Politics

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Is Minister Ngoh Ngoh losing his influence?

21, July 2021

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Is Minister Ngoh Ngoh losing his influence? 0

The position of the Minister-Secretary General at the presidency, who enjoys the support of first lady Chantal Biya, seems to be under threat. Until now, he has always managed to save his skin.

Africa Intelligence reported that all pro Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh aides who regularly accompany President Biya as a VIP guest at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva were not included in the recent delegation that travelled to Switzerland with the president.

Ngoh Ngoh was also involved in the controversial management of the Ebo forest that fanned the flames of an unending clan warfare that is tearing the Biya regime apart.

Fingers are also pointing at Minister Ngoh Ngoh following the sudden flaring up in less than a fortnight of the latent security crisis in Southern Cameroons together with tensions generated by the Franck Biya succession palaver.

Source: Africa Intelligence

Biya and the IMF are playing different

20, July 2021

Biya and the IMF are playing different 0

Despite promises to the IMF, Biya continues to back his perennial company directors from his Beti Ewondo extractions.

The CPDM crime syndicate headed by 88-year-old President Paul Biya has negotiated several measures to reform the management of Cameroon’s public companies with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

However, Biya has kept his loyalists at the head of the main parastatals, some of whom have been in place for more than twenty years.

Source: Africa Intelligence

Useless Swiss Peace talks only prolong Francophone army killings in Southern Cameroons

19, July 2021

Useless Swiss Peace talks only prolong Francophone army killings in Southern Cameroons 0

The Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the Cameroon Concord News Group, the Right Hon. Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai has termed the so-called Swiss Peace Talks on the crisis in Southern Cameroons as useless.

Speaking of the deteriorating security situation in English speaking Cameroon, the Cameroon Concord News senior political man said the recurring Swiss talks in Geneva the city where the 88-year-old President Biya is currently hiding and wasting Cameroonian tax payer’s money are aimed at prolonging the war in Southern Cameroons until a military victory is gotten by the Francophone dominated regime.

“I share the vision of Dieudonne Essomba that French Camerounians will leave Southern Cameroons in the near future,” Agbaw-Ebai continued, “because Southern Cameroons self defense groups have made their decision to confront them and fight till the last man standing.”

Soter Agbaw-Ebai expressed hope that international pressure and efforts made by the Ambazonia Restoration Forces and Southern Cameroons Interim Government would drive some world powers to publicly demand the withdrawal of Francophone army soldiers from Southern Cameroons.

The War in Southern Cameroons has already claimed at least 40 000 lives, almost all of them civilian children, men and women, murdered by Cameroun troops in a series of targeted killings, organized massacres, and killings by fire in over 400 villages burnt down to ashes across Ambazonia. Over half a million people have been forcibly displaced as refugees living in various countries and especially in refugee camps in Nigeria. Over another half a million people have become IDPs hiding in forests, caves and hills due to forced displacement. Additionally, over 1.5 million people are facing a humanitarian disaster.

La Republique du Cameroun uses not only arson and the destruction of food, livestock, and crops in the fields as weapons of war. It also uses rape. Rape of Ambazonian women and girls by Cameroun troops is systematic and widespread. This agonizing situation is compounded by the fact that a high percentage of Cameroun troops are HIV positive and also has other STDs. When they rape they infect the women and girls. This appears to be part of the genocide agenda of Cameroun. Reports are now emerging of scores of school girls raped, impregnated and infected by La Republique du Cameroun’s troops. This poses a nightmare not only of the HIV and STD infections but also of rampant teenage pregnancies. Cameroun troops have burnt down health facilities and killed health workers in rural and semi-urban areas. Accessing health facilities or health practitioners is a huge challenge for rural and semi-urban folks.

By Isong Asu in London

France to hold 2022 presidential election rounds on April 10 and 24

13, July 2021

France to hold 2022 presidential election rounds on April 10 and 24 0

The first round of France’s presidential election will be held on April 10 next year, with the second round scheduled on April 24, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Tuesday.

Legislative elections will take place on June 12 and June 19, he added.

The elections had been the subject of talks between France’s political parties and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, whose ministry is responsible for preparing and organising the country’s elections.

The other set of dates up for discussion for the two presidential election rounds were a first round on April 17, which falls on Easter Sunday in 2022, and a runoff on May 1, the Labour Day holiday in France.

President Emmanuel Macron was elected to a five-year mandate on May 7, 2017, and took office on May 14.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AFP)

Southern Cameroons Interim Gov’t committed to a political solution

13, July 2021

Southern Cameroons Interim Gov’t committed to a political solution 0

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government, Dabney Yerima has stressed that the people of Southern Cameroons are committed to a political solution aimed at preserving Southern Cameroon’s unity and territorial integrity.

During an Ambazonian town hall in South Africa dedicated to discussing the recent killing of Southern Cameroons academics by the Cameroon government military, Vice President Dabney Yerima emphasized that there was an urgent need for the two Cameroons to meet in a neutral country and discuss the terms of separation. Yerima added that Southern Cameroons firm principles cannot be compromised.

Vice President Dabney Yerima further stressed that the insistence of certain world powers to not listen to the voice of Southern Cameroonians and their Interim Government and to not change their governments’ wrong Southern Cameroons policies is bringing nothing but terror, chaos, instability and looting of Southern Cameroons resources by the criminal gangs running the political affairs in French Cameroun.

Dabney Yerima also referred to the on-going ghost town operation known popularly as “Kontry Sunday” saying that such mass public participation confirms Ambazonians commitment to their country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independent national choices.

The War in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia has already claimed at least 40 000 lives, almost all of them civilian children, men and women, murdered by Cameroun troops in a series of targeted killings, organized massacres, and killings by fire in over 400 villages burnt down to ashes across Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia. Over half a million people have been forcibly displaced as refugees living in various countries and especially in refugee camps in Nigeria. Over another half a million people have become IDPs hiding in forests, caves and hills due to forced displacement. Additionally, over 1.5 million people are facing a humanitarian disaster.

Republique du Cameroun uses not only arson and the destruction of food, livestock, and crops in the fields as weapons of war. It also uses rape. Rape of Ambazonian women and girls by Cameroun troops is systematic and widespread. This agonizing situation is compounded by the fact that a high percentage of French Cameroun troops are HIV positive and also has other STDs. When they rape they infect the women and girls. This appears to be part of the genocide agenda of Cameroun. Reports are now emerging of scores of school girls raped, impregnated and infected by La Republique du Cameroun’s troops. This poses a nightmare not only of the HIV and STD infections but also of rampant teenage pregnancies. Cameroun troops have burnt down health facilities and killed health workers in rural and semi-urban areas. Accessing health facilities or health practitioners is a huge challenge for rural and semi-urban folks.

By Isong Asu

Ambassadors in limbo in Yaoundé as they await accreditation from Paul Biya

5, July 2021

Ambassadors in limbo in Yaoundé as they await accreditation from Paul Biya 0

Having an older leader has advantages and disadvantages. It has often been said that older leaders have had the time to build up knowledge and experience that can help them accomplish their policy goals. On the other hand, they may be more likely to struggle with health issues, face concerns about how fit they are for office, and may struggle to connect with younger citizens.

There are dozens of world leaders who are well into their 70s or their 80s. But the situation in Cameroon is now very disturbing as the number of foreign embassies waiting for accreditation from President Paul Biya keeps growing, much to the dismay of those concerned.

We reported recently that Mr. Paul Biya was rushed to a Yaoundé hospital and his sycophants responded by making the 88-year-old meet Nigerian business tycoon Aliko Dangote. Cameroon Intelligence Report can now reveal that President Biya is no longer   administering the executive duties of the Cameroon government.

The French Cameroun politician, who consolidated his stay in power via election tampering, has refused to let it go for decades. Biya has forced out political opponents, bribed allies, and changed the laws governing Cameroon so many times to allow him to stay in power indefinitely.

With age telling on him and his body now a colony of diseases, diplomats from other countries are in limbo in the nation’s capital Yaoundé as they await accreditation from Biya who is reportedly spending his last days at the extension of his palace in Mvomeka’a.

By Rita Akana in Yaoundé

Amba Boys will beat you to the punch- Dieudonné Essomba tells Biya and his gang

28, June 2021

Amba Boys will beat you to the punch- Dieudonné Essomba tells Biya and his gang 0

A senior Francophone political commentator Dieudonné Essomba says Cameroon is heading straight for secession if steps are not taken to set up a federated state.

“There is no calm in English speaking Cameroon. New abuses are recorded almost daily. In recent days, several soldiers have been killed in ambushes by pro-secessionist armed groups” Dieudonné Essomba said.

Dieudonné Essomba furthered that the Biya regime is in a weak position and does not have the political, economic, financial, diplomatic, media and strategic means to overcome the Southern Cameroons Interim Government and its majority Ambazonian following. “It is mission impossible,” Dieudonné Essomba told an audience in ”Club d’Elites” a program on Vision 4 TV.

“I have been saying for the past four years that if Cameroon persists in the unitary state, the Amba Boys will beat you to the punch. Four years ago, who could believe that the secessionists could kill 24 soldiers in a week? Who could believe it? I was the only one who believed it, because I am the only rational one… The Amba Boys have evolved, they have gained experience, they are at home and they are armed. They have come from nothing and they have managed to climb. They still have an enormous amount of room to manoeuvre while the state of Cameroon is in crisis and is no longer able to finance this war,” said the retired French Cameroun civil servant.

“For me, the only solution is to negotiate confederation. We must put an end to the unitary state, the Anglophones don’t want it anymore. We must propose a reorganised federal state. Without this, Cameroon will experience separation like Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan,” Mr Essomba warned.

By Rita Akana

EU leaders reject France, Germany’s proposal for Putin summit

25, June 2021

EU leaders reject France, Germany’s proposal for Putin summit 0

European Union leaders failed to agree on a proposal by France and Germany to hold a summit soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Poland and Baltic countries said it would send the wrong message as East-West ties deteriorate.

After U.S. President Joe Biden met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva on June 16, French President Emmanuel Macron said the first EU summit with Putin since January 2014 would be “a dialogue to defend our interests”. He insisted the EU could not only be reactive in its diplomacy with Russia.

But after late night talks at their meeting in Brussels, the 27 EU leaders failed to reach an agreement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said early on Friday.

“It was a very comprehensive discussion, and not an easy one,” she told reporters. “There was no agreement today on an immediate leaders’ meeting,” she said.

EU summits with Russia ended after Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in March 2014 and the West imposed sanctions.

While Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said he supported the Franco-German proposal, many other leaders were opposed.

“It was a common position of many leaders” not to change the stance on Russia, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said after the meeting broke up. He earlier said the idea was like “trying to engage the bear to keep a pot of honey safe”.

Latvia’s Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said the EU risked rewarding Russia with a summit even though diplomacy has failed to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine with Russian-backed separatists.

Instead, EU leaders fell back to a familiar position of warning of more sanctions on Moscow if it continued what the EU says is a Russian policy of disinformation, cyber and covert attacks and interference to try to divide the bloc.

Russia denies any wrongdoing

In a summit statement, leaders called on the European Commission and the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell “to present options for additional restrictive measures, including economic sanctions” against Russia.

The EU has sanctions on the Russian energy, financial and arms sectors and individual sanctions on Russians accused of human rights abuses and for using banned chemical weapons.

Diplomats say further sanctions could target Russian money laundering or powerful oligarchs suspected of serious corruption abroad, as non-EU member Britain did for the first time in April.

Search for dialogue

Macron had tried in September 2019 to seek less frosty ties with Putin, without success, and Germany’s outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel met Putin in Moscow in January 2020. Putin held a phone call with European Council President Charles Michel, who chairs EU summits, on June 7 this year.

France and Germany want to be able to work with Russia on combating climate change and to find ways to stabilise relations. Merkel said even without a summit: “Formats will be explored … under which dialogues can be started.”

Many EU countries are concerned that the Kremlin does not take the bloc seriously, after Borrell was publicly humiliated in February by the Kremlin. Russia expelled EU diplomats during Borrell’s visit to Moscow without warning.

Lithuania’s Nauseda said: “We should be extremely cautious, this is not like the relationship of Russia with the United States”.

While France is a nuclear power, the EU relies on NATO for its territorial defence and takes decisions among 27 states, making it easier for the Kremlin to exploit divisions.

The Kremlin earlier welcomed the idea of a summit, saying both Brussels and Moscow needed dialogue, although Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he wanted more details.

On opposing sides in standoffs in Ukraine and Belarus, and at odds over human rights, the EU and Russia accuse each other of threatening security and stability from the Baltics to the Black Sea.

The EU on Thursday imposed economic sanctions on Belarus, an ally of Russia that the Kremlin sees as a buffer state between Russia and NATO.

Reporting from Brussels shortly before the start of the summit, FRANCE 24’s Dave Keating said there was a “very mixed reaction” within the bloc to the proposal. “A lot of EU leaders are very angry about this proposal,” he explained. “Several feel that it’s pretentious for the leaders of France and Germany to think that they could meet with Putin and speak for all of the EU … a lot of countries think that this meeting shouldn’t be happening at all, particularly the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania – and Poland.”

In their remarks to reporters ahead of the summit, a number of European leaders expressed misgivings over the initiative, said Keating. “Estonia’s prime minister [Kaja Kallas] coming into the summit building said she wants to hear from France and Germany what exactly has changed in terms of Russia’s behaviour to warrant this suggested opening of dialogue. We also had Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte saying that if Merkel and Macron want to meet with Putin, he won’t object, but he himself would never meet with Putin. Asked why, he said, ‘one word: MH17’ – that’s the airliner carrying Dutch passengers that was downed over eastern Ukraine by Russian separatists in 2014,” Keating explained.

Standing firm and engaging

The Merkel-Macron plan insists the EU has to stand firm and united on Moscow, but should look to engage with the Kremlin on issues of mutual interest such as climate change, health, the Iran nuclear deal and conflicts in Syria and Libya.

Source: France 24

Battle For Bangui: France, UK and US accuse Russia of human rights violations

24, June 2021

Battle For Bangui: France, UK and US accuse Russia of human rights violations 0

The United States, Britain and France accused Russia on Wednesday of operating alongside Central African Republic forces and committing human rights violations against civilians and obstructing U.N. peacekeeping – charges immediately denied by Russia which denounced the Western nations for engaging in an “anti-Russia political hit job.”

The exchanges took place at a U.N. Security Council meeting after the U.N. special representative for the conflict-wracked Central African Republic, Mankeur Ndiaye, expressed serious concern at the military counter-offensive by the country’s security forces and “bilateral forces and other security forces” against a coalition of rebel groups which supports CAR’s former president Francois Bozize.

Ndiaye called the situation in CAR “among the most dangerous in the world,” saying violations of human rights and international law allegedly committed by CAR forces “and bilateral and other personnel …have never equaled those recently committed and detailed by MINUSCA,” the 15,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in the country.

As one example, he said, the number of sexual violence-related incidents in the first quarter of 2021 was five times higher than the number reported in the last quarter of 2020.

While Ndiaye didn’t identify “the bilateral forces and other security forces,” Russia has troops in CAR training its military at the invitation of the government.

A recent report to the council by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly criticized CAR’s security forces and bilateral forces for an “unprecedented increase in hostile threats and incidents” targeting U.N. peacekeepers and alleged human rights abuses. He said people in the country continue to face an “unacceptably high level of violence.”

The mineral-rich Central African Republic has faced deadly inter-religious and inter-communal fighting since 2013. A peace deal between the government and 14 rebel groups was signed in February 2019, but violence blamed on former president Bozize and his allies threatens to nullify the agreement.

It erupted after the constitutional court rejected Bozize’s candidacy to run for president in December. Faustin Archange Touadera won a second term with 53% of the vote, but he continues to face opposition from rebel forces linked to Bozize.

France, US cite targeting of CAR Muslims

U.S. deputy ambassador Richard Mills noted Secretary-General Guterres’ report of a 28% increase in incidents of human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law over the past four months. He said the United States is deeply concerned at the increased targeting of Muslims, and the alarmingly sharp increase in abuses committed by national and bilateral personnel.

“I think we need to be clear about these bilateral personnel — the individuals committing what many are now referring to as ‘atrocities’ are not independent actors — they are operating as extension of Russia’s Ministry of Defense,” he said.

Mills said the Biden administration is “deeply disturbed” that Russia has failed “to prevent its mercenaries from impeding MINUSCA’s freedom of movement on a daily basis.” He condemned an “appalling incident in which these bilateral Russian actors threatened” MINUSCA’s deputy special representative and a U.N. delegation on a humanitarian mission to Bang, which is close to CAR’s border with Chad and Cameroon, on May 28.

France’s U.N. Ambassador Nicolas De Riviere called the situation in CAR “dramatic,” pointing to extrajudicial executions, gang rapes, torture, occupation of schools and violence particularly targeting Muslim communities, “as shown by the murder of a traditional chief a few days ago.”

“Let us be clear: Central African armed groups are no longer the only threat to the Central African population,” De Riviere said.

He said reports by the secretary-general and U.N. experts monitoring sanctions against CAR “point to the responsibility of a new actor, who is operating alongside the Central African armed forces and whose status is a mystery.”

“Some will try to deny the presence of the Wagner company,” De Riviere said, calling on MINUSCA to provide details of who these men involved in the fighting in CAR are and who they are accountable to for their actions. The Wagner Group is a Kremlin-backed security company that was implicated in the conflict in Libya.

Britain’s deputy ambassador James Roscoe said the armed groups are “fomenting instability, frankly, in order to line their own pockets.”

“And now, a new factor of instability: Russian private military companies acting in concert with the national armed forces to obstruct MINUSCA and to violate the rights of the civilians and citizens of the Central African Republic,” he said.

Roscoe said human rights violations, including acts of sexual violence, are not only being committed by armed groups “but also by members of the national armed forces and the Russian private military personnel accompanying them.”

He said the Russians will deny this, “but the evidence is increasing and overwhelming, and I hope they will reflect on the role they want to play in the Central African Republic and their responsibilities as a permanent member of this council.”

Russia: Allegations are ‘unfounded’

Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Anna Evstigneeva countered that Russian instructors “are successfully enhancing the professional expertise of the Central African security forces without taking part in military actions against illegal armed groups.”

She said there are constant “dubious” attempts to discredit them without any evidence, especially in the U.S. and French media which use anonymous sources.

“This looks more like an anti-Russian political hit job,” Evstigneeva said.

“As for the unfounded allegations coming from the US, they’re not done by chance,” she said. “Our colleagues seem to see Russian instructors or mercenaries everywhere.”

(AP)

There are reasons why the Francophone dominated army is losing the battle against Amba fighters

23, June 2021

There are reasons why the Francophone dominated army is losing the battle against Amba fighters 0

The bloodshed unleashed by Cameroon government army soldiers in Southern Cameroons where thousands of people, if not more have been killed is yet to raise any worrying question about Biya regime’s continued deployments and the Francophone dominated army’s  inability to crush the Ambazonian fighters controlling nearly all rural settlements and border posts in Southern Cameroons.

Recent attacks in Otu, Bamali, Ekondo Titi and Nguti proceeded like many others carried out by Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces in it’s over four-year-long resistance against the Cameroon government military.

The Amba fighters raided check points; military convoys burned down armored vehicles and killed several elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion before striking the National Gendarmerie Force. On Saturday, a large number of Amba fighters overwhelmed a gendarmerie checkpoint at Ngoketunjia and three gendarmes who were at the checkpoint were killed.

Since 2017, Cameroon government army soldiers have used explosives, AK47 guns and rape to further their goal of maintaining the so-called one and indivisible Cameroon.

The United Nations and Amnesty International say as many as 5,000 people may have been killed. The Southern Cameroons Interim Government has reported death tolls in the thousands. Journalists and international human rights organizations haven’t been able to access the Southern Cameroons territory.

While the death toll remains uncertain, we of the Cameroon Concord Group can now reveal that the once formidable Rapid Intervention Battalion known as BIR has been demystified and many of its members are biting the dust in the jungles of Southern Cameroons. 

The so-called BIR that was thought to be among Africa’s best militaries have been unable to stop a hastily assembled ragtag group of fighters now being referred to as Ambazonia Restoration Force.

There are so many issues involved in this prominent and successful failure on the part of the Cameroon government military and they include the francophonising of the army recruitment process, lack of a unified command structure, poor equipment, low morale and corruption among army generals and colonels.

Scores within the Cameroon government military have faced secret courts-martials in Buea, Douala and Yaoundé in recent months for disobeying orders and, in many instances, refusing deployment to Southern Cameroons.

A prominent army general stationed in Buea at the beginning of the conflict, openly complained that his men were underequipped and that high-ranking military officials were bilking the country of money meant to fight the Southern Cameroons war was replaced by President Biya. Complaints of a lack of equipment are a taboo within the Cameroon government army.

The 88-year-old Head of State and Commander-In-Chief has done everything including sending in additional troops and giving them expanded powers to fight the Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces. President Biya’s troop surge is still not enough, nor is his tactics suitable for countering a group of determined young men and women whose hunting rifles have now been replaced with more sophisticated killing machines.

We understand that the Cameroon government army does not have sufficient armies deployed in the Far North to protect the civilian population against Boko Haram and the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé is also not able to put enough soldiers on the ground in Southern Cameroons.

Meanwhile, the Cameroon military is now a constituency within the Cameroon political structure and its strength has developed in the past four years as the balance of state power in Yaoundé has shifted from civilian members of government to military generals.

Ever since the emergence of Boko Haram, the conflict in the Central African Republic and the war in Southern Cameroons, Biya and his ruling CPDM crime syndicate have found it necessary to feed the military leadership as a way to protect their power.

Correspondingly, army generals and colonels have everything while the Cameroonian security is being underfunded and is currently under-manpowered.

By Isong Asu

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