The Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals Laurent Esso returned to Yaoundé  after spending more than two months abroad shuttling between France and India seeking medical treatment.

The ageing Laurent Esso has not made any public appearances ever since he returned to the nation’s capital.

A CPDM comedian Jean Momo has been the acting justice minister in his absence.

Laurent Esso has been battling an unspecified illness since the beginning of the year and has spent long periods abroad receiving treatment.

He first traveled to Paris for treatment, and then left France again to India.

His absence prompted intense speculation in the country about the justice minister’s health and many false reports circulated online saying he had died.

By Soter Agbaw-Ebai

At least 78,962 persons sought asylum in Nigeria from 2000 to 2024.

This is based on a collation of published data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for the period reviewed.

The records, compiled from its decades-long tracking of forcibly displaced populations, reveal Cameroon, Niger and Liberia as the top three countries of origin for asylum seekers during this period.

Nigeria’s National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons is the primary agency that manages asylum requests with oversight from the Nigerian Immigration Service, guided by UNHCR’s global frameworks.

Founded in 1989, during the Babangida regime, NCFRMI says it is “dedicated to ensuring that their rights are upheld and that they receive the support necessary to live in safety and dignity.”

The data showed that 52,187 Cameroonian nationals lodged the highest number of applications to Nigeria. In 2017, over 8,000 Cameroon nationals applied for asylum in Nigeria. The numbers jumped again in 2019 (over 19,000) and peaked in 2023 (over 22,000), with the majority located in Madagali, Mubi North, Mubi South and Michika local government areas in Adamawa State.

This surge coincides with the ongoing conflict in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, which began in late 2016 but escalated around 2017. Thousands fled across the border into Cross River and Taraba states, where humanitarian organisations report acute needs in shelter, healthcare, and education.

Cameroonian refugees are predominantly from the North-West and South-West regions of the country, affected by the conflict between the government and activists calling for the secession of the Anglophone regions.

According to rights groups, over 700,000 Cameroonians have been displaced since the war broke out in September 2017.

While Cameroon dominates the overall total, Niger Republic ranked second with a total of 11,327 asylum requests. 2023 figures showed a significant jump in applications from the Sahel nation, with about 9,800 requests.

Source: The Punch

Cameroon leaned heavily on 26-week Treasury bills to raise funds on the Central African regional debt market managed by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC). A report released by the BEAC on April 1, 2025, shows that 76.9% of the country’s Treasury bill issuance was made up of these six-month instruments.

The data also shows that Cameroon’s Treasury raised CFA159 billion through 52-week bills and another CFA80.7 billion via 13-week bills. In contrast, the country raised only CFA281 billion through longer-term Treasury bonds.

This clear preference for short-term securities points to ongoing cash flow difficulties for the government. Treasury bills known for their short maturities ranging from 13 to 52 weeks are often used by governments to cover temporary budget gaps and smooth out short-term liquidity issues.

Source: Business in Cameroon

At the residence of Chief Bate Arrengang in Antwerpen in the Kingdom of Belgium prominent citizens of the South West region gathered – some from Fako, others from Kupe Muaneneguba and Meme Divisions one common thread unites them –they are all from the South West region extraction.

This is the South West Elites Association, Belgium Chapter formed by South West indigenes to foster the culture and development of their region.

Ngoh Austine Itoe, Barrister Tabi Kefie, Penda Mwaka, Ewang Samuel and Bate Arreyngang all said the birth of SWELA in Belgium is to create a social space where the South West diaspora community can connect and re-connect to their culture and development.

Speaking exclusively to Cameroon Concord News, Chief Ewang Samuel, the supreme leader of the Bakossi people in Belgium noted that SWELA Belgium aren’t simply about culture and development of the home constituency but also a place where Bantus, Semi Bantus and the Tikars of Lebialem can become a family.

SWELA Europe was once a place for South Westerners to make new friends, create a community, and possibly even meet future partners.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in Antwerpen

The Special Criminal Court has sentenced a former highly influential defence minister to 30 years in prison for corruption, illicit enrichment, embezzlement and money laundering.

Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o was not ordered to pay any fine and his bank accounts and property in the capital Yaoundé and the commercial city of Douala will also not be confiscated by the state even though the judge said Mebe Ngo’o could not justify the origin of his assets.

At a hearing held late in the night of 4 to 5 April 2025, the former Defense Minister was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He was accused of embezzling public funds to the tune of CFAF 196 billion.

The final verdict of the Special Criminal Court charged Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o with money laundering, over-invoicing and misappropriation of public assets.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered from a source close to the case that the charges are valued at 23.8 billion CFA francs.

The court also sentenced Maxime Mbangue and Colonel Ghislain Mboutou to 25 years’ imprisonment. The two main co-accused of the former Defence Minister were found guilty by the panel of judges of complicity in embezzlement, complicity in corruption and aggravated money laundering.

Depicting the Special Criminal Court established to prosecute alleged corrupt government officials and the several Alibabas responsible for pilfering from the public treasury as the President’s court is no misnomer.  We of the Cameroon Concord News Group call it the President’s court because it is one instrument of power through which the President is reining in on perceived opponents from within his CPDM power conduit. An attribute of a genuine court is the fairness of the trial proceedings in cases which are brought before the court for trial. It is not the number of convictions entered against accused.  A court is legitimate and recognized as such because of its exercise of judicial, executive, legislative and administrative independence.  A court that is independent must be accessible to all citizens after all, is equality before the law, not a constitutionally protected value? The Special Criminal Court is lacking in these attributes of impartiality, judicial independence and accessibility.  It is perceived more as the President’s Court than a Court of Justice.

Establishing this court was President Biya’s way of saving himself the embarrassment of being humiliated during his perennial trips abroad as the President of the most corrupt countries in the world.  This ranking of the country as the most corrupt or one of the most corrupt countries had a potential to hamper President Biya’s personal pecuniary interests far from the borders of Cameroon.  There was therefore a personal interest need to establish the court.  Another personal interest need was to avail himself of a legal tool under his direct control to consolidate absolute power, blackmail potential rebels and competitors within the system and to stifle any form of institutional opposition. He perceived the court as a tool with which to whitewash his more than thirty years of corrupt governance and the rape of the economy.  With the war against Boko Haram, the fight against corruption using the Special Criminal Court has afforded Paul Biya justification contest in the next institutionally flawed elections in order to eternalize power purportedly to direct the war against terror and the war against corruption.  True to the name the President’s Court, the President has exclusive preserve in referring cases to the Special Court and the power to terminate them. He decides who will be arrested, who will be investigated and who will serve time and who will not.

In one instance, he ordered a detained Minister Bapes Bapes released from remand custody at Kondengui when a warrant was issued for his arrest without the presidential fiat.  Titus Edzoa a former Secretary-General at the Presidency of the Republic benefitted from a purported Presidential pardon whose primary purpose was the release of a French citizen Thiery Atangana from jail.  The fear of a presidential referral to the Special Criminal Court on additional charges of corruption under a practice devolved under the supervision of Paul Biya called “rouleur compresseur” pushed Titus Edzoa   to rejoin the CPDM Party without a public resignation or repudiation of his membership of the party on which he intended to contest presidential elections prior to his incarceration.  Edzoa was a victim of this system of presidential justice when new charges were brought against him when his first imprisonment was about to end in other to maintain him in prison.

Cameroonians want the rule of law to be the guarding principle on which justice is administered in the name of the people of Cameroon and not that of the President.  To the extent that the Special Criminal Court functions at the pleasure of the President, it fails to meet this threshold.  The justice rendered in the court cannot be said to be free and fair nor independent.  Because the court serves the political interests of the President, it is institutionally unjust and thus an affront to the tenets of justice and fundamental fairness.  Cameroon needs to confront the scourge of institutional corruption, the abuse of public trust, the arrogance of power and the impunity of misrule.  The Special Criminal Court as presently constituted is the wrong institution to confront these systemic crimes.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

History was made in Ntenako, a village some few kilometers from Mamfe the chief town in Manyu recently as the indigenes united in one accord and crowned Ma Nchong Stella  daughter of late Eyambe Besong Meshack Enow as their new Ekandim Nkanda.

The event was reportedly a unity day for the people of Ntenako village as the Ekandim Nkanda title represents a special quality in the hearts of every Manyu woman of substance.

Ntenako village noted for heavy fines when things go radically wrong reached a unanimous decision that the Germany based Lady Nchong Stella had contributed positively towards the development of Boh Manyi quarter and she is working hard for a unified Ntenako diaspora at a time when nearly every Manyu group is facing internal squabbles, leadership tussle, non-transparency and accountability.

The Ma Nchong Stella celebration in Ntenako featured a well performed cultural dance that was watched by the regent chief Sessekou Besongngem Ferdinand and a prominent notable Sessekou Arrey Walter.

There was a fraternity of family meetings, cultural music dances and the ultimate coronation of Ma Nchong Stella as the Ekandim Nkanda of Ntenako.

Lady Nchong Stella is presently the Cultural Affairs Officer for the Manyu Women International Association-Nyene Mawn Worldwide

By Kingsley Betek with additional reporting from Soter Agbaw-Ebai

 In 2024, Cameroon’s public treasury spent a total of CFA1.38 trillion repaying central government debt. According to the national sinking fund (CAA), the agency managing the country’s public debt, CFA311.4 billion of this amount was used to cover interest payments, including CFA58.8 billion for domestic debt.

Although the CAA highlights that Cameroon benefits from “favorable borrowing conditions,” with an average debt cost of 3.2% at the end of 2024, interest expenses continue to weigh on public finances, limiting funds available for development projects.

To put this in perspective, the interest payments made in 2024 were 2.5 times higher than the CFA126.4 billion the government expects to raise in 2025 through the new local taxation law to fund municipalities. They also represent nearly a quarter of the CFA1.14 trillion the African Development Bank (AfDB) has invested in Cameroon’s transport infrastructure. Additionally, this amount is almost double the CFA164 billion in private-sector investments claimed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank subsidiary. The IFC plans to expand its investment portfolio in Cameroon to CFA300 billion over the next three years, which is still CFA11 billion less than what the government paid in interest alone in 2024.

The growing interest burden on Cameroon’s central government debt is largely due to the country’s increased reliance on non-concessional loans in recent years. In 2024, only 35.9% of new financial commitments were concessional loans, while 64.1% came from non-concessional sources, according to the CAA.

Non-concessional loans, which often consist of commercial debt, include borrowing from financial markets and private institutions that typically charge higher interest rates. While these loans provide more flexibility in securing funds, they also come at a higher cost. This makes strict financial management essential to limit interest expenses and ensure long-term budget stability, the CAA warns.

Source: Business in Cameroon