simon added.

The conflict in Cameroon began in 2016 when activists in the two English-speaking regions complained of marginalization and called for independence. More than 3,000 people have been killed since clashes broke out between government forces and Anglophone separatist rebel forces. More than half a million people have fled their homes.

Cameroon has one of Africa’s highest rates of COVID-19 infection. Bamenda, the capital of Cameroon’s northwest region, has been at the heart of the three-year conflict. The separatists are fighting to create a state they call Ambazonia.

Attack on hospital workers

Frequent gun battles, lockdowns, road blocks and now the COVID-19 pandemic have made life difficult for the majority English-speaking population. Cameroon now has almost 12,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with 303 deaths (as of June 22).

Several cases of attacks against doctors and nurses have been reported since the coronavirus outbreak began.

“On the May 29, seven of our health care workers were abducted and remained in the bushes for three days,” said Professor Pius Tih, director of the Cameroon Baptist Convention Churches Health Services.

“On June 4, again three others were taken to the bush but were released in the night. And as we talk, four of our workers that went into the field yesterday to do HIV/Aids and COVID-19 sensitization have also been abducted and are still at large,” Prof. Tih said.

According to the professor, many health workers are afraid when they see armed government and non-government troops. “We need to identify cases quickly, isolate them and treat those that you can treat while preventing more infections in the community. We are unable to reach out to the communities to do this.”

One treatment center

Health officials warn that if preventive measures — such as washing of hands, wearing masks and maintaining physical distance — are not observed, the number of infections could rise further.

The northwest region’s only COVID-19 treatment center is housed in a government-run hospital. It has a pre-isolation ward, quarantine center, diagnostic laboratory and other facilities for people infected with the coronavirus. Bamenda, Cameroon’s third-largest city, has amore than 500,000 inhabitants.

“Since we have more intense cases which are moderate or severe, the doctors see patients as often as need be,” Mercy Fundoh, head of the solidarity ward, told DW.

“We try to do a clinical evaluation of these intense cases at least on a daily basis and sometimes twice a day.”

Scot, a resident in Bamenda, said the Coronavirus pandemic brought more uncertainties than the Anglophone crisis. “With coronavirus, the risk is just so high. You might get into a public space and contract the disease,” Scot, who did not wish to give his second name for fear of reprisal, told DW.

“For the crisis, you know that there are some places that you are not supposed to go and certain things to do and not to do to avoid getting into trouble,” he added.

Call for foreign mediation

Some observers suggested foreign mediators should be used to find a solution. In March, separatist leader Sisiku AyukTabe told DW he was open to dialogue but on the condition that a UN mediator leads the process.

“It will be a shame for the international community to wait and come late, as was the case in Rwanda,” AyukTabe told DW.

A military court convicted and sentence AyukTabe and nine members of his de facto cabinet in August 2019 to life in prison for terrorism. In an interview with DW, opposition leader Kah Walla said no foreign nation should mediate in Cameroon’s domestic problems.

“To resolve the Anglophone crisis, we need a series of dialogues about different issues,” she said. “So it is less about the conflict with the state, and looking more into what the state of affairs today is. We do not want the future of Cameroon to be negotiated in Switzerland.”

Culled from Deutsche Welle