8, April 2018

Yaounde to host three pan-African institutions ⁰

The African Union (AU) and Cameroon have signed agreements for Cameroon to host three pan-African institutions.

The three institutions to be hosted in Yaounde include the Pan African University (PAU) Institute for Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences; the African Monetary Fund (AMF); and the AU Sport Council, according to an AU statement on Saturday.

Sarah Anyang Agbor, AU Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology (HRST), and Lejeune Mbella Mbella, Cameroon’s Minister of External Relations, signed the agreements on Friday in Cameroon.

It has taken over ten years of discussion to adopt the decision establishing the three AU institutions and over five years of negotiations to approve the host agreements, said the statement.

The signing of the agreements is significant as it took place barely a few days after the signing of relevant instruments for establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), said the AU Commissioner.

Cameroon said the agreements demonstrate its firm and unwavering commitment to the Africa integration, by hosting in its territory, the seats of three complementary institutions of the pan-African organization.

Culled from Xinhuanet

8, April 2018

French and English Cameroon’s bloody internal war ⁰

On Tuesday, April 3, 2018, the Francophone dominated Cameroonian military attacked and burned several homes in Mungo Ndor, a small village located about 40km away from Nguti in Koupé-Manengouba. Ms. Egbe Maria Ndonge, well known as Mami Maria was burned to death in her house, while she was asleep.

Residents of the village confirmed that local churches have been burned. 6 civilians were shot and there are reports of several killings of civilians in the village. Intentionally killing civilians and destroying civilian property constitute war crimes and this should be thoroughly investigated.

The village has been besieged by the army, villagers are not allowed to move in or out, with hundreds hiding in the forest for safety.

The African Union and the UN are both maintaining a kind of deliberate silence on the Southern Cameroons crisis. Human rights groups have called on the Biya regime to allow journalists have access to these regions.

Culled from Today News Africa

8, April 2018

Iran: Foreign Minister to head big delegation to Africa, Latin America ⁰

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday will begin a four-leg tour of African and Latin American countries to discuss the strengthening of relations.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said the top diplomat will head a ranking political and economic delegation on the tour, which will take him to Senegal, Namibia, Brazil, and Uruguay.

Also accompanying him are representatives of dozens of Iranian companies as well as entrepreneurs from commercial, economic, and science-based spheres of activity, who hail from public and private sectors.

The minister will be holding meetings with political, economic, and parliamentary officials from the four countries. He will also be delivering addresses at joint economic and commercial gatherings as well as some think tanks.

Zarif last toured Africa last October, visiting South Africa, Uganda, and Niger.

He went on a six-leg Latin America tour a year earlier, traveling to Cuba, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and Venezuela.

The Islamic Revolution in 1979 resulted in a fundamental overhaul of Iranian foreign policy, changing its focus from the West to the developing world.

The former government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promoted the notion of an Iranian “South-South” strategy, aiming to expand relations with Africa and Latin America. In 2006, Ahmadinejad famously attended the African Union summit in Gambia as a guest of honor.

Source: Presstv

8, April 2018

Millions of French commuters face wave of railway strikes ⁰

Millions of French commuters and holidaymakers faced another wave of crippling transport stoppages on Sunday, as rail workers protested at President Emmanuel Macron’s economic reform plans and some unions warned they could step up strike action.

Train staff last week kicked off three months of nationwide rolling strikes in a dispute over the government’s planned overhaul of state-run rail firm SNCF, in the biggest challenge yet to Macron’s attempts to modernize the French economy.

Just over a third of workers needed to make the train network run smoothly were expected to walk out on Sunday, a dip in participation compared to the last 48 hours of walkouts on Tuesday and Wednesday, the SNCF said.

But some labor unions have already signaled a hardening stance as negotiations with ministers over the reforms hit a wall. Officials at the Communist-rooted CGT said on Friday that strikes could drag on well beyond June if nothing shifted.

Laurent Brun, head of the CGT’s railway section, added that workers were ready for a “marathon” if needed.

Unions have so far called strikes for two days out of every five until the end of June, to fight a shake-up of monopoly SNCF before it is opened to competition in line with European Union rules.

That includes ending job-for-life guarantees and early retirement for rail workers, which the government argues will help transform the heavily-indebted company into a profitable public service.

Workers have hit back with complaints that the SNCF was being dismantled to pave the way for a privatization.

The showdown between Macron and the rail unions is one of the toughest tests yet of the former investment banker’s presidency.

French President Emmanuel Macron (C) arrives to visit an apprentice training center in Tours, France, March 14, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)

The 40-year-old came to power last May on a promise to shake up Europe’s second-biggest economy, in a bid to modernize some of France’s creaking institutions, and spur jobs growth. Macron has so far liberalized labor regulations for instance.

But locking horns with the rail sector has backfired on previous French governments — paralyzing train strikes in 1995 forced prime minister Alain Juppe to pull planned reforms — and unions are seeking to show they still have clout.

Some insisted they did not want a drawn-out conflict but called on Macron’s government to compromise.

“The ball is in the government’s court,” Laurent Berger, head of the CFDT union, told Europe 1 radio on Saturday. The CFDT is also joining stoppages called for Sunday and Monday.

The government has so far said it will stand firm on the main points of the reform.

“The status quo is not viable,” Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said in an interview published in Le Parisien newspaper on Sunday. “It’s urgent, we need to advance, and everyone should know we are determined to see this through to the end.”

Though nowhere near as potent, the various protests come as France prepares to mark the 50th anniversary of the student-led riots of May 1968, which gridlocked the country and led to the adoption of more progressive social policies.

Disruptions on Sunday were set to hit local trains as well as regional high-speed trains and some international journeys.

(Source: Reuters)

7, April 2018

French Cameroun army denies allegations of human rights abuse in Southern Cameroons ⁰

A prominent human rights activist in Cameroon has accused the army of causing civilian deaths through fires of houses and places of worship in the English-speaking region of the South-West, an accusation rejected by the army.

Agbor Bala Nkongho, director of the NGO Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, posted on his Facebook page, a chilling account that describes a miliary raid on a remote village in the region.

“On Tuesday, April 3, the Cameroonian army attacked and burned several houses in Mungo Vendeur, a small village located about 40 km from Nguti to Koupé-Manengouba (South-West). Ms Egbe Maria Ndonge was burned to death in her house while she slept,” said Nkongho.

Cameroon has been independent since 1960 and has no lessons to learn in the way its defence forces legally pursue their missions of securing populations.

“We have received reports of 6 civilians killed and reports of civilian killings in the village. Intentionally killing civilians and destroying civilian property are war crimes, which should be thoroughly investigated,” he continued.

Nkongho was one of the leaders of the first uprising of the English-speaking protest at the end of 2016. Arrested in mid-2017, he was released in September by presidential decree.

It is in this area that 12 Italian and Swiss tourists were briefly arrested by armed men on Monday, according to their travel agency.

The army responds

“Cameroon has been independent since 1960 and has no lessons to learn in the way its defence forces legally pursue their missions of securing populations. We also do not intend to respond to maneuvers of intoxication and diversion,” Colonel Didier Badjeck, spokesman for the Cameroonian army, contacted by telephone from Libreville, told AFP.

“It is extraordinary how some of these so-called actors of the region have resorted to faking the truth, or transforming it. We ask that evidence of these alleged abuses by our forces is presented to us,” he added.

Since the end of 2017, the security situation has deteriorated considerably in the English-speaking regions of the North-West and South-West, with armed separatist groups multiplying violent actions against state forces and kidnapping civil servants.

Yaoundé responded by force, deploying a strong security apparatus. The army has been accused several times of abuses through testimonies in the press and on social networks.

Observers fear that the Anglophone crisis could disrupt presidential elections scheduled to be held at the end of 2018.

AFP

7, April 2018

Moscow vows ‘tough response’ to US bans on Russian oligarchs ⁰

Moscow has pledged a “tough response” to new US sanctions against seven of Russia’s most influential oligarchs amid the growing tensions between Russia and the West over the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain.

“We will not let the current attack, or any new anti-Russian attack, go without a tough response,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced in a statement on Friday.

Earlier in the day, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced the fresh sanctions on the Russian Oligarchs and 12 companies they own, 17 senior Russian officials and a state-owned arms export firm, over a range of activities, including Moscow’s alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

Companies like Gazprom, Burenie and Renova group have also been added to the sanctions list while the US assets of “oligarchs” such as aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripaska and lawmaker Suleiman Kerimov, whose family controls Russia’s largest gold producer, Polyus, have been frozen.

Washington said the punitive measures are in response to Russia’s policies regarding Ukraine and Syria, as well as its cyber activities and attempts to subvert Western democracies. The US sanctions are the most significant since Crimea’s re-integration with Russia in 2014.

Britain claims the Soviet-designed Novichok nerve agent was used to poison Skripal, 67, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, in the British city of Salisbury on March 4 and points the finger at Russia. The Skripals remained hospitalized in critical condition, but they gradually recovered.

Numerous allies of Britain, including the United States, have ordered the expulsion of dozens of Russian diplomats as part of seemingly coordinated attempts against the Kremlin.

Russia, which denies any involvement in the incident, took reciprocal measures against states that make “unfriendly” decisions ejecting foreign diplomats from Moscow. Also, the Kremlin urged these states to review the UK’s evidence pertaining to the case before taking any steps against Russia.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused “powerful forces” in the US and Britain of being behind the nerve agent attack.

On Wednesday, Russia called on the United Nations Security Council to hold a meeting to discuss Britain’s accusation that Russia was involved in the Salisbury incident.

The news comes as ties between Moscow and Washington have plummeted to levels not seen since the Cold War due to the two countries’ disputes over the crises in Ukraine and Syria and after US officials accused Russia of meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

Russia says the US is planning to deploy some 400 anti-ballistic missiles on Russia’s doorstep as part of its military buildup in Eastern Europe.

Western countries have levied broad economic sanctions against Moscow over its support for pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine and Crimea’s reunification with Russia.

In late 2016, Washington alleged that Russia had influenced the US presidential election in November that year to help Donald Trump get elected, an allegation that Russia strongly denied.

Russia and the US are also at odds over the Syrian crisis, as they are backing opposite sides in the conflict.

Russia has been assisting the Syrian government in its battle against extremist militants, while the US and its allies back Takfiri militants fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Source: Presstv

7, April 2018

US: Republican lawmaker resigns over sexual harassment accusations ⁰

A US congressman has resigned after being accused of sexual harassment by a female former aide amid a string of sexual assault claims in the country.

Republican Representative Blake Farenthold of Texas resigned Friday from Congress a week after the House ethics committee said it was investigating him over allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation involving the female former staff member.

“While I planned on serving out the remainder of my term in Congress, I know in my heart it’s time for me to move along and look for new ways to serve,” the 56-year-old congressman said in a social media video statement.

Farenthold, who represented Corpus Christi in the US House of Representatives, has denied the accusation, but had said in December that he would not seek re-election.

“I had no idea how to run a congressional office, and as a result, I allowed a workplace culture to take root in my office that was too permissive and decidedly unprofessional,” Farenthold said in December.

According to a Politico report in December, the congressional Office of Compliance had paid $84,000 from a public fund on behalf of Farenthold for a sexual harassment claim.

This comes after several other US lawmakers have either stepped down or not sought re-election over sexual harassment accusations. President Donald Trump has also been accused by at least two dozen women of inappropriate sexual behavior.

The wave of sexual scandals began when Harvey Weinstein, a leading Hollywood producer, was hit with allegations of sexual harassment, assault or rape.

Trump has said that he was happy that women were now coming forward accusing lawmakers and media figures, many of whom Democrats, of sexual misconduct.

Source: Presstv

6, April 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Why is the world turning a blind eye? ⁰

The Southern Cameroons crisis that has been playing out for close to two years has gradually spiralled out of control following the existence of many armed groups in the two English-speaking regions of the country. Over the last two months, many innocent civilians have met their death as the government pursues its policy of collective punishment. Many civilians have seen their homes burnt down by government forces which have opted for a “scorch-earth” policy that is hurting many vulnerable people who have nothing to do with the conflict.

A few weeks ago, villages such as Kembong and Kwakwa in the South West region were visited by a brigade of alcohol-inflamed and sex-starved soldiers whose actions defied all modern law enforcement logic. Houses were burnt down, with the old and vulnerable consumed by the flames in a campaign that will never bring peace to the region. What is more disturbing is that, for more than a month now, the government has not ordered any investigation into these barbaric atrocities. It has not even expressed any remorse for such acts of inhumanity committed by people who are supposed to serve and protect the population.

Of course, what caused the government to adopt the obnoxious “law of Hammurabi” was the killing of army soldiers by some unidentified gun men. This act should never be extolled, but the government’s decision to come down to the level of a ragtag army clearly calls for a global condemnation.

The government is an organized structure with institutions whose capacity to investigate crimes has been built over the years. Its actions in retaliation to acts committed by unknown gunmen serve as a testament to its failure to rein in the tough Ambazonian fighters who are determined to take the war to the enemy.

The government clearly understands that in seeking out those who commit such odious crimes against government forces, it must partner with the local population. It knows it must use the local population to gather intelligence that will help it in its efforts to restore peace and security in the region. The government’s violent reaction to crimes committed by a few gunmen speaks volumes to its inability to keep the country safe through meaningful dialogue. For long, it has been giving the impression that it cherishes dialogue, but its actions over the last six months have proven that it has been paying lip service to the whole notion of dialogue.

Kwakwa had been considered as a flash in the pan by many government apologists and many people hoped that this unfortunate drama would not repeat itself. But three weeks ago, Mbim, a small village some 20 kilometres from Kumbo, was the target of these alcohol-inflamed soldiers. During the military onslaught, many houses were razed, food was destroyed, and many civilians were wounded, an act that has been condemned by many Southern Cameroonian activists and opinion leaders.

From every indication, this seems to be the government’s modus operandi and it is determined to use it, as long as Southern Cameroonians stick to their guns. The government seems to have sworn that theirs will be the kingdom of tears and homelessness for as long as they continue to challenge its authority. The same destruction has been spreading to other parts of Southern Cameroons.

The government that is supposed to protect civilians has resorted to killing them just because some of them do sympathize with Ambazonian Defense Forces. The civilians have been caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. They have no control over the Ambazonian fighters who consider themselves as freedom fighters and the beleaguered government seems to be at its wit’s end as it faces tough challenges from the determined freedom fighters.

On Tuesday, April 3, 2018, the Cameroonian military attacked and burned several homes in Mungo Ndor, a small village located some 40 km from Nguti in the Koupé-Manengouba Division in the South West region. The senseless arson campaign by government troops has left many people in tears. Ms. Egbe Maria Ndonge, popularly known as “Mami Maria”, was burned to death in her house, while asleep. Many people question the rationale behind such government brutality that will make it hard for both parties to sit and talk.

Speaking to a Cameroon Concord News Group correspondent on the ground, residents of the village confirmed that local churches had been burnt and 6 civilians shot. The sources also added that some civilians had been killed in the senseless government attacks. It should be recalled that killing civilians on purpose and destroying civilian property constitute war crimes. The government has an obligation under international law to investigate all the atrocities being committed by its military. So far, the Yaoundé regime seems to be enjoying as Southern Cameroonians run into the jungle for accommodation.

According to the Cameroon Concord News Group correspondent, the village has been besieged by the army, and the villagers are not allowed to move in or out. Hundreds of residents are currently seeking refuge in the forest. Many rights groups, including the one led by Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor-Balla, are calling on the government to grant journalists and human rights organizations access to these regions.

Since the conflict in Southern Cameroons started in October 2016, more than 1,000 people have been killed, with army soldiers accounting for more than 300 of the deaths. The civilian population has borne the brunt of the government’s attacks on villages and towns in Southern Cameroons.

The Southern Cameroons crisis has resulted in the fleeing of more than 60,000 Southern Cameroonians from their homeland to Nigeria due to the government’s military violence. Many of these people are innocent civilians who have been caught between government army soldiers and Ambazonian Defense forces who are battling for the control of territory in South Cameroons; a region rich in minerals, especially oil, gold and diamond.

The tension in the region has been flaring following the arrest of Ambazonian leaders in Nigeria in early January and their illegal extradition to Cameroon where they are being held incommunicado at the Gendarmerie headquarters in Yaounde.

Following the arrest of the Ambazonian president and 46 others, violent clashes erupted in several towns in Southern Cameroons. In Batibo, three army soldiers were killed by unknown gunmen, while the Batibo Senior Divisional Officer was taken by the gunmen to an unknown destination. His whereabouts are still unknown. The Batibo Assistant Mayor, Esther Tebo, for her part, escaped capture by the skin of her teeth, after gunmen showed up at her church and opened fire, wounding several people.

Kembong, a town in Manyu Division which was a hotspot during the violent confrontations in December 2017, was back in the spotlight following an attack by heavily armed gunmen on the temporary military barracks in the town. The attack resulted in the killing of three gendarmes, with many other uniformed officers wounded. The wounded were flown to the Mamfe military hospital for treatment, a measure that helped to stabilize them.

The incident, which is a response to the government’s military action in many parts of Southern Cameroons, came less than 24 hours after the country’s president, Paul Biya, said the North West and South West regions were stabilizing during a speech delivered to the country’s youth on Saturday, February 10, 2018, on the occasion of the country’s youth day.

There have been many cases of violence in the English-speaking regions following Mr. Ayuk Tabe’s arrest. Cameroonian authorities themselves have become more concerned about the political and military conflict in the country as it continues to spill out of the control. Rumors making the rounds for some time now hold that young Francophone fighters are swelling the ranks of Southern Cameroonian fighters in Ndian Division.

This is making things a lot more dangerous, as an issue that started with socio-professional demands by lawyers and teachers may end up becoming a major civil war in a region that has had more than its fair share of civil wars and political chaos.

But the most challenging thing is the silence of the international community. Despite the daily killings taking place in many towns in Southern Cameroons, the international community has sunk into a deafening silence that is worrying to many people across the globe.

Some analysts argue that the international community has entered into a pact with the Cameroon government. The international community has been looking the other way while the Cameroon government is mowing down its own people. Despite calls to the global body by rights groups such as the International Crisis Group and Amnesty International for a direct intervention, the UN has continued to display a form of indifference that is more unsettling than reassuring.

Even the illegal arrest and extradition of Southern Cameroonian leaders did not shock the international community. The United Nations, in particular, seems to be playing ball with the Cameroon government and this is causing many people to hold that most of the military violence taking place in the English-speaking regions of the country has received the blessing of a United Nations that is more interested in keeping the country together than in the methods that are being used to keep the country one and indivisible.

So far, the international community has been turning a blind eye to the death and destruction that army soldiers have been spreading in the two English-speaking regions of the country. Is the international community under the influence of France that has been the greatest beneficiary of the Southern Cameroonian wealth or is it just sick and tired of dealing with conflicts on the continent?

From the behavior so far displayed by the international community, it is clear that Southern Cameroonian lives do not really matter. Many Southern Cameroonians have been sent to an early grave as a result of the government’s ill-advised decision to pursue military instead of a political approach to the conflict. Could the Biya regime have been successful in corrupting the entire international community? Why would a people who simply want the world to know that they are hurting become a target of a government that is supposed to protect them?

The international community might have called for inclusive dialogue at different stages of the conflict, but its passivity and lack of interest in the whole situation speaks to the connivance between it and the Biya region to decimate the indigenous people of Southern Cameroons. If the international community does not come out of the “Omerta” it has imposed on itself, Southern Cameroonians will continue to consider it as an accomplice in the genocide that is currently playing out in their country.

It is time for the international community to get tough on a government that is considered by its own citizens as a crime syndicate. Its corruption has robbed its own people of happiness and prosperity. Today, it is fiercely promoting the principle of political tribalism as a means of sustaining itself in power. The market-dominant minority that has enriched itself through unorthodox means has brought untold hardship to Cameroonians. It has to go and Cameroonians in general hold that the intervention of the international community will be a welcome relief. Turning a blind eye to the problem will not make it go away. The international community must step in to restore peace in a country that is anything but democratic.

By Kingsley Betek with contributions from the editorial team at the Cameroon Concord News Group Global Headquarters in the UK.

6, April 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Bomb explodes in Lebialem County ⁰

It has been confirmed that a bomb exploded this morning at Belua causing untold damage to the military and vehicles of French Cameroun government forces. Belua is located in the Lebialem County in the Southern Zone of the Federal Republic of Ambzonia.

Cameroon Concord News sources say the French Cameroun army vehicle is beyond repairs. The number of human casualties is yet to be ascertained. There is pandemonium at Menji and MHA Nveh where the injured are receiving emergency treatment.

This item is still developing

6, April 2018

South Korea ex-president Park jailed for 24 years ⁰

South Korea’s disgraced former president Park Geun-hye was jailed for 24 years Friday for corruption, closing out a dramatic fall from grace for the country’s first woman leader, who became a figure of public fury and ridicule.

The sentence followed a trial lasting more than 10 months which ended with Park being found guilty on multiple criminal charges, including bribery and abuse of power.

“The amount of bribery the accused received or demanded in collaboration with Choi amounts to more than 23 billion won ($21.7 million),” Judge Kim Se-Yoon said, referring to Park’s secret confidante and long-time friend Choi Soon-sil.

“I sentence the accused to 24 years in prison and 18 billion won in fines.”

Park, 66, had boycotted most of the trial in protest at being held in custody. She was not present in court for Friday’s judgment which, in a rare move, was broadcast live on television.

The daughter of assassinated dictator Park Chung-hee, Park took office in 2013 as a conservative icon who cast herself in the role of daughter of the nation — incorruptible and beholden to none.

Less than four years later, she was impeached, stripped of all her powers and ousted from office on the back of months-long mass protests that brought millions onto the streets of Seoul and other cities.

The trigger was a snowballing graft scandal involving Park and Choi and accusations of graft, influence-peddling, and taking bribes from corporate bigwigs in exchange for policy favors.

Much of the public anger was focused on Park’s relationship with Choi and accusations that she let her childhood friend — who held no formal position or security clearance — meddle in state affairs, including high-level appointments and editing official speeches.

Choi is the daughter of a shadowy religious figure who had served as a mentor to Park for decades until his death in 1994. She was tried separately and sentenced in February to 20 years in prison.

Choi Soon-sil (masked), the jailed confidante of former South Korean president Park Geun-Hye, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul on February 13, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

The scandal reignited public criticism in South Korea of the cozy and often corrupt ties between top officials and the powerful, family-run conglomerates — called “chaebol” — that dominate the world’s 11th-largest economy.

Park becomes the third former South Korean leader to be convicted on criminal charges after leaving office, joining Chun Doo-whan and Roh Tae-woo, who were both found guilty of treason and corruption in the 1990s.

Park’s presidential predecessor, Lee Myung-bak, is currently in custody as prosecutors investigate multiple corruption charges involving him and his relatives.

Chun and Roh received presidential pardons after each spent around two years in jail — a privilege that may elude Park for many years, said Jeong Han-wool, an analyst at the Seoul Hankook Research think-tank.

There is some residual sympathy for Park among her core supporters, who have always seen her as a heroically tragic figure who lost both her parents to assassins and devoted her life to the service of her country.

The fact that she never married or had children was part of her appeal, given the nepotistic tendencies of many senior officials.

“I’m married to the Republic of Korea. I have no children. South Koreans are my family,” she once declared.

(Source: AFP)