5, December 2018

Report sheds light on extent of US military presence in Africa 0

A United States military briefing shows Washington runs 34 bases across Africa, contrary to the Pentagon’s insistence that it maintains a modest presence across the continent.

The 2018 briefing by the US African Command (AFRICOM)’s science adviser Peter E. Teil, titled Strategic Posture, was exposed by The Intercept in early December. The news website obtained the documents via the Freedom of Information Act.

The documents, the report said, offer “a unique window onto the sprawling network of US military outposts in Africa, including previously undisclosed or unconfirmed sites in hotspots like Libya, Niger, and Somalia.”

In the briefing, Teil presented a map of the US military’s constellation of the bases, which names 14 forward operating sites (FOSes) and cooperative security locations (CSLs) besides providing country-specific locales for 20 contingency locations.

‘Three theaters’

The website quoted Adam Moore, an assistant professor of geography at the University of California, as saying that the positioning of the bases suggested that the US military presence had been organized around three theaters throughout the continent.

“The Horn of Africa — Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya; Libya; and the Sahel — Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso,” said Moore, adding that the US only maintained one base in the south.

Lowdown

  • Djibouti is home to the “crown jewel” of the bases, Camp Lemonnier, the US hub for operations targeting Yemen and Somalia.
  • Libya is shown housing three unnamed and previously unreported contingency locations near its coastline, although President Donald Trump said last year that he saw no US military role there.
  • Cameroon accommodates two more contingency bases.
  • The 2018 map also notes the existence of a CSL in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena.
  • There are two contingency locations in neighboring Mali.
  • Tunisia hosts another contingency site.
  • Only one base lies in the far south of the continent: A CSL in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone.

“It is getting harder for the US military to plausibly claim that it has a ‘light footprint’ in Africa. In just the past five years, it has established what is perhaps the largest drone complex in the world in Djibouti — Chabelley — which is involved in wars on two continents, Yemen, and Somalia,” Moore said.

The expert also noted that the US was building an even larger drone base in the city of Agadez in central Niger.

Earlier in the year, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the AFRICOM commander, told the House Armed Services Committee, “US Africa Command’s posture plan is designed to secure strategic access to key locations on a continent characterized by vast distances and limited infrastructure.”

“Our posture network allows forward staging of forces to provide operational flexibility and timely response,” he added.

Source: Presstv


Why is Biya appointing a Southern Cameroonian under investigation to head the NDDRC?

5, December 2018

Why is Biya appointing a Southern Cameroonian under investigation to head the NDDRC? 0

A former Southern Cameroons civil administrator and governor has been appointed to head the so-called National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee (NDDRC) for organizing, supervising and managing the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-fighters of Boko Haram and armed groups in Southern Cameroons willing to respond favourably to peace appeal by laying down their arms. Fai Yengo has been given the key role by President-dictator, Paul Biya even though the Ambazonia Defense Council, ASC warned that Southern Cameroonians serving the interest of the French Cameroun government would have to face devastating consequences.

The surprise move means that former Governor Fai Yengo will now have to work hand-in-gloves with the Delegate-General for National Security, Martin Mbarga Nguele who had issued a police order on the 4th of April 2018 preventing Mr. Fai Yengo from leaving the country.  Governor Fai Yengo is reportedly under police investigation for corruption but has also been told by the 85 year President Paul Biya that  he will have to help the Cameroon army develop solutions to forthcoming security challenges in the Northern Zone of Southern Cameroons where he was Senior Divisional Officer for Menchum County and Governor of the North West Province.

In the decree signed outlining Governor Fai Yengo’s new role, President Biya struck a markedly different tone to the one he adopted after declaring war against the people of Southern Cameroons. However, Fai Yengo Francis (to use his three names) will have to accept being regarded as a foreign citizen in La Republique du Cameroun.  The Fai Yengo Francis appointment seems to imply an expectation of Anglophones and Francophones sharing a united and clear purpose in a one and indivisible Cameroon for years to come.

But the retired civil administration that is alleged to have siphoned much of the international aid and funds that came to the people of Menchum immediately after the Lake Nyos Gas disaster is coming back to the CPDM limelight at a particularly challenging time for the Biya regime.

By Sessekou Asu Isong in London


Germany looks beyond Merkel as party elects successor

5, December 2018

Germany looks beyond Merkel as party elects successor 0

A knife-edge vote Friday will determine Angela Merkel’s successor as head of her party after 18 years at the helm, with the German chancellor’s own political fate and legacy on the line. Merkel, the European Union’s most powerful leader, stunned observers in October with the announcement following a state election setback that she would not stand again as chairwoman of her centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU).

After years of turmoil within the party and the electorate over her disputed decision to keep the border open to more than one million asylum seekers, Merkel has said she will leave politics when her term ends in 2021.

Whether she can hold on to power until then will depend in large part on who the CDU elects to replace her at a party conference in Hamburg, with a Merkel loyalist and a longtime nemesis running neck-and-neck. “Sooner or later, whoever becomes the leader of Germany’s biggest party will probably become chancellor,” political scientist Eckhard Jesse of the University of Chemnitz told AFP.

Widely seen as Merkel’s anointed crown princess is Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56. Known as AKK for short, she is the CDU’s centrist general secretary and former premier of tiny Saarland state. While polls indicate that she is also the favoured choice among German voters and the CDU’s rank-and-file, there are indications she has failed to electrify the 1,001 delegates who will cast ballots in the race against her charismatic main rival, Friedrich Merz.

Merz, 63, a hard-charging corporate lawyer, lost a power struggle to Merkel in 2002 and insiders say he has never forgiven her. He is also viewed as embodying the party’s desire for change in both style and substance after 13 years with Merkel in the chancellery, despite her enduring popularity.

The wild card in the race is Jens Spahn, a 38-year-old openly gay minister in Merkel’s cabinet who long railed against her refugee policy.

Analysts say that a win for either Merz or Spahn would likely bring a swift end to Merkel’s chancellorship, possibly triggering new elections next year.

– ‘Slap in the face’ –

How the delegates will vote is anyone’s guess, with most keeping their cards close to their vests. Nearly all hold political office or party posts. One-third are women.

After more than a decade in the private sector, Merz says his conservative credentials and business savvy make him best placed to win back disaffected voters. But he touched a nerve when he said the CDU, in his absence, had accepted the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party during the refugee crisis “shrugging its shoulders”.

“I get icy chills down my spine when I see people running around in this country doing the Hitler salute,” he told one regional conference. Kramp-Karrenbauer, who has criticised some aspects of Merkel’s border policy, shot back that Merz’s accusation was a “slap in the face” for the party’s foot soldiers.

“Pretending you could just say or decide something and then the fight against the AfD would be won is naive,” she told the weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

– ‘Like matricide’ –

The CDU remains Germany’s biggest party. But the 33 percent it scored in the September 2017 general election has sunk to around 28 percent in opinion polls as the party suffered losses in a string of regional votes.

While still seen as Europe’s go-to leader on crises from Brexit to Ukraine, Merkel has watched her standing diminish at the top of a loveless “grand coalition” with the Social Democrats (SPD).

They are faring even worse in the polls, as internal divisions over its former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s sweeping labour market reforms continue to fester. CDU stalwarts expect a Merkel nostalgia-fest in Hamburg as the faithful bid a gradual goodbye to the woman who won them four national elections.

But newsweekly Der Spiegel noted that the leadership struggle needed to produce some sort of consensus on Merkel’s legacy if the party wants to avoid the fate of the SPD. “Without a critical reckoning with her era, the CDU will be stuck in an interminable therapy session,” it said. “The CDU has to allow it, even if it seems to many like matricide.”

AFP


Southern Cameroons War: IG says humanitarian crisis to deteriorate in 2019

5, December 2018

Southern Cameroons War: IG says humanitarian crisis to deteriorate in 2019 0

The Southern Cameroons Interim Government has warned Ambazonians in the Diaspora that the humanitarian crisis in the country, already the worst in Africa, will deteriorate as 2019 approaches, more than a year after the French Cameroun President-Dictator, launched an intense military campaign of helicopter strikes and ground attacks which are still ongoing.

Acting President Samuel Sako Ikome told Cameroon Intelligence Report that the food and medical assistance provided to Southern Cameroons refugees both in French Cameroun and in the Federal Republic of Nigeria by international organizations including the UN has been insignificant. The Ambazonian leader wondered aloud why the UN was maintaining a kind of silence of the lamb as regards to the genocide going on in Southern Cameroons particularly the massacres that took place in Nkambe and Bali.

French Cameroun troops deployed to Southern Cameroons to crush the Ambazonia revolution and to reinstall Francophone dominance in the territory have killed hundreds of innocent Southern Cameroons civilians. The aggression initially consisted of a scotch the earth policy, was later coupled with numerous curfews and destruction of towns and villages by Cameroon government forces.

In his ill-disguised attempts at deceiving the international community, President-Dictator Paul Biya recently signed a decree creating a National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee (NDDRC) for organizing, supervising and managing the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-fighters of Boko Haram and armed groups in Southern Cameroons willing to respond favourably to his so-called peace appeal by laying down their arms. The 85 year old also appointed a French Cameroun surrogate, former governor Fai Yengo Francis to head the commission.

In response, Ambazonia Self-Defence and Restoration Forces Council (ASC/RF), the command and control system prosecuting the war against French Cameroun rejected the so-called disarmament committee. Since the onset of the President Biya imposed war, the Ambazonian Restoration Forces with support from the Southern Cameroons Diaspora, has been defending the Southern Cameroons nation against the brutal aggression.

The war is estimated to have left some 4000 Southern Cameroonians dead and more than 437,000 caught in the crossfire.  Hundreds of Ambazonians have fled their homes, according to UN data; many now trapped in the bush are now facing starvation.

More than a year into the war, Biya and French Cameroun have achieved neither of its objectives. Yaoundé wrongfully thought at the start of the invasion that the war would take no more than a couple of weeks. The situation has worsened in French Cameroun in recent days due to a broad economic collapse following a CAF decision to strip the Biya regime of the right to stage the 2019 African Nations Cup finals. CAF confirmed the unanimous decision after a meeting of its executive committee in Accra, Ghana.

In its recent report on Cameroon’s public expenditure management, the World Bank revealed that the institutional mechanisms to implement the program-budget approach launched in 2013 is still far from achieving expected results.

According to the report, since 2013, the Parliament has approved each year a program-centered 3-year budget for all departments. Each department develops its own programs (about 3) and sets objectives and indicators (two to three per program). However, World Bank said, most indicators are not suitable or operational.

Elsewhere in his comments to Cameroon Intelligence Report, Acting President Sako Ikome said the Interim Government was in an urgent need of financial donations to help the resistance and suffering Southern Cameroonians in 2019.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai


Federal Republic of Ambazonia: *JUSTICE4NERA10 CAMPAIGN*FREE THEM NOW!

5, December 2018

Federal Republic of Ambazonia: *JUSTICE4NERA10 CAMPAIGN*FREE THEM NOW! 0

Since December 2016, the French Cameroon military has responded to peaceful protests with force, killing over 4000 defenseless civilians from then to date, according to activists on the ground.

Thousands more have been disappeared and are feared dead.

Over 90 villages have been burnt down by French Cameroon military forces, resulting in 60,000 people who have fled to neighbouring Nigeria as refugees, according to activists on the ground. The UN has officially registered 31,000 refugees in Nigeria, and it estimates that more 500,000 people are displaced within Cameroon.

Over 2,500 activist and peaceful protesters have been imprisoned, some are being tried in military courts which is a violation of international law, and some have been sentenced for terrorism and other unjustifiable charges.

These prisoners include the prominent nonviolence advocate Julius Ayuk Tabe and 11 of his senior aides, who were arrested on January 5, 2018, at the Nera Hotel in Abuja, Nigeria, where they had gathered to plan a meeting with the UNHCR to discuss the refugee crisis. 10 of them were then forcibly and unlawfully repatriated to Cameroon in violation of non-refoulement, a fundamental principle of international law which forbids a country receiving asylum seekers from returning them to a country in which they would be in likely danger of execution.

The #JUSTICE4NERA10 Campaign seeks to actively campaign by advocating for the Nera 10 Abducted leaders who are now being tried in the Cameroon military courts in violation of even their own and international laws of not trying civilians in military courts.

THIS CAMPAIGN DEMANDS:

*1) THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF THESE 10 NOBLE GENTELEMEN AND ALL HELD BY THE REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON UNDER SAME CIRCUMSTANCES*

*2) RETURN THESE NOBLE GENTLEMEN TO NIGERIA; IF #NIGERIA ACUSES THEM OF ANY CRIME,AS #INTERNATIONAL_LAW REQUIRES*

 


5, December 2018

World Bank says in Cameroon, Ministries Suffer from Lack of Financial Resources 0

In its recent report on Cameroon’s public expenditure management, the World Bank revealed that the institutional mechanisms to implement the program-budget approach launched in 2013 is still far from achieving expected results.

According to the report, since 2013, the Parliament has approved each year a program-centered 3-year budget for all departments. Each department develops its own programs (about 3) and sets objectives and indicators (two to three per program). However, World Bank said, most indicators are not suitable or operational.

Moreover, the reporting chains are not transparent and reliable enough to inform the program manager in due time and allow him to adjust implementation. In some cases, the programs and activities do meet the ministries’ missions.

Finally, the Bretton Woods institution notes that the funds allocated to the ministries’ program budgets are incomplete. For example, salary management remains centralized within the program of the finance ministry.

However, an Integrated System for the Management of the Personnel and Payroll (Sigipes II) has been developed to improve the management and transparency of payroll costs. However, its deployment in line with ministries has not yet occurred due to a lack of financial resources.

www.gossipmaestro.com


Cameroonians die three times over: They die of poverty, die of illness and die of war

4, December 2018

Cameroonians die three times over: They die of poverty, die of illness and die of war 0

La Republique du Cameroun until the recent secession of its Anglophone part was CEMAC region’s biggest country. It is mostly known and in particular portrayed as such in the world media, for its peace, football and ethnic, religious and tribal tolerance. But the Southern Cameroons revolution has made all of the positives a thing of the past fostered by a sitting ruthless dictator, old colonialist power and new imperialist forces. This is exactly what is happening today in La Republique du Cameroun since the beginning of the Ambazonia uprising.

From its very inception, Anglophone lawyers and teachers rose up en masse and challenged the Francophone dominated regime in Yaoundé over what they described as endemic marginalization and economic discrimination. The revolt was directed against the heinous Francophone dictatorship of President Paul Biya and the ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement party that has held power since November 6th 1982.  This is the first revolt of this magnitude against a French surrogate regime.

Ghost town operations of a scale not witnessed for decades has continued for two years now in all major Southern Cameroons cities, towns and villages. Anti-government protests, initially led by students from the University of Buea and Bamenda, have inspired similar demonstrations among traders union, okada riders and transporters. In French Cameroun, years of subjugation at the hands of the ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement (CPDM) has yielded both political apathy and a weak opposition.

The killing of several hundred of Southern Cameroonians and sweeping arrests on the part of the French Cameroun State Security and Intelligence Services reportedly pushed the protests to expand to include all the people of the former British Southern Cameroons.  The regime started to take it very seriously following the escalation of repression and this also is an indication of the loss of social control by President Biya. Buea, Bamenda and all the major cities in Southern Cameroons are now besieged by the Francophone police and the French Cameroun army. Bullets and teargas were the first reaction, and then the Biya regime started to crackdown massively on Ambazonians, arresting more than 1000 activists. 4000 Southern Cameroonians have so far been killed. Hundreds have been carried to “phantom houses” or undisclosed locations, where they are tortured and the women and young girls raped by members of the infamous French Cameroun secret service. Approximately 50,000 have fled the onslaught into neighbouring Nigeria and thousands are living in the bushes. The UN says some 461,000 Southern Cameroonians have been internally displaced.

On October 7, the president-dictator, Paul Biya rigged the presidential election in French Cameroun  and got a seventh term and is now imposing a new round of even more draconian measures against the people of Southern Cameroons which have subsequently created a club of military billionaires as  85% of the government’s budget is swallowed by military expenses.  Meanwhile the ongoing wars in the Far North region against Boko Haram and in the East with rebels from the Central African Republic cost the French Cameroun government millions a day!

Things are beginning to fall apart as Cameroon was recently stripped of the right to stage the 2019 African Nations Cup finals. CAF confirmed the unanimous decision after a meeting of its executive committee in Accra. Cameroon’s ability to host the finals was first questioned when CAF announced in July last year that the tournament would have eight additional teams and only countries capable of putting on world-class tournament, with complete facilities and extensive infrastructure would be allowed to stage the event. CAF sent several inspection teams to Cameroon to check on the progress of the construction of five stadiums proposed for the tournament.

When CAF president Ahmad went to Cameroon in October he told the country’s President Paul Biya in front of assembled reporters: “CAF has no Plan B, nor have we ever considered taking the Nations Cup away from Cameroon.” But last week he criticised Cameroon’s inability to regularise the affairs of its football federation, which has been under the control of a normalisation committee for more than a year while it struggles to adopt a new constitution and elect a new executive.

On 30 November 2018, President Paul Biya signed a decree creating the “National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee (NDDRC) for organizing, supervising and managing the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-fighters of Boko Haram and armed groups in Southern Cameroons willing to respond favourably to the Head of State’s peace appeal by laying down their arms.” In response, Ambazonia Self-Defence and Restoration Forces Council (ASC/RF), the command and control system prosecuting the war against French Cameroun rejected the so-called Biya presidential decree. The situation in both Cameroons is growing from bad to worse and even Francophone Cameroonians are fed up. The President-dictator lives in a five star Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva and his regime is slowly but surely taking the last kicks of a dying horse. To be accurate Cameroonians die three times over: they die of poverty, die of illness and die of war.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai


Modric beats Ronaldo, Messi to win Ballon d’Or

4, December 2018

Modric beats Ronaldo, Messi to win Ballon d’Or 0

Luka Modric ended the long reign of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo by winning the Ballon d’Or for the first time on Monday, while another first saw Norwegian forward Ada Hegerberg win the inaugural women’s trophy.

Messi and Ronaldo had won every Ballon d’Or since 2008, and usually fought only each other for the greatest recognition among soccer’s elite. Women’s fight for recognition on the biggest stage took a big step with Hegerberg’s award.

Modric won the Champions League with Real Madrid and then guided Croatia to the World Cup final in July. The midfielder was voted player of the tournament. “As a kid we all have dreams. My dream was to play for a big club and win important trophies,” Modric said. “The Ballon d’Or was more than just a dream for me and it is really an honor and a privilege to hold this trophy.”

Ronaldo was second in the polling followed by France forward Antoine Griezmann. France’s teen star, Kylian Mbappe, was fourth. Brazil star Neymar was third last year but only 12th this time. Messi was fifth in the voting, having been runner-up to Ronaldo the past two years and in the top three every year since 2007. Modric had never previously been in the top three.

“2018 is a dream year for me,” the 33-year-old Modric said. “Throughout my career I realized hard work, persistence and belief in yourself in difficult moments are the foundations of success.” Modric’s father was shown on the big screen wiping away tears during the ceremony at the imperious Grand Palais in Paris.

Ronaldo missed out on a record sixth award, which would have moved him one ahead of Messi. The last player to win it before those two started dominating world soccer awards was Brazil midfielder Kaka with AC Milan in 2007.

Ronaldo also won the Champions League last season with Modric, before leaving to join Juventus. He scored a hat trick against Spain at the World Cup but he failed to make an impression when Portugal lost to Uruguay in the round of 16.

Mbappe and Griezmann scored in the 4-2 World Cup final win against Croatia. Mbappe earned a domestic treble with Paris Saint-Germain. Griezmann also scored twice for Atletico Madrid in the Europa League final win against Marseille.

France coach Didier Deschamps said a France player should have won the award. “They deserve it because of what they did with the national team at the World Cup and also because of the trophies they won with their clubs,” Deschamps said.

The 19-year-old Mbappe   the youngest player since Pelé to score in a World Cup final   won the Raymond Kopa Trophy awarded to the best young player. France Football magazine has been awarding the Ballon d’Or since 1956, and created a women’s award for the first time this year.

Hegerberg is a three-time Women’s Champions League winner with French side Lyon and scored a tournament-record 15 times last season. “I want to say thanks to France Football. It’s a huge step for women’s football,” Hegerberg said. “I want to end this speech with a message to all young girls in the world. Believe in yourselves.”

The outspoken 23-year-old Hegerberg said she won’t play for Norway at the Women’s World Cup in France next June. Taking a stand against what she describes as a lack of respect for female players in Norway, she hasn’t played for the national team since 2017 when it crashed out of the group stage of the Women’s European Championship without scoring a goal.

Speaking in an interview shortly before collecting her Ballon d’Or, Hegerberg told The Associated Press on Monday she has no plans to reconsider her decision taken to preserve her “authenticity and my values, as a person, as a footballer.”

“A lot of things need to be done to make the conditions better for women who play football,” she said. “It’s all about how we respect women’s football. I don’t think the respect has been there. “Sometimes you have to take tough decisions to stay true to yourself. I let them know, quite clearly, what I found wasn’t working.”

(AP)


Ambazonia: ASC Council Rejects President Biya’s Decree Creating National Disarmament

4, December 2018

Ambazonia: ASC Council Rejects President Biya’s Decree Creating National Disarmament 0

On 30 November 2018, neigbouring La Republique du Cameroun’s (LRC) President Paul Biya signed a decree creating the “National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee (NDDRC) for organizing, supervising and managing the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-fighters of Boko Haram and armed groups in the North-West and South-West Regions willing to respond favourably to the Head of State’s peace appeal by laying down their arms.” In response, Ambazonia Self-Defence and Restoration Forces Council (ASC/RF), the command and control system prosecuting the war against LRC, issued the following statement:

  1. President Paul Biya needs to stop further provocative actions and illegal administration of the territory of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. On 5 January 2018, the Government of la Republique du Cameroun and Nigeria illegally adopted His Excellency Sisiku AyukTabe, President of the Interim Government of Ambazonia-in-exile, plus 9 top cabinet members in Abuja and rendition them to Yaoundé where they remained incommunicado for over 10 months until recently with deteriorating health conditions. Prior to their arrest and rendition, on 30 November 2017, President Biya declared war against the Federal Republique of Ambazonia. During the intervening one year, soldiers, gendarmes and police loyal to President Biya have deliberately killed over 10,000 unarmed civilians, within the internationally recognized territory of Ambazonia. In addition, at least 10,000 college and university students including their lecturers have been illegally arrested and are currently tortured in deplorable prison conditions and underground secret chambers across the territory of LRC. Over 2000 Ambazonians are now maimed; scores of disabled seniors have been roasted to ashes in their homes, and tens publicly beheaded by LRC soldiers as a war tactic to scare Ambazonia to submission. In addition, over 500,000 citizens of Ambazonia are internally displaced. On top of that, close to 200,000 Ambazonians, especially mothers and girls have escaped to Nigeria for refuge. More so, at least 1000 homes have been burnt to ashes in some 140 villages across Ambazonia.
  2. The signing of a decree creating NDDRC on the same day that the CAF Executive Committee, which met in Accra, withdrew the hosting of African Cup of Nations (AFCON) from la Republique du Cameroun further undermines international call for La Republique and Ambazonia to negotiate political settlement to end the war. The decree further makes a mockery of the international organizations including the AU, the UN and the EU, foreign governments including the US, the UK, Germany and France; and other interested parties like Amnesty International and International Crisis Group that have urged President Biya to release all those in arrested related to the war, demilitarize Ambazonia and negotiate a lasting solution with the Interim Government of Ambazonia based on the boundaries inherited at independence. Yet it is no surprise that this Committee is created in the middle of a war and without consultation with the Interim Government of Ambazonia and the conditions are not ripe. While the citizens of LRC may be bound by this decree, the extension of the decree to cover Ambazonia violates our territorial integrity, which is further war.
  1. We know the spirit of the text and intention behind the decree. The decree is a two-faced machination of the government to pretend they are working to enforce peace and security while in fact they mean evil and this is well known to Ambazonians. The decree is a renewed effort by the Biya regime and its agents and ministries to stage a Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process using fake the “Amba boys of Minister Atanga Nji” who have been terrorizing Ambazonia citizens, conducting kidnappings and requesting ransoms as a means of deceiving the international community that our restoration forces are terrorist. And finally, the Biya regime hopes that if successful to film their fake Amba Boys dropping den guns and confessing verbally, they can deceive both the citizens of Ambazonia and the global community that the war is over; thus, finally nailing the coffin of the “Ambazonia Liberation War” once and for all.
  2. We want to unequivocally state for the umpteenth times that the decree NDDRC and any action coming from it is baseless and inconsequential. Our President, H.E. Sisiku AyukTabe has categorically said times without numbers that we are out to restore our independence and not to destroy a country or bring pain on our citizens. He said anytime you hear a gunshot, and it is said to be coming from our restoration forces, you should know that it is fake as we do not use weapons or violent tactics against our citizens to achieve our goals. We have one enemy, LRC government military, gendarmes, police and her appointed administrators in our territory.
  3. By this evil design, the restoration of the independence of Ambazonia sovereignty now gaining momentum, will be done away with finally. This is a multi-faceted scheme with involvement of agents at various levels and layers. Recently, the Biya government gave usual false hope promises about, inter alia, humanitarian support, road construction projects and construction of burnt homes as an indication of executive authority over the territory of Ambazonia, when he knows fully well, that the Ambazonia Liberation War has long crossed the red lines for federation and decentralization. By now, the Biya regime must know that the Ambazonia Liberation War crossed the orbit of negative return for the quest of sovereignty when Ambazonians shed the blood of freedom on Ambazonia soil. The Commander-in-Chief of Ambazonia Restoration Forces H.E. Sisiku AyukTabe said sovereignty of Ambazonia is nonnegotiable.
  4. For two years now, especially since January 2018, we have been staging peaceful protest marches and sit-in home strikes to press across the globe our demand for the freedom of our revered President Sisiku AyukTabe, nine members of his cabinet and scores of others in detention since the crisis started in late 2016 and morphed into a war in November 2017. We have not for once resorted to the use of terror tactics. This is not about to change. We therefore reject any form of violence or use of terror tactics in our name.
  5. The bait here is to initiate some very alarming disruption of public peace and terrorization of Ambazonia citizens and residents in the name of the “Amba Boys,” LRC sponsored criminal gangs and armed merchants, in order to reach their goals. This evil design of linguistic and foreigner cleansing in our name is plotted to be of a magnitude and proportions as to sufficiently frighten the public and international community so that they will avoid anything about Restoration Forces like ebola plague. In the thinking of the Biya regime, such inhumane and barbaric actions like the Pinyin and Bali massacre will swing public opinion against us and push Ambazonia citizens into another half a century of slavery and servitude under the dominant French Cameroun government. The plots by the security forces have thickened to carry out series of attacks of such a large scale and proportions similar to the dreaded terrorist group Boko Haram, starting from the course of our peaceful activities using their agents within. In that way, the Biya regime hope to associate the self-defence to protect our citizens and their property with violence, and from there, the security forces will take it from there and escalate it to the scale and scope they desire.
  1. In conclusion, the Ambazonia Restoration Forces is not and should not be held responsible for any breech of peace or violence that will result from any false-flag plots. We will continue to employ all lawful, legal, defence and constitutional means as we have done throughout these two years of LRC-perpetrated terrorist activities to achieve our goals and would neither be coerced nor blackmailed into submission or surrender. Our escalating and timely self-defense activities will continue as planned and in our ways without fear of intimidation. Rather than take risk to conduct any activity in Ambazonia that will only escalate the war and thereby further shed innocent blood, the Ambazonia Self-Defence Council and Interim Government urge any person, who so ever and especially from the Biya regime, to stay clear Ambazonia territory until such time when conditions become conducive to visit or conduct business. Ambazonia vehemently rejects President Biya decree creating the “National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee;” our Restoration Forces remain on hair trigger alert and continue to defend our citizens and homeland against any illegal occupation and foreign invasion.



African Cup of Nations Looking for New 2019 Site

4, December 2018

African Cup of Nations Looking for New 2019 Site 0

There have been mixed reactions in Cameroon after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) withdrew the 2019 continental soccer event-hosting rights from the central African state. The government has described the CAF decision as “total injustice” while some people say the suspension should act as an eye opener for the government to solve the crisis that has destabilized the English speaking regions for more than two years.

Night shift workers transport roofing material and seats to the Olembe stadium on the outskirts of Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde. It is here the government of Cameroon had announced the opening and closing matches of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations would take place.

Olembe stadium on the outskirts of Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, Dec. 1, 2018.
Olembe stadium on the outskirts of Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, Dec. 1, 2018.

Work supervisor Angel Thamin says they are working night and day so that the stadium should be ready by March 2019, three months before the official kickoff of the competition.

“For the main stadium, all the structure elements are here, almost a hundred percent,” he said. “When it comes to office ventilation as you can see, I mean, you know it is extremely advanced and the main stadium will be finished in terms of structures and as you can see now, it is not only foundations and columns, but you can see slabs that are ready.”

Issa Tchiroma, Cameroon government spokesperson and minister of communication says the government has instructed all companies working on infrastructure projects for the football feast to continue as if CAF had not stripped hosting rights from Cameroon.

Cameroon communication minister and government spokes person Issa Tchiroma says the decision to withdraw hosting right is total injustice.
Cameroon communication minister and government spokes person Issa Tchiroma says the decision to withdraw hosting right is total injustice.

“Cameroon has put in a creditable performance,” said Tchiroma. “It shall prove it to the entire world by completing with the same determination and on time, the construction of this modern infrastructure belonging to the Cameroonian people. Our country which has written the pages of African football in bold letters will not relent her effort in working with other African countries to develop football in our beloved Africa.”

Issa Tchiroma says Cameroon, a five-time African football champion, agreed to host the prestigious African event even though CAF decided to increase the size of the tournament from 16 to 24 teams without asking its opinion.

But during Friday’s extraordinary meeting of CAF’s executive committee in Accra, Ghana, the football body said the infrastructure was not ready. They also raised security concerns, especially in the restive English-speaking regions where armed conflicts have continued for more than two years, leading to the deaths of more than 1,200 civilians, fighters and military personnel, and leaving hundreds of thousands displaced.

Bepanda Stadium in Douala, Dec. 1, 2018.
Bepanda Stadium in Douala, Dec. 1, 2018.

Gladys Matute, a 24-year English-speaking Cameroonian says she is very okay with the decision to remove hosting rights from Cameroon until peace is negotiated in the restive regions.

“We cannot be hosting an event when we know that the two English speaking regions are not at peace,” she said. “They are killing people, so it is good for the president to come back and sit and talk with the Anglophone regions so that there should be some peace. Paul Biya should sit up and there should be some peace talks.”

Secondary school student Rose Ghani says she had expected CAF to withdraw the hosting rights a long time ago.

“We are not surprised because embassies have been refusing their citizens from traveling to Cameroon especially to the northwest and southwest,” she said. “And also we have the Boko Haram fight in the far north. Moreover, all the towns to host are suffering from insecurity. There is also fear that when the tournament will be going on the Ambazonian fighters might attack people in Yaounde.”

The 2019 finals will take place from June 15-July 13, a change from the traditional January period.

Cameroon had proposed five cities, Limbe, Bafoussam, Douala, Garoua and the capital Yaounde as competition venues.

CAF says it has initiated an urgent and open call for a new host.

Source: VOA


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