The Cameroon government announcement on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, to bring some relief to Southern Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria and those internally displaced across the country has instead provoked anger among Southern Cameroonians who hold that there can never be anything good from the Yaoundé government that has been maiming and killing its own people.

Many people across the country, especially Southern Cameroonians in the Diaspora hold that this may be a ploy by the struggling government to deceive the international community into believing that it is caring and it wants to help resettle those displaced by a conflict that has been complicated by the government’s military action.

The announcement was made all the more ridiculous by the fact that the aging and ailing government does not have the resources and it is calling on members of the ‘crime syndicate’ to generously donate to a cause many knew was doomed to failure.

Since the announcement of this phoney aid, Cameroonians have been reacting in different ways. While some hold that it is an initiative that will help the refugees many of whom have been living in the jungle for months, critics of the government see it as an opportunity for the corrupt Yaoundé government to prove that it is still capable of doing things.

According to some of the fighters on the ground, the package comes too late. “We have made up our minds to quit our French speaking colleagues. We have been complaining for 56 years and nobody has ever taken us serious. At best, they have ignored us, and at worst they have killed our brothers and burned down our homes. We are never going to forgive this folks and we have warned our people not to receive such blood-tainted assistance. We will kill anybody who goes to get that money or anybody who comes here from Yaoundé to tell the people those cock and bull tales,” a member of the Lebialem-based Red Dragon, who elected anonymity, said.

He advised Southern Cameroonians to continue fighting the Yaoundé government that had thought that by killing a few people the rebellion would be over.

“I am calling on southern Cameroonians to keep on resisting the corrupt Yaoundé regime. Our collective efforts and our unity of purpose have sent a strong message to Mr. Biya and government who thought by using military force they would silence us forever. That will never happen. We are walking away from the mistakes made by Foncha and Muna and there is no better time to dump our French speaking colleagues who have displayed unparalleled indifference to our fate for 56 years. In trying to silence us, the government has ended up with a sticky situation. Pressure from abroad is mounting on the frail regime and our successes on the ground have left the government really embarrassed, he said.

“For those who are having intercourse with the Yaoundé regime, let them know theirs is the kingdom of death. We will behead any government officials, especially those Southern Cameroonians in Yaoundé if they dare show up here with their dirty money in the name of refugee assistance. They cannot kill us, chase our brothers from their homes and turn around to bribe us. We have thrown them up and woe betides anybody who makes the mistake of coming to our territory with such money. I would like to send this message to Chief Tabetando. Minister Mengot Arrey, Mr. Elvis Ngolle Ngolle and Prof. Nalova Lyunga that we are ready and willing to send them to their graves for all the hardship they have brought on us. They have abetted and aided the enemy who has killed our people. We will never forget, he stressed.

“For Yang Philimon and  Paul Atanga Nji, they know they are already dead. They have been the architects of the cataclysm that has befallen people in Belo, Mamfe, Kwakwa, Pinyin and Mbonge. We will never forgive. Let them keep their dirty money. Our focus is on securing our land anybody who does not play by our rules will be promptly taken to our green jails for professional interrogation,” he warned.

In Mamfe, Kumba, Limbe, Buea,  Mbengui, Kumbo, etc, the feeling is the same. Southern Cameroonians do not trust the government and they hold that the relief assistance maybe a way of killing more of them, after all, it had used a press release once to tell the people of Mamfe to quit their homes and used the governor to deceive the people to stay home where they later were butchered.

For the Diaspora that has been the brain behind this revolution, the refugee relief assistance is nothing more than a publicity stunt by the government. The internet is awash with criticism of the government’s action which many consider as a poisoned gift.

“This government seems to be out of touch with reality. The people of Southern Cameroons have been transformed into refugees by the government and it now wants to show to the world that it is magnanimous,” one activist wrote, adding that “Southern Cameroonians across the globe should kill the government’s bluff by contributing massively to fundraising efforts that are underway in many cities across the globe so that the refugees will not be tempted to accept the government’s poisoned gift.”

He added that “As southern Cameroonians, we have the capacity to bankroll the return of our displaced people once our independence has been secured. We cannot trust anything from the Yaoundé government that has overstayed its welcome.”

“We might have lost some of our brothers due to this war. We might be going through tough times, but that does not make us beggars. We have the numbers and we can use those numbers to change our fate. We are about four million living abroad and that is good enough for us to underwrite the military efforts some of our fellow brothers in ground zero are making.”

“Besides, we cannot let this fake refugee fund distract us. We must continue to resist these infidels until they pack their stuff and leave our land. The kidnapping and killing of soldiers have left the government in a quandary. It wants to negotiate, but it does not know who to talk to. The people’s revolution is working and it will work until we quit these infidels who have brought death and destruction to our land.”

Meanwhile the fighting in many parts of the English-speaking region has intensified. In Buea and Mutengene, some uniformed soldiers were killed yesterday, Thursday, June 21, 2018 while two others were kidnapped. The situation has remained tense, especially as many army soldiers are refusing to go to the war front.

On Tuesday, a soldier killed his boss before turning his weapon onto himself after learning that his boss was insisting on sending him to the restive English-speaking region.  Such situations are on the rise and many army soldiers are even shooting themselves in the foot just to avoid going to the war front which they have nick-named the cemetery.

The situation on the ground is really dicey and the days ahead look really gloomy as Russian-made AK-47s have finally made their way into Southern Cameroons. The killing machines clearly spell death to army soldiers who are viewed in the region as enemies.

The government really has a crisis on its hands. A crisis that started as protests by lawyers and teachers has finally developed into a civil war and this is putting the country in the spotlight for the wrong reason.

With many deaths registered on both sides, it will hard for both sides to sit and talk about a common future.  Southern Cameroonians have totally migrated from federalism to secession and they hold that independence is within reach.

Today, the government seems to be warming up to the idea of federalism, but this seems to be too late. Many people have died and the pain will make it hard for the two parties to meet and talk. However, all hopes are not lost.  With the international community already getting involved, it is likely that dialogue will soon replace the sound of guns that have been part of life in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon.

By Kingsley Betek

The services industry is no longer booming in Southern Cameroons. However in many neighbourhoods in the old city of Buea, a dozen bars with strong ties to the Cameroon government army still open. Every day they are packed with secret servicemen and women including informants enjoying a few drinks with their food interrupted sometimes by gun fire between Ambazonian freedom fighters and soldiers loyal to the regime in Yaoundé. Less than a kilometer away precisely in Muea, Ambazonia Self-Defense Council Restoration Forces are fighting Cameroon government troops in a war that will determine the future of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

On first glance the Ambazonian capital city of Buea appears isolated from the conflict currently engulfing much of Southern Cameroons but it is that very conflict that enables this illusion of normalcy. Southern Cameroons is enduring its second year of crisis, and most people living in the Francophone government-controlled areas like Buea and Limbe continue to suffer from a crippling economic crisis likely to linger long after the guns fall silent.  By the end of this year, the economy of the two Cameroons will have shrunk 10-fold. President Biya is aware.

Senior economic reporters have opined that there simply isn’t much coming into or going out of Southern Cameroons. The destruction of some 97 Southern Cameroons farming communities centered in the Southern Zone have led to an almost 90 percent decrease in food production. The regime in Yaoundé in indeed confused. To adapt to this new reality, many Southern Cameroonians are implementing desperate measures: selling their property, taking on mean jobs or even stealing.

A group of persons have however created opportunity amid the chaos and like experienced war profiteers they have carved out a thriving black market. They are the top officials of the Cameroon government military headed by Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo. To be sure, the same Cameroon army illicit trade that was introduced in the Central African Republic under the late General Tumenta has been established in Ambazonia by the oligarchs and by amassing huge profit and power, they’ve come to exact an immense degree of control over the lives of Southern Cameroonians living in the Francophone government-controlled areas.

The rise of these French Cameroun oligarchs began soon after President Biya declared war against the people of Southern Cameroons. Joseph Beti Assomo, launched the military campaign with the aim of suffocating the Southern Cameroons economy, sundering its access to essential goods like medications and blocking internet services and bank transfers. Beti Assomo and Ousmanou Mey who headed the ministry of finance successfully set off a destructive ripple throughout Southern Cameroons that further distorted an economy that had been ravaged by ghost town operations and the escalating conflict.

These Cameroon government oligarchs’ distortions have hit everything in Southern Cameroons from the farming sector to the salaries of ordinary people. Southern Cameroonians only means of survival now is remittances from relatives abroad. Many now travel to Douala or Dschang to pick up their money for fear of being libeled a separatist. Senior officers in the army have registered taxis under the controversial Mayor Ekema Patrick and have deployed their relatives as cab drivers in Buea and Limbe with state protection. The French Cameroun army has identified its own hotels in Buea and Limbe and that’s where those with the cash are accommodated. Southern Cameroons has become the cave of gold, and every Cameroon military official wants to be Ali Baba. All French Cameroun military checkpoints are now generating huge profits for those officers in charge. Some officers demand petty bribes in exchange for use of the military vehicles usually reserved for deployments, to bypass the long queues on the Buea-Kumba highway. Bamileke businessmen pay bribes to allow their trucks, heavy with goods, to pass through quicker.

Many of the army colonels have established some kind of private security companies using heavily armed soldiers deployed to Southern Cameroons, which provide armed escorts. Banks and other businesses end up having to hire them as escorts through the rural areas. According to a Cameroon government source familiar with these oligarchs, the armed escorts does not engage with the Ambazonian fighters but they prevent them from extorting money from those convoys or even looting them.

Another popular method of profiting off the war in Southern Cameroons is looting and selling back to the people of Southern Cameroons. Four months ago, the army confiscated motor bikes in Mamfe town and stole a sea of TV and radio sets that were later sold back to the owners. When government soldiers stormed Menji and Azi in Lebialem, entire window and door frames were removed, and all the furniture and appliances inside people’s houses were taken.  Several commanders and highly placed Cameroon government officials with links to the army have developed reputations for accumulating enormous fortunes. As I write, General Elokobi Daniel Njock is equipping and at the same time building an expensive fence on his home in the Manyu County. Joseph Beti Assomo is now a billionaire par excellence. The story is same for General Melingui Nouma and his acolytes.

Frankly speaking the profits made from the underground wartime economy in Southern Cameroons by defense bosses are likely to provide more of an incentive to allow the war to continue than encourage it to stop, which will only further widen the divide between French Cameroun and Southern Cameroons.  It is precisely this war economy that is driving the war.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai 

June 19, 2018

Subject: Reaction to Communique of Manyu Chiefs and Elite, Yaounde, June 16, 2018

To: Manyu Citizens Worldwide

Great citizens of Manyu:

The MAC, through its various organs including Manyu Health, Manyu Intelligence, Manyu Safety Committee and Manyu Strategic Ventures wishes to give notice to ALL Manyu people and SOUTHERN CAMEROONS/AMBAZONIANS, that the small group of Manyu people meeting in Yaounde under LRC Minister Victor Arrey Mengot and banana-rated General Elokobe, firstly, no longer belong to Manyu and secondly will never again represent Manyu in ANYTHING legitimate, cultural, socio-economic or political. This so-called socio-economic group and meeting is organized to probably bring another few bags of rice or cartons of fish while our people are being slaughtered and driven into bushes, pregnant women shot at point blank range. Any such meetings organized in Yaounde by LRC agents is therefore dismissed and banned by the Manyu Advisory Committee as Supreme Authority (while our land is under occupation), from ever happening on behalf of or for Manyu anywhere in La Republic Apartheid du Cameroun.

You are all aware of the reckless killings, rapes,political machination,untold economic hardship, social unrest, outright decimation of our much-cherished culture, all orchestrated by Biya’s beti junta, with the complicity and conspiracy of some of our own so-called chiefs and political elite from Manyu. To this group of greedy and vindictive political thugs cum bandits, it doesn’t matter if all our young men were rounded up, inhumanely humiliated and summarily executed, girls and young women savagely and serially raped by Biya’s marauding terrorist soldiers, our culture mindlessly trampled upon, and our natural resources exploited and carted away to develop Biya’s beti land while Manyu remains underdeveloped.

You have seen whole villages razed down, young men killed and buried in shallow mass graves, ocadas burnt down, some of our chiefs tortured and shot point blanc by Biya’s blood thirsty soldiers. You have also seen legitimate Manyu elite picked up, tortured and bungled in underground cells in Yaounde and elsewhere? You have seen Manyu people such as Justice Paul Aya, Barrister Agbor NkonghoBalla, Dr. Fontem and others illegally picked up and jailed for months.You have seen how these wolves in sheep’s clothing said or done nothing since Sisiku Ayuk Tabe Julius and others were kidnapped from Nigeria and being incarcerated incommunicado in Yaounde.You have seen how tens of thousands of our people, including the young, the pregnant, the sick/frail and old living as refugees in Nigeria, without any attention given to them.  The list is endless!

To the few of you in LRC Parliament and Senate, the few questions you MUST answer are:

• Who are you representing?
• Where were you when Manyu citizens were asked to leave their ancestral land by the Colonial SDO?
• Where were you when Manyu Division was invaded and citizens killed and some brutalized?
• Where were you when the SDF opposition requested for our SC problems to be addressed on the floor of the LRC National Assembly to avoid blood spilling?
• What did you do besides simply siding with Biya?

The MAC condemns your group in Yaounde especially for giving Biya the go ahead to slaughter your own people like chicken and bury them in unidentified mass graves. You had the opportunity to stand up for your people to prevent all the blood-letting and genocide unleashed on us by Biya. Yet you did nothing! You said nothing too because you have simply sold your souls and conscience for money.

Given these crimes against humanity, you have all jointly and severally therefore lost the trust our people bestowed in you. You are now pretending to open your dirty mouths because the fire of the SC Revolution is gradually zeroing in on you. Reality is now dawning on you that you can only run, but can’t hide.

To avoid any doubt there is no longer a place for you in today’s Manyu. Simply put, your time is over!

Feel free to remain in Yaounde and continue to be slaves to Biya and his kinsmen. Good luck!

God Bless Manyu.

Sincerely,

The Manyu Diaspora Advisory Committee

Cameroon’s governance and security problems for many years have attracted little outside attention. But the country now faces violence in three regions: the Far North, where Boko Haram continues to mount small-scale attacks, as well as the Northwest and Southwest, where an incipient Anglophone insurgency emerged in 2017. Added to this ambient insecurity is a refugee crisis in the East and Adamaoua, to which 236,000 people from the Central African Republic have fled militia battles. Elections scheduled for October 2018 will be a major test, as will the eventual transfer of power away from President Paul Biya, now 85. 2018 is a crucial moment for the international community, and in particular the EU and its member states, to engage in early action and prevent further escalation.

Boko Haram: still a threat to a neglected region

Boko Haram, active in Cameroon’s Far North since 2014, has killed about 1,800 civilians and 175 soldiers, kidnapped around 1,000 people and burned and looted many villages, while the conflict has displaced some 242,000 and badly disrupted the local economy. Some 91,000 Nigerians have fled Boko Haram-related violence in Nigeria to Cameroon. Though battered by security forces and riven by internal divisions, Boko Haram remains a threat in the Far North: in 2017 the group has killed at least 27 soldiers and gendarmes, as well as 210 civilians. It could regain strength if Cameroonian authorities neglect the crisis.

Boko Haram fighters and associates have surrendered in increasing numbers. Dozens of former militants have been sent home, after swearing on the Quran they would not rejoin the group. About 80 others are being held at a military camp in Mayo Sava. To encourage more such surrenders, authorities should avoid blanket stigmatisation and differentiate between hard-core fighters and others. The government also needs to develop a clear plan to counter the appeal of the jihadist ideas that some of the Boko Haram fighters that have given themselves up or been captured continue to espouse. Effective justice and reintegration mechanisms are lacking. Hundreds of supposed Boko Haram members are currently in pre-trial detention, a situation that risks fuelling their further radicalisation; their status should be resolved as swiftly as possible. Authorities also should seek to implement flexible, locally-informed mechanisms to facilitate the social reintegration of former Boko Haram fighters and encourage new surrenders. Leaving this to the whims of ad-hoc local efforts is inadvisable: given the destruction wreaked by the insurgency, communities are highly resentful, and poorly conceived reintegration schemes could sow the seeds of future problems. This is in contrast to neighbouring Chad, where local communities seem to be integrating former militants somewhat successfully on an informal basis. The EU should encourage national authorities, both in Yaounde and in regional capitals, to elaborate and implement their own plans to manage the demobilisation of former Boko Haram members.

The war against Boko Haram has strained local communities, given rise to humanitarian crises and highlighted the need for longer-term development. In 2018, Cameroon’s international partners, including the EU, should provide further humanitarian assistance in the Far North, focused on strengthening support to displaced persons and host families as well as supporting the voluntary return of Nigerian refugees. Where required, emergency operations should continue, but humanitarian efforts should also evolve into a more sustainable development approach.

The challenge is to stimulate the local economy without filling the coffers of Boko Haram, which taxes local trade and whose recruitment efforts in the past have been facilitated in part by offering small business loans and other financial incentives. Achieving the right balance will be difficult. But European support for small businesses within the formal and informal economies could help undercut local backing for Boko Haram. Separately, while Yaounde has long controlled the Far North by co-opting local notables, Boko Haram’s spread into Cameroon was partly facilitated by tapping into anger at local elites, thereby demonstrating the limits of that approach. Instead, Cameroon’s partners should encourage the state to reassert its presence in the north in a participatory and inclusive manner rather than through proxies, including via development projects that boost local earning potential.

The Anglophone crisis: an insurgency in the making

The crisis in the Anglophone regions (the Northwest and Southwest), which started as a sectoral protest, is rapidly developing into an armed insurgency, following the Cameroonian security forces’ violent repression on 22 September and 1 October. While there are hardliners among the militants, the government bears a large share of the responsibility for the conflict. It failed to recognise the legitimacy of Anglophone grievances; its security forces committed widespread abuses; and it imprisoned many peaceful activists in early 2017.

Several small “self-defence” groups (the Tigers, Ambaland forces and Vipers, to name a few) now operate alongside two armed militias: the Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF) and the Southern Cameroons Defence Forces. Since November 2017, these groups have launched low-intensity attacks that have killed at least 22 and injured 25 among soldiers and gendarmes. An unknown number of separatist fighters have died in these clashes. The military crackdown also exacted a large humanitarian toll and involved significant human rights violations. The violence has left at least 90 civilians since October 2016. Around a thousand have been arrested, with 400 still in jail. More than 30,000 Anglophones are refugees in Nigeria and tens of thousands have been internally displaced.

Given that the crisis is rooted in historically grounded identity-based grievances, notably the strong sentiment among Anglophones that they have been politically and economically marginalised, there will be no easy resolution. The government will need to change course and negotiate in good faith. The government’s refusal to launch a dialogue with peaceful Anglophone leaders has corroded the community’s trust in state institutions and provoked escalating violence. The crisis also illustrates the limits of the country’s centralised governance model, which show signs of atrophy. Discontent is still mounting in Anglophone areas. Reports suggest that some members of the security forces are joining the insurgency.

A direct dialogue between the government and Anglophone community leaders is critical to de-escalate the crisis, particularly ahead of the October elections. A wider conversation, which should include discussion of different models of decentralisation and federalism, is also important, given the failings of the current model. The EU and its member states should take advantage of the government’s concern about its international image and desire to preserve cooperation with them to nudge it toward direct talks and a national dialogue.

Uncertainties ahead

Most of the country’s security threats stem, at least in part, from bad governance and an over-centralised political system. While the 2018 elections are likely to see the ruling party retain power, a vote perceived as manipulated or unfair could further diminish its legitimacy, making it even more remote from citizens and feeding greater levels of violence. Election season will be an especially risky time if, as appears likely, Anglophone militants attempt to disrupt the balloting in the Northwest and Southwest regions, and possibly elsewhere.

More broadly, while many local activists and international actors see an eventual transition from President Biya, whose party dominates the government, as a prerequisite for improvements in governance, they also fear that his departure could trigger instability. European and other foreign powers should start laying the groundwork for a peaceful transfer of power; the longer the situation deteriorates, the harder it will be to pick up the pieces. They have two opportunities to do so in 2018: first, by supporting dialogue between the Biya government and Anglophone leaders, as described above; and, second, by working with Cameroon’s electoral body (ELECAM) and pressing the government to permit, and then deploy, election observers to protect the integrity of the vote, as best possible, and thus build confidence in the electoral system. Even small gains in these areas would help mend the frayed contract between the Cameroonian state and its citizens.

Culled from the International Crisis Group