Former US president Barack Obama steps out of the shadows on Tuesday to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, in his most high-profile international appearance since leaving office.

Obama made headlines earlier this week with a visit to Kenya, his father’s homeland. But he has otherwise stayed largely out of the political spotlight during his post-presidency, quietly meeting with world leaders and groups away from the camera’s glare.

The choice of Obama to honour Mandela – who is also affectionately known as Madiba – on the centenary of his birth is a highly symbolic one.

“We thought to ourselves, ‘Who can best represent the legacy of Madiba? Who took the baton when he became president of his own country? Who would be able to deal with issues of democracy in a world ripped apart by corruption?’” Sello Hatang, chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said when announcing Obama as the keynote speaker.

In keeping with tradition, Obama is not expected to comment on his successor, President Donald Trump. Instead, his speech will reflect on Mandela’s legacy, which Obama said “makes me want to be better” in a eulogy following the anti-apartheid leader’s death five years ago.

Mandela, who was imprisoned for 27 years over his campaign to end apartheid, was at the forefront of the fight against South Africa’s white minority rule, He was  released from prison in 1990, and elected the country’s first black president in 1994. His leadership was marked by his steadfast commitment to reconciliation, diversity and equality.

In some ways, Mandela’s life serves as a counter-example, if not a silent rebuke, of the divisive politics Trump has embraced.

“In the US and around the world, many see recent developments that run counter to Mandela’s legacy,” Benjamin Rhodes, a longtime adviser and former speech writer for Obama, told the Associated Press. “This will be a globally minded speech, highlighting global trends and focusing on how, in his life, Mandela embodied perseverance. It will be aimed at young people in Africa and also around the world to show that we have been through darker times before and we can overcome these challenges to keep Mandela’s vision alive.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Mandela’s widow Graça Machel will introduce Obama ahead of his speech at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. Around 9,000 people were expected to attend the event, according to the Nelson Mandela Foundation, which will live stream it on its website at 2pm local time (GMT+2).

Obama will remain in Johannesburg afterwards to launch his foundation’s “Leaders: Africa” programme, which will bring together 200 emerging figures from across the continent for a five-day workshop aimed at exploring solutions to the biggest challenges in their communities.

Source: France 24

Communist-run Cuba is to officially recognize the ownership of private property in an effort to boost its economy.

Private property has long been officially rejected in the Communist state as a sign of decadent capitalism.

Ruling Communist Party newspaper Granma reported on Saturday, however, that a new constitution, to be put to a referendum, recognizes free market policies and private property.

The new constitution also creates the position of prime minister alongside the president, according to Granma.

The document, by creating the position of prime minister, divides the roles of the head of state and the head of government.

The new constitution also imposes a term limit on the presidency of two consecutive five-year periods.

However, Granma said the constitution reaffirmed that central planning and state enterprise remained as the pillars of Cuban economy.

It said the government commission reforming the constitution will present its draft to the national assembly when it meets next week. It will then be put to a national referendum, expected later this year.

The commission is headed by former president Raul Castro, 87, who remains the head of the Communist Party.

Castro’s market reforms have prompted hundreds of thousands of Cubans to join the ranks of the island’s self-employed since 2010, in new privately-owned businesses ranging from restaurants to beauty salons.

Castro, who together with his older, the late revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, ruled over Cuba for nearly six decades, had proposed the reforms in 2011, as part of a bid to modernize the political system.

Fidel led the revolution that toppled Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. He died in November 2016.

Source: Presstv

More than 21,000 people from Cameroon’s Anglophone region have fled to Nigeria in recent months. Not only do they struggle to find enough to eat but also have to come to terms with their traumatic experiences.

Pauline Agba knows many residents of the Adikpo refugee camp. They keep stopping her on her rounds to talk about their situation. Agba works for the Caritas Justice, Development and Peace Committee (JDPC). Together with 20 colleagues and other help organizations she tries to provide for the refugees’ needs. “A couple of days ago the water pumps stopped working,” she said. Now the water supply is functioning again. On this particular day, 34-year-old Napoleon Egumu stops her to ask for building material. “We need doors, to build our houses,” he said, pointing at the unfinished structures.

Nearly 1,100 people, most of them Cameroonians, live in the camp in Nigeria’s Benue state. It doesn’t look like other refugee camps. Small houses are being built everywhere. The children go to schools nearby. The refugees and the local authorities, as well as international organizations, do not expect the conflict in Cameroon to stop anytime soon. They believe the number of refugees will increase.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says that more than 21,000 people have left Cameroon since October 2017. The majority fled to Nigeria’s Cross River State, followed by Benue and Taraba. “New people are arriving every day,” said Remigius Ihyula, a priest and JDPC coordinator.

Dreams of independence

The refugees fled Cameroon due to the ongoing conflict in the Northwest and Southwest regions. The population there speaks English and not French which is widely spoken in the rest of the country. But Anglophones make up only 20 percent of the 25 million Cameroonians. They have been complaining of discrimination for years. “We suffer. Our children do not get any jobs. We do not have roads, only villages,” said Dorothy Offum, who fled with seven of her own children, two grandsons and two other children.

35-year-old Offum finally feels safe in Adikpo. The fact that the refugee camp is three hours away from the Cameroonian border helps. “We discussed this with the government. Keeping them closer to the border would have increased a sense of uncertainty. The Cameroonian government might have come looking for them,” said UNHCR representative in Nigeria, Antonio Jose Canhandula. However, there is a logistical challenge. New refugees have to be picked up in places like Abande. Due to the bad state of the roads, this can take several weeks.

The refugees’ flight is fraught with danger. Dorothy Offum took a whole week to reach the border. She kept having to hide in the forest until she finally reached Adikpo months later. What she saw still haunts her. “The day we fled they shot at people. Some managed to hide in the bush. Others died.” A woman sitting next to her nodded silently. Later she told us that one of her children was killed on the way to Nigeria.

More than one conflict

It takes the refugees a while to be able to talk about what they’ve experienced. “Many people are traumatized. We haven’t had a chance to deal with this yet,” Remigius Ihyula told DW. The conflict has attracted little attention worldwide, he added. One reason is that Nigeria’s Middle Belt, where the state of Benue is situated, is itself in a deep crisis. Hundreds have died in a conflict between farmers and herdsmen since the beginning of the year. Thousands have left their homes.

When visiting Benue, Antonio Jose Canhandula was made aware of the situation. The Nigerians who have been displaced are now also receiving aid. Canhandula expects the number of Cameroonian refugees to go up. “According to our information, the situation in Cameroon is not improving; it is getting worse,” he said.Separatist violence grips anglophone western Cameroon.

Source: Deutsche Welle

A blimp depicting Donald Trump as an orange, snarling nappy-wearing baby flew outside the British parliament in London on Friday, launched by critics of the U.S. president who are demonstrating throughout his visit to the country.

Trump, who arrived on Thursday, said he would avoid London as much as possible to avoid the protests.

“I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, no reason for me to go to London,” he told the Sun newspaper. “I used to love London as a city. I haven’t been there in a long time. But when they make you feel unwelcome, why would I stay there?”

Many British politicians regard close ties with the United States, which they call “the special relationship”, as a pillar of foreign policy and Prime Minister Theresa May has courted Trump before the country’s departure from the European Union.

But some Britons see Trump as crude, volatile and opposed to their values on a range of issues. More than 64,000 people have signed up to demonstrate in London against the visit while other protests are expected around the country.

Around 1,000 people gathered to watch the blimp launch in Parliament Square, with organizers of the stunt wearing red boiler suits and baseball caps emblazoned with “TRUMP BABYSITTER”.

Nicola Tanner, a 33-year-old public official from the southwestern city of Bristol, took the day off work to demonstrate. Wearing a t-shirt with the word “RESIST” on it, she said it was great that the blimp had “touched a nerve” with Trump.

“It’s embarrassing how much our government is falling over themselves to try to appease someone who has no interest in any sort of give-and-take in the UK-U.S. relationship at all, and is so capricious he can change his mind between the end of one tweet and the start of the next one,” she told Reuters.

After a countdown from 10, a cheer went up as the six-meter (20 foot) high balloon rose up. It hovered around 10 meters off the ground, next to the Westminster parliament building and near the River Thames.

Organizer Daniel Jones, 26, a charity communications officer, said they were trying to make people laugh as well as making a serious point. “It’s also about giving a boost to those in America resisting his policies,” he said.

One man dressed as a gorilla and wearing a plastic Trump mask, stood inside a large metal cage.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who was criticized by Trump in the Sun interview for failing to control crime and prevent militant attacks, gave his blessing for the blimp to be flown.

Khan rejected suggestions this showed a lack of respect for the U.S. president. “The idea that we restrict freedom of speech, the right to assemble, the right to protest because somebody might be offended is a slippery slope,” he told BBC radio. “We have a rich history in this country of having a sense of humor as well.”

(Source: Reuters)

At least five persons were injured on Thursday following an attack by separatist fighters on the convoy of Cameroon’s Defense Minister along the Kumba-Ekondo-Titi road in the South West Region of the country, sources have confirmed.

According to credible reports, four soldiers and a journalist working for state -run newspaper Cameroun Tribune who were all part of the Minister’s convoy heading to a military camp in Small Ekombe along the Kumba-Ekondo Titi road were all injured in a shoot out that ensued between the military and separatist fighters.

Army spokesperson Colonel Didier Badjeck who was also part of the convoy said six “secessionists were neutralised” in the course of the shootout.

According Grégoire Djarmaila, the journalist, one of the embedded journalists who sustained an injury, their convoy met stiff resistance from the fighters who were stationed on both sides of the road after erecting barricades.

The convoy succeeded to reach its destination but once again under fierce attack on their way back with the attackers targeting the armored car in which the Defence Minister Joseph Beti Assomo was found.

In the course of the shootout, a shattered glass particle caught me on the jaw and I started bleeding,” Grégoire Djarmaila, the injured Cameroun Tribune journalist said.

However, they succeeded to get to Kumba safely before being air-lifted to Douala where the other injured four soldiers were given medical attention.

Thursday’s events followed days of fierce fighting in Kumba, Buea and other parts of the North West and South West Regions in Cameroon with several casualties recorded on both sides.

Culled from Journal du Cameroun

An investigation by Amnesty International experts has gathered credible evidence that it was Cameroonian soldiers depicted in a video carrying out the horrific extrajudicial executions of two women and two young children. While an investigation has now been announced, the Ministry of Communication earlier dismissed video footage of the killings as “fake news”.

Extensive analysis of the weapons, dialogue and uniforms that feature in the video, paired with digital verification techniques and testimonies taken from the ground, all strongly suggest that the perpetrators of the executions are Cameroonian soldiers.

The Cameroonian authorities’ initial claim that this shocking video is fake simply doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

“The Cameroonian authorities’ initial claim that this shocking video is fake simply doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. We can provide credible evidence to the contrary. Given the gravity of these horrific acts – the cold blooded and calculated slaughter of women and young children – these hasty and dismissive denials cast serious doubt over whether any investigation will be genuine,” said Samira Daoud, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s West Africa office.

“It is imperative that a proper, impartial investigation is undertaken and those responsible for these abhorrent acts are brought to justice.”

While all the elements analyzed so far by Amnesty International strongly suggest the authenticity of the video, the date at which it was taken remains unclear.

The video shows the soldiers using either a Galil or a Zastava M21, in addition to Kalashnikov-style rifles. While AK-type weapons are common, the weapon we strongly believe was used in the execution – either a Galil or the very similar Zastava M21 – is comparatively rare. The Small Arms Survey lists the Galil as only “occasional” in sub-Saharan Africa among governments, and as unknown among non-state actors. The only force in the area carrying Galil’s are a small subset of the Cameroon Army. The Zastava M21 is not specifically reported in the Small Arms Survey online database.

Both the weapons and uniforms of the soldiers in the video are indicative of the Cameroon army, and display patterns consistent with a number of possible units, including regular infantry and the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), the special forces of the Cameroonian army.

The person filming the video specifically identifies two members of the group as soldiers. The first is a second-rank soldier (soldat de deuxième grade) who he names as “Cobra”, the second a Master Corporal (caporal chef) who is named as “Tchotcho”. These names mean that the group can be identified.

The evidence we have provided forms a firm basis for strongly suggesting that the individuals committing these atrocities are members of Cameroon’s armed forces

The Master Corporal’s uniform is a tiger stripe pattern that is standard among Cameroon regular army. The other soldiers are wearing black shirts and green-and-black woodland pants. While the Ministry of Communication claims that the mixed and casual nature of the uniforms indicates a lack of authenticity, Amnesty investigators have found the opposite. Mixed and partial uniforms are common among army personnel, especially in remote areas where this incident took place. Soldiers in the Far North region wearing casual flip flops and T-shirts, as well as a mix of tiger stripe print and woodland print, can be clearly seen in videos previously verified by Amnesty International.

The soldiers are followed by about 10 people whom the sources consulted said are most likely members of the local vigilantes’ committee (because they carry light weapons such as clubs and machetes) from the nearby village.

According to Amnesty International’s analysts, the video was likely filmed in the Mayo Tsanaga area in the Far North region of Cameroon. The vegetation is generally consistent and matches other footage from the area. Terrace cultivations, as visible in the video, are found in Mayo Tsanaga. The rocks, the mountains and the low-growing shrubs (locally known as “tchaski”) can also be found in Mayo Tsanaga. There is a military base located in Mozogo in this region.

“The evidence we have provided forms a firm basis for strongly suggesting that the individuals committing these atrocities are members of Cameroon’s armed forces. Some individuals are clearly identifiable and cannot be allowed to get away with such a heinous act with impunity,” said Samira Daoud.

“While the crimes under international law, including war crimes, and human rights violations committed by Boko Haram in Cameroon are despicable, absolutely nothing can justify the crimes being committed by some members of the armed forces.”

Amnesty International is calling for those suspected of criminal responsibility for these crimes under international law, including superiors who knew or should have known that subordinates were committing the extrajudicial executions, to be brought to justice in fair trials before ordinary civilian courts.

Background

Amnesty International has documented crimes under international law, some amounting to war crimes, as well as human rights violations by members of the Cameroonian security forces in their fight against the armed group Boko Haram in the Far North region of the country.

This includes the widespread use of torture to extract ‘confessions’ from hundreds of people accused – often with little or no evidence – of being affiliated with Boko Haram.

Source: Amnesty International

President of the United States, Donald Trump, says he is on a mission to achieve global peace especially peace on the African continent.

In comments made to journalists on the sidelines of a North America Treaty Organization (Nato) summit in Brussels, Trump stressed that Africa’s problems were so complicated that only few people could understand it.

Trump said in part: “Africa right now has got problems like few people would understand. They have got things going on there that nobody could believe in this room.

“If you saw some of the things that I see through intelligence – what’s going on in Africa – it is so sad, it is so vicious and violent – and we want peace. We want peace for Africa. We want peace all over the world.

The U.S. is a strong partner to governments across Africa in several areas of cooperation. Washington’s diplomacy is by far the strongest on the continent. It also has strong ties in the area of economic, anti-terrorism and humanitarian endeavours.

“That’s my number one goal – peace all over the world and we are building up a tremendous military because I really believe through strength you get peace. We are going to have a military like we never had before,” he added.

The U.S. is estimated to have thousands of troops and over thirty military bases across Africa. Security watchers have also averred that it has other facilities that remain secret. The most recent loss the army suffered was when four special forces were killed in an ambush in Niger last year.

Source: Africa News

Ambazonian Communication Secretary, Hon. Chris Anu has confirmed that France is a key partner of French Cameroun military aggression against and partial occupation of Southern Cameroons. In an audio broadcast released today Thursday the 12^th of July 2018, Chris Anu also pointed out that soldiers from Chad and French Cameroun government forces have been killing innocent Southern Cameroonians and many are undergoing torture at a network of clandestine prisons in French Cameroun.

The Interim Government statement of hope further revealed that large numbers of Southern Cameroons young men and women have been subjected to enforced disappearance after being arbitrarily arrested by troops loyal to the regime in Yaoundé.

Chris Anu observed that Ambazonian families find themselves in an endless nightmare where their loved ones are being killed on a daily basis. The Ambazonian Government spokesman said through an investigation conducted by the Interim Government, the Southern Cameroons resistance is very much alive and active in the Southern and Northern zones of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Chris Anu also stated that the French and Chadian troops operating in shadowy conditions in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, appears to have created a parallel security structure outside Ambazonia and French Cameroun laws, where egregious violations continue to go unchecked.

85 year old President Biya launched a brutal war against the people of Southern Cameroons in an attempt to prevent a secession bid by Anglophone Cameroonians. The offensive initially consisted of helicopter attacks but was later coupled with machines guns and the deployment of ground forces into Southern Cameroons. The UN is yet to discuss the war and the killings ever since the crisis started two years ago.

The UN announced in a statement that the war has displaced 161,000 Southern Cameroons civilians. The war is slowly but surely causing famine across Southern Cameroons. The Yaounde-led aggression has also taken a heavy toll on the Southern Cameroons’s infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories run by the CDC. The UN has said that a record 21,000 Southern Cameroonians have been registered as refugees in Nigeria.

Several Western countries, the United States and France in particular, supply the Biya regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Anti-Trump placards are being prepared ahead of US president Donald Trump’s visit to Britain, and a high security metal fence has been erected outside the US ambassador’s residence Winfield House in London, where Trump will stay overnight.

Trump arrives in Britain on Thursday after a NATO summit and thousands of protesters are expected to join demonstrations during his visit, including plans to fly a blimp over parliament portraying Trump as an orange, snarling baby.

(Source: Reuters)