The Bishop of the Diocese of Mamfe, His Lordship Bishop Andrew Nkea has visited Kembong village destroyed by the Francophone dominated armed forces recently in one of the most deadliest attack ever since the Southern Cameroons uprising.

Cameroon Concord News gathered the man of God was speechless as he walked across the numerous houses burnt down by the Francophone army.  6 Cameroonian soldiers  were also killed, 6 riffles  were seized by the Southern Cameroons militants and a pickup  4×4 hilux  truck was damaged along  the Mfuni road that  left  some of the passengers  seriously  wounded.

For a reminder, the village of Kembong in Eyumojock Sub constituency suffered casualties with the most pathetic being the burning down of the home of the late UNDP parliamentarian Chief Alfred Besong by government soldiers. The Cameroon government troops also set fire on the only hotel in kembong including five other buildings.  A new brand Siena car was destroyed and a civilian shot on the leg.   The villagers have all escaped to the forest and kembong is now a ghost village.

By Judith Fon

The emeritus Bishop of Bafoussam, Bishop Gabriel Simo has passed away in the early hours of Friday the 24^th of November, 2017 following a protracted illness at the Regional Hospital in Bafoussam.

Paralyzed by a disease for many years, the auxiliary bishop of Bafoussam Bishop Simo Gabriel reportedly resigned his post on September 14, 2013. In accordance with Canon 411 and 401 § 1 of the Code of Canon Law, the Holy Father Pope Francis accepted the renunciation of the position of auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Bafoussam presented by Bishop Gabriel Simo. At this time the prelate was not only ill, but had also reached the age limit.

Born March 15, 1937 in Bapa and ordained into the priesthood on March 27, 1966, Bishop Gabriel Simo was installed Auxiliary Bishop of Douala on April 2, 1987 at the same time as Bishop Simon Victor Tonyé Bakot. They were both appointed auxiliary bishops on the 21^st of February 1987. While Bishop Tonyé Bakot was later named Bishop of Edéa in 1993, Bishop Gabriel Simo was retained Auxiliary Bishop and appointed to Bafoussam in 1994-the functions he held until his appointment waiver in 2013. He celebrated a solemn Mass of Thanksgiving for his 50 years in the priesthood on Thursday, September 29, 2016.

By Sama Ernest with files from CIN

Cardinal Tumi has published a book in which he makes public his position on the Southern Cameroons crisis. Aged 87, the respected man of God continues to make his voice heard in the hot topics of the nation. On the subject of the Anglophone uprising, the archbishop emeritus of Douala said, ” Everything is possible! If we had accepted the dialogue, if we had not suppressed the federation, and this unilaterally, we would not have provoked the youth who are now fighting for the separation of the English-speaking part of the country. A youth that was not yet born at the time of independence! (…) I would opt for the federation in this country. A federation is not a bad thing. I believe in federalism. Our country was already there. But because of economic interests that do not benefit average Cameroonians at all, we have not given a chance to this political experiment that has proven itself elsewhere.”

The 294 page-document contains interviews that the prelate has given for almost 15 years to local and international media houses including the Catholic weekly and L’Effort Camerounais. The first part comprises of fourteen chapters and deals with Tumi’s social and ecclesial gaze. The second part has six chapters and concerns the political and economic vision of the Cardinal.

Tumi says the crisis continues because of “lack of dialogue, “We have to listen to them and try to find out what they want. We must privilege dialogue. When we talk, we solve a lot of problems. The problem is that we did not create a dialogue forum. It’s hard to admit secession. Federalism is possible! The experience of the federation is interesting throughout the world. The best example is the United States with elected governors, “says the man of God.

By Rita Akana, CCN

The Cameroon Concord News Group applauds the decision by the Catholic Church in the Southern Cameroons to set aside today as a day of prayers for the repose of the soul of the fallen heroes of the Southern Cameroons struggle for freedom. A similar move by the Presbyterian Church and the Baptist Mission are equally applauded.  By taking these moves, our Christian Church leaders have fulfilled a divine mandate ordained or commander by Jesus Christ himself, the body of the Church and supreme Guarantor of our Christian faith.  As we pray for the soul of the departed and meditate about the cause for which their lives were cut short, let us not forget that with them, part of every Southern Cameroonian’s life was cut short. They died exercising a fundamental search for justice; justice to be recognised and treated as human beings created in the image of God in their ancestral homelands and justice for our individual and collective existence in dignity, peace and progress.

Like most Southern Cameroonians, they were waving peace plants in the mistaken believe that, that symbol of peace was going to be accorded its deserved recognition. Not with the angel of death that colonized Southern Cameroons baying on the blood of its citizens and the rape of its natural resources for self and neo-colonial gratification.  Lest French Cameroun and its genocidal leaders rejoice yet. They will know no peace until the blood of these armless Southern Cameroonians is accounted for. They will know no peace by pursuing a scourge earth policy of genocide and systemic criminality intended to subdue the living soul of freedom and liberty of the Southern Cameroons. For French Cameroun to know peace, it must vacate the territory of the Southern Cameroons which deserves to be free and independent pursuant to United Nations Charter, the UN General Assembly Resolutions, the independence on October 1, 1961. French Cameroun was put on notice by the Buea Declaration (1993) and the Bamenda Proclamation (1994) more than twenty years ago, that the Southern Cameroons intended to reassert its independence and sovereignty over its territory and to terminate all forms of colonial rule as such. The patriotic march by the martyrs whose senseless slaughter we celebrate in these religious ceremonies therefore a legitimate forensic justification. We therefore salute their courage, their priceless supreme sacrifice that cements and eternalizes our freedom, forever and ever. Amen.

An ongoing outpouring of administrative, Ministerial and cross-Ministerial Communiques for the prosecution of the ongoing preplanned genocide in which these heroes were slaughtered on the account of their Southern Cameroons cultural and national identity cogently established different layers of criminal responsibility for these crimes.  It is significant to note that each of the genocidal communiques states that its source of authority was the Head of State of French Cameroun Paul Biya. The lack of governmental cohesion and discipline is obvious from the fact that Biya is quoted in the communiques as giving orders directly to certain Ministers and Administrators on whom he is relying to prosecute and execute the preplanned genocide of the Southern Cameroons.

This perceptible indiscipline should not obfuscate the fact that the genocide was carefully planned and the structures of its execution put in place long ago. This plan included, the co-opting of genocidal media organs such as television 4, genocide apologists and propagandists such as Eric Owona Nguini, one Obama and Isa Tchiroma among others to popularize, justify and rally support for the genocide. He also directed Laurent Esso his Minister of Justice and a principal ideologue of the genocide, Fame Ndongo, Atanga Nji  and his Senior Military Commanders, essentially of Beti origin, local governors and divisional administrators of French Cameroun origin to execute the genocide. To succeed in their plans, they required and obtained the support of Southern Cameroonian Iscariots like Achidi Achu, Julius Achu, Tabetando, Mafany Musonge, Patrick Esunge and a host of others to help to identify targets for the slaughter and others to be abducted, tortured and detained.

Paul Biya bypassed the exercise of constitutional power and ministerial/administrative hierarchy because that might have alerted and triggered universal genocide alarm mechanisms that might have intervened in time to slow his diabolic actions. He therefore provided direct superintendence of the extermination of Southern Cameroons armless civilians by these his selected field executors. To facilitate the expeditious execution of the plan of genocide in a scale that will have Southern Cameroonians subdued in humiliating and capitulating blood bath, Paul Biya breached all norms of International Law by ordering his administrative governors to close international borders to allow deployed military units to rape, loot, torture, abduct, exterminate, and torch human settlements and property of Southern Cameroonians.

Considering the reign of terror and bestiality that is ongoing even in Churches and places of worship which are protected by International law. The Christian Church services that have been organized today, have finally confirmed our Church leaders that they can on occasion stand for the cross of justice, human dignity, and freedom.  The French Cameroun clergy have elected their camp with Iscariot sagacity. That is their choice.  But Iscariot thought humanity that money may meet temporal human needs but will never ever control the soul of humanity which our Lord Jesus Christ purchased with His precious blood.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai, CCN/CIR

Church leaders in Cameroon’s Anglophone region have spoken on the current crisis which has led to deaths, injuries and arrests after security forces clashed with protesters. The Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference (BAPEC) in a statement issued on Wednesday October 4, said the clashes created a ‘warlike atmosphere’ during the period spanning September 29 to October 2.

“The sighs of those who have lost property through looting or arson, the pain of anxiety inflicted on families and friends of those abducted or missing, the trauma caused on the young and the old by the fright from the warlike atmosphere of last weekend in particular have left another heap of painful memories in our minds and hearts.

“We want, in the first place, to express our profound grief and sympathies to those families who in the recent crisis have lost their dear ones. We pray for the repose of the souls of those who have died,” they said in the 26-point statement.

The release signed by six Bishops gave a detailed account of what happened in the region as they saw it and reiterated past efforts they had undertaken to avert the crisis. They also declared October 14 a day of mourning for those killed in the clashes.

Significant portions focused on the highhanded nature of the security response to what they said were very peaceful processions. Point 8 read as follows: “On Sunday, 1st October 2017, some Priests and some members of Christ’s Lay Faithful were prevented by the heavy military presence on their streets from going to church and so they failed to exercise their constitutional right of freedom of worship. In some areas, we noted with disgust that some Christians were teargassed as they came out of Mass!

“This move, by whosoever instructed, created a lot of confusion and chaos, especially as the faithful believed that the Archbishop’s letter, calling for prayers for peace and tranquillity and which had been endorsed by the Governor of the North West Region, was sufficient authorization for Sunday worship to go on as normal, despite the political tension.

“We, the Bishops of the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference, are sad and disturbed, having learned that some of our Christians were pursued into their houses – some arrested, some maimed and some (including defenceless teenagers and elderly persons) were simply shot to death, some from helicopters.

“Elsewhere in the world, the Forces of Law and Order protect demonstrating citizens. In our country, peaceful demonstrations, except perhaps those organized by the ruling party, seem to be an opportune moment for our Armed Forces to demonstrate their shooting prowess both from the ground and from the air on unarmed and helpless civilians.”

Condemnation of the deadly clashes have been coming in thick and fast. President Paul Biya, the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Nations chief among others have all called for restraint and dialogue to resolve the tensions.

Cameroon’s English – speaking regions that have long protested marginalization from French Cameroon are now fighting for independence under the Ambazonia republic name. Yaounde, however, insists that the unity of the Central African country is non-negotiable.

Source: Africa News

The National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon has joined its voice in the concert of calls for dialogue in the Anglophone crisis.

In a press release issued on Saturday, 30 September 2017, the Justice and Peace Commission of the National Episcopal Conference invited the Cameroonian government to acknowledge its wrongs in the building of its so-called national unity.

The Bishops statement pleaded with the people of Southern Cameroons to take into account that in the process of resolving the political crisis certain actions will be carried out, some in the very short term, others in the medium term and a third category of actions will objectively need more time to be set up.

A representative of the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Governing Council has however rejected the position of the National Episcopal Conference saying “its too little too late.”

By Rita Akana, CCN

Barely three months after the tragic and mysterious disappearance of Bishop Jean-Marie Benoît Bala, the late Bishop’s mechanic who moonlighted as his courier has died in strange circumstances after a trip to the Yaounde Nsimalen International Airport to convey a nun back from leave.

Pascal Boade died tragically in the middle of last week according to Cameroon Concord News sources in Bafia. Some family members have opined that the deceased succumbed to some kind of poison that was given to him via a meal and a drink.

Camcordnews is yet to establish the correctness of this allegation. However, what we do know is that, he collapsed at the entrance of the Nsimalen airport, vomited blood, was transported to the dispensary at the airport and later on evacuated to the emergency ward at the Central Hospital in Yaounde where he passed on.

Pascal Boade was one of the late Bishop’s confidante. His numerous aptitudes in the field of mechanics made him the appointed technician of the diocese. His availability also made him indispensable within the late Bishop Bala administration. It is also reported that he had been seen in the morning of his death in full possession of his physical means.

By Sama Ernest
Cameroon Concord News

The judicial police in Bafia have sealed the Sebastian Cathedral following the discovery of blood precisely on the altar, the steps leading to the cathedral, the table that bears the liturgy and the tomb of the late Bishop Jean Marie Benoit Bala. Samples of the discovered blood was taken to Yaoundé for medical examination.

Cameroon Concord News can now confirm that the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Bafia was sealed by the competent authorities on Monday the 28th of August 2017. We also understand that following the closure of the cathedral, masses will now be celebrated at the Saint Paul Center.

According to the Canon Law, the reopening of the cathedral can only be carried out again after a decision from the Holy Father Pope Francis. The late Bishop Jean Benoit Bala was declared missing on the 31st of May 2017 and was found dead three days later in the waters of the Sanaga River. He was buried in the San Sebastian Cathedral of Bafia on the 3rd of August.

By Fru James
Cameroon Concord News

A French Cameroun radio has reported that a huge amount of blood was found in the Saint Sebastian Cathedral in Bafia precisely on the tomb of the late Bishop Jean Marie Benoît Bala in the early hours of Monday the 28th of August 2017.

Radio Balafon emitting from Douala, also observed that the blood was sprayed on the altar of the cathedral and on the steps leading to the area commonly called the Bishop’s chair and on the table that bears the golden book and on the tomb of Bishop Jean Marie Benoit Bala.

A source in Bafia who confirmed the happenings to Cameroon Concord News, further pointed out that security forces and the state Prosecutor were summoned by Roman Catholic authorities to witness the scene. We understand, some samples of the discovered blood were collected and have been taken to Yaoundé for medical examination.

Local residents say it could be a ritual that was done in the night. The vicar of the Bafia Diocese had the blood on the altar cleaned before Eucharistic celebrations this morning. The parish priest on leave was called back urgently on this subject.

Bishop Jean Benoit Bala was declared missing on the 31st of May 2017 and was found dead three days later in the Sanaga River. The circumstances surrounding his death at the age of 58 are being investigated. In addition to this, another investigation is currently being conducted for the death of the rector of the Bafia minor seminary, Armel Djama who was killed 10 days before Bishop Jean Marie Benoit Bala.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from CIN