Politics

10, August 2018

Cameroonians sceptical as elections approach ⁰

Elections in Cameroon, scheduled for October 7, will be held against a backdrop of uncertainty in the English-speaking regions and amid accusations that the government is planning to rig the polls.

In exactly two months, Cameroonians will be going to the polls to elect their president. Twenty-eight candidates are in the running, including 86-year-old incumbent Paul Biya, who has been in power for 36 years. He is Africa’s second longest serving leader after his neighbour Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea.

But there are doubts inside and outside Cameroon that this election will be free and fair, especially in the Anglophone regions in the west, bordering Nigeria, which have been in turmoil for the past two years, when residents started to press their claims for more autonomy or even independence. According to the United Nations, 200 000 people have been internally displaced and 40 000 have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.

Polls amid the mayhem

Among those who fled violence is 8-year-old Kum Vitalis who cried when media asked him about his life now: “They didn’t pay my father and there was no money for school fees or food in the house. That is why they brought us to safety here. When it gets better, they will take us back. They have been shooting people inside their houses and they are just dying like that.”

The government denies having any role in the atrocities taking place in the region. But both the UN and non-governmental organisations such as Human Rights Watch have filed reports on crimes against humanity by armed rebels and government troops. Fifty-four-year-old teacher Ngum Julius, who fled the English-speaking town of Njinikom, believes elections cannot be held there.

“All businesses are shut down. All government services are shut down, except the military. Many people have gone away. Too many people are dying, too many people are being displaced. We need to sit at the same table as Cameroonians and talk it out and find a solution,” Julius said.

Cameroon is also dealing with attacks by Boko Haram militants in the north, and a spillover of violence from the Central African Republic.

Voter apathy

Scepticism about the elections is not limited to the Anglophone regions in the country. In Bonamoussadi, a student residential area of the capital Yaounde, young people say that they should be discussing football instead of wasting time with elections, because the process is not working anyway. Tatah Hans is one of them. “I am a Cameroonian. It is normal to vote. I have to vote. But I am facing so many difficulties because very soon they will start voting and I don’t have a voter’s card. I don’t know what to do,” he told media.

Voter apathy is evident; only seven million of a total of 13 million voters have actually registered to cast their ballot. But supporters of Paul Biya, like Jacques Fame Ndongo, say elections will go ahead despite the rebels’ attempts. “We know that their mad dream is to stop the organization of the presidential election in those two regions, but that mad dream will never come to fruition because the population of the Northwest and the Southwest regions is determined to express its total support to the head of state and his party, the CPDM (Cameroon’s People Democratic Movement),” he said.

Fighting fraud

Meanwhile, the main opposition political party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), cautions the government against fraud. Denise Nkemlemo, the SDF’s communication secretary, says the election management body has already started to break the law, for instance by setting up voting stations where they shouldn’t: “We are not supposed to have voting stations inside the presidency; military camps are also out of the question,” she said. According to Nkemlemo, at polling stations in those places in previous elections, CPDM’s votes outnumbered those for the SDF by a wide margin. “When our representatives wanted to raise questions, the military came with guns and told them “we don’t make noise here.” The SDF will not tolerate the lack of respect of the electoral law,” she added.

These claims are rejected by Enow Abrams Egbe, the electoral body’s board chair, who says critics have ulterior motives. “It is normal that detractors play their game, but we are playing our role with serenity and everything is moving on smoothly,” he said.

Source: DW

9, August 2018

Congo-Kinshasa: Kabila to quit as Head of State, Party names new candidate ⁰

Democratic of Congo’s ruling party on Wednesday named a candidate for long delayed elections due to hold in December this year. Today was the deadline slated by the elections body, CENI, for submission of candidature.

The candidate is in the person of Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, a former minister of interior. His nomination was confirmed by information minister Lambert Mende.

The 57-year-old parliamentarian and former governor of the Maniema Province is expected to replace Kabila if the ruling party wins the upcoming polls.

The current move indicates that Joseph Kabila, in power since 2001, will be stepping down as president. The constitution barred him from a third term after having served two terms.

The international community especially the United States have been at their “loudest” in calling for Kabila to exit and allow a newly elected leader to take over the reigns – as stipulated by the constitution.

Kabila’s silence kept many watchers on tenterhooks and left the country in a tense state. Meanwhile, in next door Zambia, one of his major opponents remains locked out of the country. Moise Katumbi has failed by air and land to return to the country after about two years of self imposed exile.

The former Katanga province governor is one of leading opponents hoping to file to contest for the presidency. Others include Felix Tshisekedi – son of veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi. Ex VP Jean Pierre Bemba is in the race as are others.

Kabila, in power since 2001, was barred by term limits from running for re-election but he repeatedly refused to commit publicly to not standing.

Security forces have killed dozens of protesters since Kabila refused to quit power at the end of mandate in December 2016, saying the government was not yet prepared to hold the election to succeed him. Militia violence in the eastern borderlands with Rwanda and Uganda has also risen.

Western powers and Congo’s neighbours fear even worse violence across the country if Kabila digs in and runs, with memories still fresh of civil wars around the turn of the century that killed millions, most from hunger and disease.

Source: Reuters/Africa News

8, August 2018

White House confirms August 27 Kenyatta-Trump meeting ⁰

The White House has announced a meeting between United States president Donald Trump and his Kenyan counterpart later this month, specifically on August 27.

In an official statement, the White House said the meeting between Uhuru Kenyatta and Donald Trump will look to discuss “ways to broaden the strategic partnership based on our shared democratic values and mutual interests.”

The duo will also be expected to hold talks in the area of trade, investment and security cooperation. Kenya and Ethiopia are seen as crucial to U.S. counterinsurgency combat in the East Africa region.

Whiles describing Kenya as a “vital partner” of the U.S., the statement stressed that “the meeting between the two leaders will reaffirm the longstanding relationship between the United States and Kenya as a cornerstone of peace and stability in Africa and the broader Indo-Pacific region.”

The Indo-Pacific region as alluded to comprises countries in Asia, but the East African coast is on the region’s far western edge according to the Australian Lowy Institute.

Kenyatta who won a final term in office after disputed elections in 2017 will become the third African president to visit the White House. The first north African leader was Egypt’s Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi before Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari took his turn earlier this year.

White House statement on Kenyatta-Kenyatta meeting

President Donald J. Trump will welcome President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya to the White House on August 27, 2018.

Kenya is a vital partner of the United States, and President Trump looks forward to discussing ways to broaden the strategic partnership based on our shared democratic values and mutual interests.

The meeting between the two leaders will reaffirm the longstanding relationship between the United States and Kenya as a cornerstone of peace and stability in Africa and the broader Indo-Pacific region.

President Trump and President Kenyatta will explore ways to bolster trade and investment between the two countries, while strengthening security cooperation.

Source: Africa News

7, August 2018

French Cameroun Politics: ELECAM clears Biya, eight others for October 7 polls ⁰

Cameroon’s electoral body, ELECAM, on Tuesday cleared nine candidates to run for the presidential polls slated for October 7, 2018. Incumbent Paul Biya is seeking to extend his 36 years in power by a fresh seven-year mandate.

The nine include Biya who leads the ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement (CPDM). His main challengers will be Joshua Osih of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) and lawyer Akere Muna – a former head of the country’s bar association.

The other candidates to be present on the ballot paper include: Serge Espoir Matomba, Cabral Libii, Njifor Franklin, Maurice Kamto, Garga Haman and Ndam Njoya.

Over twenty candidates filed their candidacy to contest for the highest political seat of the land. ELECAM disqualified all but the nine above whiles one candidate is said to have withdrawn his candidacy.

The October 7 vote is seen as a stern test for the incumbent who has often won elections with huge margins. A current security crisis in the country’s Anglophone regions have continually affected Biya’s popularity.

Pro-independence groups under the banner of so called Ambazonia Republic continue to wage guerilla-style attacks on members of the security forces across the South-West and North-West – Anglophone regions.

Political watchers are projecting that for the opposition to effectively tackle Biya, there would need to be an alliance to back a common candidate but it remains to be seen in the next two months if they can pull off such a move.

Source: Africa News

6, August 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Talking tough will not help matters ⁰

The Southern Cameroons crisis that has given the country a bad name is gradually getting into a critical phase. The country’s minister of territorial administration is not displaying the maturity leadership imposes on people. He is still talking tough and this is hurting any chances for peace.

If talking tough could address many issues, the Southern Cameroons crisis that has given the country a very bad name, could have been addressed. As the situation deteriorates, it will be wise for both parties to keep it low. Tough language has never really resolved any issue, but people like Atanga Nji are yet to understand that. Words are like bullets. Once they are out of the mouth, they cannot be recalled and they have the potential to ruin any efforts at bringing back peace to a people.

Atanga Nji displayed this primitive tendency a few days ago while receiving some Fako chiefs who had been released by Southern Cameroonian fighters after protracted negotiations. For Atanga Nji, the country’s territorial administration minister, who received the chiefs in Yaounde, he used the occasion to provoke Southern Cameroonian fighters.

He promised tracking down all the fighters who are in the jungle, adding that they and their progeny would be made to pay for their crimes if they did not come out of the jungle that has been serving as a five-star hotel to them and a green jail to all those arrested.

Mr. Atanga Nji who is not a respected minister in Cameroon, failed to understand that if it was easy to arrest the fighters in the thick equatorial jungle of the Southwest region, that would have been done a long time ago. His constant use of unfriendly language has unfortunately led to the killing of many uniformed officers.

Over the last few days, not less than 8 uniformed officers have been killed in Southern Cameroons and this has resulted in renewed violence, with the ordinary civilian suffering for something he knows nothing about.

Mr. Atanga Nji and his Yaounde masters should figure out that there will never be a total military solution to this issue. Southern Cameroonians are determined to stay the course, and only genuine and sincere dialogue will stop tempers from flaring.

The fighters on the ground are people who hold that they have nothing to lose. They have already lost everything. Their dignity is gone. Their future has been ruined. And some have lost their families to this unnecessary war.

However, it is also important to mention that arresting chiefs and Fons, does not give the revolution a good name. South West chiefs just like their North West counterparts are not against the revolution. They cannot openly state their disagreement with what the government is doing.

It is therefore absurd to kidnap them. They are Southern Cameroonians to the core. However, they must always do their job. They are public servants and they must pay allegiance to the government that pays them.

For the government, it has a lot to gain. A restoration of peace across the country will enable it to have total control of its territory and resources. The existence of armed groups robs it of its revenue sources.

The Southern Cameroons crisis has hit the Yaounde government like a ton of bricks. The country’s economy is suffering. Its Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) seem to be out of service. State corporations located in Southern Cameroons are already feeling the heat.

Pamol, a palm oil production corporation located in Lobe, a small town in Ndian Division, has finally shut its doors as the fighting between Southern Cameroonian fighters and army soldiers takes a turn for the worse. This revenue stream has stopped flowing and Yaounde is really ill-at-ease.

Pamol’s closure is bad news for the government. More than three thousand Pamol workers are today unemployed and living in permanent fear, as the fighting between the warring factions rages on.

Schools and courts in the region have been closed for almost two years and it is increasingly obvious that the Yaoundé government has lost control of certain parts of the two English-speaking regions.

But it is not only Pamol’s closure that is causing the government nightmares. The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), one of the country’s major employers, is also going through a rough patch.

Some of its factories have closed shop, while the fighters have deliberately set some of its infrastructure ablaze as part of their economic sabotage campaign. Malende, a small town located some 6 km from Muyuka, has witnessed huge unemployment rates. The corporation’s rubber factory was set ablaze sometime last month by some unidentified men and this has hit CDC like a ton of bricks.

In other plantations, many workers have simply deserted. The fighting is disrupting economic activities in those plantations and many workers hold that it is better to quit than be caught up between the devil and the deep blue sea.

The fighting, coupled with the derisory salaries the corporation pays to its workers, has made CDC unattractive and this is gradually eroding the government’s tax base.

Similarly, government revenue has taken a nosedive, as the national oil refinery located in the Southwest region is also facing some major challenges. While falling global oil prices are spreading pain and suffering among oil exporters, the declining oil output and constant attempts by Southern Cameroonian fighters to bring down the country’s lone oil refinery are leaving the government in a huge messy economic quandary.

The crisis is a true nightmare to this once-upon-a-time oasis of peace. It is, indeed, a millstone around the government’s neck. Things might soon spiral out of control as the fighters threaten to attack SONARA at the slightest opportunity. They argue that they have never gained from the oil and that it will be better for everybody to suffer the consequences of the government’s recklessness.

These planned acts of sabotage do not augur well for a government that is already on its knees. It is already having a tough time paying civil servants and this is causing fear among the civil servants, especially the military, many of whom want to desert and seek a better life for their families abroad.

The government has a bigger crisis on its hands. It had not properly analyzed its decision before implementing it. It is gradually recognizing that declaring war on its own people is a big mistake, as the impact of the war is spreading into East Cameroon. With a large influx of internally displaced people into East Cameroon, housing and food have become very expensive in those cities receiving the internally displaced.

Douala and Yaounde have been home to most of this internally displaced people and these two cities lack the proper infrastructure to handle such situations. And the situation is declining very fast.

Declining oil revenues and falling production of some of the country’s major employers like CDC and Pamol implies that the government is heading for a financial squeeze. This is exactly what is causing frustration within the government. Many development projects have been suspended due to lack of resources.

Cameroon is indeed at the crossroads. With elections around the corner and the fighting in the English-speaking regions raging on, it is clear that a disaster is lurking somewhere and before long the country could be transformed into an inferno.

The frustration in East Cameroon is also mounting, as many people fall into abject poverty. It is becoming increasingly clear that Mr. Biya is not the man to lead the country to the land of promise. His time is up and there is a consensus around the world that he has overstayed his welcome.

It is time for him to bow out if he does not want the country to sink into a bitter civil war; the type that has destroyed many African countries ruled by dictators. The scourge of war seems to be advancing towards Cameroon and many people around the world are worried that if the Sword of Damocles descends on Cameroon, the entire sub-region might be pushed into unprecedented chaos.

Tempers are already flaring in the country. For 36 years, Mr. Biya has only favored people from his own region. Though the center and south regions constitute less than 10% of the country’s population, they make up 80% of the country’s government; a situation that is hurting many Cameroonians from other regions of the country.

It is therefore in the government’s interest to change its language. Speaking the language of peace is not a sign of weakness. Atanga Nji must understand that he will never win this war. If he thinks that he will be going to Washington, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, London, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and other cities around the world to kidnap Southern Cameroonians living there, then he has not yet figured out the full extent of the government’s previous mistakes.

The Southern Cameroonian Diaspora has a huge war chest and it is ready and willing to make the Yaounde government pay for its mistakes. Southern Cameroonians have dollar millionaires who are capable of keeping the government in this pretty military mess for many decades.

The government had underestimated the will of the people of Southern Cameroons to right the wrongs of the past. For many of them, their fate is worse than death and they have very little time to be around this planet. They want to establish their own country and even ensure that future generations do not deal with such time-consuming and energy-sapping challenges.

The fighters are, of course, receiving huge support from the Diaspora that has transformed this issue into an opportunity for its strength and influence to be felt. With some 4 million Southern Cameroonians out of the country, it is likely that more money will be flowing to Cameroon to feed the war that has rushed many young men and soldiers to an early grave.

The government had never thought that the Southern Cameroonian Diaspora could be this influential. It had also underestimated the anger of those living abroad. Southern Cameroonians started living the country as far back as 1965 when the country’s first president, Amadou Ahidjo, displayed his huge appetite for dictatorship. For many Southern Cameroonians, it was better to live abroad a free man than to live at home in invisible chains.

Today, that Diaspora has reduced the Yaounde government to a symbol of mockery. The Diaspora is financing the war in the country and it is willing to bring down the entire country. Gradually, the Francophone Diaspora is also joining in. Francophones now know that if the current system is not brought down, their own children will be caught up in a pretty mess, as Southern Cameroonians already have a foot out of the fake union that was put together by Ahidjo, Foncha and Muna who are all dead and gone.

If the government wants to address this issue, then it has to change its language. The current language is not delivering the desired results. It must also understand that it must make lots of concessions if it wants peace to return to the country. There are many lessons for the government to learn. This situation should leave it a sadder, but a wiser government.

It must never underestimate the power and will of the Diaspora. The Diaspora will continue to destabilize the country if the government does not seek genuine reconciliation through inclusive dialogue. The ball is in the government’s court. The Diaspora holds the trump card. Its vast resources and influence over the fighters make it a partner in any negotiations. The government has to meet the Diaspora halfway if it is thinking of peace.

Any Dialogue will not take place in Cameroon. The Diaspora holds that the government is not worthy of its confidence. Washington or Ottawa have therefore been chosen as the place for any talks. The Canadian government, in particular, will be willing to mediate.

Canada is noted for its peace-keeping and peace-building initiatives across the globe. It is therefore the right peace-broker in this situation. It has lots of lessons for Cameroon as it has once dealt with a similar situation. The government must come out of its current position. Grand-standing and posturing will not make things better. Humility and recognition of its mistakes will calm down tempers.

By Kingsley Betek in Yaounde

5, August 2018

Congo-Kinshasa: Opposition leader Katumbi blocked from returning home ⁰

Congo opposition leader Moise Katumbi has been blocked from entering the country to register as a candidate in December’s long-delayed presidential election, a spokesman said Saturday.

Zambia’s government told Katumbi of the refusal by Congolese authorities, Olivier Kamitatu Etsu said in a post on Twitter, adding: “Have you ever seen a government forbid a so-called fugitive to turn himself in?”

Katumbi had been a leading presidential contender before fleeing Congo in May 2016 as prosecutors announced their intent to try him on charges of hiring mercenaries, which he denied. The legal issues emerged after he resigned from the ruling party in 2015.

Now the former governor of the copper-rich Katanga region is trying to come home ahead of the Aug. 8 deadline for candidates to register. He said on Friday that Congo’s government also had not permitted him to arrive by plane.

“In trying to block me, they want to take away Congolese citizens’ right to real elections,” Katumbi said on Twitter, where his party posted video of crowds running alongside his motorcade at a dusty border post.

Amnesty International has called the blocking of Katumbi’s return a “flagrant violation” of his constitutional rights, and Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth has called it President Joseph Kabila’s “latest ploy to retain power beyond his constitutional term limit.”

Congo’s presidential election has been delayed since late 2016, to the growing frustration of the opposition and international community. The opposition worries that the 47-year-old Kabila, who by law cannot run again, will find a way to hold onto power. He has been president of the turbulent, mineral-rich country since 2001, when his father Laurent was killed in office.

Earlier in the week Katumbi congratulated another rival for the presidency, former Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba, as he submitted his candidacy. Bemba returned to Congo on Wednesday after more than a decade following his acquittal on war crimes charges by appeals judges at the International Criminal Court in June.

Congo’s constitutional court still has to rule on potential candidates’ eligibility, raising the possibility that Bemba and Katumbi, if manages to return could be barred from running.

Bemba has called on the government to not exclude Katumbi from participating, calling him “a major political player in this country.”

(AP)

2, August 2018

Zimbabwe: Clashes erupt in Harare as opposition protesters challenge vote results ⁰

President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday called for calm as police fired live rounds, water cannon and teargas in Harare at crowds protesting alleged fraud in Zimbabwe’s elections. At least three people were killed in the unrest, police said. “At this crucial time, I call on everyone to desist from provocative declarations and statements,” Mnangagwa said on Twitter. “Now is the time for responsibility and above all, peace.”

Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi also appealed for calm and said the army was deployed on the streets to restore “peace and tranquility”.

“The presence of the army is not to intimidate people but to ensure that law and order is maintained. They are there to assist the police,” Ziyambi said in an interview broadcast on eNCA television. “They are there as a people’s army to ensure that peace and security prevails.” Zimbabwe police on Wednesday fired live rounds, water cannon and teargas at opposition supporters in Harare as tensions erupted over alleged fraud in the election.

Officers had been facing off through a locked gate against crowds who brandished opposition party banners and chanted slogans against the ruling ZANU-PF party. Protesters burned cars and threw rocks as helicopters hovered above.

“You said you were better than Mugabe – you are the picture of Mugabe,” shouted one young male protester wearing a white T-shirt. “We need security for the people.”

European Union election observers had earlier criticised the elections, the first since long-time ruler Robert Mugabe stepped down in November, for being held on an “un-level playing field”.

Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has accused President Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF party and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission of using underhand tactics to steal the election from them.

An angry crowd of mostly young men, some of whom covered their faces, whistled and chanted “Chamisa, Chamisa” in downtown Harare.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission showed Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF cruising to a big majority after picking up 109 seats against 41 for the opposition MDC. Another 58 seats are yet to be declared.

The MDC won in most urban centres, where it enjoys majority support. The party accused the election commission on Tuesday of deliberately delaying results of this week’s vote to favour the ruling party, reporting irregularities in the first poll since the removal of Robert Mugabe in a bloodless November coup.

Mnangagwa said the violence was meant to disrupt the election and blamed the MDC leadership.

“We hold the opposition MDC Alliance and its whole leadership responsible for this disturbance of national peace, which was meant to disrupt the electoral process,” Mnangagwa said, according to ZBC.

In a late-night press conference, Home Affairs Minister Obert Mpofu warned that the government “will not tolerate any of the actions that were witnessed today”.

“The opposition … have perhaps interpreted our understanding to be weak, and I think they are testing our resolve and I think they are making a big mistake,” he said.

Chamisa’s spokesman, Nkululeko Sibanda, told reporters the army’s reaction was unjustified: “Today we saw the deployment of military tanks and firing of live ammunition on civilians for no apparent reason.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on Zimbabwe’s political leaders and people to exercise restraint and reject any form of violence.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)

1, August 2018

Zimbabwe opposition march turns into bloodshed in Harare ⁰

At least one person has been killed in Zimbabwe’s capital when security forces fired on opposition supporters protesting against what they say was electoral fraud.

Media reports said the protester was shot dead near a bus rank in Harare on Wednesday as soldiers stepped in to disperse stone-throwing supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Witnesses said the man was shot in the stomach and lay in a pool of his own blood that seeped onto the dusty tarmac.

The protest descended into chaos after security forces opened fire, sprayed tear gas and unleashed water cannon. Some soldiers beat fleeing protesters with their assault rifles.

Protesters are angry at a delay in announcing the results of the presidential election.

Dozens of soldiers fanned out across central Harare as armored personnel carriers with roof-mounted machine guns sped through the streets.

The opposition accuses President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his ruling ZANU-PF party of stalling so it can steal the landmark election.

The growing crowd of protesters lit fires and chanted “Chamisa,” referring to MDC leader and presidential hopeful Nelson Chamisa.

It had been hoped that the first election following former President Robert Mugabe’s removal after a brief army takeover led by former army chief Constantino Chiwenga would turn the page for the country. “You said you were better than Mugabe, you are the picture of Mugabe,” shouted one young protester. “We need security for the people.”

A soldier fires shots toward demonstrators in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, August 1 2018. (Photo by AFP)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Zimbabwe’s political leaders and people “to exercise restraint and reject any form of violence while awaiting resolution of the disputes and announcement of the election results.”

“We are concerned about the reports that there have been incidences of violence in parts of Zimbabwe,” UN spokesman Farhan Haq said. “We’d like to remind the incumbents and the political parties of the commitments they made, the peace pledge and the code of conduct to ensure a peaceful electoral process.”

Millions of people voted peacefully in the Monday election, the first ever vote without Mugabe in almost 40 years in Zimbabwe.

Mugabe’s 37-year rule came to an end last November after the military took over the capital and the state broadcaster and held Mugabe and his wife under house arrest in a bloodless coup.

Source: Presstv

1, August 2018

Zanu-PF wins most parliamentary seats in post-Mugabe Zimbabwe ⁰

Zimbabwe’s ruling party ZANU-PF has won the majority of seats in parliamentary elections, official results show, as vote counting continues separately in the presidential vote.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said on Wednesday that ZANU-PF had picked up 110 seats against the 41 for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Another 58 seats are yet to be declared.

The final results of the presidential poll are expected by Saturday.

ZANU-PF, which ousted former president Robert Mugabe after 37 years last November, would need an additional 30 seats to have a two-thirds majority, which would allow it to change the constitution at will.

Opposition candidate Nelson Chamisa, who leads the MDC, has accused the electoral commission of delaying presidential results to favor the ruling party, led by his rival, President Emmerson Dambudz Mnangagwa.

The supporters of Zimbabwean opposition party heckle anti-riot police in the capital, Harare, on July 31, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

He accused the commission of releasing the parliamentary results first to prepare people for a Mnangagwa victory.

“The strategy is meant to prepare Zimbabwe mentally to accept fake presidential results. We’ve more votes than ED (Emmerson Dambudzo),” he said in a Twitter message. “We won the popular vote (and) will defend it.”

His supporters took to the streets on Tuesday, protesting the delay in the results. Crowds also gathered outside the MDC Alliance headquarters in the capital, Harare, celebrating what they believed to be Chamisa’s victory.

The gathering was followed by the deployment of a truckload of policemen and water cannon to the area.

The supporters of presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa cheer outside the opposition headquarters in Harare, July 31, 2018. (AFP)

Allegations of fraud risk plunging the country into violence.

Millions of people voted peacefully in the Monday election, the first-ever vote without Mugabe in almost 40 years in Zimbabwe.

His 37-year old ruling came to an end last November after Zimbabwe’s military took over the capital and the state broadcaster and held Mugabe and his wife under house arrest in a bloodless coup d’état.

Source: Presstv

1, August 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: They Came, They Killed, They Destroyed And It is still happening ⁰

More than two years ago, troops loyal to the Biya regime in Yaoundé launched a violent attack against the people of Southern Cameroons after the Anglophone leadership created the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. The Francophone dominated army killed hundreds, if not thousands of women and children. The Ambazonian justice department continues to discover mass graves in Mamfe, Dadi, Belo, Ekondo Titi, Menka Piyin, Kwa Kwa, Muyenge, Batibo, Wum, Bali, Azi, Alou and Tombel to this day. As part of the same French Cameroun military campaign, Cameroon government troops raped and killed women and girls. More than 3,000 Southern Cameroonians are still being detained in French Cameroun and their fate is unknown.

The Southern Cameroons Interim Government has ordered an investigation that might lead Ambazonians to detain relatives in French Cameroun. For more than two years running, 98% of Southern Cameroons territories previously held by the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime have been recovered by Ambazonia Restoration Forces. French Cameroun authority is disappearing from Southern Cameroons and the atrocities committed by the Biya regime forces are now on the spotlight.

The African Union and the UN have failed to realize that the Southern Cameroons story is not over, and by so doing they are providing a fertile ground for similar atrocities to happen again in Ambazonia. Truth be told to power, Biya and his army including his gang of political elites have been defeated in Southern Cameroons, but the French ideology that governs French Cameroun is what is driving the violence.

After the attack and destruction of Kendem, Kembong, Kwa Kwa, Muyenge, Belo, Menka Pinyi, Bekora, Mbonge and the killing of several Roman Catholic clergies, Cameroon government forces also attacked Wum, Bui, Ndop, Kumba, Muyuka, Ekona, Azi and forced over 160,000 people to flee for their lives. They destroyed the villages and took control of it. It has now been liberated.

The Biya regime has attempted to deceive the international community with a humanitarian plan that promised to do more, to help victims of the Southern Cameroons war. But as I write, Yaoundé is instead ensuring that none of its soldiers is brought to justice and that such mass atrocities continue to happen. Three years running, the world has not made good on any of its international obligations to the people of former British Southern Cameroons.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai