23, July 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Buea observes ghost town despite Mayor Ekema’s directive ⁰

Capital of Cameroon restive South West region, Buea, was deserted by residents in observing an unofficial ghost town ritual that has been in place for over a year.

Streets of Buea were largely deserted as at the morning of July 23, 2018 and businesses refused to open as ordered by the Lord Mayor. In

Photos sent exclusively to Africanews showed that Buea was observing a ghost town. Residents had virtually abandoned the streets and all social and economic activities had come to a halt.

Late last week, Lord Mayor of the Buea Council Ekema Patrick Esunge, warned that the body will take punitive measures against economic operators especially who respect the most recent call for a ghost town.

In a press release, he said Monday (June 23) remained a normal working day. A word of caution to persons who planned to respect a call to stay away by suspected separatists.

His release read in part: “He further informs them (businesses) to stop respecting the so-called ghost town from unknown individuals.

“Defaulters of the above Municipal Order will have their businesses sealed till further notice considering that several communiques and press conferences have been held with them to desist from this phenomenon.”

Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports by people on social media disclosed that the Mayor was sealing off shops that did not operate. Authorities are said to be doubling locks of shops that refused to open.

Source: Africa News

23, July 2018

Libya: Deaths at sea, Cameroonian woman found clinging to a piece of wood ⁰

The deaths at sea of a mother and child have further exposed the flaws in a pact between Italy and Libya that has led to thousands of migrants being forcibly returned to the chaotic north African country.

Their bodies were found last week in the drifting wreckage of a boat off the Libyan coast by rescuers from the Spanish ship, Proactiva Open Arms. A woman from Cameroon was also found clinging to a piece of wood.

Sharing harrowing images of the bodies and the terrified survivor, the NGO accused the Libyan coastguard of abandoning the trio after they refused to be taken back to Libya, the main point of departure for migrants attempting the perilous crossing to Europe, with the rest of the intercepted group.

Libya’s coastguard has been patrolling the Mediterranean sea since striking a deal with Italy in February 2017 that empowered it to bring migrants back to a country where aid agencies say they suffertorture and abuse. The deal, which entailed Italy providing funds and equipment, was made by Marco Minniti, the former interior minister from the centre-left Democratic party, in an attempt to stem the migrant flow.

The agreement was recently reinforced by Italy’s new far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, who travelled to Tripoli in June “to help Libya as well as Italy block migration”.

“The Italy deal is really unconscionable at a time when the world needs leadership and compassion,” Iverna McGowan, the director of Amnesty International’s European institutions office, told the Guardian.

“To blindly sign a deal like that and close your eyes to the human consequences is very chilling.”

Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has reinforced a deal empowering Libya’s coastguard to forcibly return migrants to Libya.

In January 2017, the EU unveiled a €200m plan aimed at stopping migration from Libya, including €32m to expand its training programme for the Libyan coastguard.

The simultaneous plans have proved successful at reducing migration: the number of migrants landing on Italy’s southern shores in the first half of 2018 was down 81% on the same period last year.

As politicians celebrated, testimony recounted to the Guardian by migrants who have arrived in Sicily in recent months reflected the human implications of an agreement that has caused death, severe suffering and torn families apart.

“Libya is the worst place on earth,” said Ibrahim Diallo, a 20-year-old man from Gambia. “If you are a black African they automatically consider you a slave.

Diallo was detained in a camp where he was forced to work and clean the streets at gunpoint. “I saw Africans getting shot in the legs just because [the armed gangs] wanted to check if their weapons worked.”

A migrant from Nigeria, who asked not to be named, said he suffered serious burns after being set on fire by his captors for failing to raise ransom money. He had been in a detention camp for two years, where he recalled often “waking up with a dead man next to me”.

Chica Kamara, from Sierra Leone, has had no news of his son since the pair got separated at sea and the 10-year-old boy was taken back to Libya.

“We left Sierra Leone because of war, Ebola and dictatorship,” said Kamara, who had fallen into the sea when the Libyan coastguard intercepted a boat with his son on board. “I wanted a better life for my son. When I realised he was being taken away I started to scream and cry.”

Women tell of being repeatedly raped in Libya, where the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates there are 662,000 migrants. The number of people detained in appalling conditions in official camps has almost doubled to 9,300 within the last three months, the UN agency said earlier this week, although that doesn’t include the many held in camps run by warlords or people smugglers. Within the first five months of 2018, more than 40% of migrants who left Libya were sent back.

Carlo Parini, a chief inspector in the Sicilian port of Syracuse, said his team gathered as much information as possible from migrants. “It’s hard to hear their stories,” he added. “Especially when you have pregnant women telling you they have been beaten or tortured.”

An official at the Italian ministry of interior saidthe country was forced to make the deal with its former colony after several pleas to the EU to share the migrant burden failed to yield a response. “Our main contribution is supplying boats and equipment to the Libyan coastguard,” he said. “In June last year, some 18,000 people landed in a week, and the EU did nothing to help.”

But the agreement is also a consequence of the EU’s Dublin regulation, which allows member states to send migrants back to the EU country they arrived in, usually Italy or Greece. In 2016, almost 35,000 people were returned to Italy from other EU states, predominantly France.

Refugee camp. — Libyan migrants who fled the country play at a refugee camp near the southern Libyan and Tunisian border crossing of Dehiba

“At the same time, southern Italy was also dealing with thousands of arrivals from Libya,” said Fulvio Vassallo, an asylum law professor at the University of Palermo. “On top of this, countries in Europe rejected [a plan] to relocate migrants.”

By being complicit in returning people to countries where they could be subjected to torture, the EU is violating international law, say experts. In March, the Proactiva Open Arms ship was seized by Sicilian authorities and three of its crew accused of facilitating illegal immigration for refusing to hand over migrants to Libya. Upon releasing the vessel in April, a judge recognised that Libya was not a safe place and that the migrants could not have been taken back.

A looming election campaign dominated by immigration also encouraged Minniti to collaborate with Libya, although the Democratic party was eventually ousted in the ballot in early March. Italy’s new populist administration has since used virulent tactics to fulfil its anti-immigration pledge, including denying docking rights to rescue ships, while trying to push an inharmonious EU into sharing responsibility. However, a proposal by Italy to create reception and identification centres in Africa received a blow on Friday when it was rejected by Libya.

But as the EU battles, traffickers continue to make all the gains out of migrant suffering.

“Traffickers are having an easy life,” said Alfonso Giordano, a politics professor at Luiss University in Rome. “If we don’t resolve this in a shared, structured way over the long-term, there’ll continue to be massive problems and countries like Libya will continue to use blackmail.”

Source: The Guardian

23, July 2018

AIDS experts gather in Amsterdam amid fears epidemic could still spiral out of control ⁰

A world AIDS assembly opens in Amsterdam on Monday hoping to harness the star power of activists Elton John and Prince Harry to bolster the battle against an epidemic experts warn may yet spiral out of control. Thousands of delegates — researchers, campaigners, activists and people living with the killer virus — will attend the 22nd International AIDS Conference amid warnings that “dangerous complacency” may cause an unstoppable resurgence.

In recent days, experts have alerted that new HIV infections, while down overall, have surged in some parts of the world as global attention has waned and funding has levelled off.

And they lamented that too sharp a focus on virus-suppressing treatment may have diverted attention from basic prevention programmes such as condom distribution, with the result that the AIDS-causing virus is still spreading easily among vulnerable groups.

“The encouraging reductions in new HIV infections that occurred for about a decade has emboldened some to declare that we are within reach of ending AIDS,” Peter Piot, virus researcher and founder of the UNAIDS agency, said last week.

However, “there is absolutely no evidence to support this conclusion,” he insisted, and warned: “The language on ending AIDS has bred a dangerous complacency.”

A UNAIDS report warned of a long and difficult road ahead even as it reported a drop in new infections and AIDS deaths, and a record number of people on life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART).

These hard-fought gains could be reversed, experts said Sunday as the finishing touches were put on the venue that will host some 15,000 delegates — also including celebrities Charlize Theron and Conchita — for five days.

An alarming rate of new infections coupled with an exploding young population in hard-hit countries could spell “a crisis of epic proportions,” said Mark Dybul, a veteran American AIDS researcher and diplomat.

“Bad things will happen if we don’t have more money,” he told a pre-conference, saying the world was “probably at the highest risk ever of losing control of this epidemic.”

‘No’ to war on drugs

Dybul and colleagues said donor and domestic funding has dropped significantly and would likely continue to decline, from about 20.6 billion euros ($24.1 billion) last year — most of it financed from the domestic budgets of nations with the heaviest AIDS burden.

According to UNAIDS, the funding gap is almost $7 billion per year.

Under Donald Trump, the US administration has proposed massive spending cuts, though these have so far failed to pass through Congress.

The United States is by far the biggest funder of the global AIDS response.

The immune system-attacking HIV virus has infected nearly 80 million people since the early 1980s. More than 35 million have died.

Today, data show the infection rate is rising in about 50 countries, and has more than doubled in eastern Europe and central Asia.

Experts regret that the focus on prevention has faded.

Last year’s 1.8 million new infections showed that “unless we did something completely drastic, we will not get anywhere near” the target of no more than 500,000 in 2020, said Nduku Kilonzo of Kenya’s National AIDS Control Council.

“We have a crisis and it is a prevention crisis,” she said.

At high risk are sex workers, gay men and people who inject drugs — many of whom are forced onto society’s fringes by repressive laws in their countries.

At the conference, NGOs will launch a liberalisation campaign titled: “Just say no to the war on drugs,” a direct challenge to the 1980s Reagan administration’s “Just say no” message at the height of America’s “war on drugs”.

The programme’s criminalisation of drug use has compounded the stigma and discrimination experienced by users.

(AFP)

23, July 2018

Villagers murdered, kidnapped in suspected Boko Haram attack in Lake Chad region ⁰

Eighteen people have been killed in an attack by suspected Boko Haram jihadists in the Lake Chad region, a Chadian military source said Sunday.

“Boko Haram elements attacked a village south of Daboua,” not far from Chad’s border with Niger, at around 9:00 pm (2000 GMT) on Thursday, the military source said.

The assailants “cut the throats of 18 people, wounded two others and kidnapped 10 women”.

Boko Haram’s Islamist insurgency has devastated the region since it took up arms in 2009 in Nigeria, leaving at least 20,000 people dead, displacing more than two million others and triggering a humanitarian crisis.

Chad, Cameroon and Niger have all joined the military effort by Nigeria to crush Boko Haram.

Chad has seen a recent increase in attacks by the group.

In May, six people were killed, including four government officials and a soldier, in a Boko Haram attack on a Chadian army checkpoint on an island in Lake Chad.

Niger’s army said Saturday it killed “ten terrorists” after one of its military positions in the southwest of the country was attacked by Boko Haram.

(AFP)

23, July 2018

Bishop Francis Teke Lysinge – An Eschatological Sign of Holiness ⁰

Sermon by Fr. Maurice Ashley Agbaw-Ebai (AMDG)

Mulhiem an der Ruhr, Germany, July 22, 2018

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Praise Be Our Lord Jesus Christ, Both Now and Forever, Amen!

During this Liturgy on this Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, July 22, 2018, we are gathered in this beautiful Church here at Mulhiem an der Ruhr, Germany, for two reasons: Firstly, to worship God, Father, Son and Spirit, on this Day of the Lord, Dies Domini, as all good Catholics should. More specifically, and this is the second reason for our gathering here today, this time of worship together has the particular intention of praying for the Emeritus Bishop of Mamfe, Francis Teke Lysinge. We are praying for Bishop Lysinge today because he is, in a certain sense, the spiritual grandfather of this Cameroon Catholic Community here at Mulhiem, Germany. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your generosity in many ways.

Given my relationship with Bishop Lysinge, I thank God that I am able to be here in Mulheim, Germany, for this mass offered for Bishop Lysinge. I am also grateful to Fr. Constant Leke, your beloved pastor of this Cameroon Catholic Community, and my dear friend, for the privilege to both preside and preach at this Holy Mass. In the name of Fr. Constant Leke and the Cameroon Catholic Community here at Mulhiem, I offer a warm welcome to all of you here present, especially our non-Catholic friends that have responded to our invitation. Living in a social media age, I am conscious that even as I speak, this celebration is a “happening now” on many Facebook pages, WhatsApp accounts, Twitter, Instagram, et cetera. On this note, I offer warm greetings to all those the world over who might be live streaming this event on social media. May Jesus bless you with peace, health and joy, wherever you might be on God’s good planet.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, today’s liturgy of the word offers us the account of the return of the apostles from the evangelization mandate commissioned by Our Blessed Lord – Mk. 6:30-34. Last Sunday, Jesus had sent them out two by two, with authority over unclean spirits, to cast out demons, to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and to heal the sick (Mk. 6:7-13). This Sunday, we get the feedback. The apostles are back, and apparently recorded great success. With the Lord, success in terms of fruitfulness is often the likely outcome, even when we feel that we are useless servants, doing no more than our duty (Lk. 17:10).

Dear Brothers and Sisters, the urgency of this mandate to bring men and women to Christ is reflective even in the post-evangelization reporting in the gospel text of today’s liturgy: “When he (Jesus) disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.” How can we too not be moved, even today, when we see the brokenness of lives, almost littered all around us? Yes, even today, the Lord looks on us with pity, for he seeks our broken lives, our poor lives, marked often times, by the desire to do the good, to want to be better, yet, failing, again and again, falling from the mark, which is etymologically what sin is, that is, to miss the mark! We too, as responsible beings, miss the mark when we allow ourselves to be seduced by the triple concupiscence enlisted in 1John 2:16: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Even our beloved homeland has become a battle field, with people being massacred on a daily basis, while the so-called International Community, in words reminiscent of the Soldiers on Good Friday on that Sacred Hill of Calvary, are sitting and watching (Mathew 27:36)! The Soldiers on Calvary seem to be the Patron Saints of the International Community: they sit and watch, as lives are being lost on a daily basis in the new Calvary of Southern Cameroons.

Benedict XVI captured this drama of evil, pain and brokenness in the world, with admirable precision and heightened intensity, in his homily inaugurating his Petrine Ministry. Using the image of the Pallium, which is the piece of cloth worn by Metropolitan Archbishops, the Holy Father captured the existential drama of contemporary life with evocative and trenchant imagery. Permit me cite him:

“For the Fathers of the Church, the parable of the lost sheep, which the shepherd seeks in the desert, was an image of the mystery of Christ and the Church. The human race – every one of us – is the sheep lost in the desert which no longer knows the way. The Son of God will not let this happen; he cannot abandon humanity in so wretched a condition. He leaps to his feet and abandons the glory of heaven, in order to go in search of the sheep and pursue it, all the way to the Cross. He takes it upon his shoulders and carries our humanity; he carries us all – he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. What the Pallium indicates first and foremost is that we are all carried by Christ. But at the same time, it invites us to carry one another. Hence the Pallium becomes a symbol of the shepherd’s mission, of which the Second Reading and the Gospel speak. The pastor must be inspired by Christ’s holy zeal: for him it is not a matter of indifference that so many people are living in the desert. And there are so many kinds of desert. There is the desert of poverty, the desert of hunger and thirst, the desert of abandonment, of loneliness, of destroyed love. There is the desert of God’s darkness, the emptiness of souls no longer aware of their dignity or the goal of human life. The external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast. Therefore, the earth’s treasures no longer serve to build God’s garden for all to live in, but they have been made to serve the powers of exploitation and destruction. The Church as a whole and all her Pastors, like Christ, must set out to lead people out of the desert, towards the place of life, towards friendship with the Son of God, towards the One who gives us life, and life in abundance” (Benedict XVI, April 24, 2005).

Dear Friends in Christ, it is clear that the Gospel text places the figure of the Shepherd, the Apostles, front and center, in the Lord’s mandate of bringing hope to the people. Pastores dabo vobis, iuxta cor meum, the Lord says to the Prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 3:15) – I will give you shepherds after my own heart! Given that we are gathered here this Sunday in a special way to pray for Francis Teke Lysinge, our beloved Bishop Emeritus of Mamfe, it is in place to say a few words about the calling of this good and holy bishop. But first, we must remind ourselves that in the light of the Gospel text of today’s liturgy, bishops as pastors, are the successors of these apostles that we read of in the gospel of this liturgy. That is how the Catholic tradition has understood it.

And this process of self-understanding, of ecclesial maturation, has unfolded in the Church’s long history. At the First Vatican Council (1869-1870), in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Pastor Aeternus, the Council taught the infallibility of the Bishop of Rome. It taught that the Bishop of Rome as Supreme Pontiff, when he teaches ex cathedra, that is, from the chair, meaning in his capacity as Pope, Successor to the Apostle Peter, what he teaches, pertaining to faith and morals, is solemnly binding on the universal church and Catholics are expected to give an assent of mind and heart to such a proclamation. The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), interrupted the Council and prematurely ended it. That left Catholicism with an unbridled monarchical papacy, in which the Bishop of Rome was left hanging alone, as it where, above the Church.

With the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the Bishops gathered in Council, as Successors of the Apostles, sought to do an ecclesial balancing act of the unfinished business of the First Vatican Council. In the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, and in the Decree Concerning the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church, Christus Dominus, the Bishops taught that as Successors of the Apostles, Bishops were not mere emissaries or ambassadors of the Pope. Pertaining to their local churches, they are proper pastors who, certainly, together with the Pope, sub and cum Petro, constitute an apostolic college charged with the governance of the universal Church. In this way, Vatican II enfleshed the monarchical character of governance of the Petrine ministry with a collegial character of the Episcopate.

This is the body, the Episcopate, into which on April 21, 1999, Francis Teke Lysinge was called into, by the Grace of God and the Apostolic See. Born in Bokwango on December 28, 1938, to Albert Lysinge and Juliana Jofi Mbua, both long called to eternal rest, Francis Teke Lysinge is the second son in a family of four boys and three girls. His father was from Bokwango Village while his mother was from Buea Town. His father was a teacher in the Native Authority (NA) School of Muea and so eventually moved from Bokwango to Muea. His parents were Protestants, and so originally Bishop Lysinge was baptized in the Basel Mission Church Bimbia-Victoria where he started his Primary School in 1945 as Godwill Teke Lysinge.

As a young man, Godwill Teke Lysinge, as he was then known, had gone to Sasse College, the Premier Secondary School in the then West Cameroon, – which we say now with clear nostalgia, – to pursue the dreams of a brighter future the aspiration of every young person. He studied in Sasse from 1953-1958. Bishop Lysinge did not go to Sasse to become a priest! It was in 1955, while in Sasse, that the young Lysinge felt that the Lord, whom he had always loved and knew, might have other plans for him. He repeatedly told me that priesthood was never in his mind when he entered Sasse. He will later on say YES to the Lord, proceeding to Bigard Memorial Seminary, Enugu, Nigeria, for Major Seminary Studies in Philosophy and Theology. On April 17^th 1966, together with his lifelong friend, Christian Cardinal Tumi, Emeritus Archbishop of Douala and others, Godwill Teke Lysinge who, upon “converting” to Catholicism had taken the name Francis after St. Francis Xavier, said ad sum to the Lord’s call, and was ordained a priest of God, secundum ordine Melchizedek. His service as Spiritual Director in St. Thomas Aquinas’ Major Seminary is legendary.

Now is not the time to offer an assessment of the rich episcopacy of Francis Teke Lysinge. I will offer two indications that are pointers to what I consider to be the most enduring legacy of our beloved Francis Teke Lysinge. And all are derived from the choices he made from the Word of God, first, at his ordination as priest, and secondly, as bishop.

At his ordination as a priest, the young Fr. Francis Lysinge chose as his ordination motto, the self-effacing words of St. Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles: I am what I am, by the grace of God (1 Corinthians 15:10). Anyone who has ever encountered this Priest of God knows that it is never about Francis Lysinge. Meeting Lysinge, it is always about God. His instinctual temperament could best be described with the words of John the Baptist vis-à-vis Our Lord: He must increase, I must decrease (Jn. 3:30).

If the date of one’s birth can have a significance for one’s life, then the birth of Francis Teke Lysinge on December 28, 1938, could very well be read as prophetically symbolic. December 28 is still within the Octave of Christmas, which is a time when the Church recalls in her liturgical and spiritual life, that at the fullness of time, God sent his Son into the world (Gal. 4:4). At the heart of Christmas is the basic, essential truth: God has entered the world. God is close to us. God is near us. We are not alone. I am not alone.

I am what I am, by the grace of God! Isn’t this essentially what the Christmas message causes to happen? Because God has entered history, I am! I am! I have being. I am not nothingness. I am someone. I have a name. God knows my name. Even if the powerful of the world do not know me, do not acknowledge me, do not recognize me, I am, by God’s grace. In this priestly ordination motto of the young Lysinge, one encounters a deeper theological metaphysics. It is an affirmation that my life is grounded on the firmer ground of the Lord: “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock” (Matthew 7:25).

On April 21,1999, Francis Teke Lysinge who all along had always seen himself as being, thanks to grace of God, -I am what I am by the grace of God,- entered into a new consciousness of what it means to live by the grace of God. For his episcopal motto, he chose, Fiat Voluntas Tua (Matthew 6:10). This is taken from the prayer of Jesus to the Father. The Our Father mirrors the relationship of intimacy between the Father and the Son. With this choice, Francis Teke Lysinge, in his unassuming way, manifested the core of his rich spiritual life: God is the center. My responsibility is to follow God.

But what does it mean to follow God? Essentially, and Lysinge’s life is a testimony to this, it is not a calculatedness in which I fashion God into my own image and likeness. To follow God is to place my life in the hands of God, knowing that it will ultimately end well, for even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for your shepherd rod and staff protects me (Ps. 23:4).

I am what I am by the grace of God! Thy Will Be Done! Dear Brothers and Sisters, in these two texts from Scripture, and the consistent and admirable way in which Francis Teke Lysinge lived them, we can be sure, that in Francis Lysinge, the Diocese of Mamfe and the Church in Africa, is offering the universal Church a sign of God’s presence, a mark of lowliness and humility, a presence of translucent holiness. Francis Teke Lysinge is a holy man. Francis Teke Lysinge is a holy priest. Francis Teke Lysinge is a holy bishop of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. It wouldn’t be presumptuous and out of place to hope that someday, God willing, the pilgrim Church will call on him from the triumphant church for help on the way, as the Church here, in the words of legendary Bishop of Hippo, Augustine, sails through the vicissitudes of the world, amidst the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God.

On January 25, 2014, our beloved Bishop Francis Lysinge handed over the See of Mamfe to his younger spiritual son, Most Rev. Andrew NKEA, current Bishop of Mamfe. Two years ago, Bishop Andrew Nkea sent Bishop Lysinge to Rome for medical attention, regarding his eyes. I was anxious that he Lysinge might not be able to “see” me again in this life, given the deteriorating condition of his eyes. From Regensburg, Germany, I quickly flew to Rome, to spend time with Bishop Lysinge. I can never forget that moment, in which I entered his room at the Mater Ecclesiae house in Rome. It was for me great joy that he could see me. It was a great joy for both of us, for in a unique way, which perhaps none of you sitting here in this Church might fully comprehend,in Francis Teke Lysinge, God gave me a fatherly love that I might never have had. I was anxious for him to see that a book I was working on, On the Question of God in the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger, is being dedicated to him. I showed him the manuscript and asked him to read the dedication page. When he read it and read his name, he smiled. Tears welled up in my eyes. He then said to me that though he is retired, he has not retired from prayers. And that he prays for me daily. He said the only work he does now for Mamfe is to pray for his successor and for Mamfe diocese, that the diocese will continue to grow.

We can be sure, that now that his sight is failing him, Francis Teke Lysinge is seeing much more now with the heart, like Blessed John Henry Newman – Cor ad cor loquitur – Heart speaks to heart. The one who throughout his life has spent countless hours before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, gazing at the Lord, looking at him, listening to him, falling in love with the Lord, speaking with the Lord, now has those biological eyes that give him physical sight, almost taken away. Bishop Lysinge, like the saints before him, has entered into his own via Crucis. And like most of the saints, has accepted the crosses that come with aging:

“O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup; it is you yourself who are my prize.
The lot marked out for me is my delight: welcome indeed the heritage that falls to me!

I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel, who even at night directs my heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight:
since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.

And so, my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;
even my body shall rest in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead, nor let your beloved know decay.

You will show me the path of life, the fullness of joy in your presence, at your right-hand happiness forever” (Ps 16:5-11).

Thank you, God, for the gift of your priest, holy Bishop Francis Teke Lysinge. May your grace sustain him during this Nunc Dimittis period of his life. And may his prayers for the world continue to keep the window of the world open to the life-giving breath of God, saving us from a suffocating despairing nihilism! Amen.

23, July 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis:15 Killed in Tiben Village at Hands of Military Forces ⁰

Residents of Tiben, a rural village in Cameroon’s Northwest region are still mourning but returning to life after an alleged military-led retaliation took the lives of 15 people July 12.

Reports indicate that people were collecting their wares to head to the nearby market when trucks of people wearing military-like fatigues and with advanced weapons stormed into the village and opened fire, targeting women and children. The apparent soldiers shot a number people as they fled and then proceeded to kill a family harboring those fleeing the conflict, taking the life of a teacher who owned the house.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of life in Tiben and the overall conflict taking place in Northwest Cameroon,” said Adam Cole, executive director for Join the Journey.

“Join the Journey is committed to justice and serving others as Jesus Christ would, and we stand with the people of Tiben in this period of recovery. May God heal these wounds.”

Tiben lies in Cameroon’s English-speaking Northwest region, near the border with Nigeria, where a long-running conflict has smoldered between residents here and the national French-speaking majority government. Those in the Northwest who are striving for their own country— or at least autonomy under the name Ambazonia—seek to establish public services and other rights of life that have been ignored by the government.

Ambazonia’s call for independence has increased over the last several months and so have killings like the ones in Tiben. Similar reports and accompanying video of shootings occurred elsewhere in Cameroon. Amnesty International’s recent analysis links that particular killing to military forces.

One of the deaths in Tiben was Enjeck Helen Enjei, who had been selected as one of five candidates for Join the Journey’s micro-loan program. The program was in the early stages of launching before the recent tragedy. Join the Journey had already been running a poultry empowerment program in Tiben and had assisted several churches in the village with rice distributions during holidays.

Source: StandardNewsWire

23, July 2018

Yaounde: Opposition Fails to Present Candidate to Challenge Biya ⁰

Cameroon’s opposition has again failed to present a single presidential candidate to challenge Paul Biya who has been in office for 36 years. Twenty-eight candidates will be contesting the country’s October 7 presidential election, which Biya is favored to win.

The youngest candidate registered to compete in the October 7 presidential election is journalist Cabral Libi. Just before the filing deadline, the 38-year old said he was still uncertain if he would run because he could not single handedly raise the $60,000 required by the election commission to run. He says he had to ask well wishers to help him.

He says he has demonstrated that he is the only candidate strong enough to challenge the incumbent president because he was able to raise over $ 60,000 from well wishers within three days to pay the caution fee required by Cameroon’s electoral laws for each presidential aspirant.

Libi is one of the 28 candidates to contest the poll. Two women: Ze Genevieve, an independent candidate and Habiba Issa who will run for the opposition UPC party, also registered to challenge the 86-year old Biya, who has been president for 36 years.

Last January, Cameroon’s notoriously fractured opposition attempted to unite behind a single candidate. About a dozen opposition parties were negotiating to back Akere Muna, a prominent lawyer who specializes in fighting corruption. Muna pledged a non-partisan platform, but today is running on the ticket of his Peoples Development Front political party.

Maurice Kamto, who was meeting with Muna and the main opposition political party the SDF to discuss the possibility of a single candidate, is today running for his Cameroon Renaissance Movement Party. Kamto says after discussing with some political parties, he found out that all of them wanted a single candidate, but felt they were the stronger politicians that other weaker parties should join.

He says he then decided that he, like other politicians who want to run for president should present to Cameroonians their programs and projects that they will implement if elected, instead of basing their strengths on the religious, tribal and ethnic groups they represent.

The SDF has chosen a 50-year old lawmaker, Joshua Osih, as their candidate and says it is sure Osih will perform better in the elections if the polls are transparent and fair.

The ruling CPDM party has gathered at least 30 of the divided opposition political parties to rally behind its candidate, Paul Biya. Issa Tchiroma, president of the Cameroon National Salvation Front, says the opposition’s inability to come up with a single candidate indicates how they are divided and so he will support Biya, who according to him is the only one that can bring peace and development to the troubled country.

“By declaring his candidature, this is an indication, clear indication that he sent to the nation and the world that he is the man of his generation. Mr president move forward, we are ready to support you,” said Tchiroma.

Cameroon is dealing with attacks by Boko Haram militants in the north, separatist movements in two English-speaking regions and a spillover of violence from the Central African Republic.

Biya has ruled Cameroon since 1982 and is Africa’s second longest serving president, after his neighbor Theodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea.

He is seen by many as favored to win the polls. If he does, he will rule the central African state up to 2025 when the next presidential election will take place.

Source: VOA

22, July 2018

Cameroon military ‘torches villages’ as separatist conflict escalates ⁰

The military of Cameroon has committed a series of massacres across the country’s minority English-speaking regions, as part of a wider escalating conflict between separatists and the central government, according to reports.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) alleges that the military of the predominantly Francophone nation burned down at least 20 villages in the Southern Cameroons region of the country, where the majority language is English.

A number of unarmed civilians, including at least four elderly women, were reportedly burned alive during the massacre.

“The human rights situation in Cameroon has reached crisis level and could still get much worse,” said Mausi Segun, Africa director at HRW. “International action is needed to ensure that both sides protect civilians and ensure justice for crimes against them,” he added.

So exactly what is happening in Cameroon, and what does it mean for West Africa?

The ‘Anglophone Problem’

The conflict has its roots in the so-called Scramble for Africa in the late 1800s, when a number of competing European superpowers used force to claim as much territory on the continent as possible.

Originally a colony of the German Empire, the region was taken by British and French forces during the First World War. The new rulers split the region into Cameroun – the French-speaking part that makes up most of the region’s land mass – and two British protectorates, Southern Cameroons and Northern Cameroons.

Although the country officially gained independence from both empires in the early 1960s, tensions remain between French and English-speaking regions – historically referred to as the Anglophone Problem. According to Reuters, English speakers “feel that the best government jobs go to French speakers, and that education, roads and health in their western region are neglected”.

Around 20% of Cameroon’s 23 million population are Anglophones.

Why is there fighting now?

Tensions reached boiling point in 2016 following industrial strikes and protests against the imposition of the French language in courts and schools of traditionally Anglophone regions, says news site Quartz.

The protests were violently repressed by the French-speaking government, leaving dozens of protesters dead and more than 100 injured, according to the International Crisis Group, a conflict-prevention organisation.

The majority of English speakers in the country initially just “wanted their grievances addressed“, says Reuters, but the violent crackdown on protests “has convinced many that only severance from Cameroon will satisfy their yearning for a better life”.

As a result, a militant separatist movement has emerged that seeks to establish an English-speaking state entirely independent from Cameroon – known as Ambazonia – in the area known as Southern Cameroons.

Reuters reports that the breakaway region has already “printed passports, designed a currency and a flag, composed a national anthem and set up a satellite TV station”.

In response, the government has “used tear gas and live ammunition to disperse protesters, tortured and detained civilians, killing some, and burned villages”, says Sky News.

What is the solution?

Responding to HRW’s damning report, Cameroon’s government said the level of force it used remained “proportional to the extent of the threat”.

The report’s author, Jonathan Pedneault, has dismissed that claim, saying that the government needs to “recognise the fact that its soldiers have committed severe abuses. It needs to order a stop to the abuses and ensure accountability for crimes.”

Ambazonian separatists are also committing “grave abuses” in the country, allegedly “torching schools and threatening teachers and students”, according to Sky News.

Voice of America reports that “armed separatists” have “abducted at least seven traditional rulers they accuse of collaborating with the government”. Some of the leaders are accused of calling for the region to participation in Cameroon’s presidential election later this year, rather than adhering to Ambazonia’s vaguely defined boycott of the central government, the news site adds.

As the situation continues to deteriorate, the HWR is calling on international actors including the African Union and the United Nations to “press the government and armed separatists to accept a third-party mediation led by an independent and trustworthy international actor”.

Source: The Week.co.uk

22, July 2018

Germany may accept foreigners into army in exchange for citizenship ⁰

The German army is reportedly mulling accepting foreigners into its ranks by offering them German citizenship.

According to report published by RT on Saturday, the measure is aimed at coping with shortage of recruits in the country by filling understaffed military positions.

The logic behind the move will be that a person who is willing the endanger his or her life for Germany earns the right to be a citizen.

“The Bundeswehr will grow, therefore we need qualified personnel. To this end, we try every available option,” a military spokesman was quoted by RT as saying.

The Bavarian Christian Social Union party (CSU), the sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU, has proposed the move.

“Within the scope of European free movement, modern models could apply here,” said the party’s defense policy speaker.

Critics of the move claim that it will undermine the basic concept of a citizen’s loyalty to his nation.

Karl-Heinz Brunner, a defense policy speaker with Germany’s Social Democrats argues that if foreigners were permitted into Bundeswehr ranks, even with a prospect of becoming German citizens, it would be turned into “a kind of mercenary army.”

He further argued a person must become a German citizen before he or she enlists in the German army.

“Anyone who obtains the German passport as part of the integration procedure is cordially invited [to enlist],” he said.

The defense ministry was also quoted in the report that the “[the idea of] allowing EU citizens to serve in the Bundeswehr is not new.” Europeans with “specific sought-after qualifications” can be enlisted for civilian service.

Source: Presstv

21, July 2018

Rev. Fr. Alexander Sob Nougi: A Priest of Joy of the Gospel ⁰

We of the Cameroon Concord News Group give thanks to God for the man and the priest that we have known and with whom we have worked and prayed over the years. His sudden and untimely death leaves a huge void in all of our lives. In this soul-searching tribute Rev. Fr. Constant Leke, Pastor of St. Mariae Rosenkranz Mülheim an der Ruhr Germany speaks of the late Father Sob-the man and the priest.

The Bible declares in 1 Thessalonians 5:2 “For you are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” The death of Rev. Fr. Alexander Sob yesterday the 20^th of July in Muyuka made me contemplate a lot and finally compelled me to write this reflection. The Bible says death comes like a thief; which often makes us ponder over this aspect of death. Death is sudden, inevitable and we have to accept this well-known and universal fact. But how death comes is a question that we human beings need to ponder over, especially when we come across instances of sudden or untimely deaths. Unexpected or unseen deaths cause inconceivable misery and pain to family members, close relatives and near and dear ones, many of who are unable to come to terms with such sudden loss and rebuild their lives.

When death enfolds us in the form of accidents, I am sure, no one is prepared for it. But almost everyday we come across instances of precious lives being loss in accidents. People perish due to their own mistakes or pay with their lives for the mistakes of others. a small mistake or error of judgment may prove costly for self and for the lives of others.

Father Sob and Father Constant

At this moment, I recall the sudden and unexpected death of Rev. Alexander Sob who was in his mid 40’s. In the context of the Anglophone Crisis or the Ambazonian War in the English Speaking region of Cameroon which started in November 2016 till present, many innocent people have lost their lives in mysterious, inexplicable and very fearful circumstances. As of now there is no end in sight for a quick resolution to this crisis or war. It is in this context that Rev. Fr. Alexander Sob died. As it was reported all over the social media yesterday evening, it is said he was killed by a stray bullet around Muyuka. What ever may be the true circumstances of his death we may never fully know due to the frightening situation at present in this region. His demise has become a subject of discussion and many still keep wondering what could be the cause of his death. One can only term his unexpected death as “a call from God” and here too death came like a thief. It is a hard fact that he will not be with us anymore.

I am unable to come to terms with his death as I still have vivid memories of him for many years. I first met Rev. Fr. Alexander Sob in 1990 when I was admitted in Form One in bishop Rogan College, Small Soppo Buea. He was in High School at the time. Even though as a Form One Student, I had very little contact with him, but I could remark at that time that he was very intelligent and spoke very refined and articulated English Language. After I completed my Secondary School education in Bishop Rogan College and went to the University and later preceded to the Major Seminary Bambui in 2001, I met Fr. Alexander Sob who was already an Acolyte waiting to be ordained a Deacon. During the two years I spent with him in the Major Seminary I noticed that he was a very good singer and interested in Music. I noticed that he was a very assiduous student, self-effacing sociable and friendly. But what shocked me vividly was when the candidates for Diaconal ordination were on the line preparing to enter the Chapel to begin the Mass of Admission into Candidacy in June 2001 and he was removed from the line. That was the clear message that he was not to be ordained as Deacon that year. He was later on asked to discontinue formation. He then went to teach for some time n St. Joseph’s College Sasse where Fr. George Nkeze was Principal at the time. Then he later went and joined the Diocese of Obala where he was ordained as Deacon and later as Priest in the year 2003 and 2004 respectively. After serving as a Priest in the Diocese of Obala for about 5 years he then returned to the Diocese of Buea. He was appointed as Principal of Regina Pacis College in Mutengene. Later he served as Education Secretary of Buea Diocese after Rev. Fr. George Nkeze, Fr. Joseph Awoh and Fr. Willibroad Sakwe. He served in this capacity with all his energy until last year 2017 when he was appointed as the Parish Priest of the Sacred Heart Parish Bomaka.

In December 2017 I travelled to Buea-Cameroon for My mother’s 60^th Birthday anniversary and the wedding of my younger brother from Canada. I was happily surprised to meet Fr. Alexander Sob in the Sacred Heart Parish Bomaka. He quickly recognized me when I came to the Parish to greet him and Rev. Fr. Wilson Mesue. He was so friendly and invited me to the dinning table. He immediately asked me to help in the Parish during my stay at our Family home in Bomaka. So I used to help to celebrate morning Masses and Sunday Masses both at the main Parish Station and Mission Station at Mile 18. During my stay there I discovered that he was a very simple Priest, so jovial, social, friendly, and very pastorally orientated. His intelligence was manifested even in his common of the English language and his results at his Masters Degree and was presently undertaking a Doctorate program. Concerning his pastoral work I also noticed that he used to visit homes of the old and sick to administer the Sacrament of the anointing of the sick to them. He even visited my Grand mum twice during my stay in Buea. My mother also told me he used to come regularly to pray and anoint my grand mother. I discovered that he had activated the Small Christian communities in the Parish and he even asked me to attend one of them and celebrate Mass with the Christians which I did. He invited me severally to visit with him and I noticed that while in the car he will stop everywhere to greet Christians and non-Christians alike. I also listened to a radio program he was doing. It is then I knew how he was loved in the Parish and how he was so popular in Buea and in the South West Region as a whole. To my greatest surprise when I was about to leave Cameroon I informed him and he decided himself to go and see me off at the Douala airport himself with his own car. This act of his touched me so much.

I returned to Cameroon in April 2018 to attend the funeral of my Aunt in Douala and to witness to the marriage of my uncle’s daughter. During my stay in Bomaka I was very much well received by Rev. Fr. Alexander Sob. He was just the same as I had met him in December. He asked me to help in the Parish during my two weeks stay. I remember the visit of Bishop Immanuel Bushu to the Parish to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation and the crowd he pulled. Fr. Alexander Sob was a real crowd puller. He could pull even ministers, seasoned Journalists and politicians to an event. He was a good organizer. That I witness first hand.

Father Sob and Father Constant(Douala airport)

After my meeting Rev. Fr. Alexander in December 2017 and April 2018, I had to wipe out from my mind all the prejudices I had I heard from his many detractors. It taught me the lesson of never drawing conclusions about people whom I have no personal experience about. From my personal convictions I can say Rev. Fr. Alexander Sob was a good man and a good Priest. He will be greatly missed by his family members, friends, parishioners and his fellow Priests. There is an unsettling challenge to my understanding of what is meant by “a good Priest” as I pass that gentle assessment on most of our deceased Priests. It reminds me of personal unworthiness and how each of us can only do his best in ministry and leave all judgment to God.

Though none of us is permanent in this world, (Hebrews 13:14-16, “We have here no lasting city, but we look for one in the life to come”) it is not easy to accept the sudden death of such a person, especially the family members. None can understand the pain and the trauma of the close family members and friends. We can only console the family saying that though Rev. Fr. Alexander is dead and gone we will live with the fond memories of the little time he spent on this earth. In the case of Rev. Fr. Alexander Sob too death comes like a thief.

Oh how I wish you could proclaim with Saint Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). My prayer is that you hear these words, “well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23) from the lips of our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

I pray that may his soul find Eternal Rest in Jesus Christ his Saviour

Rev. Fr. Constant Leke

Pastor of St. Mariae Rosenkranz

Mülheim an der Ruhr

Germany