Politics

16, January 2021

Ugandan thug wins sixth term as vote rigging alleged ⁰

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni won a decisive re-election victory on Saturday, elections officials said, but his main rival Bobi Wine alleged widespread fraud and said citizens should reject the result.

Museveni won 5.85 million votes, or 58.6%, while main opposition candidate Wine had 3.48 million votes (34.8%), the Electoral Commission said at a news conference on the final results from Thursday’s election.

Earlier, Wine accused Museveni of fabricating the results and called the poll “the most fraudulent election in the history of Uganda”. In a phone interview before the final results were announced, he urged citizens to reject the results.

Wine, a singer-turned-lawmaker, also said his home in the capital, Kampala, was surrounded by hundreds of soldiers and that the military was not allowing him to leave.

The army’s deputy spokesman, Deo Akiiki, told Reuters that security officers at Wine’s house were assessing threats he could face by going out: “So they might be preventing him in the interest of his own safety.”

Soldiers and police were out in force patrolling Kampala on Saturday.

Museveni, 76 and in power for 35 years, campaigned for another term arguing his long experience in office makes him a good leader and promising to keep delivering stability and progress.

Wine, 38, galvanised young Ugandans with his calls for political change and pledged to end what he calls dictatorship and widespread corruption.

Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, said on Friday he had video proof of voting fraud, and would share the videos as soon as internet connections were restored. The government ordered the internet shut down the day before the election, and the blackout was still in place.

Electoral Commission Chairman Simon Byabakama said on Friday that under Ugandan law, the burden of proof rested with Wine.

Reuters has not independently verified Wine’s claims.

No international observers

The United States and the European Union did not deploy observer teams, but the U.S. State Department’s top diplomat for Africa, Tibor Nagy, said in a tweet early on Saturday that the “electoral process has been fundamentally flawed”.

He cited fraud reports, denial of accreditation to observers, violence and harassment of opposition members, and the arrest of civil society activists.

The African Union and East African Community sent observer teams to the election, but neither group of officials responded to requests for comment about possible irregularities.

Police recorded 42 election-related offences nationwide during voting and tallying so far, police spokesman Fred Enanga said on Friday night on local NBS TV. Offences included assaults, voter bribery, and theft and damage of electoral materials, he said.

The run-up to Thursday’s election was more violent than in previous polls. Security forces cracked down on opposition candidates and their supporters during the campaign, and more than 50 people died in protests in November on one of the multiple occasions when Wine was arrested.

Parliamentary wins

In addition to the internet blackout, the government on Tuesday banned all social media and messaging apps. Wine and his supporters often used Facebook to relay live coverage of his campaign.

In the parliamentary election, where candidates were vying for 529 seats, results were still coming in but Ugandan media reported that 56 candidates from Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) had won their races, while the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), previously the largest opposition party, has so far won 34 seats.

The country’s vice president, Edward Ssekandi, was one of a number of senior ruling party MPs who lost their seats, according to broadcaster NTV Uganda.

The FDC won 35 seats in the 2016 election, but the NUP had no seats in the previous parliament – Wine was elected as an independent and joined the party last year.

(REUTERS)

14, January 2021

Unity Palace: Minister Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh says Anglophones are traitors ⁰

After four years of silence on the government’s part over the Southern Cameroons Crisis, some major cracks are gradually appearing on the government’s wall with the Secretary General at the Presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, turning on English-speaking ministers, accusing them of being hypocrites and liars.

For four good years, Anglophone ministers have toed the party line, even ensuring that they did not criticize the government or the military for its dismal handling of the crisis that has hit the country’s two English-speaking regions, even when some of their family members get killed in massive and reckless raids organized by a trigger-happy military.

Most Anglophone ministers know what fate awaits them if they show any sympathy towards the English-speaking minority or if they disagree with the violent military approach adopted by the government against the advice of the international community.

But despite their loyalty to the Yaoundé government and their grave silence about the massacres in their towns and villages, Anglophone ministers and parliamentarians are still being suspected and closely monitored by a government whose stock in trade is corruption.

Anglophone members of government are simply servants who do not have a big say even in the affairs of the ministries they head.

From every indication, they are made to understand that the Head(ache) of State, Paul Biya, is simply doing them a favor and they can be fired at anytime and could be hauled to jail like a piece of junk if they get suspected of anything that runs counter to the policies dictated by the president.

On mere suspicion, an Anglophone minister could be threatened or humiliated even in public and Elung Paul Che, the Deputy Secretary General at the Presidency, was last week made to understand that despite his loyalty, he was in the crosshairs of the government.

Elung Paul Che is someone who hardly cries and it is hard to make him cry. But the Secretary General at the Presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, succeeded to make Elung Paul shed tears.

According to a Cameroon Concord News Group’s source at the Presidency familiar with this incident, the pitiful Elung Paul bursts into tears after having been berated and humiliated by Ngoh Ngoh who arrogantly told him that “you Anglophones are traitors” after a meeting with Mr. Biya who is still baffled by the fact that Anglophone separatists have not yet been put out of business in the two English-speaking regions where an insurgency has been playing out for four long years.

Mr. Biya had been confidently advised that the insurgents would be made to bite the dust in just a few weeks but the insurgency has succeeded to rob the government of some of its revenue streams in the two English-speaking regions and the country’s economy has been hugely impacted by a war that might not be ending anytime soon.

Since the incident, Elung Paul Che has been holding a pity party in his house and has been sporting a lonely and miserable figure at work.

Our source at the Presidency added that Elung Paul might be crying because he is scared of ending up at Yaoundé Maximum Security prison where many of his former colleagues have been jailed for decades on charges of corruption by a president who has make corruption his hallmark.

Elung Paul’s humiliation and frustration are simply not part of a game but they constitute the sad reality that truly reflects the atmosphere within the government.

Elung Paul Che’s misery emerged because of a meeting he had with Mr. Paul Biya without the Secretary General being aware and this has transformed Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh into a wild animal, our source said.

Ngoh Ngoh is a control freak and he likes being in the know of everything. Elung Paul Che’s non-disclosure of his meeting with the President to his boss was perceived as a gross betrayal of confidence and this did send Ngoh Ngoh into an emotional frenzy.

“You Anglophones are traitors. You know that I brought you here and I have been doing everything to keep you here. You hold a meeting with the President of the Republic and you don’t even have the courtesy to inform me?” the infuriated Secretary General quipped.

Elung Paul struggled to explain himself, but Ngoh Ngoh did not have time for his explanation. He lambasted Elung Paul, accusing him of all the crimes and scenes in the world.

“That’s how you are. You are always plotting against others. Did you think I wasn’t going to know? You know I am always aware of all the appointments and your behavior is a clear betrayal of my trust. There will surely be consequences,” the Secretary General said.

The badly humiliated Elung Paul Che was at a loss for words and he could not really figure out why his boss was so irrational and suspicious of him.

In his confusion, he started crying. He has been a loyal collaborator and his meeting with the president was held at the behest of the president who had asked him to keep their discussion confidential.

But Mr. Ngoh Ngoh was not in the mood to make things easy for Elung Paul who felt his tears could help the situation.

Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh simply ordered him out of his office. “You can leave,” he ordered the weeping Elung Paul who is being hated by his fellow Southern Cameroonians for his blind loyalty to the corrupt and dysfunctional government.

While leaving Ngoh Ngoh’s office, the weeping boy did all he could to suppress his tears and sadness, but when he got to his office, he wept like a very hungry baby whose mother had gone to the grocery shop.

Not only is his job on the line, his head is also on the chopping block. There is a lot of competition among Mr. Biya’s collaborators and some of that could be nasty.

Elung Paul knows he has not got a good stomach for such a fight and with Ngoh Ngoh having sweeping powers, he knows his days in government are numbered.

Paul, the weeping boy, wept until his loud cries caught the attention of one of his colleagues who was aware of the tensions between the two men, our source said.

Elung Paul might still be working at the Presidency, but he knows that if he does not play his cards very well, he might end up in jail like others before him. The Biya regime knows how to make people, but it also knows how to undo its appointees.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

13, January 2021

US: Pence rejects calls to invoke 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office ⁰

The US House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to urge Vice President Mike Pence to start the US Constitution’s 25th Amendment process of removing President Donald Trump from office, although the vice president already has said he will not do so.

To invoke the 25th Amendment, Pence and a majority of Trump’s Cabinet would need to declare that Trump is unable to perform his duties.

Pence rejected that course of action earlier Tuesday.

“I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution,” Pence said.

With eight days remaining in Trump’s term in office, the House of Representatives was poised on Wednesday to pass an article of impeachment accusing the Republican of inciting insurrection in a speech to his followers last week before a mob of them stormed the Capitol, leaving five dead.

That would trigger a trial in the still Republican-controlled Senate, although it was unclear if enough time or political appetite remained to push Trump from office.

Trump’s iron grip on his party showed further signs of weakening as at least three Republicans, including a member of the House leadership, said they would vote for his historic second impeachment.

Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, said: “There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”

Trump “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack” on the Capitol last Wednesday, Cheney, the daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, said in a statement, adding: “I will vote to impeach the president.”

Two other Republican House members, John Katko and Adam Kinzinger, said they would also vote for impeachment.

Their announcements came as Republican leaders in the House refrained from urging their members to vote against impeaching Trump, saying it was a matter of individual conscience.

At a meeting to set the rules for Wednesday’s impeachment vote, Democratic Representative David Cicilline told the House Rules Committee that the impeachment drive had the support of 217 lawmakers – enough to impeach Trump.

Cicilline, who helped craft the impeachment measure, said Trump “has had almost a week to do the right thing. He has refused to resign, he has failed to take responsibility, he has demonstrated no remorse.”

The New York Times reported that the Republican majority leader of the US Senate, Mitch McConnell, was said to be pleased about the Democratic impeachment push, suggesting Trump’s party was looking to move on from him after last week’s stunning attack on Congress.

McConnell believes the impeachment effort will make it easier to purge Trump from the party, the Times said.

If Trump is impeached by the House, he would have a trial in the Senate to determine his guilt. A two-thirds majority of the Senate is needed to convict him, meaning at least 17 Republicans in the 100-member chamber would have to vote for conviction.

“I don’t think you would have a hard time finding 17 Republicans to convict” with a tightly drawn article of impeachment, a former Senate Republican leadership aide told Reuters. “I think for McConnell, there’s a very strong impulse for this (the Capitol assault) not to define the party.”

In his first public appearance since last Wednesday’s riot, Trump showed no contrition for his speech, in which he repeated his false claim that President-elect Joe Biden’s victory was illegitimate. Biden will be sworn in as president on January 20.

“What I said was totally appropriate,” Trump told reporters as he left for a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border wall near Alamo, Texas, his first public foray since the assault on the Capitol.

McConnell has said no trial could begin until the chamber returns from its recess on January 19.

But Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is set to become the majority leader after two Democrats from Georgia are seated and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is sworn in, told reporters the Senate could be recalled to handle the matter.

Rather than a two-thirds vote, only a simple Senate majority is needed to disqualify Trump from future office. There is disagreement among legal experts as to whether a conviction on an impeachment charge would be needed before a disqualification vote. A different part of the Constitution, the 14th Amendment, also provides a procedure for disqualifying Trump from future office with a simple majority of both chambers.

Trump has said he plans to run again in 2024.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

12, January 2021

US: Trump takes no responsibility for Capitol attack, says his speech was ‘totally appropriate’ ⁰

US President Donald Trump denied Tuesday that his speech last week to thousands of supporters, encouraging them to march on Congress, had anything to do with the deadly violence that broke out shortly after.

“They’ve analysed my speech in my words and my final paragraph, my final sentence, and everybody to the tee just thought it was totally appropriate,” Trump told reporters before flying out for a trip to Texas.

On January 6 he told a large crowd in Washington that the presidential election was stolen and that they should march on Congress and show “strength”. The crowd broke into Congress and forced frightened lawmakers to abandon a ceremony putting the legal stamp on Democrat Joe Biden’s election win.

A Capitol police officer died from injuries suffered in the riot, and police shot a woman during the violence. Three others died in what authorities said were medical emergencies.

As rioters were still in the Capitol, Trump released a video seemingly excusing the events, saying of the rioters: “We love you. You’re very special”.

Impeachment moves causing ‘tremendous anger’

In his first remarks since the January 6 Capitol assault, Trump also blasted the US House plans to remove him from office.

Speaking to reporters as he boarded the Marine One aircraft at the White House for a trip to Texas, Trump called his scheduled impeachment in the House of Representatives on Wednesday a “continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics”.

Trump said the prospect of impeachment was causing “tremendous anger” in the nation. But he said he wants “no violence”.

With only eight days left in his one-term administration, Trump finds himself alone, shunned by former supporters and US businesses, barred by social media, and now facing a second impeachment over his instigation of a riot against Congress.

His trip to Alamo, Texas, where he will tout claims of success in building a US-Mexican border wall, is his first live public appearance since he rallied thousands of followers on the National Mall to march on Congress.

Although this is not the same Alamo as the famous fortress in another part of Texas, the trip marks something of a last stand for the Republican.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)

12, January 2021

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres declares he will seek a second term ⁰

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres officially declared Monday he is seeking a second five-year term at the helm of the United Nations.

Guterres, whose current term ends next Dec. 31, said in a letter to General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir that “It would be my honour to continue to serve the organization in pursuing its purposes and fulfilling its noble objectives.”

The former Portuguese prime minister and U.N. refugee chief was elected by the 193-member assembly to succeed Ban Ki-moon after a hotly contested and transparent race in October 2016 that initially included 13 candidates — seven women and six men. Guterres took office on Jan. 1, 2017.

“I am available to serve a second term as secretary-general of the United Nations, if that will be the will of member states,” Guterres said in a letter to Bozkir obtained by the Associated Press.

Several diplomats have said Guterres was waiting for the results of the U.S. presidential election and would not have sought a second term if Donald Trump won. But another diplomat familiar with his thinking said Guterres, after more than 40 years of public service, would have felt he couldn’t desert the U.N. if Trump had defeated President-elect Joe Biden who takes office on Jan. 20.

Trump pulled the United States out of the World Health Organization, the U.N.-backed 2015 Paris climate agreement and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and stopped funding the U.N. population fund and the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. Biden has said the U.S. will quickly rejoin the WHO and the climate agreement.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres was responding to a letter from Bozkir on Friday asking his “intentions regarding a second mandate.”

The secretary-general spent time over the holidays speaking to his family, Dujarric said, and “I don’t think any particular elections cycle in any particular country impacted his decision.”

Dujarric said Guterres informed the five permanent members of the Security Council — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — on Friday. China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun hosted a lunch for the P5 ambassadors, as they are called, with the secretary-general on Friday, diplomats said.

The General Assembly elects the secretary-general on the recommendation of the 15-member Security Council where the five permanent members have veto power, so their support is crucial.

Guterres, 71, got his first key vote of support late Monday.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson “warmly welcomed the secretary-general’s decision to run for a second term and congratulated him on a successful first term,” his office said following a virtual meeting between the two leaders.

Guterres also spoke to leaders of the U.N.’s regional groups on Friday and sent a letter to the Security Council on Monday, the U.N. spokesman said.

As for next steps, a General Assembly resolution adopted in September 2015 asks the presidents of the assembly and Security Council to “start the process of soliciting candidates for the position of secretary-general through a joint letter addressed to all member states.”

Assembly spokesman Brenden Varma said president Bozkir spoke to Tunisia’s U.N. Ambassador Tarek Ladeb, this month’s council president, on Monday and will meet with him Tuesday, among other things to discuss “the next steps in this process.”

The 2015 resolution, which was adopted by consensus, made the previously largely secretive selection of the secretary-general more open and transparent. It allowed the world body’s member states for the first time to see basic information about all candidates, including their resumes, and to meet and question them at open sessions.

Just before Christmas, a group of 25 nations from all regions called the Accountability Coherence and Transparency group wrote to the General Assembly and Security Council urging that the selection process meets “at a minimum” the 2015 standards of transparency and involvement of U.N. members.

Guterres’ election was a disappointment to women, who have never held the U.N.’s top job, and to East Europeans who have never had a secretary-general from the region. It was supposed to be next in the informal geographical rotation for U.N. chief when Guterres, a West European was elected.

Since this will be the first time an incumbent is seeking a second term following the resolution’s adoption, and it isn’t yet known whether there will be any other candidates, the next steps are unclear.

Guterres said in his reply to Bozkir: “In line with the strong interest of the General Assembly regarding transparency and inclusivity, I am ready to fully meet the expectations referred in your letter, notably with regard to the submission of a vision statement and to the participation in an informal dialogue with member states.”

The secretary-general said in the letter that he has worked to reform the United Nations “to meet the aspirations of member states, striving for the dignity and the well-being of people, while ensuring the sustainability of our planet for future generations.”

On the day of his election, Guterres pledged to be “a bridge-builder” and to promote a new “diplomacy for peace.”

But the last four years have seen the United Nations, the global bastion of multilateralism, and its leader trying to deal with an increasingly polarized world facing a pandemic, regional conflicts, a shrinking economy, growing inequality and escalating U.S.-China tensions.

(AP)

11, January 2021

US Politics: Pelosi says House will proceed with legislation to impeach Trump ⁰

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday she would push ahead with efforts to remove President Donald Trump from office during the final days of his administration after his supporters’ violent attack on the Capitol.

Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, said there would be a resolution in the House of Representatives on Monday calling for the cabinet to remove Trump as unfit for office under the constitution’s 25th amendment.

If Vice President Mike Pence does not agree, “we will proceed with bringing impeachment legislation” to the floor of the House of Representatives, Pelosi said.

“In protecting our Constitution and our Democracy, we will act with urgency, because this President represents an imminent threat to both,” she said.

“As the days go by, the horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this President is intensified and so is the immediate need for action.”

Trump was already impeached once by the Democratic-controlled House — in December 2019 for pressuring the leader of Ukraine to dig up political dirt on Joe Biden.

He was acquitted by the Republican-majority Senate.

Though time is running short, Democrats likely have the votes in the House to impeach Trump again and could even draw some Republican support for the move.

But they are unlikely to muster the two-thirds majority needed to convict Trump in the 100-member Senate and remove him from office.

Trump’s successor Joe Biden is due to be inaugurated on January 20.

Source: AFP

8, January 2021

Ghana: President Nana Akufo Addo sworn in for a 2nd term ⁰

Nana Akufo-Addo was on Thursday sworn in for a second term as Ghana’s president.

It comes a day after a brawl between rival politicians in parliament during the election of the speaker.

Soldiers were briefly deployed after the unusual scenes in one of Africa’s most stable democracies.

The president defeated his main rival, ex-president John Mahama, in December’s keenly contested polls.

The opposition National Democratic Congress has rejected results of the December 7 polls.

It has filed a petition at the country’s top court, seeking for a rerun of polls between the main opposition party leader John Mahama and the incumbent president.

Source: Africa News

8, January 2021

Yaounde: With no power over government, Prime Minister Ngute digs in heels ⁰

Though technically the highest-ranked minister, Joseph Dion Ngute is only the head of government in name and it is Paul Biya’s advisors who manage the executive’s day-to-day actions.

It is not strange in the minds of every Southern Cameroonian. For over 57 years after independence and re-unification, there has never been an Southern Cameroons President or a Southern Cameroons Secretary General or Director of Civil Cabinet at the Presidency of the Republic. Nor has any British Southern Cameroonian ever held the strategic ministerial portfolio of Defense, Finance, Communication, and External Relations or even in charge of the Police, Gendarmerie, the Army and Intelligence services; not even ambassadors to English-speaking countries like the USA and Nigeria. For a region that represents about 20% of the population, accounting for over 60% of GDP, the fact that the lone oil refinery named in French (SONARA) is in Southern Cameroon, yet has been run by Francophone general managers with a predominantly Francophone workforce since its creation is unacceptable. It just cannot be that there are no competent Southern Cameroonians to occupy these positions.

Higher institutions like the National Polytechnic, ENAM, IRIC, ESSTIC, INJS, IFORD, CUSS, Public Works, ENSPT, IRAD, are heavily laden with French courses; another way of saying, British Southern Cameroonians need not apply.

Although La Republique du Cameroun passes officially for a bilingual country where both English and French are equal, the head of state has never ever made an official address to the nation in English! All official correspondences are in French, even when directed to British Southern Cameroonians. French is the language used in the administration, police, gendarmerie, army and the courts. Southern Cameroonians have to seek translators at their own expense. All road signs are in French and there is not a single word in English on the FCFA currency in circulation. Chief Dr Dion Ngute understands that this is not constitutional.

French Camerounians occupy all key positions in the Supreme Court – President of the Supreme Court; Attorney General; Head of Judicial Division; Head of Administrative Division; Head of audit Division; Head of Special Criminal Court; Special Attorney Special Criminal Court; Director of Military Justice; Registrar-In-Chief Supreme Court and Secretary General Supreme Court. 58 (39%) of the 148 magistrates in the Southern Zone of Ambazonia are French Camerounians while 54 (61%) of the 89 magistrates in the legal department in the same Southern Zone are French Camerounians. Prime Minister Dion Ngute is aware!

Of the 128 magistrates in the Northern Zone of Ambazonia, there are 67 French Camerounians (52 %). Of the 97 magistrates of the legal departments, 64 of them are French Camerounians, (65.9%); 22 (48.9%) of the 45 magistrates in Bamenda are French Camerounians. There are 27 magistrates in the legal department in Bamenda of which 21, (77.8%) are French Camerounians. Prime Minister Dion Ngute is very much aware!! There is no reference hospital and no functional airport or seaport in the entire Southern Cameroons.

Back by the French government in Paris ever since the so-called reunification, Yaounde has made it a point to assign French Camerounians who neither speak nor understand English to British Southern Cameroons.

French Camerounians disrespect British Southern Cameroonians in positions of authority, even the prime minister, head of government. Francophone ministers either ignore cabinet meetings called by the PM or come late, in breach of standard protocol.

By Chi Prudence Asong with files from Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai

7, January 2021

A President Unhappy: 4 people died during the siege, more than 50 people were arrested ⁰

President Donald Trump said there would be an “orderly transition on January 20” after Congress concluded the electoral vote count early Thursday, certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, hours after he appeared to excuse the violent occupation of the US Capitol by his supporters. A woman was fatally shot, windows were bashed and the mob forced shaken lawmakers and aides to flee the building, shielded by Capitol Police.

Lawmakers formally certified Biden as the winner of the presidential election Thursday morning, clearing the way for his inauguration on January 20. Republican Vice President Mike Pence certified the Electoral College count of 306 electors in favour of Biden against 232 in favour of Trump.

Trump promised Thursday there would be an “orderly transition on January 20” after Congress concluded the electoral vote count. On Wednesday he told the crowd at a so-called Save America rally that he would “never concede” the 2020 election. He urged supporters to gather at the Capitol building to support the Republican lawmakers who had vowed to challenge Biden’s win.

Trump supporters fought with Capitol police and then forced their way into the building, breaking windows and scaling the outside walls. Several officers were wounded and the National Guards of several nearby US states were mobilised to provide support.

DC police said four people died during the siege – one woman was shot by police and died in hospital while three others had medical emergencies. More than 50 people were arrested.

As Trump supporters besieged the Capitol, President-elect Joe Biden called on Trump to go on national TV to denounce the “insurrection”, calling the scenes “disgraceful”.

Trump eventually gave a statement via a recorded video, repeating his false claim that the election was stolen but asking supporters to “stay peaceful”. Several hours later he called for the crowd to “go home” before adding: “We love you. You’re very special.”

Facebook, Twitter and YouTube removed the video from their platforms over Trump’s false election claim. Twitter said his account would be locked for the next 12 hours and threatened him with “permanent suspension”. Facebook announced it would block him from posting for 24 hours.

Other riots instigated by Trump supporters were staged outside legislatures in states including Georgia, New Mexico, Ohio and California, leading some to be evacuated. Some scuffles broke out but most demonstrations were small and led to only a few arrests.

Culled from France 24

6, January 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: The U.S. Can Help Fill the Void ⁰

Over the last several years, since at least 2016, an inconceivably violent conflict has ravaged the Central African nation of Cameroon. The daily barrage of bloody images posted to social media and the accounts of cruelty and likely war crimes have – at least to date – not been enough to galvanize meaningful or concerted action to resolve what has become known as the Anglophone Crisis. After years of wreckage, there is now a domestic stalemate, a paralyzed status quo that has served to radicalize hardliners on both sides of the conflict.

The roots of the Anglophone crisis date back much farther than 2016, of course. Like many long-simmering issues in the region, hostilities can be traced to the maneuvering of former colonial powers who spliced up African territories with little regard for the dignity or preferences of local populations. This fact, however, does not excuse the failed leadership that has more recently been the norm – embodied most profoundly by President Paul Biya, who has been in power since 1982, longer than most Cameroonians have been alive. In October 2018, Biya secured yet another term in office during an electoral exercise that was marred by credible allegations of vote rigging and a clampdown on political adversaries, including opposition leader Maurice Kamto, who had remained under house arrest until last month.

The Anglophone crisis has registered among the world’s most neglected,’ according to assessments by the Norwegian Refugee Council. And according to the International Crisis Group, the fighting has killed well over 3,000 people and displaced an additional 600,000 more. In Anglophone regions, an estimated 850,000 children are currently out of school – likely much higher today in light of the covid-19 pandemic – and one in three of the region’s four million people are in need of humanitarian aid. Cameroon, once a reputed host for refugees is now a major exporter of people who are fleeing violence and government persecution. The number of Cameroonians seeking refuge in neighboring Nigeria, for example, has crossed the 300,000 mark. The instability inside Cameroon has thus produced negative ripple effects on an entire region, including disastrous economic and commercial blowback.

These statistics, as staggering as they are, barely do justice to the overall magnitude of a conflict that has exacted a huge toll on the lives of ordinary Cameroonians – mainly women and children – who have literally been caught in the crossfire between government forces and Anglophone fighters. In the words of local journalist Comfort Mussa, “hardly a day goes by without news of deaths, abductions, arson attacks and other forms of violence that have become a reality for people in [Anglophone] regions.”

As 2021 gets underway, however, there is a small glimmer of hope that momentum has built behind a reform agenda. Rather symbolically, on New Year’s Day, the United States Senate passed a resolution (bit.ly/3rU9lf1) by unanimous bipartisan consent – no small feat in Washington these days – that sent a strong signal to the Biya government and armed groups alike to end the violence and to commit to an inclusive process of international arbitration. The resolution also raised the prospect of punitive sanctions on those individuals responsible for participating in atrocities. (This author has long called for these actions by the U.S. government, a significant donor to and enduring security partner of the Biya government).

As a longtime partner of human rights defenders and pro-democracy leaders in Cameroon, we at Vanguard Africa heartily welcome this development in the halls of the U.S. Senate. We will also advocate that the incoming Biden-Harris Administration make this resolution – and the key principles upon which it is premised – a key priority of its US-Africa policy moving forward.

Put simply, it is time for both sides of the Anglophone crisis to come to terms with the fact that there is no military solution. The guns need to be silenced. The chaos can no longer continue. Importantly, there is some recognition even among the most militant Anglophone leaders, that this is the only feasible way forward. What is needed today is a negotiated settlement that holds human rights violators accountable and paves the way for a new era of leadership that many Cameroonians are demanding.

The violence perpetrated during the Anglophone crisis, and the lack of respect for the sanctity of human life, has taken a massive toll on future generations of Cameroonians. To relieve citizens from this tailspin, both the government and Anglophone leaders need to take a hard look at this freefall and their respective roles in perpetuating it. A genuinely inclusive dialogue must begin, and the U.S. Government – now vitalized by a rare act of bipartisanship – should help to fill Cameroon’s leadership void that has been so readily exploited.

Source: Vanguard Africa