Fitch Ratings, an international financial rating agency has hinted that two factors could affect Cameroon’s public policy. The international rating agency revealed that the two issues include “Who will succeed the 84 year old President of the Republic Paul Biya and the Southern Cameroons Crisis. For the agency, these two factors could affect the country’s public policy. The Fitch Ratings analysis echoed an earlier revelation by the New York Stock Exchange.

Cameroon was also the subject of a meeting of the Citigroup Inc., a major financial institution based in the United States. During the meeting, the financial experts of Citigroup analyzed Cameroon from a political and economic point of view and concluded that the impact of the barbaric acts of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram in the northern part of Cameroon has real implication on the political stability of the country.

The uncertainty of Cameroon has always been around what will happen on the political front after Mr Biya, especially since the country has no post of vice-president. Political commentators have little insight into how any potential political succession could play out. However, on a positive note, there seems to be a little more confidence in Cameroon, and constitutional means to solve the problem of succession are now well in place, even if political issues remain unresolved.

The president of the so-called Senate has 120 days to organize new elections to which he cannot present himself.  The Francophone political elites have exploited the Southern Cameroons crisis and reduced Prime Minister Philemon Yang and Senator Peter Mafany Musonge to ordinary politicians not fit to govern after Biya.

Moreover, local political sentiment seems to accept that with more than 300 ethnic and tribal groups in the country there is a strong history of politically negotiated compromise in case the post-Biya elections do not lead to a clear winner.  For Fitch Ratings, the International Monetary Fund should focus on the risks posed by post-Biya and the Anglophone crisis that has already lasted for several months with far reaching consequences on the economy of the country.

By Sama Ernest

Francophone media houses in Yaounde have once again questioned the where about of the Director of the Civil Cabinet at the Presidency of the Republic, Martin Belinga Eboutou. The Biya confidante has disappeared from the public eye of late and he is conspicuously absent from the Biya delegation in Rome.

Presidential press releases published recently such as the one announcing Paul Biya’s trip to Italy carried but the signature of the Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh and in some occasions, Joseph Le, who is currently deputizing for Martin Belinga Eboutou.

A sister publication, Cameroun Info.Net contacted the State House on the sudden disappearance of Martin Belinga but got a  laconic reply from the presidency saying the Minister was “simply unavailable”. Some sources say the Minister Director of Civil Cabinet is absent due to poor health.

77-year-old Martin Belinga Eboutou, took ill last year and was evacuated to Europe.  He returned safely in July 2017 and ended a rumor that had announced his death.

Here is the list of personalities who are currently with the Cameroonian dictator in Rome for a three-day state visit.

-Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, Minister of Public Works

-Louis Paul Motaze, Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development

-Jacques Fame Ndongo, Minister of Higher Education

– Mbella Mbella, Minister of Foreign Affairs

-Paul Elung Che, Delegate to the Minister of Finance in charge of the Budget

-Hamadou Moustapha, Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency of the Republic

-Mengot Victor Arrey-Nkongho, Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency of the Republic

-Joseph Le, Deputy Director of the Civil Cabinet

-Luc Sindjoun, Special Adviser

-Joseph Fouda, Special Advisor

By Sama Ernest with files from CIN

Southern Cameroon groups fighting for an independent state have reacted to the appointment of members into the so-called National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism in Cameroon by President Biya. The exiled leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium have appealed to Southern Cameroonians to isolate the Biya regime and its agents such as ministers, governors, SDOs and Dos.

The Consortium maintains the degree was a ploy for Biya to buy time and eventually stifle the people’s revolution. Prominent Southern Cameroonians contacted by our reporters have all observed that the government was unwilling to concede to any Southern Cameroons proposals for institutional changes to usher in genuine federalism. All what Mr. Biya and the CPDM was bent on doing, an operations manager of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium remarked, was to promote laws and policies that would continue to marginalized Anglophones and return the country to a one-party Francophone system.

Southern Cameroonians are now watching with concern the Biya’s Francophone Beti Ewondo government’s resolve to destroy the Anglophone identity by out rightly refusing the dialogue with the detained leaders of the Consortium and also rejecting the idea of federalism. The current Biya appointments of CPDM agents clarified a senior aide to the detained Chairman of the Consortium, Barrister Agbor Balla has not been welcomed by Southern Cameroonians and it is not any reliable means to defuse the political tension created by the Anglophone crisis.

The exiled leaders of the Consortium have warned Southern Cameroonians including CPDM political elites not to betray the struggle by accepting appointments from a man who has a track record of anti-Anglophone policies. The Consortium has uncovered a plan hatched by the Biya Francophone regime to destabilize Southern Cameroonians and have called on all Anglophones to resolutely fight against La Republique du Cameroun and its against the intrigues and malpractices of its cabinet ministers.

Citing the case of Southern Cameroonian detainees, the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium exile leaders bashed the regime for gross violation of human rights in Southern Cameroon.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

President Biya has finally appointed a new governor for the Center region. Following a series of decrees made public on Monday the 13^th of March 2017, the Cameroonian dictator appointed Paul Naseri Bea, the current Senior Divisional Officer for Wouri in the Littoral region as governor of the Center region, replacing the late Joseph Otto Wilson who died last year.

In another decree appointing Prefects, the Secretary General at the North West governor’s office, Absolon Monono Wulua was appointed Senior Divisional Officer for Momo Division in the North West.  It is important to include in this report that Paul Naseri Bea also hails from the Ndian constituency like his late predecessor.

By Sonne Peter

The National Assembly and the Senate will today Monday, March 13 renew the members of their respective bureau. The electoral process in both the Upper and Lower Houses remains a traditional ritual performed on the occasion of the first ordinary session of every legislative year which opens in Yaounde, the nation’s capital.

In the National Assembly, the 77 year old Speaker, Cavaye Yeguié Djibril from the Far North region who will also be celebrating his 47^th year as a member of parliament is expected to be re-elected to the post he has held for 25 years. President Biya reportedly lobbied the MPs to maintain the leaders of both houses.

The 83 year old Marcel Niat Njifenji who is also the first president of the House of Senate will also be re-elected to his post. It should be noted that this year’s first ordinary session is being held in the context of a serious socio-political crisis that has rocked the Anglophone regions of the country.

The Anglophone crisis will undoubtedly invite itself to parliament, and could force the President of the Republic to redistribute ministerial portfolios to gain some kind of  regional balance in a country that counts at least 220 ethnic groups.

Reported by Cameroon Intelligence Report

The plenary session of both the so-called Upper and Lower Houses of parliament begins on Monday March 13, 2017. As a tradition, the election of the bureau members takes place at the first session of every legislative year. This year’s maiden parliamentary sessions have been convened by both the President of the National Assembly, Cavaye Yeguie Djibril and the President of the Senate Marcel Niat Njifenji.

In the context of a crisis that has rocked the Anglophone regions of the country since the end of 2016 and the Francophone dominated government’s inability to find a solution, it would not be surprising to see some political adjustments in the Biya regime.  However, the question that arises mainly is who should be sacrificed between Cavaye Yeguié Djibril and Marcel Niat Njifenji, if the head of state wants to satisfy the Anglophones?

Understandably, the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has made it clear that the current Southern Cameroon political elites of the ruling CPDM no longer represent the aspirations of West Cameroonians. However, the Yaoundé regime still intends to try its last joker.

Using their old guerilla tactics, the Presidency of the Republic is already circulating the name of Peter Mafany Musonge as President of the Senate. The Biya men reportedly observed that Simon Achidi Achu is currently very old and weak. A reliable source hinted Cameroon Concord News that the post of Prime Minister will return to the Far North and added that the personality most foretold to this post Is Alamine Ousmane Mey, current Minister of Finance.

A journalist with a sister publication, Cameroon Intelligence Report quoted a source in Paris in the case of a constitutional revision, for the introduction of the post of Vice-President of the Republic. What we know is that several possibilities could arise for possible appointments which will have no impact on the Southern Cameroons quest for an independent state.

By Rita Akana

The Resident Coordinator of the United Nations Development Program System, Najat Rochdi has come to the end of her mission to Cameroon. She held a farewell audience on the 8^th of March 2017 at the Presidency of the Republic with Minister Secretary General, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh on behalf of the Head of State.

The outgoing UN coordinator after the audience expressed satisfaction with achievements of the UN System which she partly attributed to the hospitality of the Cameroonian people. She leaves Cameroon after a four year diplomatic mission. Najat Rochdi has been appointed to the Central African Republic as Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Multi- Dimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission MINUSCA and also as UN Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator, and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program UNDP.

The Secretary General also received in audience a Special Envoy of the President of Burkina Faso. Thierry Hot was bearer of a special message from President Rorc Marc Christian Kabore. Thierry Hot had served as a correspondent  with the BBC and Africa 24.

CRTV

Prime Minister Philemon Yang has completed his tour of the Bamenda province of Southern Cameroons some two months after his last visit to his home constituency. The Premier traveled to the region and made an ultimate plea for the resumption of schools in West Cameroon.

The Yang Philemon trip that took him to the seven divisional headquarters that make up the Bamenda province failed to yield the anticipated results. Southern Cameroonian groups who received the Head of Government challenged him to openly condemn the rapes, extra judicial killings and the numerous arrests and abductions currently going on in Southern Cameroons.

From Ngo-Kentungia to Boyo via Donga-Mantung and Menchum including Mezam, Momo, and Bui, Philemon Yang was treated like a common politician. Cameroon Concord News understands the Prime Minister’s visit has helped to energize the people’s revolution as schools have still not started.

It is hard to say who is really in charge in Yaoundé as the decision to travel to the North West came only after the Ministries in charge of Education, made public a statement that students and pupils, the strike notwithstanding, still have an opportunity to attend catch-up classes to cover-up for lost time.

The frustrated members of the Cameroon GCE Board, also met last week, and announced an extension for registration of the GCE. The Prime Minister’s trip to the North West Region therefore was another vain opportunity for schools to re-open.  The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has applauded the people of Southern Cameroons for their resistance.

By Rita Akana

Panic has allegedly gripped the President of The Senate and Speaker of the National Assembly as the first ordinary session of parliament for the 2017 legislative year is due to open on Monday.  After three months of parliamentary recess, legislators from the nooks and crannies of the country are expected in Yaounde on Monday 13 March for the first ordinary session of parliament for the 2017 legislative year.

According to two separate bureau orders signed on Tuesday 7 March by the Speaker of the National Assembly and the President of The Senate, the Lower House will convene at 1pm at the Ngoa-Ekellé glass house while members of the Upper House will sit at 4pm at their temporary Yaounde conference center meeting place.

With the first session of each legislative year traditionally devoted to the renewal of bureaus, there are already allegations that President Paul Biya is contemplating dropping one of the Francophone heads of the two legislative institutions for an Anglophone.

There’s an unwritten law in the country which stipulates that when the Head of State is a Francophone, the second in command must be an Anglophone. The Speaker (president) of the National Assembly, Rt Hon Cavaye Yeguié Djibril has been at the helm of the lawmaking institution since 1992.

The leading member of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), enjoyed the position and benefits of the second personality in the country until the senate was put in place about four years ago. The Senate was created following an amendment to the 1996 constitution but President Paul Biya kept the power to convene the Electoral College close to his chest.

The maiden elections to the Upper House were held in April 2013 and Senator Marcel Niat Njifenji was elected the first president of the house in June of same year. The Francophone senator has since been re-elected to the post that makes him second personality according to state protocol, and constitutional successor to the President of the Republic in case of a vacancy in the latter office.

With the recent Anglophone uprising in the country and reports that the Head of State is “gradually yielding to” the demands of the minority English speakers, sources say one of the two personalities above would be replaced by an Anglophone during the “elective” parliamentary session due to open on Monday.

Who therefore will President Biya sacrifice, Hon Cavaye Yeguié Djibril or Senator Marcel Niat Njifenji? The geo-political calculation is that should President Biya “fire” one of the Francophone personalities above, Anglophones might also have to “sacrifice” the Prime Minister’s office which they have also occupied since 1992.

Cameroun Info.Net