Human Rights Watch (HRW), the global human rights watchdog, has released a report on the ongoing carnage playing out in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions.

The report holds the country’s security forces responsible for some of the most atrocious human rights crimes taking place in the country’s two English-speaking regions.

Cameroon’s security forces are supposed to protect civilians, but they seem to be departing from their traditional role of protecting and serving the people. Their guns have become toys with which they play. Intimidation has become their hallmark and killing fellow citizens no longer generates guilt.

But the report also points a finger at armed separatist fighters who claim they are fighting for the total liberation of their territory, but have, over the last two years, been engaged in behavior that needs to be punished.

A conflict that started as protests by teachers and lawyers was poorly managed by the government due to arrogance and intransigence. Three years after, killing and kidnapping have become great sports in the Northwest and Southwest regions, with security forces playing an active role in these new activities.  

Below are some of the tales of agony that HRW obtained from victims of the violence that seems to have received the government’s seal of approval.

Violations by Security Forces

Twelve Bali residents told Human Rights Watch that soldiers, including members of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), and gendarmes began a three-day security operation in their village on January 17. Armed separatists had operated in the area since 2017. Witnesses said that security forces beat and killed at least four civilians, including two men with intellectual disabilities, Julius Ntali, 55, and Mumbat Charlie, 25, who appeared to have been shot, and his body burned as the house was set on fire.

A witness to Ntali’s killing said:

On January 18, there was a gathering in a house in Sang neighborhood for a funeral. I passed by and saw that Julius was there, eating. It was about 3 p.m. when the security forces stormed the area. They shot indiscriminately, and everyone ran away for their lives. Julius didn’t understand what was happening around him and was hit. We only found his body two days later when the area became quieter, since the military had left. His body was in a state of decomposition, but I saw a sign of a bullet in the head.

A witness to Charlie’s killing said:

On January 19, at least 10 BIR soldiers came to Mom neighborhood in Bali, where I live. They shot in the air around and burned the home where Charlie was living. I was in my house. I watched everything from my home, about 30 meters away. When the shooting finished and the burning was over, I went out and found Charlie’s body. He had been shot in the neck and in the head. His body was totally burned.

Several witnesses told Human Rights Watch that the security forces killed at least two other men in Tih neighborhood between January 17 and 20. However, Human Rights Watch was not able to independently verify this information.

Security forces beat at least four women, including a nursing mother with her baby and a 70-year-old woman with a physical disability, in a home in Sang neighborhood, Bali, where they were hiding at about 1:30 p.m. on January 19, during the military operations. One of the victims, a 34-year-old nurse, said:

The soldiers used wooden sticks to beat me and the other women. They asked us where the Amba boys [separatists] were. We said we didn’t know, and they kept hitting us. The beating lasted up to 30 minutes. A soldier slapped a nursing mother in the face. She had a 4-month-old baby with her.”

Soldiers, including members of the BIR, and gendarmes also beat a 46-year-old man in an abandoned school, the Bali Comprehensive High School, in Sang neighborhood on January 19, seriously injuring his face. He said:

I was in front of the Bali Presbyterian Church when a gendarme called me. He was with 30 other gendarmes and soldiers. He confiscated my phone and asked where the separatists were hiding. I said I didn’t know. He acted as if he didn’t believe me. So, the military pulled me and took me on foot to an abandoned school, one kilometer away. While we were walking, the military slapped and kicked me. At the school, they accused me of being an accomplice to the separatists, hit and punched me for about 25 minutes. They hit my nose badly and I bled profusely. I cried until they brought me back to the main road and left me there.

Security forces also burned and looted up to 50 homes in Bali. Witnesses said they believed that the military retaliated against civilians suspected of harboring separatists or supporting the SDF. Human Rights Watch reviewed satellite imagery taken before and after the attack and confirmed the destruction of buildings consistent with witness testimony.

Human Rights Watch also reviewed video footage featuring homes and businesses that were destroyed in Bali. This footage was both gathered from social media platforms and sent directly to Human Rights Watch. Verifying and geolocating these videos corroborated sites of damaged buildings that were consistent with the satellite imagery of those locations and with witness testimony.

A woman who fled to the forest when the security forces approached her neighborhood, Sang, described what she saw from her hiding place:

The military came on January 19 at about 1 p.m. They arrived on foot and started shooting everywhere. I ran away with my four children and hid nearby. I saw how the soldiers burned my home and my workshop; they destroyed everything.

The Bali residents interviewed said that the separatists who had been in town fled well before the soldiers arrived and there was no confrontation between the security forces and the separatists.

A 55-year-old resident of Bali whose home was burned down by the soldiers on January 17 said:

Dozens of Cameroonian soldiers came to Bali with armored cars and trucks. They targeted the homes of SDF leaders and civilians’ homes where they suspected the Amba boys [separatists] were hiding. The military came to punish and scare the population. As the military approached my neighborhood, Paila, I ran away and hid. My home was razed. I counted 28 soldiers burning it and transporting bags of items looted from it, including a TV and food.

The security forces also searched the Bali district hospital on January 19, causing some patients to flee out of fear. A medical staff at the hospital told Human Rights Watch:

I was on duty when six armed gendarmes entered our facility at about 1 p.m. They asked me where we hid and treated the Amba boys [separatists]. I responded that we only had patients. They wanted me to show them all wards. They entered all the units, including the maternity. I was scared of their weapons, and so were the patients, and some panicked and ran away out of fear.

Abuses by Armed Separatists

Kidnapping

On February 2, armed separatists kidnapped Joseph Tarh Pen, a CPDM member running for mayor in Santa, North-West region. In the days after he was kidnapped, a video circulated on social media showing Tarh, stripped naked and in the dirt, while accused of being a traitor. Human Rights Watch spoke with one relative and two friends of Tarh who identified him in the video. They said that the video was filmed after Tarh’s kidnapping in Piyin village, near Santa. Tarh’s relative said that two of Tarh’s brothers – who were contacted by the separatists to arrange a ransom payment – were also kidnapped, on February 3. The two brothers were released on February 8, while Tarh is still held by the separatists at time of writing.

Armed separatists from the group Restoration Forces led by a commander known as “General Man Pass Man” kidnapped the SDF mayor of Babessi, North-West region, along with four council members from the party on January 5, 2020 in Babessi. The Restoration Forces released them on January 22, following a ransom payment of 1,000,000 CFA (US$1,678). Human Rights Watch spoke with three of those abducted. One, a 49-year-old man, said: “They told us that they kidnapped us to prevent us from participating in the elections. When they let us go, they said we will be monitored all the days of our lives.”

The separatists had also kidnapped and tortured the Babessi mayor in June 2019.

In November 2019, the Restoration Forces kidnapped 20 SDF candidates in the town of Jakiri, North-West region. The officials were held in a small house near a separatist camp in Vekovi village. They were released on December 8, after ransom payments believed to be between CFAF 250,000 and CFAF 500,000 ($419-$838) were paid for each abductee.

“It was about 7 p.m. when two Amba boys [separatists] broke into my shop,” a victim from Jakiri said. “They pointed a gun at my forehead and told me to go with them. They told me I was being kidnapped because my name was on the list of those running for local elections.”

Burning of Property

Armed separatists burned down the home of Acha Kennedy, a candidate for the ruling CPDM, in Bamenda, North-West region, on January 12, 2020, and the home of the mayor in Bafut, North-West region, on January 15, witnesses said. A neighbor of Kennedy said:

At around 9:30 p.m. I opened the door and saw five motorbikes going down to the residence of Mr. Acha. I watched closely. They were Amba boys [separatists]. They had their guns and held tires of vehicles in their hands. They set them on fire and threw them on the roof of Acha’s home. That was how the house was set ablaze. We live in fear.

Witnesses said that a group of about 15 armed separatists – from a group known as “Nsei boys” operating in Mbesoh neighborhood, in Bamessing – burned down four homes belonging to two officials in Bamessing, North-West region, on November 20, 2019. One of the homes was used as a private health center.

A witness, the brother of one of the officials, said:

I used my brother’s home as a health center. I was there with a dozen of people waiting for consultations when the separatists came. They had guns, machetes, and knives. Some appeared to be high on drugs. They demanded we leave. Then, they set the home on fire. The roof was burned, as well as all my medical equipment.

Another of the official’s homes was burned on January 23. He said that he had also been threatened for sending his children to school.

A sister of the other official said that the separatists beat her when they burned her sister’s home. “They had tanks of 20 liters each full of petrol and kerosene, which they started pouring around,” she said. “Then, they set the house on fire. I broke into tears, and so two of them started hitting my back, buttocks, and feet using machetes and sticks.”

Obtained from the HRW report.

Following the February 09 Municipal and Legislative elections, an avalanche of calls for political breakthrough in Cameroon have been downloaded from several national and international bodies including the African Union (AU), Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Roman Catholic Church as well as a host of other rights focused institutions.

According to the AU observer mission dispatched to monitor the Cameroon elections, there was massive boycott as many Cameroonians have lost faith in the entire process. Moreover, the boycott launched by the main opposition party, the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) also worked to the disfavor of the elections. This further compounded by the ongoing conflict in the Anglophone regions which thwarted the process. It was a similar message from the Catholic Church which said something more than just elections can bring stability in Cameroon. According to the President of the Cameroon National Episcopal Council, Mgr Abraham Kome, the turnout was very low. He cited a case in President Biya’s home town of Sangmelima wherein in a polling station of 310 voters, only 85 bothered to take part in the process.

The armed conflict in Anglophone Cameroon also featured in the report of Transparency International (TI) as well as Human Rights Watch (HRW) and a general loss of confidence by citizens in the electoral process in Cameroon. This explains why even in urban metropolis void of any real armed conflict like Bertoua, capital of the East region, the abstention rate, according to the Catholic Church was 70% and in neighbouring Batouri, it was 89%. However, the government has challenged the reports arguing, through Cameroon’s Minister of Interior, Paul Atanga Nji that the reports do not reflect the reality on the ground. The Minister upheld that there was a huge turnout by Cameroonians. “The population in the North West and South West regions turned out massively to exercise their civic duty in all administrative units,” Atanga Nji said.

Amidst the situation

Amidst the current insecurity, violent conflict, voter apathy, elections boycott, disenfranchisement in Cameroon are three basic school of thoughts with each holding firm to an unshakable position characteristic of an extremist confluence. Proponents of the school of thoughts hold firm to their position and belief it is the best remedy for a country challenged at all fronts. In the opinion of the Director of the Central African Network of Human Rights Defenders known by its French acronym as REDHAC, Cameroon is challenged at all fronts and the ruling elites need to make some concessions. “The country is very sick at all levels,” Maximilienne Ngo Mbe said.

With each school of thought blaming the other for the current situation, it becomes a huge challenge finding a middle belt wherein all can come in. At the level of the government, the insecurity, violence especially in the Anglophone regions is caused by “enemies of peace.” They argue that before the uprising the country was enjoying “peace,” a “peace” which the retired Archbishop of Douala, Cameroon’s biggest town, Cardinal Christian Tumi described as “negative peace” because of the social inequality the ruling elites have subjected a greater part of the population and especially the minority Anglophones.

In the opinion of politicians including President Biya’s runner-up at the October 2018 election, Professor Maurice Kamto of the CRM party, they orchestrated a boycott because one part of the country (Anglophone regions) is in war and elections cannot be free and fair. They also argue that the electoral code which has been a subject of controversy in previous elections must be revised to provide equal opportunity to all, not just ruling party candidates.

On the part of the separatists, the elections are “foreign” to their land as there is no treaty in international law or at the level of the United Nations binding the Former British Territory (Anglophone Cameroon) and the Republic of Cameroun (French). According to them, the marriage between the two Cameroons in 1961 was an annexation scheme which they want to break. They hold firm to their position and argue that only a negotiated settlement would stop their arms struggle. In a recent outing on his Facebook page, Dr Ayaba Cho Lucas, one of the main leaders of the armed Anglophone nationalism advocating for a separate state called Ambazonia has urged his counterparts to arm what he called ground zero until the central government negotiates. Rather, the government has been slow to negotiate or address the underlying causes but has also upheld the extremist vision of peace by non-peaceful means. In his traditional end of year speech on December 31, 2019, President Paul Biya called on separatists to lay down arms or be crushed by the Cameroon defense forces. All these positions have ensured that there is violence, bloodshed and voter apathy not just in the Anglophone regions but the entire country before, during and possible after if sustainable peace is not attained.

Before, During, After Elections

Cameroonians went to the polls in the context of growing insecurity and conflict which has affected at least six out of its ten regions. The East is heavily militarized because of the incursions of rebels of the Central Africa Republic (CAR), while the North is embedded in the Boko Haram conflict, which after experiencing a lull, has, in recent times, taking a more ferocious mood with regular attacks and killings. The Adamawa region only enjoyed a respite of peace in recent times thanks to the dispatching of hundreds of elite Gendarmes to counteract the activities of kidnappers.

However, the greatest challenge has come from the two Anglophone regions in the West where separatists have been fighting against state security forces for three years. The state’s authority in those areas has been reduced to some rare urban metropolis with the few administrators still present under heavy military companion. In the October 2018 presidential election, the turnout in some of these areas was as low as 5% and in other cases entire population had fled because of the violence.

In its analysis of the situation, HRW said there was violence before, during the elections and possible after the election as it fears for the safety of those elected. This violence was orchestrated by both separatist fighters and government soldiers. The rights organization estimated that separatists kidnapped about 100 persons, mostly aspiring MPs and Municipal Councils, mainly from the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF). At least three offices of Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), the elections management body were burnt down in Misaje on January 07, and Babessi on January 16 in the North West region. In the same region, a local Post Office in Bafut which was housing electoral materials was also burned down. In the South West region, ELECAM’s offices in Tombel were set ablaze on February 02. Homes belonging to government officials and some opposition party candidates were also destroyed.

Rather than protecting the population, HRW argued that government forces also worsened the situation by committing acts of human rights violation. Between January 17 and 20, security forces entered Bali, a locality in the North West region destroying over 50 homes and killing several individuals. All these according to the group accounted for the massive boycott in the elections especially as separatists who controlled most of these areas had called for massive boycott coupled with similar boycotts from some opposition parties including the Kamto’s CRM and the Cameroon Peoples’ Party (CPP) of Kah Walla among others.

The war has crippled the country’s economy as the two Anglophone regions are harbingers of much of the country’s wealth including crude oil, cocoa, coffee, banana, tea, and other cash crops. The largest agro-industrial complex, the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) which is the second largest employer after the state is at the brink of collapsing because of the war. This has pushed the government into a borrowing spree to finance most projects while some are merely abandoned because of lack of funds.

Even though regime faithful paint a favourable socio-political climate, the recent elections have proving that Cameroon needs a total overhaul of its electoral law, constitution and strong laws that would give more powers to the local tax payers. However, such a revision would still leave one part of the population, the English speakers disenfranchised as the conditions on the ground for them goes beyond the electoral code, but the transformation of the conflict into gains. Moving forward with elections in the present context has further strengthened the argument of separatists and instead put the lives of civilians.

Force has not solved the equation after three years and not even the country’s elite forces have been able to outsmart civilians sometimes holding just rifles. While addressing the American Parliament in November 2019 on the situation in Cameroon, the Deputy Secretary of State in charge of African Affairs said President Paul Biya has been “ill-advised” to use military options which cannot produce any substantial results. “You can’t wipe out a thought militarily,” Tibor Nagy said. He went further to state that the inability of the Cameroon government to enter into genuine negotiations with separatists further radicalizes many more to consider that only an armed struggle would answer the equation. In the inability to confab with separatists for the past three years, only unbearable pressure by the international community can cause the government to make this bold step and save what is still left. The growing dissatisfaction among the majority Francophones as expressed in the low turnout in the election is an indication that Cameroon in general is at the brink of a total collapse and possible repercussions going far beyond its border. Such a breakdown would for example fasten the position of Boko Haram extremists in the North and other armed movements.

Source: The Organisation for World Peace

Last year, the U.S. announced that it was severing trade ties with Cameroon over allegations of human rights abuses in the West African country.

It was the first time the six-decade-long relationship between the two countries had been threatened. But the Americans were explicit in communicating their concerns.

The US said it was unhappy with reports of torture and extrajudicial killings of citizens by the country’s military as reasons for removing Cameroon from the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA).

What the US was referring to was the seemingly uncontrollable sporadic spates of violence that have plagued Cameroon’s northwestern and southwestern regions for decades.

These parts of Cameroon are populated by English speakers although the majority of Cameroonians are Francophone.

Anglophone Cameroon has for years struggled for better representation in government and civil service. The struggle has taken turns in various degrees between simple protests to separatist insurgency.

Since the 1970s Anglophone Cameroon has asked for various kinds of autonomy from language to outright independence.

President Paul Biya, Cameroon’s 86-year-old leader who has had his job since 1982, is a southerner whose predispositions on the matter are quite well-known.

The unrest is thus about Cameroon’s failure to form a national identity, or quite simply, a no-nonsense hammering of English speakers into line.

But in fairness, that is just half of the story. After World War I, Cameroon, then a German colony along with other territories in central Africa, were shared among the British and the French.

When French-controlled Cameroon gained independence in 1960, British-controlled Cameroon united with the other half after a referendum in 1961.

Referenda of such nature were a common arbitration tactic by Western colonizers to decide the matter of nationhood for newly-independent states in Africa.

But while those in the northernmost parts of British Cameroon wanted to join Nigeria, Cameroon’s modern-day border-neighbour, those in the south of British Cameroon voted overwhelmingly to join French-Cameroon.

But a federal arrangement of government meant that English-speakers had some control over some immediate aspects of their identity, including but not limited to language.

After another referendum in 1972 that pitched federal governance against unitarian governance, the majority of Cameroonians chose the latter, setting the stage for the nature of the problem these days.

The northwestern city of Bamenda has in recent years been the battleground of forces of the state against armed separatists.

In 2018, videos and photos of government forces torturing and burning building in Bamenda made their way to the internet. The BBC reported that the Cameroonian government had tried to prevent the world from knowing about the brutalities.

In the last few years alone, over half a million people have had to flee their homes for safety even as the UN also reports that thousands, mostly English-speaking civilians have died too.

Currently, there is no promise of a lasting solution and President Biya has not stated intentions of stepping down even after his current term expires in 2025.

Culled from Face2FaceAfrica

Vote counting in Cameroon’s local and parliamentary elections on Sunday has been marred by violence and opposition claims of fraud committed by the ruling party.  Opposition leaders accuse the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement of ballot stuffing, which it denies. 

Opposition candidates and officials of Cameroon’s elections management body, ELECAM, argued at a polling station Monday in the southwestern town of Limbe.

As vote counting continued in Sunday’s local and parliamentary elections, some parts of Cameroon saw protests sparked by allegations of fraud.

Fritz Ngeka Etoke is an opposition Social Democratic Front candidate for parliament.

He accuses President Paul Biya‘s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party and election officials of rigging the vote.

“It is a shame.  The international community should see,” he said. “We caught one lady with about 500 CPDM ballot papers.  This is one case; the president of a polling station has stuffed the box.  Is it not a pity?”

Etoke alleged the CPDM also declared itself the winner in English-speaking villages where civilians fled fighting between the military and rebels, despite no one voting.

Local ruling party officials dismissed the fraud allegations as unfounded.

The government, however, acknowledged fraud allegations and election disputes in almost every town where the opposition fielded a candidate.

Disgruntled opposition supporters blocked traffic in several western towns, and some protests against the alleged fraud turned violent.

The governor of the French-speaking western region, Augustine Awa Fonka, says clashes in one village left one man dead and several wounded.

He would not identify the man or give details on how he was killed but, called for a return to peace.

“There is no point for people coming out, blocking the roads, quarreling, fighting,” he said.  “Violent acts here and there are unnecessary, so I am calling on the population to be calm, to be vigilant.  They should avoid provocations.  If you do not succeed today, it is not the end of the world.  You prepare for the next elections.  I think at this point in time, we badly need peace.”

The government deployed the military to English-speaking towns to protect voters from insurgents who had vowed to disrupt the polls.

But some villagers who talked to reporters accused the military of using the deployment to have troops cast multiple votes for the ruling party.

The minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji, rejected the claims.  He insists the polls were fair and successful, despite what he described as a few challenges.

“All went well in the 24,988 polling stations,” he said. “Any form of challenge to the verdict of the polls other than the constitutional legal means will not be tolerated,” he said.

The ruling CPDM party is calling on its supporters and all Cameroonians to wait calmly for official election results.

Source: VOA

The vote count in Cameroon continues after Sunday’s parliamentary and municipal elections, marred by the boycott in the central African country’s two English-speaking regions.

Several cases of fraud have been reported by observers and political parties.

“The security forces arrested a lady at a polling station in Douala with around 40 voter ID cards in her possession. She is being interrogated, “Erik Essousse, director-general of Elections Cameroon (Elecam), told Anadolu Agency on Sunday.

He added that the head of a polling station in Kumba, Southwest Region, was arrested due to alleged fraud.

National and international observers said that several people did not take part in the elections, either because of the Anglophone crisis or out of respect for the boycott called by opposition leader Maurice Kamto.

In the English-speaking regions, clashes took place between security forces and separatist groups, who also called for a boycott.

“I believe that the voter turnout is far below that of the presidential election last October,” said Maxi Mbe Ngo, president of the Central Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (REDHAC).

After casting his vote in the capital Yaounde, Cameroonian President Paul Biya called on the citizens to fulfill their civic duty by going to vote, “contrary to the calls for the boycott of certain small political parties.”

The results of the municipal elections will be declared three days after the elections, while the results of parliamentary polls will be announced by the Constitutional Court within 20 days. 

Grievances

Cameroon has been marred by protests since 2016, with residents in English-speaking regions saying they have been marginalized for decades by the central government and the French-speaking majority.

The protesters are calling for a return to federalism or independence of English-speaking Cameroon.

Reports claim that hundreds have since been killed and several thousand displaced since clashes erupted roughly three years ago.

A national dialogue took place last year that focused on the grievances of the English-speaking populations of the Northwest and Southwest regions of the Central African country.

In Nov. 2019, Kamto called for a boycott of the country’s legislative and municipal elections. He said the country is not ready for elections.

The elections had been postponed twice due to growing threats from armed separatists in the country’s two English-speaking regions.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Brute force has been the main weapon of the regime in Yaoundé as it has sought to crush growing Southern Cameroons uprising and quest for an independent state, killing thousands of people including women and children and torturing hundreds more. But the entire Cameroon nation has also been besieged by relentless propaganda.

In a political campaign period that has seen at least 98 die and escalating violence in all of Southern Cameroons, state radio and television including private media organizations owned by regime cronies have been blaring out songs exalting the 86 year old President Biya as the father of the nation with some anointing him president for all eternity.

The ruling CPDM crime syndicate supports President Paul Biya, one of the world’s oldest and longest-serving leaders, who has ruled with a steely fist for 37 of his 86 years. Sunday’s parliamentary and local council elections took place for the first time in seven years, after two postponements.

Despite the delays, campaigning was low key and the few banners put up in the nation’s capital, Yaoundé by the consortium of CPDM crime syndicates were barely more numerous than posters calling on people to pick up their litter.

The numerous baseball caps, T-shirts and flags adorned with President Biya’s face were difficult to find this time around as the “river of money” in Southern Cameroons has gone dry. CDC, PAMOL and SONARA are all facing problems and these are corporations that have stood the government in good stead over the last fifty years.  

A state television interview showed Biya making a mockery of major opposition parties that boycotted the poll while a handful of regime supporters chanted that they would shed blood for their president.

But as President Biya’s use of force has failed to crush the Southern Cameroons revolution, now in its fourth year, propaganda has become a key element of the regime’s efforts to rally support.

The Biya regime propaganda is relentless and has successfully hijacked the idea of national identity and is pushing divisions. Yaounde’s official rhetoric is now tribal and a cream of French Cameroun political elites are blaming the Southern Cameroons diaspora and Ambazonia Self Defense groups for the violence.

The Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo crude misinformation has so far been surprisingly effective because there is no independent media in both French and Southern Cameroons. Correspondingly, reporting is difficult and news comes mainly from witnesses and amateur film footage.

The Biya regime and its French Cameroun opponents have become increasingly polarised, raising the spectre of clashes soonest in French Cameroun where tribal tensions are rising amid claims that Bamilekes are being targeted by the country’s secret service.

The voting in Southern Cameroons appeared to have been done by members of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) deployed to the territory now known as the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. The whole process was teleguided to guarantee a crushing victory for the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement which in the outgoing parliament had 148 out of 180 seats.

There is one small thing, small but great and it is that even in Yaoundé, enthusiasm for Biya and his ruling CPDM crime syndicate has now been subdued, with no crowds running behind Biya anymore.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The Southern Cameroons Interim Government in exile on Sunday hailed the huge success in the lockdown against French Cameroun teleguided elections in the territory.

Addressing a cream of Southern Cameroonian elites in Holland, Vice President Dabney Yerima declared “Glory and immortality for our Ambazonian martyr and jailed leaders” after reading aloud a report about the complete boycott of the so-called twin poll in Southern Cameroons.

Cameroon government sources speaking on condition of anonymity indicated that Biya may soon be forced to change his Anglophone policy or pushed out of power in Yaoundé.

Vice President Dabney Yerima also spoke of a new plan to map a new Ambazonia Interim Government strategy backed by key Southern Cameroons think tanks in Europe, South Africa and the United States. A move that will definitely signal an escalation in self defense operations against the Francophone dominated Cameroon government army.

Comrade Yerima revealed that prior to the French Cameroun elections, pro Yaoundé militias operating in Southern Cameroons and elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) stepped up attacks against innocent Southern Cameroons civilians with troops loyal to the Biya regime firing French-designed rockets from Mbouda in East Cameroun into the Mezam County.

The Southern Cameroons second-in-command condemned Prime Minister Dion Ngute for holding a campaign rally in La Republique du Cameroun’s self-designated security zone in Buea.

Sunday’s session of the “Ambazonia Interim Government Briefing” was devoted mainly to the elections in Ground Zero.   Vice President Dabney Yerima noted that the success of the boycott will begin a new process to tackle the crucial task of restoring unity to the many Southern Cameroons factions.

Yerima furthered that the Ambazonia leader, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe long agreed to a political and organizational reforms to cement the unity drive among all Southern Cameroons groups.

Amba News Update:

The Yaounde-organized elections flopped. Here are the statistics from a loyal ELECAM official:

1. 98% of Rural Ambazonia DID NOT Participate

2. 90% of Urban Ambazonia DID NOT Participate.

This gives a boycott rate of 98.45%; meaning there was a miserable 1.55% turnout.

Now, out of the 1.55%, a majority was soldiers and French Cameroun civilians paid and ferried across the Mungo

Cameroon Concord News Update

• Buea is a graveyard. The silence is deafening. The churches and so called polling stations were empty. No elections whatsoever.

• Kumba is a Ghost town. Only SDO out voting. Early morning gunshots from self-defence forces.

• Mamfe Extremely Quiet. Only Mayor and SDO with foreign occupiers out.

• Victoria is deadly silent. No movement.

• Muyuka is a no go area.

 Scandy Media Elections boycott updates:

1. Gunshots in Kumba, Buea, Alakuka, Mbengwi, Rendez Vous, Kumbo,etc The case of Mbengwi saw a police officer shot but rushed to the hospital.

2. Mile 7 & 8 Mankon started as early as 3 am as well as Buea 2 am : Prisoners are transported in Buea to go and vote to deceive the world :

3: Bafut had the post office visited by the consortium of fire 🔥 simply because voting materials were hidden inside the building

4: Muyuka is not left out as joint forces in collaboration with most barracks and their Generals fires gunshots to chase those ferried from French Cameroun to cast votes:

5: In Mbah – Kumbo Commander Capo of Bui and his boys transported, mounted then fired explosives that echoed all over Kumbo :

6: Victoria started in a good footing with almost everywhere shutdown this morning: We are told some CPDM enablers are in a conclave planning to open at least 4 polling stations with some few at the barracks but the feedback so far is positive

7: Most polling stations have been hit and boxes destroyed by Bui warriors causing the regime to dispatch at least 4 armored cars that are now hiding their election officers in neighborhoods  around Nji

By Asu Isong in London

Separatist militias have stepped up attacks and abductions in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions ahead of parliamentary and council elections likely to hand a sweeping victory to the party that has ruled the central African nation since 1985.

Anglophone armed groups last month called for a lock-down of the Southwest and Northwest regions and militants have targeted electoral staff and abducted at least 40 candidates running for parliamentary and municipal posts in polls on Sunday. Opposition leader Maurice Kamto, who was jailed for eight months last year, has withdrawn his party from the vote, saying it won’t be credible.

As many as 3,000 civilians are estimated to have died and hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee their homes since the Anglophone revolt erupted late 2016 following a heavy-handed government crackdown on protests against the dominance of the French language in schools and courts. Cameroon is divided in 10 semi-autonomous regions and the English-speaking minority accounts for about a fifth of the population.

The ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement already holds 148 out of 180 seats in the National Assembly and is running unchallenged in about 20% of all races, according to the International Crisis Group. Sunday’s vote will almost certainly strengthen the grip of President Paul Biya over state institutions, ICG Central Africa Director Richard Moncrieff said by phone from Nairobi.

Special Status

Africa’s second-longest serving head of state, Biya, who turns 87 next week, has been accused of allowing the crisis to spiral out of control by ignoring it in its early stages. Last year, he initiated a national dialogue that led to a bill granting the Anglophone regions special status, which means their assemblies are to be consulted by the central government over educational policy as well as the application of common law.

Yet most separatist leaders were either in prison or abroad when the dialogue started in September, fueling widespread skepticism about its purpose.

“For the special status given to the Anglophones to come into force, elections must take place,” said Fuh Calistus Gentry, a ruling-party member.

The decision to grant greater autonomy to the Anglophone regions won’t have much of an impact if the population is too scared to vote, said Kah Walla, head of the opposition Cameroon People’s Party.

“Those to be elected in parliament and in the councils will have very little powers in the Northwest and Southwest regions because they will have very little legitimacy,” Kalla said.

Oil-dependent Cameroon is a key hub in central Africa, with roads and ports that are vital for landlocked neighbors including Chad and Central African Republic. The revolt has also slashed output of palm oil and other agricultural export crops, which are mainly grown in the Southwest and Northwest.

The government has postponed the vote twice since September 2018, citing logistical and security concerns. Voter turnout during 2018 presidential elections was as low as 5% in the Northwest region, compared to 53% in the rest of the country. To provide better security, the government this month deployed additional troops in the restive regions and grouped voting centers together.

Biya’s decision to push ahead with the elections appears to be motivated by a desire to “present some form of normality” as the U.S. and the African Union have increased pressure on his government to solve the crisis, Moncrieff said.

“Instead, the vote risks reinforcing the separatists’ argument that they’re being marginalized,” he said.

The U.S. cut $17 million in military aid to Cameroon last year and said in December it planned to terminate the government’s eligibility for trade preference benefits due to reports of “persistent human-rights violations” by security forces. About 300 U.S. troops are stationed in the country to monitor Islamist militant insurgencies in the region.

Source: Bloomberg