No political commentator knows when President Biya is going to stop his senseless war against the people of Southern Cameroons. From Cameroon government intelligence sources, we understand that the Ambazonia Self-Defense Council Restoration Forces are in complete control of the rural areas. The French Cameroun government is determined to re-assert its sovereign authority over all Ambazonian territory, as well as the ambiguous political situation in Southern Cameroons, where the Interim Government has effectively banned all activities of the ruling CPDM party.

Over the past several months, a growing number of senior political analysts have concluded that President Biya is losing Cameroon’s brutal war. Seemingly from a position of strength some few years ago, Biya could appoint and dismiss any Anglophone political elite and he had consolidated control over West Cameroon. But things are changing so rapidly on Ground Zero and the French Cameroun army appears to have been abandoned by its main Yaoundé sponsors, all of whom are now preparing for life after Biya. As our chief correspondent in Buea recently put it, the Federal Republic of Ambazonia looks as though is here to stay.

That may be so. But the temptation to over-interpret the latest events on the battlefield has bedeviled policymakers since the Southern Cameroons uprising began. The military challenge to Biya’s rule has taken a new dimension even though some significant amounts of Ambazonian territory remain in Yaounde’s hands. If Biya is losing the war, he’s doing so at the cost of dismembering the country. Events in the Federal Republic of Nigeria points to a chaotic outcome after the presidential elections in 2019 and this will have a spillover effect on the war in Southern Cameroons.   A number of factors including major diplomatic push by the Interim Government’s pragmatic approach suggest that Cameroon’s de facto partition is a more likely outcome. What might this look like? And is separation something the French Cameroonians should accept or oppose?

Since 1900, approximately two dozen conflicts ended by either de facto or de jure partition. These range from the loss of sovereign control over small territorial enclaves (e.g., Cyprus in 1964 or Somaliland in 1991) to declarations of sovereignty with full international recognition (e.g., Eritrea and Croatia in 1991, South Sudan in 2011). More recently, several Nigerian politicians have proposed a similar approach in Cameroon. This reflects deep skepticism on whether Biya will be able to reunify his so-called one and indivisible Cameroon and a recognition of the degree of divide that’s already taken place. A quick glance at the situation in Manyu, Lebialem, Belo, Bamenda, Muyenge, Kumba, Ndian, Batibo reveals a complex patchwork corresponding to discrete blocs held by the French Cameroun government, the Ambazonia Self-Defense Council Restoration Forces and armed gangs operating from Nigeria. Biya’s control over some areas in Southern Cameroons is limited to economic loyalty. For example, the French Cameroun government has continued to pay salaries to civil servants, even in areas outside its control. But over time, the Interim Government will make these constituencies become increasingly autonomous: Every Southern Cameroons County flies the Ambazonian flag, operates its own security and takes orders from the Interim Government.  Administrative, judicial institutions and educational curricula are still being developed by the exiled government in the USA.

Cardinal Christian Tumi pointed out that the path to Cameroon’s demise was shaped by French intervention in the politics of the country.  In the Northern Zone, the Anglophone Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji and his partners have created armed groups and though small, the North West area is now buzzing with French Cameroun-funded killer squads.  The precise objectives of this Minister Atanga Nji operation in the North West remain unclear.

In the South West, self-defense forces loyal to the Interim Government are exercising their influence over the Cameroon army and attacks against government forces are rampant. To be sure, Biya regime forces are extremely vulnerable and the area remains self-governing and resistant to Yaoundé authority.

It is important to stress that separation is an outcome almost every Southern Cameroonian wants including those in the Diaspora. However, the international community continues to insist on Cameroon’s unity and territorial integrity.  After two years of war, the vast majority of Ambazonians are comfortable with inclusive dialogue precisely on the grounds that it would be a step towards separation.

Deep within the French Cameroun army, the fight is no longer over Southern Cameroons as a whole, but about making as much money as possible preparing for a new government after the CPDM.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The Francophone Minister for Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo was forced to inform local and international public opinion of the creation of a commission of inquiry into the brutal killing of a Southern Cameroonian which French Cameroun army soldiers claimed was a leader of an armed group in the Northern Zone.  The Francophone dominated Cameroon army admitted its troops had meted out inhumane treatment to a suspected separatist arrested in the North West region of the country.

According to Mr. Joseph Beti Assomo, gendarmes deployed to the Northern Zone to fight the so called separatists had “mistreated and tied up” an alleged separatist leader during his arrest on Saturday. A viral social media video showed French Cameroun forces having tied the suspects’ hands behind him. The suspect who was lying on his belly in muddy conditions is kicked and his head is stamped upon by some of the gendarmes and a Francophone police officer.

Out of shame and embarrassment, the operations manager of the French Cameroun war machinery, Joseph Beti Assomo opined that the gendarmes were “clearly out of the norms and legal techniques in such circumstances.” The Biya Francophone regime announced to the world that an investigation has been opened to identify (and) where appropriate sanction the perpetrators of these acts contrary to respect for human rights.

Joseph Beti Assomo told a lie that the Southern Cameroonian was nicknamed “general” and was a separatist leader who was arrested on Saturday.  Assomo further pointed out that the innocent Southern Cameroonian was actively sought for several weeks for his involvement in acts of violence against the population and (in) the killing of the personnel of defense and security forces.

If you have been following the war in Southern Cameroons, you will know Mr. Joseph Beti Assomo who said that French Cameroun soldiers would implement President Biya’s war decision without batting an eyelid.  He is now seeking a longer timeframe to submit a fake report to the international community on the numerous atrocities committed by French Cameroun army soldiers in Southern Cameroons. But for social media, there won’t be any French Cameroun investigation. What genius set that investigation?

Legal obstacles

All military judges and army and gendarmerie commanders are from President Paul Biya’s Beti Ewondo tribe whose main goal is to keep Biya and his tribal setting in power and plunder Southern Cameroons wealth.  The Yaoundé government will not allocate any resources required to pursue this investigation as they have done in the past with the Lake Nyos Gas disaster, the Nsam Fire Disaster, the Mbanga-Pongo Plane Crash and the Eseka train disaster including the murder of Bishop Balla.

Biya and members of his Francophone CPDM crime syndicate are struggling to give the impression that there is indeed a responsible government in Yaoundé. Mr. Beti Assomo has never been in a position to comment on the genocide going in Southern Cameroons. But with Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary anticipating the end of the Biya regime, Assomo is now in the spot light.

The investigation was made public to take the political heat off the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo Government in reaction to shocking revelations made recently by the United Nations. The Biya regime with help from the French have kept the UN silent for too long. As part of the transaction, UN Secretary General received a golden statue from President Biya worth millions of US dollars.

We also know that the French embassy in Abuja, Nigeria is bankrolling the arrest of Southern Cameroonians in the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the Buhari regime.  Southern Cameroons has since become a “commercial success” for the French as they now have control of the CDC-the biggest Agro-Industrial Plant in West Africa and the oil and gas fields in the Bakassi Peninsula. This feeds the narrative that Southern Cameroonians are strangers in their ancestral land. The Joseph Beti Assomo investigation will go nowhere.

By Sessekou Asu Isong, London

In the early hours of Saturday the 12^th of May 2018, a military truck transporting some elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion reportedly had an accident around the Atlantic Beach entrance in Limbe. 30 soldiers were killed and dozens injured. The Francophone dominated army had before the accident ordered Southern Cameroons civilians to evacuate the area.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that the soldiers left their base and were en route to Muyuka to crush the attacks on the gendarmerie post when their vehicle crashed.  French Cameroun army sources say the accident was caused due to over speeding. However, our chief correspondent in the Southern Zone, Sama Ernest who is also very experienced in intelligence gathering has gotten reliable information that the Limbe Atlantic Beach accident was staged by the military.

In an interview he had with a senior Francophone military official in Limbe who sued for anonymity, the officer wondered aloud on the numerous “lie telling competition” going on deep within the Cameroon army. “These days the army kills its own and say it was a motor accident’ he pointed out.  He said the Cameroon military high command was not telling the truth to the Cameroonian people. He admitted that soldiers were being killed by the Southern Cameroons restoration forces at an alarming rate but the army was maintaining a kind of silence of the lamb.

Questioned on the diabolic harsh ploy by the army against the people of Southern Cameroons, he bolted and claimed he did not understand English properly.  Some sources have maintained the view that the army is afraid to tell the truth as it may generate an uprising in East Cameroun. The Biya regime plans to make public the names of some of the soldiers killed in the Southern Cameroons war this coming week and we understand the list will be linked to the Limbe accident.

Elsewhere, there was an attack at the Gendarmerie post in Yoke, Muyuka and the Southern Cameroons freedom fighters made away with ammunition. Two days ago, they attacked the Muyuka police head office and freed all detainees.

By Rita Akana with files from Sama Ernest in Fako County

The paramount chief of the Bafaw in the South West region of Cameroon, Fon Victor Mukete, is facing headwinds at the Senate and in his native region of the southwest following a video released on Youtube wherein he was showering praises on the country’s president, Paul Biya, for appointing him as the senator for Meme Division.

The 100-year-old Mukete is clearly staring down the barrel of dismissal, as the new Social Democratic Front (SDF) senators have indicated that Chief Mukete like many Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement (CPDM) senators are in breach of senate rules.

According to a Cameroon Concord News source close to the senate, the seven SDF senators have sworn to right many violations that have taken place during the just ended senatorial term. Our source, who has spoken to SDF senators, has reported that the proceedings will start today, April 26, 2018 with the intention of giving the senile Mukete and his fellow party members 48 hours to choose whether to be in the senate or continue to serve their country wherever they also hold public office.

If after 48 hours, those caught up in this breach of senate rule do not decide on what to do, a senate committee will also grant them ten days and at the expiry of the 10 days, those involved in this breach will automatically be considered as having resigned from the senate.

Chief Mukete, a senator from Meme Division in the South West region, is the Board chairman of the country’s telecommunications company, CAMTEL. According to the country’s senate rules, senators are not supposed to hold other government functions, but for many years, these rules have not been applied and many ruling party senators like Chief Mukete have gotten away with what is supposed to be punishable under senate rules.

Things are about to change and according to our source; Mr. Biya has clearly supported the SDF decision to fight such a breach. Mr. Biya has urged those involved to make the right decision and has clearly stated that he will not be defending or supporting them.

Meanwhile, in the southwest region, Chief Mukete is under fire for overstaying his welcome in the political arena. Many South-westerners hold that at 100 years, Chief Mukete is supposed to have quit politics, especially as Southern Cameroonians are locked in a battle they believe could result in their obtaining an independent country known as Ambazonia.

It should be recalled that a few weeks ago, Chief Mukete had indicated that the best solution to the Southern Cameroonian crisis would be the establishment of a federal system; a statement that shocked his ruling party and sent down ripples down Mr. Biya’s spine.

Chief Mukete like many Southern Cameroonian politicians in Yaounde are silently sympathizing with the English-speaking minority, but having been part of the system for decades and militated in a party considered by many as a crime syndicate, they cannot publicly express their political view for fear of being arrested and taken to the country’s maximum security prison in Yaoundé.

Chief Mukete’s dismissal from the senate will be a huge blow to the party and to Chief Mukete himself. If he decides to stay in the senate, he will be losing his position as board chairman at CAMTEL; a company he has used to feather his nest and place members of his family in high positions.

After so many years in the corridors of power, Chief Mukete is facing his toughest challenge yet. He is expected to make a decision on this matter in a few days and with the president clearly indicating that he is on the side of SDF senators, Chief Mukete and his follow party members are set to lose some of their privileges.

Meanwhile, fighting in the two English-speaking regions of the country has intensified. Government forces have over the last three months been engaged in gross human rights abuses which are causing many in the international community to question the government’s commitment to the inclusive dialogue it has been talking about.

For almost two years, Southern Cameroons has been reduced to an abattoir with government troops killing innocent citizens as if they are not nationals of Cameroon. In many parts of Southern Cameroons, young men, many of whom are innocent and have nothing to do with the ugly fighting that is playing out over there, have been arrested and taken to unknown destinations. Many have been buried alive, while others have been used by the country’s sex-starved and alcohol-inflamed soldiers as shooting targets. The rule of law that is supposed to be upheld by the government is gradually becoming the rule of weapons where those with weapons dictate the rule and the country’s government is doing its best to encourage this form of lawlessness that is breeding hatred and feeding the circle of violence that is claiming many lives in Southern Cameroons.

A crisis that started as simple protests by lawyers, teachers and students in Buea and Bamenda has been allowed to metamorphose into a full blown armed conflict due to the government’s firm belief in tough and violent means to address issues. The government’s decision to slaughter hundreds of Southern Cameroonians on October 1, 2017, has turned out to be an unfortunate error of judgment. Many people around the world who have been watching Cameroon descend into chaos thought the country’s government would actually embrace peace. Many have been waiting for the government to lay the ground work for the much-touted inclusive dialogue that the country’s president, Paul Biya, has been talking about.

But time, a key factor in life, has revealed that Mr. Biya, who had declared at the United Nations in 2017 that “we all are hankering after peace”, has, all through, been paying lip-service to the notion of inclusive and sincere dialogue. Mr. Biya and his government see governance as a do or die affair and any dialogue that might minimize their power will never be their cup of tea.  They have opted for self-destruction. They seem to be admiring the killings in their own country. Cameroon’s leaders are unfortunately encouraging a bloodbath in their own country.

To them, the atrocities being committed by government troops are simply war games worthy of their admiration.  They seem to be deflecting public opinion from the fact that Southern Cameroonians, who have been victims of the government’s marginalization, simply want to be heard. They want years of injustice and disrespect to be addressed. But wont to violence and dictatorial ways of doing business, the government is unrelentingly pursuing its legendary policy of violence which has transformed an entire region into a massive killing field.

After October 1, 2017, a date many Southern Cameroonians consider as their independence day, the country has been pushed into an unprecedented spiral of violence. Government troops seem to be on a killing spree that is drawing a lot of admiration among government officials of Beti extraction. Mr. Joseph Beti Assomo, the country’s defense minister, is alleged to have boasted that by the time the conflict ends, there will be no Southern Cameroonians in the English-speaking regions. This testifies to the many claims of a government-sponsored genocide that are on social media.

Given such an attitude and the way many English-speaking Cameroonians have been rushed to an early grave by army soldiers, Southern Cameroonians hold that it behooves them to protect themselves as the government has decided to mow them down like unwanted ragweed. The government’s approach is creating more animosity and radicalizing even the most moderate, as Southern Cameroonians see their brothers being shot point blank by soldiers who are supposed to protect them.

Today, the radicalization has given birth to many armed groups in the two English-speaking regions of the country. The government too has stepped up its killing spree to prove that it is in control of the territory. Over the last four months, many innocent civilians have met their death as the government pursues its policy of collective punishment. Many civilians have seen their homes burnt down by government forces which have opted for a “scorch-earth” policy that is hurting many vulnerable people who have nothing to do with the conflict.

Schools and courts have remained closed in many parts of Southern Cameroons, though ghost town operations organized by angry English-speaking Cameroonians with the objective of bringing the government to the negotiating table are gradually fizzling out. The sticking point has been the government’s refusal to discuss the form of the state and this is causing the conflict to drag on and, in the process, it is taking forms that are too complicated even for the government to handle. The daily killings are resulting in moderate English-speaking Cameroonians seeing secession as the ultimate answer.

Today, the extrajudicial killings have become a daily affair and ordinary citizens are also killing and maiming soldiers in retaliation for the killing of many civilians. The arrest of secessionist leaders in Nigeria on January 5, 2018, and their illegal extradition to Yaoundé in late January have not helped matters. These leaders have been held incommunicado for almost two months and this is a concern to rights groups which hold that they deserve a fair trial and access to lawyers.

The abuses are ongoing and getting serious by the day. The international community is concerned about the government’s refusal to call for genuine and inclusive dialogue. And its approach to the resolution of this conflict has been criticized by the International Crisis Group (ICG), a rights group that has representatives on the ground who are collecting information and evidence of abuses. Though the ICG has been critical of the government, it still holds that dialogue is the ultimate answer to a crisis that is jeopardizing the country’s development prospects.

Southern Cameroonians are sick and tired of the referendum that was negotiated by John Ngu Foncha and his self-centered followers who were simply blinded by their own parochial interests. Southern Cameroonians have clearly demonstrated their disgust and frustration with a union that has robbed them of their dignity and happiness. They claim the government has been very indifferent to their plight. Years of marginalization have sent more than three million Southern Cameroonians abroad where they are today making the government to feel their ire. The Southern Cameroonian Diaspora is hell-bent on destabilizing the country if the government does not introduce meaningful reforms, especially those that border on federalism as a system of governance that has spread wealth and prosperity in other parts of the world.

The Southern Cameroons crisis is clearly an outcome of the pent-up anger and frustration that have been ignored by the country’s government. Southern Cameroonians have a genuine problem. Their marginalization is not a myth. It is a reality that has been noticed by the international community and even the government can no longer deny it. The scars of marginalization are all over the place. The country’s English-speaking minority has been frustrated for decades and the current armed conflict only speaks to the pain Southern Cameroonians have endured for years.

Most of these fighters are simply calling for the world to listen to them. They want a righting of the wrongs of the past. The lawyers who started the demonstrations never talked about secession or independence. But the government’s high-handedness and its determination to play the ostrich have pushed the country to the brink of a bloody civil war. Southern Cameroonians have, over time, migrated from redress to federalism and as government officials like Fame Ndongo, Issa Tchiroma and Laurent Esso insist that there is no Anglophone problem in Cameroon, many Southern Cameroonians have simply felt that it is time to look at other options – those which will extricate them from the burden of over-centralization.

By Ebot Etchi and Rita Akana in Yaoundé with contributions from Soter Agboaw-Ebai

The Francophone governor of the so-called South West region, Okalia Bilai made a mockery of himself following comments in the Lebialem County. The governor, who is currently recuperating from an undisclosed illness, faulted the Lebialem people and their traditional leaders for not citing with Francophone Beti Ewondo political elites ever since the Southern Cameroons revolution started some two years ago.

Governor Okalia, a member of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate, said “The people of Lebialem were crying that they did not have a minister but now they got one. The people of Lebialem were crying that they did not have a Senior Divisional Officer! They now have one whom I just installed in Mundemba.” The Biya acolyte wondered aloud why the Lebialem people have taken up arms against French Cameroun state institutions and promised that the Yaoundé regime will deploy more troops to the Lebialem County.

In an installation ceremony boycotted by all in Bangwaland, the governor was indeed addressing his message to elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR that ferried him to the Lebialem County. Not a Lebialem soul was on sight but only a French Cameroun media razzmatazz making a mockery of French Cameroun and its irresponsible leadership headed by Mr. Paul Biya.

The irrational comments of Governor Okalia Bilai have become worrisome not only to the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo political comedians but to all well meaning French Cameroun elites. The governor’s promise of a major French Cameroun military operation in Lebialem clearly indicates that for 57 years, successive French Cameroun governments have been vindictive not constructive in dealing with Southern Cameroons.

The French colonial administrative officer, Governor Okalia Bilai never spoke about unemployment, recession, and infrastructural deficit in the Lebialem County and by extrapolation, the entire Southern Cameroons but limited Lebialem demands to an inconsequential ministerial portfolio and that of a Senior Divisional Officer.

The military buildup before and after the installation ceremony and the massive boycott including the 37 French Cameroun soldiers killed sent a strong message to Yaounde that slowly but surely, Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia are all heading to Buea.

By Sessekou Ashu Isong in London

Bernard Okalia Bilia, the Francophone governor of the South-West region braved the bad roads to the Lebialem County, one of the six constituencies in the Southern zone of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, at the end of the week to install the new prefect appointed on April 6 by President Biya, when his convoy came under attack.

Tensions have continued to rise in Southern Cameroons ever since the Interim Government of the people of Ambazonia endorsed the policy of self defense in dealing with French Cameroun troops loyal to the 85 year old dictator. A series of attacks were carried out over the weekend in Southern Cameroons by the powerful Red Dragons of Lebialem, the Mighty ARA in Belo and the Manyu Ghost Warriors with the most serious being that on Sunday that targeted soldiers in Ekok and Otu in Eyumojock Sub constituency in the Manyu County and the “Good Friday” attack which targeted governor Bernard Oklia Bilia and his entourage en route to Lebialem.

The convoy of the governor, escorted by a detachment of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), an elite unit of the French Cameroun army, was attacked on the way back and forth signalling difficult times ahead. No casualties have been reported but the governor was heard crying like a child. Heavy fire came from the much respected Red Dragons forcing Governor Okalia and his gang to drive at lightning speed into French Cameroun territory.

Southern Cameroonians who are predominantly Christians commemorate the death of Jesus Christ, on a day that has come to be known ironically as Good Friday, on account of the salvation won for mankind by this otherwise tragic event, the central message that should not be lost on Ambazonia leaders is that sacrifice makes leadership. Jesus Christ spoke truth to power and paid the supreme price. He died a vicarious death to take away the sins of humanity and open the way to eternal life for all who believe in Him and in His message.

The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are a lesson on the power of humility, service, self-sacrifice and true love. Jesus taught a lot of lessons through his parables and miracles but perhaps the greatest lessons he taught are the practical lessons of his own life. Jesus taught his followers that there is no greater love than for a man to lay down his life for his friends, and that is exactly what he did. He taught his followers that those who seek to be first must make themselves last and servant of all; and that is what he did when he washed the feet of his disciples and accepted a humiliating death in order that they may live. Though as son of God He was rich beyond measure, He made a preferential option for the poor, whose circumstances He graciously shared. His life was consistent with His message. The present generation of Ambazonia leaders can learn a lot from the life and supreme sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Like the abducted Ambazonia leaders, the conflicts that led to the crucifixion of Christ centered on the social paradigm that Christ preached to the world. Like Sisiku Ayuk Julius Tabe and his co-travelers, the truth Jesus spoke was, of course, too bitter for his opponents to swallow and so they had to silence him. Yet, silenced in detention, like Jesus who was nailed to the cross, the power of their message was already immortal. Ambazonia is a spirit that will never die.

Jesus of Nazareth profoundly and manifestly changed the course of history. His message of love, mercy and compassion, truth, justice, and freedom, has inspired some of the most progressive individuals and movements in human history. Yet His coming was inauspicious. There were no earth-shattering sirens and convoys to welcome Him; life in Bethlehem went on normally as poor Mary and Joseph went around looking for a room in an inn to stay. And finding none, they settled for a lowly manger, and there Christ was born. But from the child born in this manger was to flow the knowledge of the Supreme Creator, the grace of healing and the compelling message of salvation for mankind. This is why Christians see the birth of Christ in the flesh as the miracle of all miracles. Those who believe in His word and abide by His teachings have the assurance of everlasting life after death. But not all who saw Him even in His own time recognized Him and not all who recognized Him believed in Him.

In the course of passionately preaching and living out the truth as he knew it, condemning the injustices of the day, Jesus came in regular conflict with the status quo and those who benefited from it. He was betrayed by his own disciple, Judas Iscariot, denied by his closest associate, Simon Peter; handed over to the Roman authorities by the chief priests of his religion and condemned to death by Pontius Pilate the Governor. He was politically murdered without due process by civil authorities who made the cause of religious bigotry their own. Ambazonians must capitalize on the best ideals of their various faiths to transform their struggle for independence by keeping their eyes on the big picture, instead of fighting each other for positions.

The victory of good over evil, which Jesus represents, questions the widespread corruption, greed and selfishness that define the present power struggles amongst Ambazonia leaders. The instant gratification mentality that pervades the Ambazonia leadership contrasts sharply with the sacrifice and selflessness which Christ’s death and resurrection symbolizes. The propensity for seeking to lead; the disposition towards crass materialism and blind pursuit of pleasure is clearly at variance with the lesson of Good Friday. On the whole, the teachings of Christ, anchored on humility and service in leadership seem to be lost, especially amongst the Ambazonia leadership, where the forces of greed and corruption continue to thrive. Those who aspire to lead the struggle must embrace those higher values of leadership exemplified in Jesus Christ. When Anglophones abandon hypocrisy and live out the higher ideals of self-less service, redemption is possible and victory is all but assured. We know who the enemy is; so whose side are you on?

A Cameroon Concord News Group Production

Cat-calls have greeted Dr. Barrister Felix Agbor Nkongho’s published reaction on the abduction of Retired Justice Mbeng Martin in Ewelle village in the Manyu County and we in Western Europe believe and fervently too that  he got it all wrong. Barrister Agbor Balla’s arrogant write-up sparked outrage and even some pro Yaoundé supporters were aghast at his bid to blame the suppression of freedom of speech on the Ambazonian freedom fighters.

The retired judge has always been apolitical and has never ever expressed an opinion on the Cameroon political story including the Southern Cameroons revolution. Consequently, there is more to his abduction than Mr. Agbor Felix claims to know. As Barrister Felix Nkongho tries to come back into the Southern Cameroons lime light, the action taken by Ambazonians that forced a TV channel in Kenya to cancel an interview they had with him reveals Southern Cameroonians and Barrister Agbor Balla are no longer an item.

Agbor Balla claimed that by abducting Justice Mbeng, the perpetrators were “Suppressing freedom of speech, association and attacking others with different views do not represent the values we ought to build.” The man of law added that “We must not be bullied into silence through the barrel of a gun by armed groups.”   It is evidently clear that Barrister Agbor Nkongho is seeking for notice and merely speaking for himself. Correspondingly, he is close to two years behind West Cameroon leadership. To be sure, his ill-advised reaction has instead endangered the life of Justice Mbeng Martin.

The press release on Justice Mbeng Martin shows how out of touch Barrister Agbor Balla is with the mood of the Southern Cameroons nation.  Far from wanting to score political concessions, the overwhelming majority of Southern Cameroonians want separation from French Cameroun and for the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia to get on with making a success of the divorce process.

Sessekou Isong Ashu

London, UK

Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), the country’s ruling party has swept an overwhelming majority of seats in the senate after the March 25 polls.

According to official results from the elections body, ELECAM, CPDM won 63 out of the 70 seats available. The remaining seven seats went to the main opposition, Social Democratic Front (SDF).

CPDM won in nine out of the ten regions of the central African country with the SDFwinning only in one of the Anglophone regions – the North West. Seven other parties failed to win a seat.

Cameroon’s parliamentary system caters for 100 senators out of which 70 are to be elected by municipal councillors across the country. The remaining 30 slots are the prerogative of the president.

 The senatorial elections marks the start of a busy electoral calender as it is set to be followed by council, legislative and presidential elections later this year. The respective dates are yet to be determined by the President.

President Paul Biya is expected to seek another term in office after over three decades in charge. The country is currently riled by secessionist elements in the Anglophone regions – northwest and southwest regions.

The secessionists have entered an armed phase of a struggle for independence. About twenty five security forces have so far been killed in guerilla style attacks. Government received over 40 separatist members deported from Nigeria, they included leader Sisuku Julius Ayuk Tabe.

Culled from Africa News

Skepticism dominates Cameroon’s English-speaking areas, even after the visit of the newly appointed Interior Minister Paul Atanga Nji. The minister visited Buea and Kumba in the South-West, as well as Bamenda and Batibo, two sub-regions in northwestern Cameroon.

The minister had said on Tuesday that he was bringing a “message of dialogue” to the restive southwest anglophone region, where the army is fighting separatists.

Atanga Nji, himself an anglophone, told state radio he was in the region to “bring a message of dialogue, a responsible dialogue, a dialogue with those who know that Cameroon is one and indivisible”.

But his visit has been met with skepticism, with some terming his mission as a ‘joke’ and an ‘illusion’ as RFI reports.

“He did not try to meet us and he talks about dialogue! But which dialogue is it,” RFI quotes an exasperated lawyer from Buea who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“He was content to see the traditional chiefs,” said a bitter teacher, who preferred to take refuge in his village because of the tension in Bamenda.

“Tension is brewing because we are approaching the presidential election and in fact, the government is doing nothing to resolve the crisis, “he continues.

The minister, the first anglophone Interior Minister, is unpopular in the English-speaking regions after declaring in early 2016 that there was “no anglophone problem” in Cameroon.

Two English-speaking regions, in the southwest and northwest, became part of the French-majority country after independence in 1960 and contain around 20 percent of the Cameroon population.

Tensions have flared since separatists proclaimed the autonomous republic of “Ambazonia” in October last year.

The country has had a tortuous colonial history that saw it pass from German rule to French and British hands, and the anglophone minority complain of having long been marginalised by the French-speaking elite.

The conflict between rebels and the army has become increasingly serious, as separatists urge the armed forces and government officials to leave the territory.

New separatist groups are emerging, while the Yaounde authorities have reduced their communications about the conflict to a minimum.

The unrest in the anglophone regions has prompted around 33,000 people to flee to neighbouring Nigeria.

Culled from Africa News

Cameroon’s main opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) wants recently held Senatorial elections cancelled in the entire South West region of the country. Local media reports indicate that the party on Wednesday filed petition at the Constitutional Court to that effect.

The SDF tabled claims of fraud particularly in the town of Lebialem and incidents of attacks that marred the process in Bangem. The South West region along with the North West make up the Anglophone regions of the country. They have been riled by violence since October 2017 when separatists groups under the so-called Ambazonia Republic attempted to declare independence.

The two regions have been under curfew as a result of attacks on members of the security forces. Separatists under the banner of the Ambazonia Defense Force (ADF) have killed over twenty security forces in guerilla style attacks.

Security in the two regions has been the major issue with the series of polls that lie ahead for the country. The Senatorial polls of March 25 were the first in a multi-election year for the Central African country.

Cameroon’s parliamentary system caters for 100 senators out of which 70 are to be elected by municipal councillors across the country. The remaining 30 slots are the prerogative of the president.

The Senate polls will be followed by council, legislative and presidential elections later this year. The respective dates are yet to be determined by the President.

Source: Africa News