Politics

2, May 2018

Trump trying to avoid impeachment as 2018 midterms near ⁰

US President Donald Trump is dialing up efforts to avoid impeachment, GOP sources as the 2018 midterms approach, giving Democrats the chance to win the majority in the US House of Representatives.

If democrats take control of the chamber, they could initiate an impeachment debate and congressional investigation.

“It is super important to the White House, and really the whole White House is very focused on it,” a source told The Hill. “The president is expected to dial up efforts in this regard during and after the August recess.”

According to Maxine Waters, Democratic representative from California, 70 percent of Democrats want to impeach the president, an idea strongly supported within the party’s liberal base.

Such comments have made the president understand the significance of protecting his party’s majority, particularly in the House.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters speaks onstage during the Human Rights Campaign’s 2018 Los Angeles Gala Dinner at JW Marriott Los Angeles.(Photos by AFP)

“We have to keep the House because if we listen to Maxine Waters, she’s going around saying ‘We will impeach him,’” Trump told a rally of supporters in Michigan on Saturday.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) announced recently that protecting the House rather than the Senate is its top priority.

“Our No. 1 priority is keeping the House. We have to win the House,” RNC political director Juston Johnson told The Associated Press.

The president has also ordered the RNC to prioritize the House.

“It’s clear the message has been, ‘We don’t want to want to have to fool with impeachment proceedings with the final two years of his first term, you better do something,’” a party strategist was quoted as saying.

Source: Presstv

1, May 2018

Gabon: Constitutional Court orders PM to resign, dissolves parliament over delayed polls ⁰

Gabon’s Constitutional Court on Monday ordered the dissolution of the National Assembly thus bringing the work of the Ali Bongo-led government to an end

A statement read out by its president Marie Magdeleine Mborantsuo said the mandate of all lawmakers in the lower chamber of parliament had been terminated because the government had failed to hold elections to replace them.

It was now incumbent on Bongo to appoint a new Prime Minister, leader of government, to steer affairs of the oil-rich central African nation. Till then, the upper chamber (Senate) has been tasked with doing the work of the dissolved chamber.

Prime Minister Emmanuel Issoze-Ngondet who was ordered by the court to resign said he accepted the ruling which was sacrosanct.

“The decisions of the Constitutional Court are not to be commented on. They are to be applied,” Issoze-Ngondet said on national television after the ruling.

On his part, Richard August Onouviet, the president of the National Assembly, also said he accepted the court’s decision.

A multi-party committee appointed an electoral commission last Friday after repeated delays to organise the vote but no new election date has yet been set. The government had failed to organize parliamentary elections before the end of April.

Bongo appointed Issoze-Ngondet prime minister after a narrow victory in a 2016 election that international observers said was marred by irregularities and that sparked brief spasms of violence.

Source: Reuters

1, May 2018

Chad parliament approves new constitution ⁰

Chad’s parliament on Monday overwhelmingly approved a new constitution that expands President Idriss Deby’s powers and could allow him to stay in office until 2033, in a vote boycotted by most opposition lawmakers.

The new constitution reimposes a two-term limit scrapped in a 2005 referendum. But it will not be applied retroactively, meaning Deby could serve two terms after the next election in 2021.

The constitution now heads to Deby for his signature. Deby’s opponents say that the constitution, which eliminates the post of prime minister and creates a fully presidential system, is aimed at installing a de facto monarchy in Chad, an ally of Western nations fighting jihadist groups in West Africa.

The new constitution – approved by a vote of 132 to two – introduces six-year rather than five-year presidential terms. That would mean Deby could stay in power until 2033, when he will be at least 80.

Deby first came to power in a rebellion in 1990. He has recently faced strikes and protests due to budget shortfalls caused by low prices for Chad’s chief export, oil.

(REUTERS)

27, April 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Long jail terms will not cut it! ⁰

The Southern Cameroons crisis has entered a new phase. After the failure of intimidation and attrition, the Yaounde government has decided to roll out a new strategy – making an example of Southern Cameroonians who are in the government’s jails in Yaounde.

Ever since the crisis started more than a thousand Southern Cameroonians have been arrested and taken to jails in Yaounde where they are being tortured and threatened with death if they do not rescind their plan to split the country.

For more than one year, there have been many trials, but only few Southern Cameroonians have actually been convicted and sometimes on trumped up charges. Today, terrorism seems to be the most fashionable allegation and it seems to be the government’s tool of choice when it comes to threatening Southern Cameroonian freedom fighters, although none of the fighters is bulging.

Recently, Mr. Mancho Bibixy, a broadcaster and activist, accused of threatening the country’s sovereignty has been found guilty of terrorism due to his role in the protests that triggered the Southern Cameroons crisis.

Mr. Bibixy had appeared in a coffin at a protest in the north-west city of Bamenda in November 2016 which he said symbolized Southern Cameroonians who had died before their real death. He urged his fellow citizens not to be scared of speaking truth to power, as their fate was already worse than death.

He was convicted of eight counts, including rebellion and hostility against the state. Six other Southern Cameroonians – Tsi Conrad, The Emile Agwe, Tangwa Maloin Tangwa, Azelecha Martin, Guingah Valentine, Junior Awahro Thomas – were also found guilty of the same counts by the Yaounde Kangaroo court on the same day as Mr. Bibixy.

Apart from the long jail terms awaiting them on their sentencing day, all seven have already been ordered to pay CFAF 579 million, the equivalent of more than USD 1 million, in damages. This is more of a joke to many observers. While working, those convicted were simply scraping a living in a country wherein the government does not care about its citizens. How will they ever raise USD 1 million while in jail?

Working in Cameroon hardly brings financial happiness. Many people have been trapped financially and many senior government officials are permanently in fear of an arrest, as most of them are corrupt. Over the last ten years, the country’s president, Paul Biya, has thrown hundreds of his former collaborators in jail for embezzling state funds.

Some of those collaborators have opted to return their loot in exchange for freedom, but Mr. Biya does not seem to be listening. He himself is being accused of playing a significant role in the billions of dollars that have been missing from state coffers. His constant trips abroad have cost the poor taxpayers millions and many Cameroonians are very bitter with a leader who only thinks about himself and his family.

The political uncertainty in the country is causing many Cameroonian civil servants to rob the country blind as a means of securing their children’s future. Most Cameroonian workers want to send their children abroad as a means of sparing them the pain of unemployment that is blighting millions of lives in the impoverished Central African country.

Unemployment rates in the central African country are unfortunately high and even those working are permanently seeing stars before the month ends. Poverty seems to have thrown a blow to the heads of Cameroonian workers and many will never recover from this government-imposed dehumanizing poverty.

It will be a miracle if those convicted will ever pay such an amount while in jail. The government and its judges appear to be making a mockery of the country’s legal system. While the judiciary is independent on paper, in reality, it is under the executive branch’s baneful influence.

Bribery and corruption have spread into the judiciary like a malignant cancer and the judges and magistrates have all been compromised. This is causing many people to make a mockery of the judicial system. Every Cameroonian knows that with money, everything is possible. Many people have walked away with murder even when there is incontrovertible evidence against them.

Before leaving the court on the day of his hearing, Mr. Bibixy made an emotional appeal to the judge, urging him to make the most of the opportunity available to him, with a view to seeking solutions to the grievances of the country’s English-speaking minority.

“You have an opportunity to begin solving the Anglophone crisis or add more fuel to the fire. History will be the final judge,” he said, adding that he was a man of dialogue and not a man of violence. He urged the government to pursue peaceful means to reach solutions that will rid the country of the specter of war that is handing over its head.

For almost two years, the country’s government has been playing tricks with a situation that is very likely to cause a lot of pain and suffering to an already impoverished people. Despite calls by the international community for an inclusive dialogue that could spare the country the type of bloodbath that its neighbors have experienced, the government has continued to pursue its policy of collective punishment in the two English-speaking regions where many people have lost their homes and hundreds of young fighters killed in cold blood.

In many parts of the English-speaking regions, young men, many of whom are innocent and have nothing to do with the ugly fighting that is playing out over there, have been arrested and taken to unknown destinations. Many have been buried alive, while others have been used by the country’s sex-starved and alcohol-inflamed soldiers as shooting targets.

The rule of law that is supposed to be upheld by the government is gradually becoming the rule of weapons where those with weapons dictate the rule and the country’s government is doing its best to encourage this form of lawlessness that is breeding hatred and feeding the circle of violence that is claiming many lives in Southern Cameroons.

A crisis that started as simple protests by lawyers, teachers and students in Buea and Bamenda has been allowed to metamorphose into a full blown armed conflict due to the government’s arrogance and inefficiency. The government’s decision to slaughter hundreds of Southern Cameroonians on October 1, 2017, is today viewed by many across the globe as an unfortunate error of judgment.

Many people around the world who have been watching Cameroon descend into chaos think the country’s government should actually embrace peace, but the country’s ailing and old leader wants to take the country to the grave with him. Many of these observers have been waiting for the government to lay the ground work for the much-touted inclusive dialogue that the country’s president has been talking about.

Mr. Biya and his government are not in the mood to smoke the pipe of peace. Though Mr. Biya had declared in New York during a session of the UN General Assembly meeting in late 2017 that “we all are hankering after peace”, he seems to be more interested in war than peace. Mr. Biya is being accused today across the globe as someone who is paying lip-service to the notion of inclusive and sincere dialogue.

Many observers hold that he is more interested in keeping power than in making Cameroon the beacon of peace. He and his government see governance as a do-or-die affair and any dialogue that could diminish their power will never be something they will contemplate. They know their time is almost up, but they hold that they must go down with the entire country. Their attitude is shocking many around the world. The fighting in Cameroon is not only taking away innocent lives, it is also robbing the country of its scarce development resources.

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

The government’s reaction to Southern Cameroonian demands has been anything but effective. This reaction has gone a long way in creating a bloody conflict that is not necessary. Government actions have only gone a long way in radicalizing many Southern Cameroonians. The radicalization has unfortunately given birth to many armed groups in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

As a response to the creation of these armed groups, the government has stepped up its killing spree to prove that it is in control of the territory. It is strange to see a duly constituted government come down to the level of a ragtag army. It is even stranger to see the government engage in the killing of its own citizens just because they have expressed their minds.

This conflict has really disrupted life in many parts of the English-speaking regions. Schools and courts have remained closed and a generation of children is being traumatized by the images and pictures they are seeing on the ground. Besides the trauma, these kids will wind up illiterate as there are no prospects of school resuming anytime soon, especially in rural areas where there is no government authority. The government itself has simply surrendered and does not consider the education of these kids as a priority.

Though ghost town operations organized by angry English-speaking Cameroonians with the objective of bringing the government to the negotiating table are gradually fizzling out, the country’s economy seems to have been seriously hurt. The government is running out of resources and its allies abroad are reluctant to give it more money. Even the Chinese are playing games with the Yaounde desperate government that is losing sleep because its treasury is losing money at an unexpected rate.

Falling oil production and prices have hit the government like a ton of bricks. The Southern Cameroons crisis that the government thought would end after a few weeks is gradually robbing the country’s economy of its vitality. The country’s economic indicators are unfortunately trending very low and it is obvious that the days ahead are bleak for the country’s civil service.

Even the country’s military is already dealing with some challenges. The Southern Cameroons crisis has eroded its financial resources. The payment of per diems is gradually becoming a tough challenge despite the signing of presidential decree by the country’s reclusive leader, indicating that each soldier fighting in the two English-speaking regions will be earning CFAF 30,000 a day as per diem. The money has not been flowing the way of the soldiers and many young army soldiers are deserting the military for fear of being killed by the tough Ambazonian fighters who are giving the government a run for its money.

Initially, the sticking point was the government’s refusal to discuss the form of the state. Southern Cameroonian had argued that the current centralized system was too inefficient and corrupt. They wanted a system that would grant them the freedom to run their own schools and courts. They argued that the presence of Francophone judges in their courts had resulted in a miscarriage of justice in many parts of the region.

They also argued that the presence of Francophone teachers in Southern Cameroonian schools did not guarantee their children the educational quality that would enable their children to be competitive at the international level. But the government was not willing to listen. It was still insisting on implementing its decentralization policy that had been put on hold for more than two decades. These issues and the refusal to discuss the form of the state have caused the conflict to drag on. And it has today taken forms that are too complicated even for the Yaounde government to handle. The killings have become a daily affair and they have resulted in moderate English-speaking Cameroonians to see secession as the ultimate solution.

The country is, today, in a fix. The government that is used to shutting up its opponents is unable to find reliable partners to dialogue with. It has already tried different forms of dialogue that have been rejected by the people. Truly, what it had organized was more of a monologue than a dialogue. The ruling party has been discussing within itself and it thinks its conclusions will be binding on all Cameroonians.

The Yaounde trick has not borne any fruits. It has lost its charm. Time has worn out its charm. Cameroonians, especially Southern Cameroonians, are too smart for the government. Using so-called elites who have been rejected by the people of the two English-speaking regions to go and talk to the rebelling population has been the biggest comedy the world has ever watched. The efforts of these people actually came to naught and many of them were simply relieved when they left the region, as the threat of death was hanging over them like the Sword of Damocles.

Using people like Peter Mafany Musonge, Chief Mukete, Chief Tabetando and others was truly an error of casting. These people have no credibility and the people no longer listen to them. Many of these people clearly belong to the past, if not to the grave. Solving the Southern Cameroons crisis will require different measures and different actors. Using old people is a strategy whose time has passed. Even appointing half-baked people like Atanga Nji in top positions will never solve the problem.

Mr. Atanga Nji is already running out of steam. The energy he came with following his appointment as the minister of territorial administration is already dying down. If anybody had trusted that Mr. Atanga Nji would address the Southern Cameroons crisis, it is time for that person to start disabusing his mind. A few helmets to motor cycle riders will not address an issue that has been ruining lives for more than five decades.

Similarly, handing down long jail sentences to Southern Cameroonian fighters in Yaounde will never dampen the determination of those who are still fighting. The crisis can only be addressed at the negotiating table and this will only be possible if President Julius Ayuk Tabe and those in jail are released. The Diaspora is still very active and it is time for the government to build a long reliable bridge for the Diaspora to come to the negotiating table.

The Southern Cameroonian Diaspora is rich. It has more than three million members and thanks to these hardworking Southern Cameroonians, those on ground zero have been able to make the government feel the pinch of its stupidity and dishonesty. After more than five decades in exile, the Diaspora also wants to play a key role in the management of the country’s socio-political landscape. If the government is thinking of building any such bridge, it must understand that it will be a long one, as it must reach the beautiful shores of North America where the brain of the rebellion is found.

By Kingsley Betek and Ebot Etchi with contributions from Soter Agbaw-Ebai at the Cameroon Concord News Group Global Headquarters

27, April 2018

Catholic bishops urge Buhari to resign for ‘failing to protect lives of Nigerians’ ⁰

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria has asked president Muhammadu Buhari to resign, in the wake of the killing of two priests and their parishioners in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

Buhari has also been summoned by the country’s legislators to discuss the security situation in Benue state. The lawmakers also passed a vote of no confidence in the country’s security chiefs on Wednesday.

The Catholic Bishops accuse the president of ignoring repeated calls to bring his attention to the skewed and ineffective security apparatus and strategy employed to contain clashes between the mainly Christian farmers and Muslim herdsmen.

‘‘Since the president who appoints the security chiefs has refused to call them to order, we can only conclude that they are acting out a script he approves of,’‘ the bishops said in their statement.

The statement goes ahead to say the president has lost the trust of the citizenry, since he has failed in his duty to keep the country safe.

‘‘Whether this failure is due to inability to perform or lack of political will, it is time for him to choose the path of honour and consider stepping aside to save the nation from total collapse.’‘

Buhari has been accused of leniency in this matter, with many pointing to the fact that he shares ethnicity with the Fulani semi – nomadic herdsmen. Both the herdsmen and the settled farmers have however carried out attacks that have left hundreds dead.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office in 2015 vowing to end the insurgency, warned citizens against playing into the hands of the agents of disunity, while condolingwith the victims of the latest attack.

The issue of securing Africa’s most populous country has become politically charged in the run-up to an election next year which Buhari said he wants to contest.

The Middle Belt region includes a number of swing states that could play a significant role in determining Buhari’s electoral prospects.

Source: Africa News

26, April 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Chief Mukete faced with a tough choice ⁰

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

25, April 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: There is still room for dialogue ⁰

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It should be recalled that dialogue is medication that soothes even the most violent mind. It sows peace and guarantees security for many generations. It is an effective political tool that has kept internal strife at bay in many countries such as Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and Norway. If Canada, in particular, is today a huge attraction, it is because the country’s political leaders have embraced this philosophy and they sincerely think that the people’s wellbeing should be at the center of every political action and policy discourse. Cameroon stands to gain if it takes a long and an objective look at how the Canadian system functions.

It is a bilingual system that has stood the test of time. The country’s efforts are geared toward sustaining its bilingual and bi-jural system. While some issues linger, the federal and provincial governments are permanently locked in talks on how to keep the union going. This is how to deal with cultural differences and this is, without a doubt, the way forward for a country like Cameroon that currently has a huge crisis on its hands, as Southern Cameroonians pick up arms to rid themselves of a Francophone majority that has been indifferent to the injustice and centralization that have made life a living hell for many Cameroonians.

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

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

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

But the government has proven that it is not going to let its game plan be changed by external actors. In January 2017, it promptly arrested Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor-Balla, Dr. Fontem Neba and Mancho Bibixy and sent them to Yaoundé where they were kept in jail for more than seven months. Out of jail, Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor-Balla felt the population was still on the federalist train that had been stalled for more than seven months. He did not notice that the passengers on the train had all jumped onto the secessionist train while he was in jail. The arrest and detention of Southern Cameroonian leaders did not only change the trajectory of the struggle, it also changed the rhetoric and this has transformed the country into a fireball whose explosion might turn the entire sub-region into an inferno.

Today, as the country slides into one of the continent’s genocides, Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor-Balla has decided to use his knowledge of legal justice and politics to address human rights issues across the country. He has used many of such occasions to call for dialogue and the granting of amnesty to all those who have been arrested within the framework of the Southern Cameroons crisis. But the government is not listening to him. He seems to be walking a lonely path. His appears to be a voice in the wilderness, as many Southern Cameroonians are still on board the secessionist train.

This government’s decision to walk away from any inclusive dialogue initiative spells doom for a country that is already in the throes of a severe economic crisis. For some time now, the government has decided not to make any statements regarding the violent conflict in Southern Cameroons. This has been interpreted by many as a refusal by the country’s leaders to embrace dialogue that could spare the country lots of lives and money. Instead of providing real solutions to the issues that have been stalking Southern Cameroonians like stubborn shadows, the government is, as usual, proposing some Band-Aid solutions.

It has recently organized cosmetic senatorial elections in the country and many municipal councilors from the South West region were airlifted to other parts of the country for them to cast their votes. This is costly and proof that security, a sine qua non for sustainable development, is not available in that part of the country. Even the senators appointed by the government are people who have been rejected by the population. Another proof that the government is not willing to smoke the pipe of peace.

The government is unfortunately skirting around the issues. Instead of being realistic and taking the bull by the horn, it has decided to let the country bleed to death. Cameroon is suffering. Its leaders are failing the people. Their inefficiency and arrogance are killing Cameroonians. Instead of thinking that time will solve the problem; the country’s leaders must take the bull by the horn. The government’s old tactics will not yield the desired fruits. The problems are real and the solutions must be real and sustainable.

Despite the blood that has been shed, there is still room for dialogue. Dialogue is, undoubtedly, the road to that paradise all Cameroonians want. Southern Cameroonians simply need a new dispensation that will breed efficiency, confidence and peace. The unitary system has only succeeded to spread pain and suffering among the population. Even the much promised decentralization that has been put on hold for twenty-two years holds out no hope for a country wherein the laws are never very clear. It is time the government noticed that a return to the status quo ante is not possible.

Nobody will come out of this mess victorious. Times have changed and Southern Cameroonians have understood that they must get something out of this war that has been imposed on them. With support from the Southern Cameroonian Diaspora, the pool of willing fighters in the region is giving the government a run for its money. But the beauty is not in who kills the other. The noble thing will be who lays the groundwork for that dialogue that will pull Cameroon from the mess it has pushed itself into. It takes courage and wisdom to reach such a decision. It could sometimes be hard due to arrogance. But why are some people called leaders? They should be leaders because they have what others don’t have. The courage, humility and wisdom that can bring peace and prosperity to a people. Those are things that make great leaders. Cameroonian leaders should therefore be seeking these qualities so that their country can become a beacon of peace in the region.

It should be recalled that the victor in all of this will be a strong, united and federal Cameroon. Dialogue is an idea whose time has come. Let Cameroonians embrace it as other people in other parts of the world have; an action that has made their countries great and attractive. With dialogue, Cameroonians can conveniently retire their differences and live in a better Cameroon. It should also be recalled that no conflict has ended without sincere dialogue. Even the second world war that consumed many lives only ended with a series of conferences and meetings. Yalta and Potsdam are popular today because those where the locations for the peace talks that helped to put an end to the destructive Second World War that left Europe a poorer continent. It is time for the government of Cameroon to learn. If it looks into the mirror of history, it will find out that history is replete with stories of dialogue as a way out of conflicts. It stands to gain if it learns from the mistakes of other people. There is always room for inclusive and sincere dialogue. Let history be the teacher!

By Kingsley Betek and Ebot Etchi

Cameroon Concord News Group

Yaounde

24, April 2018

Lebialem County: Governor Okalia Bilai comments make a mockery of French Cameroun ⁰

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Sessekou Ashu Isong in London

23, April 2018

Understanding the “Good Friday” Red Dragons attack on Governor Okalia convoy ⁰

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Cameroon Concord News Group Production

20, April 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: British Foreign Secretary tells Philemon Yang peace is possible ⁰

British Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, has again stressed the need for the Biya regime to hold talks with the leadership of the Southern Cameroons revolution. The UK’s chief diplomat observed that there was an urgent need for dialogue in solving the political crisis in Southern Cameroons. Boris Johnson made public the position of Her Majesty’s Government during a meeting with Prime Minister Philemon Yang on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London. The 85 year old President Biya was conspicuously absent.

Cameroon Concord News Group gathered that the London talks between the British Foreign Secretary and the Anglophone Prime Minister were frank, intensive and “productive”. Johnson pointed out that it was in Yaounde’s best interest to pursue dialogue and respect human rights.

When the Southern Cameroons crisis started in October 2016, few people thought it would last for a week. Very few even thought it would have an impact on the government. The two English-speaking regions were considered insignificant, especially as they only constitute 20% of the country’s population.

Senior government officials such as Laurent Esso and Jacques Fame Ndongo felt it was not even necessary to pay attention to the English-speaking minority. To the government, it had everything under control and if the population insisted on carrying through with its demands, then the government would stop at nothing to crush the English-speaking minority.

Mr. Fame Ndongo, who is the country’s higher education minister, is alleged to have compared the two regions to “two cubes of sugar” which could be easily melted in an ocean; with the ocean being the 80% Francophone majority. Little did he know that those “cubes of sugar” had stood the test of time and after 56 years of marginalization, the people of the North West and South West regions had had enough and were prepared to make their grievances known to the international community.

The fighting is ongoing, and it is getting nastier by the day, as government soldiers erase whole villages from the country’s map, a tactic it used to intimidate French-speaking freedom fighters popularly known as “Marquisards” in the 60s. These acts of violence do not seem to be producing the desired impact. Far from dissuading the determined Southern Cameroonian fighters, they are instead breeding revenge which is feeding the circle of violence that the government has triggered in the country.

Today, Cameroon government officials are gradually coming to terms with the fact that the two “cubes of sugar” will not easily melt. Instead of intimidating the fighters, the violence has now become a reason why the people of Southern Cameroons have to fight to the finish. They know the government is not willing to solve the problem and yielding to government pressure will only imply that they will have to go back to the status quo ante where they were regarded as second-class citizens.

By Chi Prudence Asong in London