Southern Cameroons Secretary of the Economy, Comrade Tabenyang Brado has reportedly chaired a process to reconcile all of Manyu self defense groups and donors to the Ambazonia struggle and quest for an independent state, taking a more hands-on approach to solving the main problem.

In a heavily attended Manyu Town Hall Meeting that held yesterday Sunday the 26^th of April 2020, Tabenyang Brado including a cream of senior Manyu citizens and the Chairman of the Manyu County Sesekou Dr Ako Peter explained to Manyus that there was an urgent need to maintain only defense structures during these difficult times.

The Ambazonia Economy Secretary supported by prominent Manyu titles holders had attempted late last week to resolve a serious issue that saw Manyu Restoration Forces fighting among themselves in the Mamfe Local Government Area.  However, yesterday’s meeting made huge efforts to end the Manyu rift and a real pact has been sealed with the outcome of the talks described by many as positive.

A high-ranking source in the Southern Cameroons intelligence who attended the Manyu Town Hall Meeting told Cameroon Intelligence Report on condition of anonymity that the new Manyu Self Defense plan as designed by the organizers of the town hall is more structured than previous ones. The new Manyu vision focuses on completing the liberation of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia step by step and guaranteeing the security of every Southern Cameroonian in Ground Zero.

Cameroon Concord News Group London Bureau Chief Asu Isong said all stakeholders agreed to the new vision and all were positive. We understand the Ambazonian leader, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe has expressed his sincere gratitude to all his fellow Manyu Community members for putting the struggle first with their new commitment to support and assist the suffering people on Ground Zero and Ground 1.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in Dublin

Alfred Forgwei Mbeng is now resting in peace in a cemetery in Douala. The General Manager of the Cameroon Shipyard and Industrial Company known as Chantier Naval was buried in the French Cameroun metropolis early this Sunday morning the 26^th of April 2020.

The Southern Cameroons civil engineer died on April 25, 2020 at the Laquintinie Hospital in Douala as a result of the coronavirus. He reportedly self isolated at his home when it was confirmed that he had contracted the virus, but was later moved to the Laquintinie hospital after his health condition worsened.

A former official of the Ministry of Public Works, Forgwei Mbeng was also a chartered member of the French Cameroun ruling CPDM crime syndicate who supported the Biya regime’s genocidal campaign in his home county of Bui in Northern Ambazonia.

He had been at the head of Chantier Naval since 2014. He is the first prominent French Cameroun government official to give up his life, struck down by COVID-19.

By Fon Lawrence in Douala

Cameroonian police used force to disperse Muslims praying at mosques at the start of the holy month of Ramadan Friday for violating government orders not to gather because of the coronavirus.  Cameroon has confirmed at least 1,300 COVID-19 infections and 43 deaths, the hardest-hit country in central Africa.

A police statement said force to disperse Muslims from at least 13 Mosques in the country’s West, Center and Far North regions where they insisted on saying prayers during the Ramadan fasting period that began Friday in spite of a government ban because of COVID-19.

Awah Fonka, governor of the Western region of Cameroon says he asked the police to force Muslims who did not respect the order and were praying in mosques in the towns of Foumban, Foumbot and Bafoussam out. He spoke to VOA from Bafoussam via a messaging app.

Fonka says he will not spare anyone who refuses to respect measures taken by the government of Cameroon to protect its citizens from the deadly coronavirus and that he cannot imagine how people can be joking about  a virus that is claiming lives all over the world and sparing no one who refuses to protect him- or herself.  

The police also said that some Muslims in Cameroon were sending away outsiders from towns hit hardest by the outbreak, and that they had received 175 complaints from Cameroonians who were either stigmatized or chased from villages because they had come from towns where COVID-19 infections had been reported. 

Thirty-four-year old fruit and vegetable seller Gaston Asabe is one of them. He says when he arrived in his northern village of Koza Thursday night to buy onions and supplies to take back to Yaounde, villagers and relatives chased him, saying he was a coronavirus carrier, since he was coming from Yaounde, which has Cameroon’s highest COVID-19 infection rate. He spoke via a messaging app from the northern town of Maroua, where he took refuge for safety reasons.

He says Koza villagers went to their chief and imam and told them he had come from Yaounde with the coronavirus and they were afraid he would contaminate them.  The villagers wanted the chief and imam to allow young men to throw him out of Koza. He says he struggled in vain to explain that he was not infected, but no one would listen to him. 

Imam Dairou Abdoulahi of the Fifth Mosque in Koza says Asabe was attacked after the government repeated that mosques should remain closed during Ramadan. Abdoulahi says Muslims in the village argued that they have not had any cases of COVID-19 and will remain safe attending Ramadan prayers in their mosque if they stop visitors from towns where the virus has been confirmed from coming to their village. Abdoulahi said by phone from Koza that he asked the Muslims to stay home and be safe.

He says Islam and their prophet Mohammed teaches through the Quran that lives should be protected through good health and hygiene and, as such, all Muslims should stay at home as a sign of obedience to the Quran’s teachings. He says no one should blame the government for asking for mosques’ closure because that will save lives. 

Manaouda Malachie, Cameroon minister of health, speaking to VOA through a messaging app, called on the population to respect government measures to stop COVID-19 no matter their religious or traditional beliefs. 

He says he is insisting that people should be responsible because COVID-19 is a matter of life or death. He says believers should know that by staying safe and praying at home, they are not only protecting themselves, but other faithful from being contaminated by the coronavirus. Manaouda says there will be time to celebrate when the virus is conquered. 

Cameroon’s first case of COVID-19 was confirmed March 5. The government, among other measures, asked Christians and Muslims to pray at home to avoid its spread. The health ministry says that the cases will continue to rise if Cameroonians fail to take COVID-19 seriously.

Source: VOA  

The UN’s human rights chief has been weighing in on recent killings committed by State authorities, or by rogue members of State military forces, emphasizing that all Governments must strictly abide by international law and hold those who serve, accountable for any violations.

In a statement released on Wednesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, welcomed the acknowledgement by the Government of Cameroon – following a national investigation – that members of its military were involved in the deaths of at least 13 people in a village in the country’s northwest region, as well as the announcement of new legal proceedings against them.

Allegations began to circulate in February that three Cameroonian soldiers were involved in the killing of members of an armed separatist group, along with others, in the village of Ngarbuh, in the country’s northwest. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced there in recent years by clashes between national forces and separatists.

OHCHR was among a range of voices calling on the Government to ensure that its security forces conduct themselves in strict accordance with international law during all operations.

A commission established to investigate the killings found that two soldiers and a gendarme, aided by 10 members of a vigilante committee, stormed Ngarbuh and shot dead five members of the separatist group.

When the servicemen discovered that women and children had been killed as a result of the operation, they panicked and burned down houses to try to cover up their actions.

“I welcome the Government’s decision to set up a national commission of inquiry…to look into these killings,” said the OHCHR chief. “It is now essential that all those responsible for the deaths of the people in the village of Ngarbuh are held fully to account in a fair and transparent judicial process.”

Cameroonian authorities have said that legal proceedings are being initiated against the three servicemen and that they are continuing to search for the vigilante members.

Source: News.UN.Org

The cash-strapped French Cameroun government in Yaoundé has suspended the salaries of 8,766 civil servants. The decision was made public today by the Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reform.

The Francophone minister pointed out in his statement written in the French language that the civil servants-a majority of whom are Southern Cameroonians fleeing the crisis in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia are suspended from pay as part of a policy he painted as “Physical Counting of State Personnel” operation, launched in April 2018 by the Ministry of Finance.

In a previous French Cameroun government communiqué, the Minister of Public Service stated that this involves 3721 state employees under the Labour Code and 5045 civil servants. They were accused of “irregular absence”, “resignation” or “death” and asked to contact with immediate effect the ministry of public service.

Biya regime agents say in two years, the physical counting operation of state employees launched in April 2018 has already identified and redacted some 10,000 fictitious civil servants. It led to savings of CFAF 30 billion in 2019, a figure disputed by opposition parties.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

According to the Minister of Public Health, of the 1134 cases that tested positive for coronavirus disease, 668 are now known to be cured.

The recommendations of the Scientific Committee of Emergencies in the Ministry of Public Health recommends the use of the combination (hydroxy) Chloroquine/Azythromycin for free therapeutic care of patients with Corvid-19 in Cameroon.

There are currently 43 deaths related to Corvid-19 in the Francophone dominated nation.  Several patients are using local herbs for their Corvid-19 treatment.

By Rita Akana

Labour Day and National Unity Day, scheduled for 1 and 20 May respectively, have been cancelled in French Cameroun, the presidency announced Wednesday evening. 

The ruling CPDM gang is using the Coronavirus pandemic as a reason for cancelling the 2020 editions of Labour Day and the so-called National Unity Day that has seen French Cameroun marginalized Southern Cameroonians for 58 years.

“Because of the need to respect the measures of social distancing prescribed by the government of the Republic, President Paul Biya has decided to cancel the public celebrations of the 2020 Labor Day and National Day,” wrote Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, Minister-Secretary General at the French Cameroun Presidency of the Republic.

These explanations do not seem to convince all French speaking Cameroonians, some of whom continue to spread the rumour of the death of their head of state despite his recent appearance at an audience with the French ambassador to Cameroon.

By Chi Prudence Asong