Politics

Senior UK cabinet ministers Sunak and Javid resign, plunging govt into chaos

6, July 2022

Senior UK cabinet ministers Sunak and Javid resign, plunging govt into chaos 0

Britain’s finance and health ministers resigned on Tuesday, in what looked to be the final blow for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s premiership after he had tried to apologise for the latest scandal to dog his administration.

Both finance minister Rishi Sunak and health minister Sajid Javid resigned in what appeared to be a choreographed release of letters to the prime minister, in which both took aim at his ability to run an administration that adhered to standards.

The resignations came as Johnson was apologising for what he said was a mistake for not realising that a former minister in charge of pastoral care was unsuitable for a job in government after complaints of sexual misconduct were made against him.

Both had formerly publicly supported Johnson during months of scandal over his administration’s conduct and a damning report into parties at his Downing Street office and residence that broke strict Covid-19 lockdown rules.

Sunak, who had reportedly clashed with the prime minister in private about spending, said: “For me to step down as Chancellor while the world is suffering the economic consequences of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and other serious challenges is a decision that I have not taken lightly.”

“However, the public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously. I recognise this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning.”

Javid said many lawmakers and the public had lost confidence in Johnson’s ability to govern in the national interest.

“I regret to say, however, that it is clear to me that this situation will not change under your leadership – and you have therefore lost my confidence too,” Javid said in a letter to Johnson.

Former Brexit minister Steve Barclay replaced Javid as health minister while education minister Nadhim Zahawi has been named new finance minister.

In the wake of those two resignations, one of the vice-chairs of Johnson’s Conservative Party, Bim Afolami, also left the government, TalkTV political editor Kate McCann said on Twitter on Tuesday.

And late in the evening, British MP for Cheltenham Alex Chalk joined the string of resignations, stepping down as solicitor general for England and Wales in protest at Johnson’s leadership.

“To be in government … cannot extend to defending the indefensible,” he wrote in a resignation letter posted on Twitter.

Source: REUTERS  

Dion Ngute, Atanga Nji, Paul Tasong and Co cannot even dream of holding a CPDM rally in Ambazonia

5, July 2022

Dion Ngute, Atanga Nji, Paul Tasong and Co cannot even dream of holding a CPDM rally in Ambazonia 0

The Chairman and Editor-In-Chief of the Cameroon Concord News Group says holding a CPDM rally is beyond the Dion Ngute administration’s wildest dream.

“Dion Ngute, Atanga Nji, Paul Tasong and the other pro Yaoundé clowns cannot even dream of staging a CPDM rally in Southern Cameroons and they should know that even if they dare in their dreams they certainly will not wake from that dream,” the Right Hon. Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai said during Concord’s July editorial meeting on Sunday.

Amba fighters have repeatedly warned all Southern Cameroons CPDM elites of a crushing response should they dare hold pro Biya political rallies in Southern Cameroons.

Recently, a renowned Amba commander General No Pity warned that Southern Cameroons fighters will take the war deep inside French Cameroun if Francophone army soldiers continue to kill innocent Southern Cameroons citizens.

Political uncertainty has been haunting the Biya Francophone regime for the past five years, making it impossible for the 89-year-old leader to form a new cabinet.

By Toto Roland Motuba 

Tunisia’s president pushes for new constitution that gives him broad powers

1, July 2022

Tunisia’s president pushes for new constitution that gives him broad powers 0

Tunisian President Kais Saied published a planned new constitution on Thursday that he will put to a referendum next month, expanding his own powers and limiting the role of parliament in a vote that most political parties have already rejected.

Saied has ruled by decree since July, when he brushed aside the parliament and the democratic 2014 constitution in a step his foes called a coup, moving towards one-man rule and vowing to remake the political system.

His intervention last summer has thrust Tunisia into its biggest political crisis since the 2011 revolution that ousted former autocrat Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and introduced democracy.

Voters will be asked to approve the new constitution in a July 25 referendum for which there is no minimum level of participation.

With most of the political establishment opposed to his moves and urging their supporters to boycott the vote, analysts say the measure is likely to pass, but with only limited public involvement.

Many Tunisians are far more focused on a growing economic crisis and threats to public finances that has caused salary delays and threatens shortages of key subsidised goods.

The draft constitution published in the official gazette late on Thursday says Saied would continue to rule by decree until the creation of a new parliament through an election expected in December.

The new constitution would also allow him to present draft laws and have sole responsibility for proposing treaties and drafting state budgets, the gazette said.

It would create a new ‘Council of Regions’ as a second chamber of parliament.

Previously, political power was more directly exercised by the parliament, which took the lead role in appointing the government and approving legislation.

Under the new constitution the government would answer to the president, not to the parliament, though the chamber could withdraw confidence from the government with a two-thirds majority.

The president could serve two terms of five years each and has the right to dissolve parliament. A separate electoral law laying out how voting would work under the new political system will be published later, the draft constitution said.

However, judges, police, army and customs officials would not have a right to go on strike. Judges have recently been on strike for weeks in protest at Saied’s moves to curtail judicial independence.

In a move that may chafe with conservatives, Islam will no longer be the state religion, though Tunisia will be regarded as part of the wider Islamic nation.

However, Saied has maintained most parts of the 2015 constitution that enumerated rights and liberties, including freedom of speech, the right to organise in unions and the right to peaceful gatherings.

Source: REUTERS

Southern Cameroons: IG dismisses HRW allegations as ‘baseless’, urges Ground Zero to remain steadfast

29, June 2022

Southern Cameroons: IG dismisses HRW allegations as ‘baseless’, urges Ground Zero to remain steadfast 0

The Ambazonia Interim Government has dismissed as baseless allegations from Human Rights Watch that Amba fighters were staging attacks against Southern Cameroons communities, saying such claims are part of the attempts to deflect international public opinion from French Cameroun terrorist acts in Southern Cameroons.

In a statement on Tuesday, Southern Cameroons Department of Foreign Affairs said the allegations from the respectable Human Rights Watch fall within the framework of a plot orchestrated by the President Macron administration in France to protect the child-murdering and rogue regime in Yaoundé.

“The Ambazonia Interim Government is very much aware that a psychological operation started early 2022 to preoccupy international media outlets with fictitious scenarios, using erroneous and biased information against Southern Cameroons Restoration Groups” Professor Carlson Anyangwe said in the IG statement.

“Southern Cameroonians particularly those in Ground Zero, Ground One and in the diaspora are well aware of the baseless nature of claims made recently by Human Rights Watch! A glaring example is the situation in Akwaya—Human Rights Watch blamed the killings on Amba fighters while the Christian Communities including the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon revealed that the killings were all related to a land dispute” the Carlson Anyangwe IG statement furthered.

The Ambazonia Interim Government went on to assert that Amba fighters determinedly and strongly responds to any French Cameroun act of terror and sabotage without threatening ordinary Southern Cameroons citizens.

By Rita Akana

Ambazonia Virus: Scottish govt announces plans for second independence referendum next October

28, June 2022

Ambazonia Virus: Scottish govt announces plans for second independence referendum next October 0

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Tuesday that the Scottish parliament would publish an independence referendum bill with a planned date for a vote on secession to take place on Oct. 19, 2023.

Sturgeon said she would be writing to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for permission to hold a consultative referendum, saying it was vital the vote was legal. She said the issue would be referred to the UK Supreme Court.

Voters in Scotland, which has a population of around 5.5 million, rejected independence in 2014. But Scotland’s semi-autonomous government says Britain’s departure from the EU, which was opposed by a majority of Scots, means the question must be put to a second vote.

Johnson and his ruling Conservative Party, which is in opposition in Scotland, strongly oppose a referendum, saying the issue was settled in 2014 when Scots voted against independence by 55% to 45%.

He has previously refused to issue a “Section 30” order to allow a referendum to take place.

Source: REUTERS

Yaoundé: Government reaches out to the Diaspora, but…..

27, June 2022

Yaoundé: Government reaches out to the Diaspora, but….. 0

The Yaoundé government which has been fighting its Diaspora for decades is finally softening its stance as it now sees the Diaspora as a possible development partner. The country’s President, Paul Biya, last week sent a delegation to Europe to try to woo well-off Cameroonians living there to invest back home. 

Seeking to involve the Diaspora in the government’s development program is not new. Many African governments are increasingly recognizing the importance of their citizens living abroad or the ‟new African Diaspora” in national and regional development. This mass exodus of experts or brain drain from Cameroon occurred during the economic crisis the country went through starting in the mid-80s and during the brutal political crackdown of the 90s. Recently the conflict in the two English-speaking regions of the country has pushed thousands of Cameroonians out of the country. 

The government’s gesture of reaching out to its Diaspora is laudable and justifiable, especially as the country’s Diaspora now has many dollar millionaires who can help the government in its efforts to address the country’s crippling unemployment and economic decline which are blighting the lives of the country’s youths. 

Cameroon has a huge Diaspora which can help give the country’s economy a shot in the arm, especially at a time when the global economy is facing some testing challenges, but relations between the Yaoundé government and its Diaspora have not been the best for many years due to the government’s dictatorial tendencies, and this is standing in the way of any real collaboration between both parties. 

In most African countries, the Diaspora is considered as a key development factor and many African countries have come up with policy measures which are motivating the Diaspora to play a key role in those countries. Remittances from Africans living abroad are changing things for the better in some African countries and as governments develop a friendly attitude towards their Diasporic communities, many of their citizens are also investing and this is turning out to be a win-win for those countries receiving these investment resources. The economic transformations taking place in African countries due to Diaspora remittances cannot be ignored.  

According to the latest data from the World Bank, remittance inflows to Sub-Saharan Africa increased by 6.2% to USD 45 billion in 2021. In the report titled, “Migration and Development Brief 35”, the World Bank explained that the region’s largest recipient was Nigeria (USD 17.6 billion), and the country is experiencing a moderate rebound in remittance flows, in part due to the increasing influence of policies intended to channel inflows through the banking system. The report added that Nigeria continued to dominate remittance inflows into Sub-Saharan Africa given the exceptional size of the Nigerian migrant base.

The Yaoundé government might be waking up late but better late than never. It must work hard to woo its 5-million strong Diaspora comprising top-notch professionals and businesspeople. For long, the Cameroon government has always viewed its Diaspora as its enemy. The country’s Diaspora is totally against the corruption and bad governance which have brought the country down a dangerous economic path which is spreading death and agony among the country’s youths. 

The country’s political arena is one of the worst on the continent, with dishonesty being the hallmark of most ruling party politicians. Bad policies, the government’s arrogance and a gloomy political outlook have pushed many Cameroonians out of their country, and it will be hard to win hearts and minds among members of the country’s Diaspora which has come to terms with the fact that things will never change for the better if the same people who have caused the friction are still in power.

However, if the government really wants to woo its Diaspora, it must mend its ways. Sending a delegation to Europe to urge the country’s Diaspora to invest back home is like putting the horse before the cart. Good policies, instead of missions abroad, will bring investors to Cameroon and when things are really working well in the country, the Diaspora will come in to breathe a new life into the collapsing economy.

Many countries in the world have pursued policies which make their countries attractive to their various Diasporic communities. Canada, for example, allows members of its Diaspora to return home after one year abroad with their personal effects without paying any customs duty. 

In Tunisia, the country’s Diaspora has been supportive of the government’s development efforts. Members of the country’s Diaspora who are returning home after a long stay abroad could come in with their cars without paying duty. And customs duty is just one of the concessions that many countries around the world are making to bring back their Diaspora, especially members of the Diaspora who have investment projects which could help create jobs for their fellow citizens.

 In Mozambique which went through a very destructive civil war, the government has taken measures to make the country’s Diaspora a key component of its development efforts conscious of the fact that the country’s Diaspora can contribute in social, cultural, and economic ways, including remittances, skills, and dialogue – all of which are key to national development. 

With this strategy, the government has demonstrated its commitment to longer term engagement to work together with the Diaspora to leverage these contributions. To strengthen the support and engagement of the Mozambican Diaspora in social, economic and cultural development of the country, the government has launched a Strategy for Diaspora Engagement in National Development.

Meanwhile, Ghana, a country which understands the role the Diaspora can play, has a Diaspora Affairs Bureau within the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration. This is a landmark achievement on the part of the Government of Ghana, which has formalized the engagement of the Ghanaian Diaspora for effective migration management and national development planning.

There are an estimated four million Ghanaians living in the Diaspora. The majority live in neighboring African countries and the largest concentration of Ghanaian migrants outside the region are found in Germany, Italy, Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Bureau builds upon the success of the Ministry’s Diaspora Support Unit (DSU), established in 2012 with the support of IOM’s International Development Fund (IDF). The IDF supports IOM Member States in their efforts to strengthen their migration management capacity. The DSU was established as part of a national diaspora engagement project to provide a sustainable link between the Ghanaian Diaspora and various government agencies to achieve development and investment goals.  

If the Yaounde government really wants Cameroonians to return home and lend a hand in national development efforts, it must rescind some of those obnoxious policies which have been at the centre of its dispute with its Diaspora. The issue of dual nationality has not been addressed and the country’s Diaspora is waiting for the government to address this issue immediately. Many African countries have already accepted dual nationality as the new reality, and this is helping their citizens who are living abroad to return home and invest without having to submit themselves to the immigration concerns which come with having two or more nationalities.

South Africa, for example, accepted dual nationality once Mandela came to power. Mandela understood that Many South Africans had escaped their country during the dark years of Apartheid and many children had been born in foreign countries during that time, automatically making them citizens of the countries wherein they had been born. South Africans returning to their country with foreign passports can come in with proof that they have South African citizenship without seeking a South African visa, but once in South Africa, the country’s laws will apply without discrimination. This is a country which knows how to bring back its citizens.  Cameroon can draw on the experience of this country to address the issue of dual nationality.

There are other concerns which require the government’s attention. It is not easy to wire huge sums of money to Cameroon. The banking system is not reliable and the country’s investment and legal frameworks leave much to be desired. If the government can also invest in road infrastructure and strive to reduce police harassment and corruption, the country will be attractive to rich members of the Diaspora who have worked very hard to earn their money.

The business climate and environment must be friendly if any reasonable person will invest in the country. The government must also learn to cut politics out of other sectors of life. It must also be tolerant of opposing views. Investing in Cameroon remains a very risky venture. However, things can change if the government demonstrates a strong commitment to change some of those policies which are robbing the country of good investments. Sending delegations abroad will never cut it if the same policies remain in place. 

By Joachim Arrey, Ph.D

EU top diplomat visits Iran in bid to revive nuclear talks

25, June 2022

EU top diplomat visits Iran in bid to revive nuclear talks 0

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell met Iran’s top diplomat on Saturday after arriving in Tehran for talks on efforts to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The surprise visit by Borrell, who arrived in the Iranian capital on Friday night, is aimed at getting the talks back on track three months after they stalled amid differences between Iran and the United States.

“Diplomacy is the only way to go back to full implementation of the deal and to reverse current tensions,” Borrell tweeted.

Borrell went into a meeting with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in the morning and was expected to hold talks with other Iranian officials later in the day, said the official news agency IRNA.

The Iran nuclear deal has been hanging by a thread since 2018, when then US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord and began imposing crippling economic sanctions on America’s arch enemy.

The administration of incumbent US President Joe Biden has sought to return to the agreement, saying it would be the best path with the Islamic republic.

The US pointman on Iran, Robert Malley, “reiterated firm US commitment to come back to the deal” over a meal with Borrell on the eve of his trip, according to the EU’s coordinator for the talks, Enrique Mora.

‘Meaningful diplomacy’

“We remain committed to the path of meaningful diplomacy, in consultation with our European partners,” Malley said later on his official Twitter account.

The talks, which began in April last year, aim to return the United States to the deal, including through lifting sanctions, while ensuring Iran’s full compliance with its nuclear commitments.

The negotiations stalled in March amid differences between Tehran and Washington, notably over a demand by Iran to remove its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from a US terror list.

“We are ready to conclude this agreement, and urge Iran to seize this diplomatic opportunity to conclude now, while this is still possible,” a French foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Friday.

Source: AFP

Yaoundé: Delay in forming a new cabinet sign of Biya regime’s weakness

23, June 2022

Yaoundé: Delay in forming a new cabinet sign of Biya regime’s weakness 0

President Biya’s apparent inability to form a new cabinet is giving rise to fears deep within the political bureau of the ruling CPDM party and causing a fresh spasm of weakness that has been greeted by the leadership of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government.

A senior adviser to the Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government, Dr Patrick Ayuk said on Wednesday that failure on the part of the Francophone dominated government in Yaoundé to stop the Ambazonia resistance is an indication of an empty internal structure and weak quality.

Dr Patrick Ayuk furthered that both Prime Minister Dion Ngute and the 89-year-old President Biya should quit politics in French Cameroun to enable the two sister nations to sit and discuss the terms of separation.

The Southern Cameroons academic said all factors heralding the fall of a government are evident in Yaoundé and this is because of Southern Cameroons steadfastness and the resistance’s power to send Biya and his French Cameroun regime into disarray, break its will, and prevent the realization of its goals in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

The Southern Cameroons political commentator stated that whatever be the composition of French Cameroun’s next cabinet, it would not change the Ambazonia Interim Government’s principled stance of choosing to put up resistance against it towards complete independence for the people of Southern Cameroons.

By Rita Akana

French Politics: Macron calls on opposition to ‘leave in-fighting behind’

23, June 2022

French Politics: Macron calls on opposition to ‘leave in-fighting behind’ 0

French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation for the first time on Wednesday since his centrist coalition lost control of parliament in Sunday elections. “We must learn to govern and legislate differently,” Macron acknowledged in his first public comments following the election setback.

The president said the opposition was ready to work with him on “major” issues and promised measures on inflation, climate change and unemployment sometime this summer. He went on to call on legislative groups to be clear in indicating “how far they are ready to go”.

Macron acknowledged that the parliamentary elections had highlighted social problems in France, but he called on the opposition parties to “leave in-fighting behind” and to move “beyond politics”. The current political impasse should not lead to “stagnation” but to renewed dialogue and a new “willingness to listen to each other”.

He added that he had been re-elected in April on a platform of “ambitious reform”, which he said he plans to carry out. Macron’s Ensemble (Together) coalition emerged as the largest party in the final round of parliamentary elections on Sunday but was dozens of seats short of keeping the parliamentary majority it had enjoyed for the last five years.

Macron’s centrist alliance finished 44 seats short of a majority in the lower house National Assembly as a new left-wing coalition known as NUPES made gains and the far-right party of Marine Le Pen posted its best legislative performance in its history.

The NUPES (New Popular Union) alliance – which brings together the La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), the Socialist Party, the Greens (Europe Ecologie-Les Verts) and the Communist Party under the leadership of eurosceptic far-left figurehead Jean-Luc Mélenchon – more than doubled the score of its combined parties in 2017.

The situation has called into question Macron’s ambitious plans for reform in his second term after his re-election in April – including a controversial measure to raise the retirement age from 62 to 65. It also marks the first time in 20 years that a president has not had an absolute majority in parliament.

Macron has been holding two days of talks with opposition leaders at the Élysee Palace, including with the head of the far-right National Rally party Marine Le Pen, to find a way out of the crisis.

Analysts have said the most viable solution would be a deal between Macron’s centrist alliance and the conservative Les Républicains, a party on the decline that nevertheless won 61 seats. But after talks with Macron on Tuesday, party leader Christian Jacob ruled out any kind of “pact” with Macron’s alliance and said his party prefers to remain in the opposition.

Macron’s remarks on Wednesday were his first public comments on the election results, a significant setback for a president with an ambitious domestic reform agenda and one who is keen to play a key role in international crises, including the war in Ukraine.

Source: AFP

Race for Aso Rock: Almost all Nigerians say they don’t need another Biya in Africa

23, June 2022

Race for Aso Rock: Almost all Nigerians say they don’t need another Biya in Africa 0

Reaction among voters in the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the news that former Vice President Abubakar Atiku has been nominated as presidential candidate  to run under the banner of the Nigeria People’s Democratic Party has been mixed with a majority saying they don’t think we need another President Biya in Africa.

Many voters in the Federal Republic of Nigeria have so far been more adamant, including those who are expressing support for the so-called policy of zoning.

The Atiku campaign is not saying much for now and its communication department prefers to stick to the current talking points deep within the APC the ruling party.

Many voters are bashing the former Vice President over his continued stay in Dubai and coincidentally or not, Atiku has a long standing relationship with President Biya who runs Cameroon from the InterContinental Hotel in Geneva, Switzerland.

“Nigeria will always be the loser, why should anyone for God’s sake be supporting a man like Atiku who lives permanently in Dubai?  It is time for a neutral third option and I think that option is Governor Peter Obi,” Stephen Ademola, a Nigerian opinion leader in Ireland said.

“Obviously Atiku has a very good base of donors deep within the PDP party for his long record and also for being a Vice President under OBJ, but this will not provide him with any real advantage,” Lucky Okusun, another Nigerian contacted by Cameroon Concord News said.

Asked about the prospect of Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu the 70-year-old Nigerian politician and poster boy of the All Progressives Congress running the country, and whether Nigeria similarly didn’t need another Buhari, Stephen Ademola was more emphatic. “It will be another empty eight years” Stephen Ademola said.

“I think it would be wonderful if Nigeria elects somebody like Governor Peter Obi who actually knows what to do and has lots of experience dealing the private sector,” added Ademola.

By Engelis Okesack Besong

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