It might interest our Anglo-Americanophobes and Russophiles that between 2015 and 2022 Russia has concluded military pacts with 73 states and one regional organization (ASEAN): 30 countries in Africa; 32 countries in Asia & Middle East; 5 countries in Latin America; 3 countries in Europe; and 3 countries in North America.

The African countries that have a military pact with Russia are: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cameroun, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Congo-Kinshasa, Egypt, Eswatini (aka Swaziland),  Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

We see here the typical Africa mimicry, herd or sheep mentality. We saw that same mentality on display when China purported to offer ‘free money’ to African countries. Rulers of most of these countries hurriedly trooped to Beijing and lined up in a hall like school children with the beggar’s bowl to collect the money. None of them bothered to read the fine prints. Shortly afterwards they started complaining about China demanding its ‘pound of flesh’ or sovereign property in lieu. It shall not be long before one hears similar distress calls regarding Russia.

These are the only African countries (24) that have so far escaped the Russian snare: Namibia, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mauritania, Seychelles, Comoros, Somalia, South Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Gabon, Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Liberia, Algeria, Eritrea, Western Sahara, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Uganda, Tunisia, and Djibouti.

In recent days, Joseph Beti Assomo, Cameroon’s defense minister, made a discreet but remarkable visit to Moscow to sign a new military cooperation agreement between the two countries. This symbolic trip comes at a time when the Kremlin has relaunched its offensive in Ukraine.

On 12 April, Cameroon and Russia signed a new military cooperation agreement. Joseph Beti Assomo, the presidency’s minister delegate in charge of defense, had left Yaoundé the day before for Moscow, where he met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoogou. The latter, who is part of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, initialled the 13-page document on Russia’s behalf.

These frenetic Russian military pacts worldwide from 2015 to 2022 cannot be touted as a response to the claimed Western ‘imperialist’ conspiracy against Russia which uninformed minds advance as so-called ‘justification’ for Russian invasion (which Russia continues to deny), genocide, and the massive and wide destruction of Ukraine. Russia of course lost the UNGA vote formally designating it as aggressor, lost the UNGA vote suspending it from the Human Rights Council, and lost the ICJ case against it – all these diplomatic and legal defeats just within seven weeks.

By Prof Carlson Anyangwe, Cameroon Concord News and The Africa Report

Cameroon under the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo was a nation that offered good employment opportunities and social security to its well-educated population.  When President Paul Biya took over, the country became a place of so little hope that people left in droves.

From widely acclaimed man of rigour and moralization to a despotic dictator, Paul Biya’s 40-year rule of Cameroon has been one of Africa’s most prominent and successful failures.

Skilled at gaining an advantage, especially deceitfully over his opponents, the 89-year-old Paul Biya has outmaneuvered his political opponents for decades.  He sidelines everyone within his ruling CPDM party and government except his right-hand men in the army, the gendarmerie and the police force. It is extremely difficult to depose him.

For more than three decades, Biya has inspired other leaders in the Sub Saharan region to emulate his tactics and extend their rule by manipulating the constitution and suppressing opposition through violence and intimidation.

Biya’s current violent war in Southern Cameroons is typical of his signature action — and it has devastated Cameroon’s agricultural production, transforming what had been known as Cameroon’s breadbasket into a battle field and creating thousands of refugees.

Biya declared war against the English speaking peoples of Southern Cameroons in ringing rhetoric and stated that Cameroon remains one and indivisible. Today and as I write, it does not matter that the war in Southern Cameroons is claiming the lives of thousands of innocent civilians including army soldiers. What is more important is that billions of FCFA including Covid-19 funds injected into the war  is simply going to Biya’s army generals, Cabinet ministers, cronies and blood relations to his wife, Chantal Biya.

Millions of both French and English speaking Cameroonians have migrated to the West and in neighbouring African countries, and it is routine to find a former High Schoolteacher working as a carer or security agent in Europe or North America.  Thousands of Cameroonians are in Germany, France, UK, Holland and Belgium including the USA. And those who have stayed behind have coped with an unprecedented unemployment rate and tourism has dried up to a trickle.

Biya has this foolish Francophone mentality of believing that even the economy would do what the head of state wants.  His ruling CPDM regime is struggling to manage a dilapidated education and health services while Biya, his family and his closest allies are amassing world-class fortunes.

His Beti Ewondo gangs both in the army and in government have made Cameroon to become one of fear as a result of Biya’s far-reaching domestic spy network, the CENER. Hundreds of opposition supporters have been killed or disappeared in Douala and Yaoundé. Many more including Southern Cameroons detainees are being tortured.

It is very hard to remember that Biya once enjoyed praise for instituting rigour and moralization into Cameroonian politics.  He is now known as a leader who marginalizes critics and restricts freedoms. Human rights groups and the Holy Roman Catholic Church have documented and condemned several killings including the murder of Bishop Balla of the Diocese of Bafia which now remains the darkest stain on Biya’s record and a scar that plagues the country.

Tarnished by the killings currently going on in Southern Cameroons, Biya still has strong backing from the French and he has constantly been using the army, the police and the security network to keep the people subservient.

Biya family’s lavish ways has become outlandish, even to the French Cameroun’s jaded public. The growing outrage among Cameroonians at the excesses is finally spilling over to the military. He is going to fall in a very quick and sad way.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

89 year-old President Paul Biya who has served as head of state since 1982, has too much blood on his hands, said Cameroon Concord News chief political analyst Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai.

Agbaw-Ebai, the current Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the Concord Group, made the remarks during an editorial meeting on Wednesday while commenting on the Francophone media coverage of the crisis in Southern Cameroons and Biya’s current bill of health.

Soter Agbaw-Ebai, who fled the CPDM crime syndicate in 1998 as a correspondent with the Herald newspaper pointed out that Biya is a finished man and will be leaving the Cameroon political stage soon.

“The people of the two Cameroons are already speaking of Biya in the past tense” Agbaw-Ebai said. “But not as a force for goodness and decency” Agbaw-Ebai opined.

“Biya is a political disaster that has been around for a long time but French speaking Cameroonians look at important issues only at surface level” the Concord chairman noted.

“To condemn Biya’s failed policies means you are not patriotic. To say he is doing so many bad things and killing thousands of English speaking Cameroonians, the blame will be shifted to his entourage- no Francophone political commentator looks at Biya’s regime with objectivity” Agbaw-Ebai revealed.  

“Biya is responsible for, and takes pride in, the deaths of thousands of innocent Southern Cameroons civilians. But just for a few FCFA and a FIFA world cup qualification, everyone in Yaoundé is coming out of the woodworks, especially Francophones, to praise him rather than be honest about how horrible his administration is for peace in the two Cameroons” Agbaw-Ebai added.

“Biya served under the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo as prime minister and was a favorite of so many and after he took office in 1982, he has presided over the Lake Nyos disaster, the numerous Bamenda bloodbaths, the Boko Haram insurgence and the war in Southern Cameroons among many other CPDM atrocities” Agbaw-Ebai concluded.

By Chi Prudence Asong in London

Cameroon is an amalgamation of former French and British territories combined into a single country in 1961. The North-West and South-West Regions (NWSW) of Cameroon are home to most of the country’s English-speaking population (Anglophones), roughly 20% of the total population.  The Anglophone Conflict stems from 2016 when Anglophone teachers and lawyers mounted protests demanding better representation in Cameroon’s legal and educational systems.  What started as peaceful protests quickly turned violent as demonstrators clashed with security personnel.  Cameroon President Paul Biya’s response included deploying U.S. trained special forces[2], curfews, and implementing regional communications blackouts. In 2017, Anglophone protestors switched tactics from wanting increased representation to demanding an independent state.  On October 1, 2017, Anglophone separationists unilaterally claimed independence from Cameroon creating the Federal Republic of Ambazonia which would be led by an interim government.

Ambazonia is now in quasi-civil war albeit with limited recognition from President Biya in Cameroon’s capital Yaoundé.  He maintains that the conflict is a terrorist/criminal issue, which he promises to resolve through bureaucratic maneuvering and force[3].  The struggle continues to grow deadlier, with more improvised explosive device attacks taking place in the first five months of 2021 than all other years of the conflict combined[4]. The situation continues to deteriorate with separatists beginning kidnap for ransom operations and the Cameroonian state conducting cross border operations of questionable legality into Nigeria. The Cameroonian government’s harsh tactics against its citizenry prompted allegations of human rights abuses.

The magnitude of the crisis and numerous filmed events obtained by international aid organizations lends strong credence to the allegations.  As a result of the abuses, the U.S. cut military aid to Cameroon in 2019[5]. The U.S. is in a difficult position as Cameroon is a key ally against Islamist terrorism in the region, through their contribution to the Multi-national Joint Task Force and allowing U.S. forces to operate from bases in the country[6]. 

Little is likely to be resolved in the immediate future.  The government is unable to claim victory, and the separatists have not gained and held ground, leading to in-fighting[7]. The separatists seek to change their fortunes through an alliance with Nigerian separatists and the purchase of weapons from foreign powers[8]. Another element to consider is President Biya.  At 89, Biya is the oldest elected official on the continent and the second longest serving.  Many, if not most, Cameroonians do not know life without Biya.  He has no intention of ceding power, and more importantly does not have any clear succession plans.  Disorganization from Biya’s hospitalization, death, or cessation of power may give Amabazonia the relief it needs to find better footing.

For a country battling Islamist terrorists in the north and separatists in the south, the death of an autocrat may be the final straw.  The U.S. would be well advised to consider response options to the Anglophone crisis beyond advocating for human rights. If the U.S. continues to ignore the Anglophone crisis and does not develop solid response options, it risks ceding regional leadership and allowing the problem to spiral. Considering the NWSW regions’ coastline and other natural resources, the area will draw international attention for cocoa, oil, or an Atlantic Port. In 2019, China wrote off a substantial portion of Cameroon’s debt[9], and is building the region’s largest deep-water port[10].  China is presumably ready to and willing to fill any partnership void caused by U.S. inaction.

There are several possible outcomes.  The first, already underway, is the continued stagnation of the crisis.  With neither side moving towards peace and conflict increasing, the growth of criminal activity, extremism, and continued human rights abuses is likely.  Combined with other regional instability and increased piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, the equivalent of a West coast Somalia is an unattractive prospect. 

Second, should the crisis escalate, and Cameroon prove ineffective at containing the situation, say in the case of Biya’s death, would regional intervention be justified?  Is the U.S. prepared or able to, with Leahy Law requirements, support regional action to stabilize the area?  How would the U.S. react to Nigeria retaking the Bakassi peninsula under the premise of a responsibility to protect intervention?

Given the vast uncertainty facing Cameroon post-Biya, the U.S. and international community should not be shocked by renewed claims of Ambazonian independence. Should Anglophone Cameroonians coalesce, they may prove more capable at maintaining security in the region than Yaoundé. The Anglophone Cameroonians would then have a solid footing for seeking recognition, which could prompt additional calls for succession from groups like the Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta in neighboring Nigeria. As evidenced by recent events, a country seeking de jure recognition has the potential to disrupt the international order, in this case that could occur in an already unstable region which could prove disastrous for U.S. regional efforts.

The current situation is the culmination of bad international politics in the 1960’s which amalgamated peoples regardless of their language and culture.  The crisis will not be resolved as is and risks creating a generation of disenfranchised, displaced people nursing a grievance.

Culled from realcleardefense