Leader of Cameroon’s main opposition party, Social Democratic Front (SDF) Ni John Fru Ndi, officially waded into the security crisis riling the country’s Anglophone regions. In a letter to addressed to President Paul Biya, the SDF leader denounced what he termed “atrocities” committed in the English-speaking areas of Cameroon by government forces.

“I must draw your attention to the daily atrocities in this part of our country (English-speaking areas),” Fru Ndi wrote in the letter. “Every day that passes, an innocent Cameroonian dies, a woman loses her husband,” he lamented.

The veteran opposition chief said he was also worried about “the rise of hate speech (between English-speaking and French-speaking Cameroonians)” which in his view “brings us closer and closer to a civil war”.

Since the outbreak of the so-called “Anglophone crisis in 2016”, many civilians and soldiers have been killed, but access to the affected areas remains difficult, making it difficult to access information on the spot.

The 77-year-old who says he is an Anglophone but against secession from Cameroon, has repeatedly blamed incumbent Biya for the crisis and the deterioration of the security situation in English-speaking Cameroon.

The government insists that the regions remain safe and secure despite guerilla style attacks that have claimed the lives of over twenty security officials.

Source: Africa News

Joshua Osih, a 49-year-old lawmaker has been elected as flagbearer of Cameroon’s main opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF). A native of the country’s southwest region, Osih is an aviation expert.

He was the overwhelming choice of delegates at the SDF congress polling 1,021 votes representing 88.4% as against 134 votes (12%) polled by his closest challenger, Forbi Nchinda. He, however, remains deputy chairperson of the party which is still led by Ni John Fru Ndi, 77, founder of the SDF.

Ndi who was the party’s candidate in the last election said he was leaving the stage for younger politicians at the party’s congress held in capital of the northwest region of Bamenda.

“I will not present my candidature for the Presidential election, I want you to chose who is best to be the flag bearer,” Ndii told delegates.

Cameroon has a busy electoral year in which they are set to pick senators in late March, 2018. The elections will in effect mark 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 Biya, 85, is expected to seek a mandate extension after over three decades in charge of the Central African country. His regime has faced secession threats in the predominantly Anglophone regions – northwest and southwest.

Source: Africa News

As the Congress of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) enters its second day, many analysts and SDF supporters are already agreeing that Joshua Osih is on his way to becoming the SDF’s presidential candidate in the upcoming presidential elections in Cameroon.

Though Barrister Mbah Ndam is also in the race, indicators about his success are trending low, as most delegates agree that it is time for a generational change within the party that almost brought down the ruling CPDM in 1992 presidential elections which, many say, was won by the emblematic SDF Chairman, John Fru Ndi, although Mr. Biya was granted the victory by a supreme court that was mainly composed of his supporters.

Speaking to a delegate who elected anonymity at the Congress Center on Friday, February 23, 2018, our correspondent in Bamenda gathered that almost all the delegates were looking in the same direction.

“We seem to be in for a coronation. Joshua Osih appears to be more popular with the delegates than any other candidate. We trust him and he has what it takes to give the ruling CPDM a good run for its money. Besides, many young Cameroonians want to see new faces in the political arena. Cameroonians are tired of seeing the same old people who have been in the corridors of power for more than five decades. They want change, I mean real change and we of the SDF believe that a younger and fresher face will bring us more votes,” the delegate said.

“We are in good spirit here at the Bamenda Congress Center. We initially thought the congress would not hold here in Bamenda following threats by unknown armed groups. The groups are mad at us because they hold that we are collaborating with the government. But that is not true. We want to bring the Anglophone problem to the National Assembly and if Cameroonians give us a chance at the upcoming elections, we will be able to address this issue. We think federalism will be able to address some of the issues Anglophones have raised. We do not need bloodshed in our country. Anglophones have legitimate grievances and those grievances must be addressed and the SDF is willing and capable of addressing those grievances in a federal system,” the delegate stressed.

He added that “the atmosphere is very conducive with more than 2,500 delegates coming from the ten regions.The elections of NEC members will soon take place while that of the presidential candidate will take place tomorrow.”

Speaking yesterday during the opening session, the SDF Chairman used the occasion to deliver his policy speech. Chairman Fru Ndi said he would not stand for presidential elections,but would hand the baton to a young man who resembled his father. This statement was interpreted by many delegates as implying that he was referring to Mr. Osih who is the youngest of the candidates and whose candidacy has been approved by both Anglophones and Francophones.

A highlight of the event was when Mr. Osih’s campaign materials arrived the congress hall today morning. The posters and calendars caused commotion as all the delegates rushed to have copies. As at the time of producing this report, no photos or campaign material of the other candidates had been seen anywhere close to the Congress Center and this is causing many delegates to hold that the young Osih is heading for a landslide.

It should be recalled that this congress is taking place amid high tension as unknown armed groups in the region had threatened to disrupt the event following criticisms by Mr. Fru Ndi, of the Southern Cameroons struggle for independence.

To ensure that the congress takes place as scheduled, the Yaounde government is providing top security to Mr. Fru Ndi, a situation that has further fueled rumor that he is playing ball with Mr. Biya. Even the location of the event is heavily guarded, as the armed groups are determined to wreak havoc.

It should be recalled that the Biya government that is providing security for the SDF today, was the same government that had maimed and killed many young SDF supporters in 1990 when the political party was launched because the Biya regime felt threatened that multiparty politics could sweep it out of power. It therefore declared the party launch illegal, creating a chaotic situation that resulted in the arrest and detention of many SDF supporters.

Similarly, due to threats, the SDF congress location has been changed as the owners of the previous locations were scared that their property could be burnt down or destroyed. The SDF has been seeking to bring the Southern Cameroons crisis to the floor of the National Assembly, but the ruling CPDM has been blocking all efforts at seeking institutional solutions to the Anglophone crisis.

The SDF has taken the threats of the armed groups seriously. It should be recalled that last week, the Batibo Divisional Officer was kidnapped and taken into a thick forest and attempts by government officials to locate him have been futile. Not even his body has been located even when rumor had swirled that he had been killed. For now, it is believed that he is being held by Anglophone separatists who are seeking to restore their independence from the Republic of Cameroon.

It is worth mentioning that the SDF is known to be in favor of a federal system in Cameroon and the party chairman as well as other officials have always chided the government for mismanaging a problem that has metamorphosed into a crisis that has already consumed more than 500 lives, including both civilians and soldiers.

Despite the increasing tension, many political analysts hold that the SDF congress is necessary, as it will enable the party to choose its candidate for this year’s presidential election. Many Cameroonians – both Francophones and Anglophones – hold that a new political class must emerge, as the old one has been a huge disappointment to the people.

For now, there are two outstanding candidates seeking the party’s top job. Joshua Osih and Barrister Mbah Ndam. So far, echoes from the congress give to understand that it is a coronation for Mr.  Osih who is very much respected in the country.

Mr. Joshua Osih is smart, bilingual, and patriotic, and he understands the people’s plight. After serving for long as his party’s vice-president and parliamentarian, Mr. Osih believes that this is the right time to help pull the country out of the political mess created by the Biya government.

His possible coronation will come as a relief to many young Cameroonians who clearly hold that it is time to walk away from the ineffective and inefficient gerontocracy that has brought pain and death to many Cameroonians. Many young Cameroonians hold that the country needs younger hands to transform the country’s economic and political landscape and Joshua Osih has a safe pair of hands.

It is also widely believed that his understanding of both Francophone and Anglophone cultures makes him the ideal candidate for the post of president in a country that might implode if the right person does not step in. His moderate stance on many issues has earned him the respect of the entire nation.

Joshua Osih’s time has come. He is being considered as the comprise candidate even by Anglophones who have clearly demonstrated their frustration with the Yaounde government. Cameroon needs to heal and only someone with Joshua Osih’s temperament and charisma will be able to help the country walk away from its ugly past.

By Fosuh Tamajung and Betek Kingsley in Bamenda, with contributions from Soter Agbaw-Ebai in the United Kingdom.

The supreme leader of the Bafaws in the Meme constituency in Southern Cameroons has openly criticized President Biya over his poor handling of the crisis in Southern Cameroons. NFon Victor Mukete, the oldest member of the so-called Upper House of assembly and a long standing father of the reunification of French and British Southern Cameroons said in an interview in the French capital, Paris that the Biya regime has failed woefully in its management of the Anglophone crisis.

Chief Mukete who will be a 100 years old this 2018, told the French media that Biya is “inaccessible”. He acknowledged that Southern Cameroonians were being marginalized and observed that Anglophones have barely 10 ministers out of 60 in the government. The patriarch of Southern Cameroons reunification politics further pointed out that the creation of the commission for the promotion of bilingualism and multiculturalism was too little too late.

The paramount leader dismissed the politics of a one and indivisible Cameroon stating that only a ten state federal structure can solve the current Anglophone crisis that has shaken the country for more than a year. Chief Mukete’s influence goes beyond the Southern Cameroons minority as he is a member of the Senate, the Economic and Social Council, the Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the Board of Camtel.

By Sama Ernest

Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, likes to travel abroad. As a result, he’s missed some far-reaching events in the country he rules from afar.

Pages from the Cameroon Tribune relating to Paul Biya’s travels. OCCRP journalists used the state newspaper as a primary source to chart the president’s numerous foreign trips since taking office. (Image: OCCRP / Authors.) Some rights reserved.

In October 2016, when an overloaded train derailed in the small town of Eseka, killing over 75 people, Biya was on a “brief private visit to Europe” which is how his office refers to his regular jaunts to Geneva. The president only returned from Switzerland two days after the catastrophe, finally voicing his condolences on the airport tarmac.

A year later, Biya was away on another “private” visit to Switzerland when protests broke out in western Cameroon over marginalization of the English-speaking minority population. He didn’t return for another three weeks. While he was away, his security forces violently repressed demonstrators, setting off what has since become a simmering guerilla war.

The 85-year-old Biya has led his West African nation since 1982, winning four elections by sometimes improbably huge margins (while being accused by the opposition and observers of massive fraud).

His country’s citizens have become increasingly frustrated with his repeated absences.

An investigation supported by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) gathered information about the president’s travels from 35 years of editions of the daily government paper, the Cameroon Tribune. They show that, over that time, Biya has spent at least four-and-a-half years on his “brief private visits.” This total excludes official trips, which add up to an additional year. In some years, like 2006 and 2009, Biya has spent a third of the year out of the country.

These calculations are conservative because some editions of the Tribune are hard to find, and archives in Cameroon, France, and the United States have gaps in their collections that span several years.

The president is not in

Cameroon is a low income country: A quarter of its 23 million citizens earn less than US$ 2 a day farming or hustling small jobs. The average life expectancy is under 60. In hopes of a better life, many of the country’s youths set off for Europe illegally in precarious vessels. Some are among the over 3,000 migrants who drowned in the Mediterranean in 2017.

Like them, the president seems to prefer a life in Europe. But the similarities stop there.

Biya’s official salary is modest (reportedly just $271 per month, plus bonuses), but he travels and lives abroad in luxury — thanks, at least in part, to his country’s taxpayers. According to Cameroonian political scientist Achille Mbembe, nobody really knows what he does on his frequent trips to Geneva, although speculation ranges from hospital treatments to shopping sprees.

While his palace in Yaoundé is rumored to be luxurious, Biya prefers to spend a large portion of his “private trips” at the five-star Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva, which offers a swimming pool and striking views of Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc.

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya and First Lady Chantal Biya arrive at the opening ceremony of the Francophone Summit in Montreux October 23, 2010. (Image: REUTERS/Valentin Flauraud.)

He does not travel alone. His wife Chantal, renowned for her gravity-defying hairdos, accompanies him on nearly every trip, as does an entourage of up to 50 people that includes ministers, bodyguards, butlers, and various other staff.

One of Biya’s closest confidants, Joseph Fouda, a military officer and special advisor, has accompanied him on at least 86 trips, amounting to more than three years of travel since 1993. He prefers a room on a top floor of the Intercontinental. Another close confidant, Martin Belinga Eboutou, 78, has spent nearly three years travelling with the president starting in 1987, when he was Cameroon’s ambassador to Morocco. Eboutou soon became a fixture on Biya’s journeys as his chief of protocol, and later as director of the president’s Civil Cabinet.

According to reporters’ conservative calculations — based on publically available hotel room prices and a compilation of entourage lists — the total hotel bill of Biya and his colleagues for one stay at Intercontinental, adds up to around $40,000 per day. At that rate, the cost of all of the president’s private trips (1,645 days in total) would add up to about $65 million since he came to power — and that’s not counting food, entertainment, and the rental of a private plane. The president’s office did not comment on this issue.

Duration of Paul Biya’s official and unofficial trips abroad, per year. (Image: OCCRP / Authors.) Click to enlarge.The president attempted to buy a brand new private jet in 2004, but his staff reportedly cut corners on the deal, buying a defective plane covered by a fresh coat of paint that nearly crashed on its first flight. Since then, the president has chartered at least several private aircraft, including a luxury jet formerly owned by the government of Kazakhstan. Used for regular journeys, such a plane would be large enough to carry some 300 passengers, but for an elite clientele it has been fitted with amenities such as full-size beds and an office, and seats about 60 people.

Travel by chartered plane isn’t cheap. Invoices from 2010 apparently sent by a company called CS Aviation to Director of the President’s Biya Civil Cabinet, and reviewed by OCCRP, bill the Civil Cabinet nearly $855,000 for one round trip for 50 passengers from Yaoundé to Geneva and back. Other invoices show that, in 2013, the plane was kept on standby for two weeks at a daily cost of nearly $157,000. The company did not reply to reporters’ requests for comment.

Number of days Paul Biya has spent in selected countries since 1982, when the Cameroonian president took office. (Image: OCCRP / Authors.) Click to enlarge.At these rates, the cost of Biya’s flights since he came to power could add up to at least $117 million.

It is not clear how much of the president’s travel money comes from the part of the national budget allocated to his office, which totaled $104 million in 2018.

According to the International Monetary Fund, more than $300 million of the revenue of Cameroon’s national oil company in 2017 was not accounted for. The president has oversight over the company, whose oil sales, according to a leaked US diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks, have historically been used as a slush fund.

According to Transparency International, Cameroon is one of the world’s most corrupt countries, ranking 145th out of 176 countries on its Corruption Perception Index.

Who pays, who plays

Cameroonians pay in other ways for the president’s jaunts abroad. Every time he returns to Yaoundé, his motorcade crosses the whole capital from Nsimalen International Airport to his home, the Unity Palace. A dozen gleaming cars, including an ambulance, whizz through the streets. To ensure a smooth journey, traffic is blocked on the main roads, at times for the whole day.

Snipers are positioned on top of buildings. Taciturn soldiers in green camouflage stand at every corner with assault rifles slung over their bulletproof vests. Cars, motorbikes and pedestrians are forbidden from crossing, and so huge traffic jams pile up against both sides of blocked avenues. The city’s yellow taxis must spend the day parked, earning no revenue.

Urban legends circulate about these grand displays, like the one about a bride and groom who ended up stuck, separated by the president’s motorcade, on opposite sides of an avenue. When the president passes, the city stops breathing.

President Biya’s party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, arranges for crowds to line the closed streets and cheer for the president. But Florian Ngimbis, a Cameroonian blogger, says that Biya’s trips are seen not just as lavish outlays, “but very much also as a kind of contempt for the Cameroonian people.”

Those few Cameroonians who have the most reason to cheer Biya’s return are the dancers and musicians paid to perform on the tarmac when his plane lands. One drummer, afraid to have his name appear in this article, remembers earning $60 a few years ago: “We didn’t complain… we could drink beers for three days.” Nonetheless, says the drummer, security concerns have trumped the thirst for pomp and ceremony lately, and fewer musicians are being invited.

Decrees upon departure

When Biya lands in Yaoundé, he also meets his government — at the airport. Formal ministerial councils are organized infrequently, every year or two at the most. But while Biya has used public funds to sustain a bureaucracy of 65 ministers and state secretaries, he mostly governs by decree or through a handful of laws sped through a rubber-stamp parliament.

Biya signs a flurry of acts between each of his trips. For example, in 2017, he signed a dozen laws — the entire legal output for that year – in a couple of days. It took him just three days to sign the entire year’s decrees.

According to Mbembe, the Cameroonian political scientist, Biya’s decrees mostly nominate civil servants to certain positions rather than directing any substantial course in policy.

“His way of exercising power is to not decide,” Mbembe said in a phone interview, “nobody knows what Biya thinks, or what he’ll do… everything can be changed from one day to the next”. He has become a “ghostly figure” leaving civil servants without direction. According to Mbembe, the unpredictability allows Biya to instil a fear of retribution in his ruling apparatus, as well as hopes of nominations to positions rendered lucrative by corruption.

It’s a system that has kept everyone in check for 35 years — including those with ambition to take over power. But it could lead to a chaotic vacuum when the 85-year old president passes – whether he’s in his West African homeland or in a luxury hotel room far overseas.

Source: Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project

The leader of the Social Democratic Front (SDF), Ni John Fru Ndi has announced his decision not to contest the 2018 presidential elections, which according to the ruling CPDM crime syndicate should be held between the 14^th of September and the 14^th of October.

The 77 year old Southern Cameroonian who is also the founder and current chairman of the SDF, the so-called second-largest force in the National Assembly added that he intends to remain the head of the Social Democratic Front.

Three senior members of the SDF have so far made public their intention to run for the presidency and they include, Joshua Osih, Joseph Mba-Ndam and Tchinda Forbi. John Fru was a candidate in the presidential elections in 1992 and 2011.

By Fru James in Bamenda

Cameroon will press ahead with its first election for 2018 ahead of the presidential vote later this year. A presidential decree issue last week slated senatorial polls for March 25, 2018.

The decree states that the electoral body ELECAM shall organize the polls in various divisional headquarters of the 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 elections will in effect mark 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.

Meanwhile, the state – run CRTV reports that nominations for the Senate ends today February 13, 2018. The National Salvation Front of Cameroon led by information minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary have confirmed their participation in the process.

Meeting in Bamenda, capital of the restive northwest region, the main opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) led by Ni John Fru Ndi, the national chairman, said it will also participate in the process. The February 9, 2018 meeting also declared open nomination contest for the SDF’s presidential ticket for the upcoming polls.

President Paul Biya is expected to seek another term in office after over three decades in charge of the Central African nation. 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.

Source: Africa News

The CPDM crime syndicate and the Cameroon Radio and Television may have pulled off the impossible with the creation of a Biya 11 February speech that’s spurring outrage on both sides of the political aisle.

The televised address to the nation, featuring President Biya wearing the same attire he used in a live broadcast last year was published today by CRTV.

French Cameroun news portals have shared the video from the CRTV shoot, referencing it as coming from the ailing Head of State.

“I caption this ‘there was 2017 rubbish coming out of Biya’s mouth” our desk editor in Yaoundé wrote immediately after the speech was made public.

In a report sent to our editorial office in London, Sama Ernest pondered if it were possible to be jailed for announcing that President Biya indeed was no more, then went on to joke that he hoped he’d be allowed to visit Professor Mendo Ze in Kondengui.

We of the Cameroon Concord News Group have gotten intelligence that the speech was recorded last year. The speech betrayed the diabolic harsh ploy by the CPDM gang when the President observed that “There will be elections in 2018.” Also, the Paul Biya we know would have spoken about the constitutional council and the senatorial elections which he recently decreed. Of vital importance is the fact that Biya would have praised the cooperation with the Federal Republic of Nigeria that facilitated the abduction of President Ayuk Tabe and his top aides in Abuja.

Below is what came out today as President Biya’s message to the Cameroonian youth

My dear young compatriots,

The last few years have not been easy for our country, which has had to take up simultaneously several major challenges, namely:

–     addressing the Boko Haram threat in our northern regions and that of armed gangs on our eastern border;

–     hosting tens of thousands of refugees and displaced persons;

–     managing the outburst of unrest in the North-West and South-West Regions, marked by sporadic  acts of violence; and

–     countering the impact of falling oil and commodity prices in a bid to return to growth.

I believe we can now make an initial appraisal of our struggles on these different fronts:

–     Boko Haram’s potential to cause harm has been severely undermined, thanks to the combined action of Cameroon’s defence forces and its people;

–     Supportive measures have enabled many displaced persons and refugees to return to their homes;

–     the situation in the South-West and North-West Regions is stabilizing, and the Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism should thus be able to delve into the crux of the problem;

–     the latest assessments point to an improvement in our economy, with renewed activity in various sectors.

Indeed, the characteristic “resilience” of the Cameroonian people deserves to be hailed once again, for, it must be stated, credit for the results we have achieved goes to the people. Not only did they not give up, but they lent their support to   government’s action.

Our compatriots at large, regardless of social status, remained united throughout the ordeals. And such is what makes a great nation.

Allow me, once again, to underscore the heroism of our defence and security forces – mostly young people – whose sense of duty and responsibility has been beyond all praise.

My dear young compatriots,

The Nation is calling on you strongly, because, in the decades ahead, you will be our country’s leaders, hence the need for you to be up to the task, by acquiring the necessary skills and experience.

However, first, you must understand that the “new world” which is unfolding before our very own eyes could be tougher and more unstable than the old one. The rules that governed the old world for more than half a century – the role of the United Nations in maintaining world peace, international trade regulation, solidarity through development assistance, etc. – could become more difficult to apply, whereas nationalism, protectionism and isolationism are likely to gain ground.

In a tougher and less open world, it could become more difficult for developing countries to defend their interests and secure their economic and social progress.

Accordingly, we should commend the holding of events such as the recent African Union / European Union Summit in Abidjan, which focused on youth education and training in Africa and particularly the acquisition of new technologies and modernization of agriculture.

These orientations are in line with the objectives of China’s “new silk road” initiative and the development assistance projects of Asian countries such as India, Japan and South Korea. So, there are reasons to not yield to pessimism.

While Cameroon may rely on the solidarity of its external partners, as well as the understanding of major international organizations, the fact remains that its own efforts are naturally foremost.

Indeed, this is not the business of the government alone, but that of each and every one of us. And, in this regard, I will echo the famous quote: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

Today, I renew this call for effort which I made to you barely a year ago on the same occasion. Rather than yielding to the tempting mirage of illegal emigration and undertaking a hazardous   and often doomed trip,        I invite you to play an active part in our great vision to achieve emergence by 2035.

I believe I can safely say that the State has done much in recent years to prepare you for this lofty task.

Regarding the budget, the combined allocations of the three ministries responsible for education represent about 15% of public spending. Great strides have been or are being made in terms of infrastructure, school facilities and educational opportunities.

The number of schools and universities is growing progressively, the two most recent illustrations thereof being the opening of a Faculty of Medicine in Garoua and a Higher Teachers’ Training College in Bertoua.

Today, each of our ten regions has a public higher education institution. Moreover, from this year on, our universities will be connected to the global university cyberspace.

The programme to donate computers to our students, which will be pursued actively, will help them to more easily connect thereto and access more and more knowledge and resources.

The government’s policy, geared towards learning trades as well as vocational and technical training, is beginning to pay off as it fosters self-employment and the socio-economic integration of youths.

As at 31 December 2017, 473,303 (four hundred and seventy-three thousand three hundred and three) jobs had been identified for youths, exceeding our set target of 400,000 (four hundred thousand). We are however aware that more jobs are required to curb youth unemployment.

Moreover, although growth slowed down due to exogenous factors, we continued forging ahead in various sectors of our development. The year 2018 will mark the completion of our major first-generation projects such as:

–     the hydroelectric dams that will soon be supplemented by power transmission infrastructure;

–     road projects such as Douala City’s east and west entryways, the second bridge over the Wouri River, various highways and the motorways under construction.

Already, a series of projects known as second-generation projects have been launched or are in the pipeline. They concern energy generation, new road transport infrastructure and especially the extension of our railroad network to N’Djamena and Limbe. We will then have to devise an ambitious social housing strategy commensurate with our needs.

Our GESP-based development programme will be continued, as will the three-year “special youth” plan which, since its inception last year, has  prioritized youth access to agriculture, industry, handicrafts, the digital economy and innovation. Nearly 500,000 youths have already registered with the National Youth Observatory to participate in the aforementioned youth plan. As funding has already been secured, its implementation will be accelerated in 2018.

The year 2018 will also be a decisive one for the preparation of AFCON 2019. The State has pumped considerable resources into it. It will then be up to our footballers to live up to their reputation and the outstanding achievements of their illustrious predecessors. They have demonstrated in the past that they are up to the task.

My dear young compatriots,

From my position as Head of State, I perceive signs of your growing interest in public affairs.

In this regard, your favourite platform of expression is the social media. Whenever at a click, you access these communication highways that give you global visibility, you must bear in mind that you are not exempted from fulfilling civic and moral obligations, such as respect for others and your country’s institutions. Be patriotic Internet users working for Cameroon’s development and influence, and not passive followers or naive relays for staunch critics of the Republic.

The Cameroon of tomorrow, which is being forged before our very own eyes, will differ almost entirely from that of yesteryear. You will be its key beneficiaries. You will need to prove yourselves worthy of it.

The world is about to witness a dramatic change. The populations of most developed countries are aging. Africa, on the contrary, will be a continent of predominantly young people by the middle of the century.

This constitutes both an opportunity and a challenge. Let us seize the opportunity and meet the challenge. I believe our youths are capable of doing so.

A final word. As you know, 2018 will be an important election year. You all who will be aged 20 years and above will be able to – or rather should – exercise your right to vote. By voting, you will be performing an act of responsible citizenship and, thus, participating in forging your destiny.

Happy Youth Day to each and every one!

Long Live Cameroon’s Youth!

Long Live Cameroon!

Yaounde, 10 February 2018

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

Millions of Cameroonians, especially youths, are impatiently expecting the annual head of state’s speech that precedes the celebration of the country’s youth day, a day highly contested by Anglophones who have been fighting for a separate state since October 2016.

The wait stems from the fact that for more than two weeks, there have been speculations concerning the whereabouts of Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, 85, who has been missing in action. Mr. Biya is expected to deliver a live speech on Saturday, February 10, 2018, directed at the youths at 8pm Cameroon time to urge the country’s impoverished and unemployed youths to continue persevering in their efforts to find work.

He will also use the occasion to point out that though the economy has not been delivering the results expected of it, it is, more because of external factors resulting from a struggling global economy and internal attacks coming from Anglophone secessionists and Boko Haram.

However, Cameroonians are still very concerned about the absence of their president. Many analysts hold that the country’s president might either be dead or his health situation might have taken a turn for the worse.

It should be noted that Mr. Biya has been having serious health issues for some time now and a source close to the ailing dictator has intimated that he has been suffering from prostrate cancer and a failing heart.

Cameroonians need confirmation about their president health. They want to be sure that Mr. Biya’s collaborators are not working behind the scenes to change the country’s constitutional order just to ensure the Betis who have been mismanaging the country for more than three decades do not wrestle power out of the hands of the real constitutional successor.

According to a source at the Presidency which elected anonymity, the Secretary General at the presidency has been holding a series of meetings with some of his collaborators who have been advising him to issue decrees that would usher in constitutional changes on Mr. Biya’s behalf. The appointment of Clement Atangana early last week as president of the constitutional council is one of the changes, many argue, are aimed at changing things to the advantage of a Beti Mafia that has been running the show for many years.

The scheduling of senatorial elections next month, our source added, was one of the moves designed by the Beti Mafia to kick out the current senate president, Marcel Nyat Njifenji, so that it could retain power even after Mr. Biya’s death.

Under the country’s current constitution, the constitutional successor is the president of the senate, Marcel Nyat Njifenji, a man many hold has played a key role in the corruption and mismanagement that have become the country’s hallmark.

Many Cameroonians want to see a new republic and they hold that if the country has to witness any significant political changes, figures like the senate president and the national assembly speaker have to disappear from the political scene.

But the doubts are continuing even when the government has been arguing that the president is alive and in good health. A few days ago, an empty presidential motorcade was mounted and made to travel to Mvogmeka just to give the impression that the president was really hale and hearty. This ruse, which did not convince many Cameroonians, caused a lot of traffic in the nation’s capital, Yaounde, a gimmick that frustrated many people in the capital city.

Some analysts are already concluding that Mr. Biya’s entourage, which is predominantly Beti, might use still images just to create an impression. A live speech by the ailing president, they argue, might reassure the population. Anything short of that will only fuel the suspicion and rumor.

But there are speculations that the Beti Mafia that is struggling to keep things under wraps might have already had a taped speech from the dying president before he slipped into a coma.

Sources close to the Unity Palace have indicated that Mr. Biya’s collaborators have been busy, working day and night just to prove that Mr. Biya is alive. They have also indicated that Mr. Biya’s entourage might put the president’s still image on the screen while broadcasting a taped speech just to prove their point.

An inside source has also said that all tricks are on the table, adding that the secretary-general at the presidency and his men are capable of manufacturing anything just to prove their point.

“They may cut off power supply across the country so as to blame everything on the country’s energy corporation. They can even blame it on technical issues resulting from CRTV’s aging equipment. These people are capable of any and everything,”our source said, arguing that from what he has seen over the last two weeks at the Unity Palace, the country’s leaders cannot be trusted.

“They behave like mercenaries. You can never think that they are Cameroonians. They don’t love this country and they are certainly going to cause a more complicated civil war if power leaves their hands,” he lamented.

“Whatever they do, the truth will always come out. Nobody is eternal. The country does not belong to Mr. Biya and it will be preposterous for anyone to think that they can manipulate everybody, every time,” he stressed.

It should be recalled that the Betis have always felt that they must continue to govern the country. They hold that since the seat of government is in Yaoundé, they deserve to run the country’s political show.

Their strong desire to head the country even after Biya’s departure has already been manifested a few times through some of their actions. In 1992 when the Social Democratic Front chairman, John FruNdi, won the presidential election, the Beti Mafia did all it could to grant the victory to Mr. Biya who has continued to run the country as his personal estate. He has been using the institutions to his advantage and his method of choice has been the appointment of only those who are loyal to him, regardless of their ages.

This week’s establishment of the constitutional council and the appointment of its members through presidential decrees has caused the rumor mills to be very busy. The presidential decrees finally established a constitutional council provided for in the 1996 constitution and appointed members of the said council.

77-year-old Clement Atangana, a legal expert of Beti extraction, who has been on retirement for more than ten years, was appointed to head the constitutional council, while other very familiar faces were appointed as members of the same council in the same decree. It should be underscored that members of the constitutional council are members of the ruling party, the CPDM, and people who are personally loyal to the country’s president and his collaborators.

The appointment of these familiar faces underscores the fact that Mr. Biya is not yet ready to give Cameroonian youths a place in today’s Cameroon. Besides marginalizing youths, Mr. Biya is still pursuing his policy of Anglophone marginalization by appointing only Francophones to head major government institutions.

It should be underscored at this point that all heads of important structures in Cameroon are Francophones despite the ongoing Anglophone crisis which was triggered by the government’s marginalization of the country’s English-speaking minority.

As Mr. Biya’s entourage works hard to deceive the population, Cameroonians, for their part, are quietly looking forward to the annual youth day speech which will either confirm or disconfirm rumors that the head of state is no more.

By Kingsley Betek in Yaounde

“The idea of opposing CPDM anonymously or staying indifferent in this struggle is betrayal”

By Sessekou Asu Isong

A friend of mine who is blessed with a finer and richer mind than most of us called yesterday to warn me about the consequences of publicly criticizing Biya’s corrupt regime. He advised that the best way to attack the sleaze and evil in Yaoundé was to do it anonymously. He said the political racketeers that have been in charge of The Cameroons since 1982 have failed miserably but in his monologue he was adamant that anyone who dare criticise the gods in Yaoundé publicly risked being arrested upon arrival at that filthy aerodrome in Douala and refused entry into The Cameroons. As I listened to myman empty his vocal cords, I had to force myself to sustain polite silence. I thanked him after the thirty minutes sermon for his concern and consideration for my wellbeing and promised that I’ll follow his wise words.

Later, I reflected upon the lecture andit appeared to me that his words sadly represent the thoughts of a great many Cameroonians. They are cognizant of the issues that have brought their country to its knees and on the verge of secession and civil war, but afraid to confront it publicly. Why have we as a people been so apathetic to injustice? Why have we been so indifferent in the face of this flagrant abuse of power and subjugation?

As I look back over the last thirty-six years, I can’t find a single noteworthy achievement of this current administration. A country blessed with so many natural resources, great people and brains could do better than it has. Surely!! As a people, we have collectively taken the easy options- emigration, apathy and silence.My good friend advised that God would intervene and perform miracles. Sadly, The Devine hasn’t done that over the last few centuries.

Today, the great nations of the world are nations that haven’t waited for miracles but fought against corruption and suppression. Subsequently, they have established systems that respect the dignity of men, women and the rule of law.Great Britain, France, USA, Germany- where many Cameroonian economic and political migrants now call home, are not enjoying the economic prosperities, respect for law and the reverence of human lives by accident and prayers. At certain times in their histories, they had to fight oppressors, evils and corrupt thuggery. I’m convinced they succeeded because they weren’t afraid to publicly confront the despots of their time.

Over the years, as the kindhearted, peace loving and miracle expectant people have migrated from The Cameroons, the so-called leaders have laughed all the way to the bank. They have looted the state treasury and natural resources with impunity. They have embezzled, misappropriated and thieved at a level our language can’t provide satisfactory adjectives. I hold as true that our collective lackadaisical approach to the big issues that our country has faced over the years is the main reason a cruel few have taken advantage of a kind and generous many.

The good news is; the moment of epiphany has arrived in the consciousness of many Cameroonians especially British Southern Cameroonians who have come to the decision that the illegal occupation of their land must stop. The unconcern showed by many Cameroonians in the diaspora to the criminality that has engulfed their homeland is a worry. The immortal words of the great Martin Luther King Jr should shame us. In 1967 he said “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

Is the answer a nameless and faceless opposition to this regime? That idea, appealing as it seems is not a solution to the issues our nation is facing. By our inactivity and fear of arrests, themobs ruling the nation have audaciously abused their positions. As a nation, we have shamelessly made Biya a demigod. He has succeeded in drilling fear into us in thousands of litres. It’s about time we stop this nonsense.

At a time when the bloodthirsty military of French Cameroun is unleashing barbarism on the defenseless people of British Southern Cameroons by indiscriminate shootings, burning of villages, torture, arrest and detention without trial, we have a collective duty to inform the world of these crimes and oppose them with every energy in us. We have an obligation to do something about it.

This media group, Cameroon Concord News will fight the tyranny and political harassers in Yaoundé with every dollar, dynamism and talent we can muster. We are prepared to be remembered like Steve Biko, Martin Luther King Jr., Martin Luther, Malcolm X. For, these men and countless others, faced evils during their times but they didn’t abdicate responsibility. We shall expose and condemn this criminality until justice is a reality.

We shall not stop until all the political prisoners occupying the dungeons in Yaoundé are free. Until that day, we would be with them in spirit and keep their stories alive in the minds of those who have access to smart phones, computers and the internet. To all the silent voices in all the remote areas of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, our promise to you is simple; your voices will be heard in all the corners of God’s earth. To all those who have lost their lives as a result of the cruelty of fellow men, we hope that as they meet their makers, let the wrath of God be revealed and released from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of these men, who by their unrighteousness are suppressing the truth and committing murder.

The idea of opposing CPDM anonymously or staying indifferent in this struggle is betrayal.We should look at evil in the eye and confront it.A great Greek historian and author who lived circa 460-404bc in the name of Thucydides best put it distinctly in these words “The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage.”These words add springs to our steps. They inspire us with courage and we hope they inspire you too.

This is a Cameroon Concord News Group Editorial Desk Production