13, May 2018

Archbishop Kleda survives gun attack after criticizing Biya ⁰

The Catholic Church in Cameroon said shots were fired at the residence of Archbishop Samuel Kleda, bishops’ conference president, after he criticized policies by the government of President Paul Biya.

“Projectiles were shot at the Archdiocese of Douala headquarters, breaking its windows,” the local vicar general, Msgr. Dieudonne Bayemeg, said in a statement. “There were no human injuries, and the police arrived immediately, accompanied by the archbishop, cathedral rector and household guards.”

The statement, issued after the late-evening May 3 attack, said the bullets hit the room of the archdiocesan finance officer, Msgr. Alan Nibile, who threw himself on the floor.

It added that inquiries were continuing and said Catholics in the central African state had been asked to “pray and remain calm.”

Meanwhile, the Actualite du Cameroun news agency described the attack May 7 as an “attempted assassination” and said it was widely believed linked to Kleda’s demands for a government dialogue with separatist groups and for Biya not to seek re-election.

Cross-border Islamist insurgents from Nigeria-based Boko Haram have targeted Catholic clergy and killed hundreds of police, troops and civilians in Cameroon’s Far North region since allying with Islamic State in March 2015.

Since 2016, army units have also been deployed against separatists in Cameroon’s English-speaking Southwest and Northwest regions. The separatists have declared an independent state, “Ambazonia.”

In a Dec. 5 interview with Cameroon’s La Nouvelle Expression magazine, Kleda urged Biya, in power since 1982, not to run for a fifth term in October elections and accused the president’s backers of “seeking to protect their personal interests and retain their privileges.”

In a Jan. 1 Douala cathedral homily, he said society was being “paralyzed and destroyed by corruption at all levels,” which had “plunged the country into moral and spiritual crisis.”

In an April 17 television interview, he warned mass unemployment was depriving young people of prospects and said the government should negotiate with secessionist and rebel groups and permit the election of regional presidents.

“Decentralization allows peace, since people in a given region can then think about their future,” the archbishop said.

“Peace through armed force is never a true peace. Since we are all in the same country and all brothers, our message is to stop the violence immediately at all costs, without vengeance, and accept others who don’t think like us.”

The Cameroonian bishops’ conference is engaged in legal action over the alleged murder of Bishop Jean-Marie Bala of Bafia, whose body was found floating in a river in June 2017 in what justice officials ruled was a suicide.

Meanwhile, in an April 23 commentary, the conference’s news agency, L’Effort Camerounais, urged the international community to “open its eyes” to “human rights abuses and extrajudicial executions” by government forces in the country’s Anglophone regions.

It added that young men had been rounded up, shot and “dumped in public squares as a deterrence to others,” and accused the army’s spokesman, Col. Didier Badjeck, of ignoring “evidence of military atrocities that lies scattered far and wide like autumn leaves.”

“Despite the frequency and magnitude of such atrocities, the government remains in denial, indicating it intends to pursue its dehumanizing acts,” the church agency said.

“There may be growing calls for dialogue, but the government seems to have a draconian solution to the ongoing crisis: Hit them with such brutal force that those lucky to survive will never dare raise their heads again!”

Source: National Catholic Reporter

13, May 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: North West Governor Complies with IG Order ⁰

The North West Regional Governor, Adolf Lele l’Afrique, has decided to comply with the order issued by the Ambazonian Interim Government (IG) last week. Mr. L’Afrique who has been issuing orders ever since the crisis started is now being asked to comply with an order by the Ambazonian Interim Government.

The colonial governor has finally decided that his family should return to La Republique following an order issued by the IG indicating that all French-speaking Cameroonians should return to their country at the end of May failure of which the Interim Government will not be able to guarantee their security.

As a law-abiding citizen, Mr. L’Afrique has sent his children and wife to La Republic to spare them the pain that will come after the expiry of the deadline given by the Interim Government.

The IG order was read last week by the Communications Secretary, Mr. Chris Anu, on the Southern Cameroons Broadcasting Corporation, where he underscored that all Southern Cameroonians must eject all French-speaking Cameroonians from their homes. He stressed that failure to comply with this order will lead to severe actions by the Ambazonian Defense Forces who are in charge of security in the two English-speaking regions.

Meanwhile fighting has intensified in many parts of Southern Cameroons. On Saturday, it was reported that a family of seven was killed in Kuke while another man had met his death in Baba near Mbonge in Ndian Division. The violence in the region has increased since Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, appointed a colonel to replace General Melingui who had acknowledged that the military had committed huge human rights abuses in the two English-speaking regions.

General Melingui had added that many homes had been burnt down by the military and this did not go down well with the president and the hawks who surround him. He was immediately fired and replaced by a junior officer who many say has ordered the military to intensify its operations in the regions.

Also, a military truck transporting some forty soldiers overturned in the South West regional port city of Limbe. Our correspondent in Limbe has reported that some 16 soldiers have lost their lives and many were wounded, with several being critical.

Pictures of the wounded soldiers have been published on social media and many Southern Cameroonians have been rejoicing, pointing out that God is on their side and that if the Yaounde government did not withdraw its ill-trained soldiers, many would perish in similar circumstances. The soldiers were heading to Muyuka in the South West where the government had ordered a serious crackdown in that part of the region.

Meanwhile, on Friday May 11, 2018, a list of new targets was sent to the Cameroon Concord News Group’s global headquarters in England. Former Prime Minister Peter Mafany Musonge, Minister Paul Atanga Nji, Senator Tabetando, Governor Okalal Bilai, Divisional Officer Joseph Oum II, Member of Parliament Susan Okpu, former minister Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, former Minister Ogork Ntui Ebot, former minister Benjamin Itoe, minister Victor Mengot Arrey, Prof Echu George, Senator Achidi Achu and Prime Minister Yang Philemon are some of the names on the list that was sent unanimously.

The list comes as the violence in the region has escalated. As the tension increases, the Yaounde government is gradually coming to terms with the fact that Mr. Biya’s declaration of war on the people of Southern Cameroons at the Nsimalen International Airport upon his return from a Francophonie conference in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, was a pure error of judgement.

Indeed, Mr. Biya and his government had completely misinterpreted things. It appeared they were reading an old script; a script that was designed for another problem that had nothing to do with the determined Southern Cameroonian fighters. He had clearly underestimated the determination and will of a few to bring about change in a country. Indeed, he had failed to understand that those who make peaceful change impossible only make violent change inevitable.

The government has been anything but humble during this crisis. Its relentless pursuit of peace through military violence has divided the country for ever. The government’s arrogance and inefficiency are costing the country huge amounts of money and the loss of human life is really disturbing. Both soldiers and civilians are being killed in a conflict that could have been avoided. This is a mistake that will remain in many minds for decades. The country’s history has been tainted with the blood of many innocent lives.

But there is no mistake that cannot be fixed. Many mistakes have already been made and it will be preposterous to continue making more of such mistakes. Cameroon needs peace and that peace cannot come if the killings continue. The government has a huge responsibility in this. It must change its strategy. If it thinks it can make Cameroon one and indivisible by seeking to impose peace on Southern Cameroonians, then it is not yet ready to smoke that pipe of peace that the international community is calling on it to smoke.

There is no ideal way to secure peace than through negotiations. The government must come down its Ivory Tower to meet Southern Cameroonians halfway. The country’s English-speaking minority has proven that a few people can bring change in a country that has been rejecting change for decades.

Cameroon will never be the same again. The government’s ill-advised decision to declare war on a section of its population will always come back to bite it. Times have changed, and mentalities must keep pace. Negotiations should be the government’s administrative tool of choice. The government has to embrace new ways. It should understand that intimidation will not cut it. Even long jail terms will not address the issue. Southern Cameroonians are resolute. They are not going to give in just because they are being intimidated and killed.

They have been living a life of marginalization for years and they think they must put an end to such dictatorship. Cameroon belongs to all and every citizen must be made to feel at home wherever he finds himself. But with so many lives cut short by this senseless war, it will be hard for real negotiations to take place.

Southern Cameroonians want to live in their own country. For 56 years, they have been victims of government discrimination. The Yaounde government has never respected its commitments towards the indigenous people of Southern Cameroons. The government’s mistakes have really made it hard for Southern Cameroonians to live with their French-speaking counterparts.

The rift is there. It will be hard for these wounds to heal. Many people have lost their lives, and the pain will linger for a long time. The government has a lot on its plate. It has to take a long and hard look at its script. Its current script is simply making Southern Cameroons independence possible. The government will have to bend over backwards if it really wants to hold the country together.

By Kingsley Betek in Yaounde

12, May 2018

Burundi: Armed men kill 26 ahead of referendum ⁰

At least 26 people have been killed in an attack by gunmen in a village in northwestern Burundi, says an official, days ahead of a constitutional referendum which could enable President Pierre Nkurunziza to stay in power for 16 more years.

The attack was carried out in the province of Cibitoke, which borders the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, on Friday night.

Burundian Minister of Security Alain Guillaume Bunyoni said in a statement on Saturday that seven others were wounded by the attackers, who were “terrorists” from the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. “The terrorists coming from and returning to Congo shot and burned: 26 dead and seven wounded.”

Witnesses told AFP that during the hours-long violence, the attackers armed with guns and knives killed dozens of people and also set fire to buildings.

“These criminals went house to house and committed real carnage,” said a local official speaking on condition of anonymity. He said he was “horrified” by the violence.

People watch the opposition’s campaign against a referendum for constitutional amendment which allows incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza stay in power for another 16 years, in Kabezi, south of Bujumbura, Burundi, May 11, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

“Some of the victims were stabbed, others were shot, there is even a whole family that was burned alive in their home,” he said.

The motive behind the incident remains unknown, but local residents said the unidentified attackers crossed into the DRC after carrying out the assault.

“For now, these criminals have not been identified, but an investigation is underway to determine their identity,” said a police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The attack came just days ahead of a constitutional referendum on May 17, which could see Nkurunziza rule until 2034.

The photo, taken on July 1, 2015, shows Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza (2nd L) arriving in a car for celebrations of the country’s 53rd Independence Anniversary at Prince Rwagasore Stadium in Bujumbura.

Burundi has in recent weeks deployed military units to borders with Rwanda and the DRC, accusing exiled opposition groups of attempting to disrupt the referendum.

Human Rights Watch said in a report last month that Burundi government forces and ruling party members had killed, beaten, and intimidated perceived opponents of the referendum in a bid to ensure Nkurunziza’s victory.

Burundi descended into chaos since April 2015, after Nkurunziza announced his plan for a third term in power, despite the county’s constitution limiting leaders to a maximum of two terms.

However, Nkurunziza’s government argued that his first term didn’t count towards the limit as he was elected by parliament, not a public vote.

Source: Presstv

12, May 2018

2 British citizens kidnapped in Congo-Kinshasa ⁰

Two British citizens have been kidnapped in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the foreign office has said.

The man and woman were reportedly abducted on Friday while visiting the Virunga National Park, a renowned gorilla sanctuary in the east of the country.

A female park ranger travelling with the pair was killed, local media reported. The park has seen rising violence in recent months, with armed gangs using weapons to steal resources, in particular charcoal.

DRC is still recovering from a bloody civil war that raged between 1997 and 2003, and the recent surge in violence has concerned aid agencies, who warned the country was “on a cliff edge”.

Last month, five rangers and a driver were killed in a militia ambush, the park said.

It was the deadliest attack in recent years and took the total number of rangers killed to 175.

The rising death toll has earned the park, which is a Unesco world heritage site, a reputation as one of the most dangerous conservation projects on the planet.

The park spans 3,000 square miles n the DRC’s border with Uganda and Rwanda and is home to to around a quarter of the world’s critically endangered mountain gorillas and other endangered species as well as lions, elephants, hippos and a host of rare bird species.

Last year, a fifth of the park’s southern sector was deforested owing to illegal charcoal production, the park said.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are in close contact with the authorities in Democratic Republic of the Congo following an incident involving two British nationals, and our staff are providing support to their families.”

Source: Agencies

12, May 2018

Southern Cameroonian Crisis: Stranger than fiction ⁰

The Southern Cameroons crisis that has put the country in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons has continued to bring desperation to the people of Southern Cameroons, while giving the government a very bad name. For more than six months, the two English-speaking regions of the country have become the theatre of a gruesome war game that is consuming lives and rendering many in the region homeless.

The killing of ordinary civilians has radicalized an entire people and many Southern Cameroonians who were federalists have simply converted themselves into secessionists. The killing of loved ones and friends has traumatized many Southern Cameroonians, making many to hold that the government must pay for its crimes.

To many Southern Cameroonians, it is impossible to live with a government that is decimating its own population. They hold that the killing and roasting of civilians alive clearly points to the government’s decision to pursue military action to a conclusive end. To them, the government understands only one language – an iron fist – and it will stop at nothing to achieve its goal even though it knows that in this case, the odds are stacked up against it.

The government’s plan to address the Southern Cameroons crisis is spreading death and suffering among the population. Reports of what is playing out in many towns in the region are mind-boggling. The destruction and roasting of the vulnerable is really stranger than fiction. The Biya government is inflicting red terror on the people of Southern Cameroons; a people who simply wants the government to listen to them and to address the issues that have blighted their lives.

Government atrocities have included killing innocent civilians through reckless soldiers who are trigger-happy. The government has also resorted to burning homes in many towns and villages as a means of bringing the tough-hearted Southern Cameroonians to their knees, as they are suspected of sympathizing with Southern Cameroonian freedom fighters who have been avenging the deaths of those civilians killed by the alcohol-inflamed and sex-starved soldiers.

But none of these strategies is breaking down the people of Southern Cameroons who are determined to walk away from a union that has brought them more degradation and pain than happiness. The people of Southern Cameroons have become the victims of Foncha’s greed. His determination to reunite the two Cameroons has left many crying.

Similarly, the government has also been arresting thousands of Southern Cameroonians, many of whom are innocent and have nothing to do with the eerie drama that is playing out in the country’s English-speaking regions. Those arrested have been shipped to different parts of the country and no word has been heard from them. The government is clearly violating its commitments under international law.

According to the country’s laws, it is illegal to hold anybody incommunicado for months without granting them access to a lawyer or family members. But the country’s government has been violating its own laws and it is not paying attention to calls by the international community for it to comply with its international commitments.

According to the country’s authorities, Cameroon is an advanced democracy wherein fundamental human rights are respected, but the reality on the ground is contrary to even the basic rules of democracy as defined and recognized by the international community.

Even Southern Cameroonian leaders who had been arrested in Nigeria in early January 2018 and hastily repatriated to Yaounde in late January, are still sitting in the country’s Gendarmerie headquarters in Yaounde and neither their lawyers nor their families have been allowed to see them. This is really unsettling for many human rights groups which have always alleged that the government is committing human rights violations in Southern Cameroons.

Although the country’s communications minister, Issa Tchiroma, has once acknowledged that those in government custody are in good health, many Cameroonians, especially Southern Cameroonians, have continued to question the veracity of the minister’s statement, as he has been caught many times lying. Mr. Tchiroma is a pathological liar whose words are not worth their weight in gold.

The drama playing out in Southern Cameroons is déjà vu. Southern Cameroonians had already prepared their minds for such extreme measures. The measures have been taken straight from the government’s torture book that had been drafted for it by the French in the late fifties when East Cameroonian freedom fighters were asking for genuine independence from France.

As the French delayed to grant independence, East Cameroonians organized themselves with the little resources they had to fight a more equipped French army. In a bid to put up a good show, East Cameroonians founded the “Marquisard Movement” that gave the French a good run for their money.

To chop off the movement’s head, the French organized undercover activities which led to the elimination of East Cameroonians leaders who were living abroad. Felix Moumie, the poster boy of the revolution, was killed by a fake journalist in Switzerland with thallium that was dropped in his tea.

The French followed up by killing and maiming the Bassas and Bamilekes who were supporting the rebellion. Whole villages in East Cameroon were simply wiped off of the country’s map. This was intended to strike fear into the minds of East Cameroonians who had the intention of supporting the rebellion against the Ahidjo regime that was never considered as being legitimate by the freedom fighters.

Their trick worked in the fifties and sixties. Francophone Cameroonians have been cowered forever and many will never dare criticize the government for its atrocities in the English-speaking regions of the country and this is already creating tensions between Southern Cameroonians and their francophone counterparts who have been sitting on the fence ever since the crisis started in October 2016.

Today, the French-supported government of Mr. Biya is rehashing those tricks in the pious belief that they would bring peace to the two restive English-speaking regions which had happily joined East Cameroon in a referendum that was doomed to failure right from the beginning.

But Mr. Biya and his government seem to have chosen the wrong people for a fight. Their strategies are not yielding the right results. Despite the burning and killing, Southern Cameroonians are standing their ground. They fully understand that if they yield, the government will resort to harsher methods. Instead of bowing to the government, Southern Cameroonians have decided to pick up arms against a government that has never seen dialogue as a means of resolving issues.

The government’s brutality has simply bred hatred and murder. It has produced many armed groups that are today making it hard for anybody in the region to have a contrary view. Federalists who thought they could help bring about peace are today an endangered species.

The Southern Cameroons crisis that has been playing out for almost two years has finally entered a critical phase. Violence has become normal in that part of the country. The government’s military violence has triggered a wave of violence that will be hard to root out. Many army soldiers are being brought down by the bullets of armed masked men and anybody suspected of collaborating with government officials is considered an enemy and death is the penalty for such an act. Many have already been killed by these unknown armed men and the government seems to be helpless.

On Friday May 11, 2018, a list of new targets was sent to the Cameroon Concord New Group’s global headquarters in England. Former Prime Minister Peter Mafany Musonge, Minister Paul Atanga Nji, Senator Tabetando, Governor Okala Bilai, Divisional Officer Joseph Oum II, Member of Parliament Susan Okpu, former minister Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, former Minister Ogork Ntui Ebot, former minister Benjamin Itoe, minister Victor Mengot Arrey, Prof Echu George, Senator Achidi Achu and Prime Minister Yang Philemon are some of the names on the list that was sent unanimously.

The list also includes all CPDM senators and parliamentarians in the English-speaking regions. Things seems to be spiralling out of control. These men and women are in the cross hairs of Southern Cameroonian fighters. The government seems to be out of resources. Its security apparatus seems to be failing the people. Even senior government officials are no longer safe. The battle lines have been drawn and any Southern Cameroonian collaborating with the government has become a target. Blood will continue to flow until the entire region becomes a river of blood.

Southern Cameroonian fighters seem to be making significant progress. They are making a mockery of the government’s military action. The Yaounde government is now scrambling for a peaceful resolution as it has noticed that it is dealing with a very dicey situation. The government is under enormous pressure as the killing of army soldiers becomes a daily ritual in Southern Cameroons.

It is clear to the government that there will never be a convincing military victory in this battle that will surely last for decades. The government is gradually coming to terms with the fact that it was a huge mistake to declare war on Southern Cameroonians who were simply complaining about a system that has reduced them to second-class citizens.

The dynamics are changing. The government’s arrogance is gradually being eroded by the determined Southern Cameroonian fighters whose actions have struck fear in the minds of many army soldiers. The government is today staring down the barrel of defeat, as its treasury continues to lose money and its soldiers feeling really despondent as they face the prospect of dying in the rocky and dense jungles of Southern Cameroons.

Many government officials know that defeat is staring the government in the face. Many want to sue for peace, but they don’t know how to proceed as their arrogance has muddied the waters and made reconciliation challenging. Even the governor of the South West region is also contemplating smoking the pipe of peace after having called Southern Cameroonians dogs. He now knows that state authority comes from the people and not the other way round.

The nightmare the government manufactured for itself is not going away anytime soon. The “two cubes of sugar” that Mr. Fame Ndongo, the country’s higher education minister, referred to at the beginning of the crisis have simply refused to melt. Those cubes of sugar are putting up a good show. It is obvious that there are many more scenes in this struggle that will surely play out in a manner that will be far from being pleasant.

Meanwhile, the Southern Cameroons Interim government is continuing to step up pressure on the crumbling Yaounde government. The government’s Communications Secretary, Chris Anu, has delivered very bad news to the Biya government and the Francophone majority. Southern Cameroonian fighters will continue to step up operations in the coming days. Mr. Biya’s army soldiers who thought they would simply sweep through the region and kill the rebellion are now in for real trouble. There will surely be no respite until the Yaounde government withdraws its troops.

Mr. Anu has also announced that all French-speaking Cameroonians must leave the Federal Republic of Ambazonia by the end of this month. He added that all Southern Cameroonians lodging French-speaking Cameroonians must kick out their tenants by the end of the month. Those Southern Cameroonians who do not comply with the Interim Government’s decision will be dealt with by the brave defense forces of the land.

He added that Southern Cameroonians should stop paying taxes to the French Cameroonian government in Yaounde, stressing that all the taxes should be directed towards the prosecution of the war of liberation. This is very likely to affect the country’s economy; an economy that is already in the throes of an economic and financial crisis.

As the tension increases, the Yaounde government is gradually coming to terms with the fact that Mr. Biya’s declaration of war on the people of Southern Cameroons at the Nsimalen International Airport upon his return from a Francophonie conference in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, was a pure error of judgement.

For now, it is obvious that most Southern Cameroonians will never like to look at any other option. Their quest for federalism has been quashed by the government and their leaders have been thrown in jail where it is believed they are being tortured.

If the government wants real negotiations to take place, it must release all Southern Cameroonians who are being held by the Yaounde government. Amnesty must be granted to all Southern Cameroonians living abroad. And a new governance structure must also be proposed. The country belongs to everybody and it is wrong for a few to think that they are more Cameroonian than others. The ball is in the government’s court. If it does not act fast, the situation will further deteriorate and things will spiral out of control. There is still time to make the right decisions. Better late than never!

Similarly, handing down long jail sentences to Southern Cameroonian fighters in Yaounde will never dampen the determination of those who are still fighting. The crisis can only be addressed at the negotiating table and this will only be possible if President Julius Ayuk Tabe and those in jail are released. The Diaspora is still very active and it is time for the government to build a long reliable bridge for the Diaspora to come to the negotiating table.

The Southern Cameroonian Diaspora is rich. It has more than three million members and thanks to these hardworking Southern Cameroonians, those on ground zero have been able to make the government feel the pinch of its stupidity and dishonesty. After more than five decades in exile, the Diaspora also wants to play a key role in the management of the country’s socio-political landscape.

The government must disabuse its mind. Military violence will not secure the peace. It must stop sending young Beti soldiers to the region. All they have done is to provoke the people and increase hatred for the Betis who have been responsible for the burning of homes. Many people are already shouting revenge and this will come once Mr. Biya leaves power. The government still has time to change such thinking.

By Kingsley Betek

11, May 2018

Why is President Trump supporting failed and rogue states like La Republique du Cameroun? ⁰

Cat calls have greeted the recent US military donations to La Republique du Cameroun. The Southern Cameroons political leadership has refused to comment on the combat aircrafts donation from the Trump administration to the butchers in Yaoundé. However, many of the Ambazonian political elites contacted by Cameroon Intelligence Report opined that the United States was appearing like an intransigent rogue state pursuing only its own interests at the expense of human rights and freedom and has blatantly refused to push the Paul Biya Francophone regime to curb attacks in Southern Cameroons.

To be sure, the US won’t deploy carrots or sticks to even stop the genocide currently going in Southern Cameroons and it won’t scold the French Cameroun political leadership for crackdowns against innocent Southern Cameroons civilian population. Interestingly, US President Donald Trump just this week cancelled the historic nuclear deal with Iran and reiterated that it was a bad deal. But to hand over two aircrafts to the regime in Yaoundé with the potential to scan and detect enemy hideouts is completely unacceptable to the people of Southern Cameroons.

The Biya regime does not have the cash to pay for such sophisticated aircraft so the argument that US weapon donation to French Cameroun is largely about relations with France is legitimate. But the truth is that, US behaviour too is about more than just money. The US actually has a soft spot for countries that buck the international system, oppress and murder their citizens, and threaten regional stability. A good example is the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime that has been in power for 36 years and has contributed in destabilizing the Central African Republic and creating many Cameroonian military billionaires. This recent US military gesture to the 86 year-old French Cameroun dictator is an indication that the US in the end, needs rogues.

For decades the US backed the Mobutu Sesekou regime in Congo-Kinshasa which killed more than two-thirds of the country’s political elites. The US continues to support President Denis Sassou Ngessou of Congo-Brazzaville and today it’s the turn of the French Cameroun thug, President Biya who is killing Southern Cameroonians in a monstrous ideological genocide.

Towns and villages have been burned by Francophone army soldiers deployed to Southern Cameroons. Teachers, lawyers, businessmen including women and children are being murdered to make French Cameroonians the only owners of the Ambazonian ancestral land a reality all with the backing of the USA. Southern Cameroons schools and hospitals have been closed, as well as Southern Cameroons banks including service companies. Some 40,000 Southern Cameroonians have fled the conflict into neighboring Nigeria.

Over the last two years, the Francophone dominated government in Yaoundé has overworked and is starving the Southern Cameroons population, at the same time exterminating selected groups who they believe are enemies of the French Cameroun state or have the potential to undermine the French Cameroun political leaders. People who the French Cameroun armies perceive as Ambazonian leaders or even those who disagree with the military campaign have also been killed.

A sea of Southern Cameroonian women and children were killed in Kembong, Kwa Kwa, Belo, Kendem, Batibo, Ndian, Nguti, Muyenge for attempting to escape from the French Cameroun military onslaught. A majority of those caught in the Manyu and Lebialem Counties were taken quietly off to a distant forest between Numba and Kendem and were killed. The fiercest extermination campaign is taken place in Calabar and Ikom in the Federal Republic of Nigeria with the complete and total support of the Buhari administration. Southern Cameroonian civilians have suffered the biggest death toll (over 1,500) have been killed so far with the UN registering some 21,291 as refugees in Nigeria.

Family relationships including those residing in the USA can no longer send money back home to loved ones and family members are being arrested and jailed for communicating with those in the Diaspora. The US embassy in Yaoundé noted that the aircrafts were to fight the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram. However, the Francophone Minister for Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo pointed out that the war machines will also be used to fight other related crisis.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

11, May 2018

Congo-Brazzaville: Court sentences General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko to 20 years in jail ⁰

Opposition candidate for the 2016 presidential election, General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko has been found guilty for his alleged involvement in a coup attempt.

Congolese general and opposition leader Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko, 71, was on Friday sentenced to 20 years in prison “ for “undermining the internal security of the state”, after a trial he referred to as “settlement of political scores”.

The former candidate in the 2016 presidential election has three days to file an appeal, said criminal court president Christian Oba.

The court also sentenced in absentia seven co-accused including six French and a Congolese for complicity “the offense of undermining the internal security of the State”.

Arrested in June 2016. General Mokoko, former Chief of Staff, was advisor to President Denis Sassou Nguesso whom he finally challenged in the 2016 presidential election.

He was arrested in June 2016 after refusing with other candidates to recognize the re-election of President Sassou Nguesso who cumulates nearly 35 years of power.

“The decision of the criminal court does not surprise us, because everything started in an illegal manner in violation of the jurisdictional immunity of our client,” said General Mokoko’s lawyer, Eric Yvon Ibouanga.

His defense claims that he holds his immunity from his title of “dignitary of the Republic”, an argument refuted by the prosecution.

“It is a judgment that satisfies us considering the gravity of the offense and the elements involved in the case”, declared one of the lawyers of the Congolese State, Me Gérard Deviller.

Source: AFP

11, May 2018

Ambazonia Self-Defense Council Briefing: Tall on details, Heavy on substance ⁰

My fellow Ambazonians and people of the world, in mid-March 2018, Acting President Samuel Sako of our Interim Government in Exile (IG) convened in the United States of American with self-defense groups throughout our territory, consulting with their leaders to adopt a statement and action plan that established an independent self-defense wing of our liberation war—the Ambazonia Self-Defence Council (ASC). Under the new framework, all self-defence activities across the territory of Ambazonia are conducted under the general name Ambazonia Self-Defence Council’s Restoration Forces (ASC/RF).

Tonight, I want to address three categories of audiences that are stakeholders in the Ambazonia Liberation War. Specifically, I want to speak with our freedom fighters on ground zero, the people of Ambazonia on ground zero and worldwide, and the international community in the context of self-defence toward achieving Ambazonia statehood.

To our freedom fighters

We should have but one desire today: the desire to fight so that Ambazonia may live free—the willingness to face a martyr’s death, so that the path to freedom may be paved with martyrs’ blood. Friends! my comrades in the War of Liberation! Today I demand of you one thing, above all. I demand of your loyalty and self-discipline. The blood of our heroes cannot go in vain. Their blood has paid the price of our freedom. Therefore, we cannot give up, we have to fight, fight, and fight till we reach BUEA. We must live Free or Die.

We, the citizens of Ambazonia, are now joined in a great national effort to defend our people, and our property, and to protect our interests against the illegal occupation, administration, and exploitation by President Paul Biya’s regime of La Republique du Cameroun (LRC), a neigbouring country, since 1961. Our ultimate goal is to take full control of our territory as defined and recognized under international treaties and to restore Ambazonia’s promise of sovereignty and freedom to all of our people.

Together, we will achieve our unconditional sovereignty, determine the future of Ambazonia, and join the international community of nations.

To the people of Ambazonia

Whether you are in the homeland, residing abroad, or homeless in some country seeking refuge—rest assured we will soon celebrate our freedom and independence in Buea. But freedom does not come free. We must fight for our freedom with everything we have, even our own lives, and win it from those who would take it from us or deny us our right to live. We must defend our God-given right of existence. God is with us and freedom is ours if we stand with each other. Together in this fight for freedom, no power can stop us—not the helicopter gunships, nor the state-sponsored terrorists of Paul Biya. Together we shall beat down any mountain that stands in the way of our freedom.

By now, you must know at least one village person who has been brutally killed, beheaded, executed, abducted, burnt alive, tortured for ransom, maimed, or otherwise suffered human rights violation by La Republique du Cameroun’s government forces. The message is clear, and the meaning is simple: Act now and act fast. You must associate yourself with your village or community groups and support self-defence. Not taking action is not an option. President Biya and his government have made this clear—he has declared war on us, deployed troops to our territory, and killed our people. They will kill all of us. Therefore, we must defend ourselves until such a time when the international community takes concrete action to hold President Biya and his government accountable for all crimes against the people of Ambazonia.

We need you—we need everyone. Support in any form takes us closer to victory. Take heart, look up to God and have faith. There is no second thought, my country people: the time is now. If you do not support the self-defence, armed soldiers and paramilitary forces of LRC will mercilessly kill your loved ones and family members at home or burn your house or loot your property. Here is a mantra, a short one that I give you. You may imprint it on your hearts and let every breath of yours give expression to it. The mantra is: ‘Do or Die’. We shall either free Ambazonia or die in the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery. Every true Ambazonian man or woman will join the struggle with an unbreakable determination not to remain alive to see the country in bondage and slavery. Let that be your pledge.

To the international community

Thank you to the Governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, and France for condemning the barbaric offenses of President Paul Biya’s regime against our people since our decades long peaceful protest heightened in late 2016. Thank you to the secretariats of the African Union, United Nations, European Union, and Commonwealth for urging the Biya regime to negotiate a political settlement with the Ambazonian people. Your leadership and actions are highly appreciated. Why is it that, for half a century, we have never heard voices from the international community speaking out against the suppression and tyranny of La Republique du Cameroun authorities? Why is it that we have not witnessed international condemnation of the systematic disregard for our basic rights and values, and forced assimilation into a union between two countries and two peoples with distinct cultures, ways of life, and irreconcilable differences?

We can no longer remain on our knees with our hands clasped together, begging for basic freedoms and opportunities in a God-given land and internationally-recognized territory to survive, when all that we get in return is killing, maiming, abduction by armed soldiers and security forces of La Republique du Cameroun. We can no longer bury our youths in vain, we can no longer watch our girls and mothers raped before us, we can no longer watch our grandparents burnt alive in their homes, we can no longer continue to exist as refugees in foreign countries without a place to call home because of a union forced upon our ancestors. We have therefore decided to stand up for our rights, fight for our freedom, and guard our homeland.

On November 30, 2017, President Paul Biya of neighboring LRC declared war against the territory of Ambazonia, a clear confirmation that Ambazonia and the LRC are two different countries and two distinct people. The silence and inaction of the citizens of LRC is further testimony that they are different from us and that we are two different people in different territories. Since that day, LRC’s elite forces continue to use war equipment to carry out mass killings, executions on the spot, beheadings, and burning of communities—all of which have created huge humanitarian consequences in neighboring countries like Nigeria. We have therefore come to the conclusion that no one can defend us except us. And we will defend our land till the last man falls down.

Looking forward, this is the position of the Ambazonia Self-Defence Council. The only competent authority to call for a cease fire across the Ambazonia territory is the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. A peaceful exit strategy out of the ongoing Biya-declared war will come from the voice of either the United Nations Security Council or of a member state coming before it and demanding a referendum for the people of Ambazonia on our side to exercise our freedom of sovereignty.

In conclusion, the American people have shown the world that democracy and individual liberty provide the conditions in which knowledge progresses, science discovers, innovation occurs, enterprise thrives and, ultimately, people advance. This is the kind of democracy and values we envision, and for which we are fighting, for Ambazonia.

In due course, as the spokesperson of ASC, I or the deputy will issue regular statements and brief the media as need arises on the status of the self-defence activities and significant developments in our war of liberation.

By Nsoh Foncha

11, May 2018

Roman Catholic Bishops warn of ‘growing genocide’ in Southern Cameroons ⁰

Hundreds are dead and nearly thousands have fled across the border to Nigeria

“They are hunting us,” murmurs a secondary school teacher, turning his back to the camera and asking not to be named. “The Cameroon government security forces were entering villages and killing unarmed people. Bodies have been found in forests, they used every method and means to kill. It’s a huge number of fatalities.”

Nearly 26,000 people, four-fifths of them women and children, have fled into Nigeria from Southern Cameroon. The number has doubled since January, according to Caritas Internationalis and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). More are arriving daily, while an estimated 40,000 people are displaced inside Cameroon. Political upheaval is provoking an under-reported humanitarian crisis in both countries, with refugees flooding into Nigeria’s border states carrying nothing but their children and the clothes on their backs.

The refugees tell the same story over and again, of a brutal crackdown by the Cameroon military against anyone suspected of sympathising with the secessionist movement of the English-speaking minority. Known as the Anglophone crisis, Cameroon’s English-speaking Catholic bishops have described it as “a growing genocide”, although there are no reliable data on how many have died.

The secondary schoolteacher, as an activist who has spoken out for the Anglophone cause, has taken refuge in Nigeria. But he still feels unsafe. “Recently, Cameroonians, especially young men, have been arrested by Nigerian security forces,” he explains. “So we are scared. Many activists and non-activists have been targeted, some are in prison living in hideous conditions, some of our leaders have disappeared, others killed.”

Parts of south-west Cameroon are becoming no-go areas, with the military reportedly setting villages ablaze and multiple witness accounts of civilian deaths. The militant arm of the separatist movement has killed around 43 soldiers and police. Running battles are turning their fields into war zones, say farmers.

Journalists and non-governmental organisations are barred from the region. Reports are getting through, however, from Church sources and from eyewitnesses among the refugees. “I went to the field with one of the bishops,” says Fr Kisito Balla Onana, of Caritas Cameroon. “We visited deserted villages where the houses were burned down. Many of their inhabitants had left and were living in extremely difficult conditions. Our English-speaking brothers and sisters are in distress.”

As the conflict reaches their villages, families have been fleeing from the gunfire and taking to bush paths through the forest to hide, going deeper in the country’s interior or travelling on foot to the Nigerian border. Mispa, a mother of three, describes how she grabbed her children and ran for her life when government forces arrived in her village and started shooting indiscriminately. “We heard the army was coming,” she says. “We were grabbing what we could; we tried to find a motorbike to transport my father. When we attempted to get back to the house, my neighbours told me that the soldiers had shot him.”

Mispa wanted to go back to bury her father but was prevented: “There were some boys in the village who buried him because we couldn’t get back in, as the army had blocked the entrance.” Forced to leave in the midst of her grief, she fled into the bush with her daughter, Helen Duchess, and her other children. “We didn’t have anything with us, we just ran.” Eventually they found refuge at her brother’s house in Nigeria’s Cross River State.

Bishop Andrew Nkea, from Mamfe in Cameroon, described his shock after a recent visit to some of the refugees in Nigeria. “The conditions under which they live are appalling,” he told L’Effort Camerounais, a Catholic weekly. “They are scattered all over the place and sleeping on verandahs and open spaces like people without a homeland.”

The problems that have driven so many to leave their homes, crops and livestock are rooted in the bi-cultural nature of the country.

Cameroon was parcelled out between France and Britain after the First World War. French Cameroon gained its independence in 1960. A year later, the British-administered territory joined the north in a union, guaranteed by a constitution designed to protect the minority English speakers, about 20 per cent of the population.

These protections have gradually been eroded during the 36-year rule of President Paul Biya, now 85 and the longest ruling leader in Africa, who has retained close ties with France. Last September, Anglophone protesters came out on to the streets in large numbers, angered by the use of French in their law courts and schools. “There was a massive peaceful demonstration in all the cities, villages and towns of Southern Cameroon,” says the activist secondary schoolteacher. “The government frowned on these demonstrations, they fired tear gas at the crowds, they shot and killed people.”

Then, on 1 October, the activists declared a self-styled “Republic of Ambazonia”, provoking further clashes with government forces that left at least 17 dead, and leading to the current crackdown by the government, which describes the secessionists as “terrorists”. It has vowed to exterminate them. Defence minister Joseph Beti Assomof has declared that the military “will eradicate this inconvenient situation”.

Last month, long jail sentences were imposed on seven Anglophones convicted of various charges of activism and terrorism in a state trial; the men only narrowly escaped death sentences. The net of suspicion is being cast wide, and refugees arriving in Nigeria tell of arbitrary removals of people from their homes by the military.

“I have six friends who were taken between February and March,” says Collins, a 24-year-old engineer. “I don’t know what’s happened to them. The soldiers were killing young men like me; they would arrive and call a village meeting. They would then start arresting us, without even questioning us. Then they would take them [the young men] away. That’s why so many people fled.” Fearing he would be next, Collins escaped with his mother and family to Nigeria.

The influx into Nigeria’s Cross River, Taraba, Benue and Akwa-Ibom states is creating intense pressure on already tightly stretched households, as impoverished host families welcome scores of destitute Cameroonians. Previous cross-border migration and marriages mean some refugees have a friendly place to go, but the numbers are overwhelming. Many families are forced to live packed into tiny rooms; it is not a long-term solution for anyone.

“This is not our home,” says a young veterinary surgeon, Fred Assam, a refugee in the border village of Agbokim that has received thousands of fleeing people. While grateful for the generosity of his host community, he is only too aware of the difficulties. “It’s not where we come from. Finding our place here as refugees is challenging.”

It is challenging, too, for organisations offering help. “The humanitarian crisis seems to be very under-reported and the crisis is far more than we anticipated,” says Michael Ibe, an emergency officer for Caritas Nigeria and Justice & Peace.

Caritas and UNHCR are among the humanitarian actors working alongside the Nigerian National Commission for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons to document the refugees and supply basic needs. The Nigerian government plans to move the refugees into camps, but many fear to register in case it results in reprisals, following reported sightings of Cameroonian spies. UNHCR has been given land by the government to establish camps, but has so far received none of the $18 million (£13m) from international donors that their plans require.

UN figures show that 95 per cent of the refugees have only three days of food in hand, and eat just once a day, saving anything they can for their children. Only one in four has so far received any kind of emergency relief. Clean water is scarce, with people drinking from open streams and pools. Malaria is on the rise.

In addition, survivors are traumatised. Many report feelings of fear and anxiety, as well as poor sleep, interrupted by flashbacks to the dreadful scenes they have witnessed. The Nigerian bishops have issued a statement urging both civilians and the government to support the refugees, pointing out that “to overcome their traumatic experiences, they need tolerance and a welcoming atmosphere”. Lives have been left behind, studies abandoned and schools emptied. Three-quarters of the refugee children are not in Nigerian schools because their families cannot afford books and uniforms.

What is to be done? The Catholic Church in Cameroon, which represents 26 per cent of the population, is calling for peace and an “inclusive dialogue”, as is the African Union. The International Crisis Group has suggested the Church is best placed to act as a peace-broker, and that the Catholic bishops should join forces with Presbyterian and Baptist leaders to seek solutions.

During the Episcopal National Council on 12 April, the bishops urged President Biya to bring all the parties to the table, free those that have been imprisoned and bring back the activists now in exile. That recommendation, however, is unlikely to be welcomed by the Cameroon government, which has said there will be no talks with separatists, only with those who embrace the unity of the country.

The UNHCR says a political solution to the situation in Cameroon is urgently needed. Meanwhile, it has called on Nigeria not to carry out any forced returns until the refugees can “safely and voluntarily return home”. One exhausted refugee says simply: “I want to go back to my country.”

That day is not close at hand. Prospects for peace between the entrenched sides are gloomy. Indeed, the situation is likely to intensify as elections approach later in the year. In an added twist, the discovery of oil in the south-west will inflame the desires of both sides to dominate the region. Meanwhile, Nigeria will just have to get used to its new arrivals, and seek support from the international community to start rebuilding their brutally interrupted lives.

Source: The Tablets

11, May 2018

US: Settlement reached in LA shooting of Cameroonian homeless man ⁰

A settlement of US$1.9 million was reached Thursday in a civil lawsuit stemming from the fatal police shooting of a homeless black man on Skid Row in Los Angeles three years ago, attorneys said.

A jury earlier in the day found two police officers liable for financial damages in the shooting death of Charly “Africa” Keunang, a transient from Cameroon.

Jurors were set to begin the damages phase of the trial when the settlement was announced. The agreement, which requires City Council approval, resolves all fees, costs and claims and closes any future litigation over Keunang’s death, City News Service reported. The settlement will go to Keunang’s family if approved.

“There’s no amount of money that’s going to bring back the loved one,” U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. said at the conclusion of the federal civil trial.

The eight-member jury unanimously determined that Officer Francisco Martinez deprived Keunang of his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable force and that Sgt. Chand Syed breached his duty as a supervisor to intervene during the fatal encounter.

Prosecutors in 2016 declined to file charges against the officers after it was determined the shooting justified because Keunang grabbed a rookie officer’s gun during a struggle March 1, 2015.

The Los Angeles Police Department issued a statement saying that it stands by the findings of the LAPD, the city Police Commission and the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office that “the uses of force by our officers were consistent with the law and Department policy.”

LAPD officers “make every effort to safely take suspects into custody without the use of force,” the statement said. “In this situation, force was necessary because of the violent behaviour of the suspect.”

Officers were responding to reports that Keunang, 43, a Cameroon national, had threatened another man living on the street in the section of the city teeming with homeless people.

Video of the shooting by a bystander was viewed millions of times online and prompted protests in the city and drew comparisons with the deaths of other black men killed by officers in the U.S.

A lawyer representing Keunang’s family in the lawsuit disputed that the homeless man ever had hold of an officer’s gun.

The Police Commission cleared officers of the shooting, though it found one officer’s tactics violated policy. It did not publicly reveal what policy was violated.

Keunang’s family sued the city of Los Angeles and four officers, seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages on allegations of wrongful death, negligence and civil rights violations.

The jury cleared a third defendant, Officer Daniel Torres, while former Officer Joshua Volasgis — who was named as a defendant — had been expected to face proceedings in state court, but the settlement effectively ends that case, said Deputy City Attorney Christian R. Bojorquez.

Source: CTVNews