9, December 2018

President Buhari pushing Nigeria to the brink ⁰

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday for the fourth time, rejected assent to the Electoral Bill which was passed to him to sign into law by both the Senate and the House of Representatives. President Buhari who has written to the lower and Upper chamber said that he could not sign the Electoral Bill into law at this time that the country was preparing for the 2019 Presidential and general elections, adding that he could only assent to it after next year’s elections.

He said that if it was done now, it would endup causing uncertainty and crisis in the land. Meanwhile, the PeoplesDemocratic Party Presidential Campaign Organization, PPCO, has charged membersof the National Assembly to save thenation’s democracy by immediately overriding President Muhammadu Buhari’srefusal to sign the amendment of the Electoral Act.

Signing amended Electoral Act for 2019 elections will create uncertainty, crisis – Buhari

In the letter dated 6th December, 2018 and addressed to both the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and Speaker, House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara which was received yesterday, President Buhari said that he would only sign the bill after the elections, just as he identified some aspects of the bill that should be corrected by the lawmakers.

President Buhari’s letter read, “Pursuant to Section 58(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ( 1999 as amended), I hereby convey to the Senate my decision on 6th December, 2018 to decline assent to the Electoral( Amendment) Bill, 2018 recently passed by the National Assembly. “I am declining assent to the bill principally because I am concerned that passing a new electoral bill this far into the electoral process for the 2019 general elections which commenced under the 2015 electoral act, could create some uncertainty about the applicable legislation to govern the process. Any real or apparent change to the rules this close to the election may provide an opportunity for disruption and confusion in respect of which law governs the electoral process. “This leads me to believe that it is in the best interest of the country and our democracy for the national assembly to specifically state in the bill that the electoral act will come into effect and be applicable to elections commencing after the 2019 elections .

President pushing Nigeria to the brink—PDP

In its reaction, the PDP Presidential Campaign Council in a statement by the Director, Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan on Friday said the legislative action has become imperative as the President’s decision is “a calculated attempt to hold the nation to ransom, inject crisis into the electoral process and ultimately scuttle the conduct of the 2019 general elections.” The statement read in part: “President Buhari’s repeated refusal to sign amendments passed to check rigging of election, raises issues of his sincerity of purpose and has the capacity to trigger political unrest and violence, which can, in turn, truncate our hard-earned democracy. “The PPCO invites Nigerians to note that this is the fourth time President Buhari is withholding assent on the amendment, without any cogent reason following his rejection by Nigerians. “Nigerians can recall how the Presidency plotted to plunge the 2019 elections into a needless controversy by delaying the submission of the election budget to the National Assembly, presenting it at the time the legislators were commencing their annual vacation and asking for virement of funds already approved for development projects, instead of sending a fresh supplementary budget for the election. “It is unfortunate that Mr. President, in his desperation to hold on to power, has resorted to taking steps that are capable of destabilizing our nation, just because the people are resolute in voting him out of office democratically. “It is also instructive to note that President Buhari is mortally afraid of the amendments because they essentially checked the All Progressives Congress, APC, rigging plans, including the use of underage and alien voters, vote-buying, alteration of results and manipulation of voter register”.

www.vanguardngr.com

9, December 2018

Comoros approach CAF seeking Cameroon’s disqualification from Afcon 2019 ⁰

Comoros have turned to Caf Statutes seeking Cameroon’s expulsion from the 2019 Afcon qualification after the Central Africans lost hosting rights. Comoros have written to Caf asking for the disqualification of Cameroon from the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals after the Central Africans lost rights to host next year’s edition.

The stripping of Cameroon’s 2019 Afcon hosting rights could lead to a legal wrangle as Comoros seek to evoke Caf statutes for the Indomitable Lions to be expelled from the tournament. Caf found Cameroon ill-prepared to stage the tournament and withdrew mandate which would be handed to another country before the end of this year.

According to Article 92 of Caf regulations: “If a country having been entrusted with the organisation of the final tournament of the Africa Cup of Nations is desisting or the tournament is being withdrawn from it, it shall be subject, in addition to further disciplinary sanctions, to a fine fixed according to the following scale:

“92.3. Withdrawal notified within one year before the date of the final tournament: a fine of five hundred thousand (500,000) U.S. dollars and a suspension of the next edition of Afcon of it’s A national team, without considering the concerned edition.”

Strengthening their case, Comoros have cited the case study of Morocco being expelled from the 2015 Afcon finals after withdrawing their hosting responsibility.

Also cited were Kenya who had the 2018 African Nations Championships (Chan) taken away from them and expelled from the tournament for not being ready to host.

The Madagascar national Under-17 team were also booted out of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Under-17 finals after they had hosting rights withdrawn from them for ill-preparedness.

Comoros General manager Saadi Ben Amir confirmed that they had raised issues with Caf. “I was with my president this morning and he sent a letter to Caf asking for clarification,” Ben Amir was quoted as saying by Afrik Foot.

“We are asking for the application of the regulation, and more specifically Article 92, which states that a country which is withdrawn from the organisation of Afcon does not participate in the edition in question.”

Interestingly, Cameroon host Comoros meet in the final Afcon qualifier and if the latter wins, they would book a place at the finals for the first time ever in their history. The two teams are separated by three pints in Group B which has Morocco as leaders.

Source: Goal.com

8, December 2018

Ambazonia Self-Defense and Restoration Forces Council is an anti terror organization ⁰

The Biya Francophone regime is targeting Southern Cameroonians in the Diaspora and individuals and groups supporting the Anglophone uprising and quest for an independent state. For over a year now, Southern Cameroons businessmen and women owed money by the government of La Republique du Cameroun have not been paid.

Biya and his consortium of CPDM crime syndicates are imposing even more hard-hitting policies against the people of Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia to further starve them. Yaoundé has accused the Anglophone Diaspora of being behind the crisis in Southern Cameroons in which some 4000 Ambazonians have been killed including some 1400 Cameroon government army soldiers.

Biya is trying to distract from his numerous political problems in French Cameroun following the rigged October 7 presidential polls by blaming the Ambazonian Interim Government and by extrapolation, the Ambazonia Self-Defense and Restoration Forces Council.

The 85 year old president-dictator including his gang of French Cameroun political elites are claiming that the Ambazonia Self-Defense Council is a terrorist group which is a lie. The Ambazonia Self-Defence and Restoration Forces Council (ASC/RF), the command and control system prosecuting the war against La Republique du Cameroun, does not go out of its way to target civilians.

As an expert in Terrorism, International Crime and Global Security, I understand that terrorism is a military tactic and it is a tactic which consists of intentionally targeting civilians. The Ambazonia Self-Defense and Restoration Forces does not do that. On the contrary, the ASC/RF is a Southern Cameroons resistance group which is fighting to prevent French Cameroun terrorists army soldiers from continuing to overrun the Ambazonian territory that does not belong to them.

Nothing in Southern Cameroons or its surroundings belong to French speaking Cameroonians and their Francophone government in Yaoundé. Southern Cameroons and French Cameroun were two separate nations that came together and created a federation. Then French Cameroun invaded, used terrorism as their main tactic for more than 56 years. Today, Southern Cameroons resistance groups are focusing on stopping this invasion and stopping the terrorism. So, Ambazonia Restoration Force actually is an anti-terror group. That is why the international community should and must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Ambazonia Interim Government to put an end to French Cameroun terrorism and genocide in Southern Cameroons.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

8, December 2018

Financial Fair Play: PSG ‘vehemently deny’ plan to sell Mbappe, Neymar ⁰

French champions Paris Saint-Germain have quashed reports the club could be forced to sell either Kylian Mbappe or Neymar in a bid to circumvent eventual Financial Fair Play(FFP) sanctions.

Qatar-owned PSG are one of a number of clubs under scrutiny from UEFA’s FFP regulations after splashing a combined total of more than 400 million euros in 2017 for Brazil star Neymar and World Cup winner Mbappe.

Rival clubs and even the president of Spain’s La Liga championship, Javier Tebas, bemoan the lack of sanctions for PSG, who according to recent leaked documents have violated the strict financial regulations put in place by European football’s ruling body.

UEFA still have their eye on PSG and their finances and daily sports newspaper L’Equipe claimed late on Friday that any future sanctions could see the club sell one of their most coveted stars.

But PSG were quick to shoot down the report. “In an article published on their website on Friday night, L’Equipe dared to say that ‘PSG is ready to lose Kylian Mbappe or Neymar Jr to avoid (FFP) sanctions’,” said a statement issued by the club.

PSG “vehemently denies these totally false and ridiculous allegations, which serve only to recreate a climate of tension between the club and this media outlet.”

The front page of L’Equipe on Saturday carried pictures of both Mbappe, the 19-year-old who struck in a 4-2 World Cup final win over Croatia last summer, and Brazil star Neymar while page two claimed the club are “ready to lose a star”.

UEFA’s FFP rules mean clubs are forbidden from spending more money than they generate. UEFA’s auditors opened an investigation into PSG in September 2017 following the purchase of Neymar from Barcelona and Mbappe from Monaco earlier that summer.

The case was shelved in June 2018, before being reopened in September 2018. PSG reacted by appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), claiming it has met UEFA’s FFP demands. A UEFA spokesman said last month: “We will have to wait for CAS’s decision on PSG’s appeal before looking at this issue.”

AFP

8, December 2018

France braces for fresh protests amid fears of further violence ⁰

France has been braced for fresh“yellow vest” protests for a fourth weekend in a row in the capital Paris and other cities as further street violence is looming large. Authorities have deployed thousands of police and security forces to the capital and other cities on Saturday.

They urged shops and restaurant around the famous Champs-Elysees to shutter. Museums, metro stations and the Tour Eiffel will also remain closed over the weekend. The protests began in opposition to a rise in fuel tax, but the government it has been hijacked by ultra-violent protesters.

France’s interior minister Christophe Castaner said “large scale” security operation would be launched on Saturday as they expect radical elements” infiltrate planned “yellow vest” protests. He said that “only a few thousand people” are expected to descend on the capital after the 8,000 protesters counted last weekend, “but among them are ultraviolent individuals.”

“These past three weeks have seen the birth of a monster that has escaped its creators,” he said, vowing “zero tolerance” towards those aiming to wreak further destruction and mayhem.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe also announced on Friday evening that 89,000 police officers will be on duty across the country and armored vehicles will also be deployed in Paris, which was the scene of worst riots in decades last weekend. The French government says it will consider imposing a state of emergency amid the worst civil unrest in more than a decade, which has caught authorities off guard.

The “yellow vest” movement began three weeks ago, but has snowballed to take in other issues, including education reforms. But the demonstrations led to the worst violence in decades; dozens of vehicles were torched, shops looted and the Arc de Triomphe war memorial was wrecked. Only hundreds were arrested and scores injured in Paris.

President Emmanuel Macron, who is are expected to address nation early next week, is now experiencing the biggest crisis since being elected 18 months ago. He has s not spoken in public since he condemned last Saturday’s disturbances while at the G20 summit in Argentina. Opposition leaders accused him of turning the Elysee Palace into a bunker where had taken cover.

The 40-year old president, who is under mounting pressure, has left the issue largely to his prime minister to deal in public with the turmoil and offer concessions. Prime Minister Philippe met a delegation of self-described “moderate” yellow vests who have urged people not to join the protests.

After the meeting a movement spokesman, Christophe Chalencon, said the premier had “listened to us and promised to take our demands to the president”.

“Now we await Mr Macron. I hope he will speak to the people of France as a father, with love and respect and that he will take strong decisions,” he said. Following last weekend’s riots in central Paris and dozens of other cities and towns across France, the government decided to abandon its plan to raise the fuel tax next year.

But protesters want the president to go further to help hard-pressed households, including an increase to the minimum wage, lower taxes, higher salaries, cheaper energy, better retirement provisions.

Some of them have demanded Macro’s resignation. They say the president is part of an elitist coterie that neither understands, nor cares how they live. Police used tear gas against students protesting over educational reforms, in Lyon on Friday. According to local media, dozens of protesters were arrested.

Also on Thursday, police arrested dozens of high-school students protesting in Mantes-la-Jolie west of Paris. Images of detained students who were kneeling in mud with their hands behind their back or on the head, circulated on social media, and sparked outrage across the country. Footage shows children and teenagers, some reportedly as young as 12 years old.

The education minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer, said that the images had to be seen in the context of police responding to student violence. “There are shocking images because we are in a climate of exceptional violence.”

More than 700 students were arrested across France on Thursday alone.

Source: Presstv

8, December 2018

US DEMOCRATIC SENATORS RAISE ALARM OVER HUMAN RIGHTS IN CAMEROON ⁰

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) led a letter signed by a group of Democratic Senators to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo raising deep concerns about violations of human rights, the breakdown in the rule of law, and elections fraud in Cameroon. In addition to Senator Van Hollen, the letter was signed by Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).

The Senators write, “Cameroon has become an increasingly important regional counterterrorism partner and the United States has increased its commitment of security assistance in recent years. However, rising tensions in the Anglophone North West and South West regions, coupled with credible reports of human rights abuses by the Cameroonian armed forces in those regions and the Far North, where Boko Haram is active, have changed the tone of discussions regarding U.S. security assistance.”

They continue, “Reports indicate that government forces are responsible for extrajudicial killings, the burning of villages, torture, and other human rights abuses, including a much-publicized video reportedly showing soldiers executing two women, a child, and a baby they accused of being members of Boko Haram. The violent death of American missionary Charles Wesco underscores the level of bloodshed engulfing the Anglophone areas of the country. United Nations figures indicate that more than 21,000 Cameroonians have fled to neighboring countries and 160,000 are internally displaced.”

The Senators close the letter urging, “The U.S. government should make clear to the government of Cameroon that, while we remain dedicated to the fight against Boko Haram, our commitment to human rights and the rule of law is steadfast and we expect our regional partners to share that commitment. We must also emphasize the critical importance of a political solution to the crisis in the Anglophone regions, work with civil society groups to ensure that elections are free, open, and transparent, and offer our assistance as mediators. The United States should impose sanctions on individuals found to have committed gross violations of human rights, consistent with the law. In addition, we will work with our colleagues in the Senate to assess whether additional conditions should be imposed on security assistance to Cameroon.”

The full text of the letter can be found here and below:

Dear Secretary Pompeo:

We are writing in response to concerns that have been raised about the recent elections in Cameroon, the ongoing crisis in the Anglophone regions of the country, and human rights abuses related to the crisis and the campaign against Boko Haram.

Cameroon has become an increasingly important regional counterterrorism partner and the United States has increased its commitment of security assistance in recent years. However, rising tensions in the Anglophone North West and South West regions, coupled with credible reports of human rights abuses by the Cameroonian armed forces in those regions and the Far North, where Boko Haram is active, have changed the tone of discussions regarding U.S. security assistance.

Reports indicate that government forces are responsible for extrajudicial killings, the burning of villages, torture, and other human rights abuses, including a much-publicized video reportedly showing soldiers executing two women, a child, and a baby they accused of being members of Boko Haram. The violent death of American missionary Charles Wesco underscores the level of bloodshed engulfing the Anglophone areas of the country. United Nations figures indicate that more than 21,000 Cameroonians have fled to neighboring countries and 160,000 are internally displaced.

In addition, recent elections were marred by irregularities and intimidation. Voter turnout in the Anglophone regions was reportedly “marked by apathy, and in some regions, outright fear,” and driven to unprecedented lows by the military’s campaign against Anglophone separatists, which has often veered into human rights abuses against civilians. The results of the election remain heavily disputed, and multiple presidential candidates have petitioned for the results to be voided, citing allegations of ballot stuffing and intimidation. The program director for Central Africa at the International Crisis Group told Foreign Policy that “[t]here is an emerging civil war. Anglophones feel completely disenfranchised, but they didn’t need the elections to tell them that.”

The U.S. government should make clear to the government of Cameroon that, while we remain dedicated to the fight against Boko Haram, our commitment to human rights and the rule of law is steadfast and we expect our regional partners to share that commitment. We must also emphasize the critical importance of a political solution to the crisis in the Anglophone regions, support civil society groups to ensure that elections are free, credible, and transparent, and offer our assistance as mediators. The United States should impose sanctions on individuals found to have committed gross violations of human rights, consistent with the law. In addition, we will work with our colleagues in the Senate to assess whether additional conditions should be imposed on security assistance to Cameroon.

We look forward to working with you on this critical issue.

Sincerely,

8, December 2018

Biya’s Creation Of A Disarmament Committee Amid Skepticism ⁰

Cameroon says it has created a committee to disarm and reintegrate hundreds of separatist fighters and Boko Haram terrorists who put down their weapons. But analysts say the committee has a long road ahead in English-speaking regions, where fighting between the government and separatists has intensified.

Ngoran Nora read the names of 30 people whose homes were set on fire before she escaped Thursday from the northwest town of Kumbo. She told her community members in Yaounde that the military killed at least 15 people in the villages of Meluf, Kikaikom, Mbveh and Tooy over two days after gunmen engaged them in battle.

She said soldiers might have targeted people they suspect collaborate with separatists, or did not inform them about the fighters’ presence in the villages.

Houses torched by the military in Kumbo lie vacant after their occupants fled. (M. Kindzeka for VOA) — Houses torched by the military in Kumbo lie vacant after their occupants fled.

The violence comes less than a week after President Paul Biya created a national committee for the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former Boko Haram fighters in the far north and former separatist fighters in northwest and southwest regions.

The government said the committee was created to assist hundreds of former fighters who heeded Biya’s call to drop their guns and be pardoned, or killed by the military.

Joseph Motaze, political analyst with the Cameroon-based Center for the Rehabilitation of Former Fighters, said the committee is a good first step. But he suggested that Biya should reduce the military’s presence in the northwest and southwest regions to show he is ready to make peace.

He said it is imperative for the government to start negotiating with armed groups in the restive English-speaking regions and immediately drop the idea of using war as a solution to the crisis.

He added that the fighters are becoming violent to a point where they are kidnapping and killing people who do not share their views, and taking administrators hostage to make the area totally ungovernable.

The armed groups want to form an independent English-speaking state. The majority of Cameroon’s population speaks French.

Francis Fai Yengo, a retired civil administrator appointed to head the disarmament committee, said he will need the support of everyone to be able to succeed.

He said he has to set to work immediately because the task ahead of him is enormous.

He called on all Cameroonians to propose ideas and contribute to the peace initiative so that all of the youths who have taken up weapons can make wise decisions to emerge from the bushes and live like peaceful citizens in their own country — Cameroon.

The separatist war has killed more than 1,200 people, according to the government.

Source: VOA

7, December 2018

Amnesty censures South Sudan over rising number of executions ⁰

Amnesty International has denounced a rise in the use of the death sentence in South Sudan, urging the world’s youngest nation to “stop signing execution orders.” The London-based rights group said in a statement on Friday that seven people were executed this year, including one who was a child when convicted of murder. It said 342 other people were on death row.

“The world’s youngest nation has embraced this outdated, inhuman practice and is executing people, even children, at a time when the rest of the world is abandoning this abhorrent punishment,” Joan Nyanyuki, Amnesty’s regional director, said in the statement.

“The president of South Sudan must stop signing execution orders and end this obvious violation of the right to life,” she added. Juba, however, denied the report, saying no one had been executed in the country since 2011 and a moratorium had been placed on the practice since 2013.

Presidency spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said the capital punishment remained on the statute books, adding, “If you kill a person, you will be executed.”

South Sudan, the youngest country in Africa, is suffering from a bloody civil war, whose history goes back to President Salva Kiir accusing his former deputy Riek Machar and current rebel leader of plotting a coup. In September, Kiir signed a peace agreement with rebel factions in the Ethiopia to end the civil war.

However, UN rights investigators said on Friday that all sides in the conflict continue to recruit fighters despite the September accord which stipulates that the warring parties stop recruitment, whether voluntary or forced, as a permanent truce takes hold.

“There is a worrying trend, that there is some recruitment going on,” Barney Afako, a member of the UN’s Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, said at the end of a four-day visit to the country.

Yasmin Sooka, the chairperson of the commission, said the new recruitment “is on all sides” of South Sudan’s conflict.

The exact motivation behind the recruitment is still unclear, but Afako said it might be “tactical” so that militant groups can argue for a greater share of government demobilization programs, or it might be “preparation to return to conflict.” According to the report, fighting has stopped since the deal was signed in September.

Source: Presstv

7, December 2018

Gunmen attack Senator Buh Sule ⁰

Unknown gunmen have reportedly attacked Senator Buh Sule Tegha en route to Wum, Menchum County today in Bambui. We gathered from a reliable source deep within the Ambazonia Defense Council that Senator Buh Sule was accompanied by his wife and driver when he came under attack.

The Senator’s wife sustained life threatening wounds and she is currently on intensive care at the Bamenda Regional Hospital. As at the time of filing this report, the police are also yet to confirm the incident. The senator is safe but the vehicle arrear screen was shattered.

The Senator’s driver was quoted as saying that they heard gunshots, sporadic shooting aimed at Senator Buh Sule’s car. The shooting lasted for about 15 minutes, his driver said.

Camcordnews desk

7, December 2018

The Ambazonian Trial in Yaounde ⁰

A separatist leader from the anglophone west of Cameroon went on trial Thursday on charges of”terrorism” and “secession” over unrest that has claimedhundreds of lives.

Julius Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, president of the self-declared “Republic of Ambazonia”, was arrested in neighbouring Nigeria and extradited to Cameroon in January this year along with 46 others.

The military court in the capital Yaounde is trying Ayuk Tabe and nine co-defendants on charges of “condoning and financing terrorism” as well as insurrection and “hostility against the motherland”.

Cameroon’s 22 million people are mainly French-speakers, but around a fifth are English-speaking, concentrated in the Northwest and neighbouring Southwest regions of the West African country.

Resentment at perceived discrimination against anglophones in education, the judiciary and the economy fanned demands for autonomy in 2016.

Then last year, as longtime President Paul Biya refused any concessions, radicals declared the independent state of Ambazonia and took up arms.

Attacks by the secessionists and a crackdown by the authorities have led to the death of at least 500 civilians as well as more than 200 members of the security forces, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).

More than 300,000 people have fled the violence, many of them living hand-to-mouth in the forests, and some across the border into Nigeria. Clashes persist on a near-daily basis. Ayuk Tabe and most of his co-defendants make up the political wing of the separatist movement, advocating negotiation with Yaounde.

The court rejected a demand for Ayuk Tabe’s release from detention in mid-November. The trial was adjourned Thursday to January 10 to allow the defence – comprising more than 80 lawyers – to study the charges. The prosecution plans to call 70 witnesses, according to a list seen by AFP.

Source AFP