German spy chief: Pyongyang procures missile parts via Berlin embassy

4, February 2018

German spy chief: Pyongyang procures missile parts via Berlin embassy 0

Germany’s BfV domestic intelligence agency has said that North Korea has been purchasing parts for its missile program via its embassy in Berlin.

BfV head Hans-Georg Maassen made the announcement in a program to be aired on NDR on Monday. Pyongyang is yet to comment on the matter.

“We determined that procurement activities have been carried out from there that are, in our view, done with a view to the missile program and sometimes also for the nuclear program,” said Maassen in comments released ahead of the broadcast.

He noted that the purchases were usually so-called dual use goods, which can be utilized for military and civilian activates.

Maassen noted that German authorities usually block such activities, but “We can’t guarantee that we can detect and prevent this in all cases.”

This file photo taken on June 28, 2016 shows German domestic intelligence agency chief Hans-Georg Maassen during a press conference in Berlin to present the agency’s yearly report for the year 2015.  (Photos by AFP)

Pyongyang has defied years of multilateral and bilateral sanctions in relation to its nuclear and missile programs.

The United States and its allies in the West and in Asia engineered tough UN sanctions on North Korea last year when Pyongyang test-fired two missiles in July and then carried out its most powerful nuclear test in August.

However, many said the sanctions would not deter North Korea from pursuing its nuclear and missile program, which Pyongyang insists is part of its defense policy against the United States. Critics have repeatedly warned that sanctions would more affect North Korean people rather than its military and the government.

 

Source: Presstv


Trump tweets that GOP memo ‘totally vindicates’ him in Russian probe

4, February 2018

Trump tweets that GOP memo ‘totally vindicates’ him in Russian probe 0

US President Donald Trump has defended a recent recent release of once-classified congressional memo on FBI, saying it “totally vindicates” him in an investigation into his presidential campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia.

The president took to Twitter on Saturday morning to once again deny any such collusion or obstruction.

“This memo totally vindicates ‘Trump’ in probe,” he wrote. “But the Russian Witch Hunt goes on and on. Their (sic) was no Collusion and there was no Obstruction (the word now used because, after one year of looking endlessly and finding NOTHING, collusion is dead). This is an American disgrace!”

On Friday, he approved the public release of a memo written by House Intelligence Committee member Devin Nunes that alleges the FBI abused its surveillance authority.

The release of the four-page document prompted senior Democrats to denounce the controversial memo as an inaccurate and misleading portrait intended to undermine the probe. They warned Trump, in a written statement, not to use it as a “pretext” to fire special counsel Robert Mueller or the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein.

Trump reportedly ordered f Mueller the firing of Mueller in June. Democrats, said in a statement that, the memo release is an attempt to undermine the integrity of Mueller’s investigation, warning that such action could trigger a constitutional crisis not seen since the 1970s, when then President Richard Nixon gave orders to fire justice officials involved in the Watergate scandal.

“We write to inform you that we would consider such an unwarranted action as an attempt to obstruct justice in the Russia investigation,” the statement said.

Former CIA director Leon Panetta (File photo)

 

The memo’s central allegation is that the FBI and US Justice Department had been spying on a former Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page.

GOP memo release sends ‘terrible message’ to US allies

Former CIA director Leon Panetta also warned that Trump’s approval of the congressional memo sends a “terrible message” to US allies to be worry about sharing classified information with Washington.

Panetta, who was discussing the memo release with the CBS News on Friday, described it as an “unprecedented” move, which could have far-reaching effects on Washington’s foreign policy.

“All of this sends a terrible message to our allies who are going to worry about sharing classified information that is so easily released as part of this political effort,” said the former CIA director.

He also called Trump’s move as “a breakdown in the fundamental trust that is important to the institutions of our democracy.”

There are currently several investigations into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, but Trump has consistently denied any ties with Moscow. Analysts, however, say Trump’s attempts to hinder the probe, including his attempts to sack Mueller, suggests that he has something big to hide.

 

Source: Presstv


Cameroon Concord News Strong Statement of Support for the Interim Government and President Ayuk Tabe

4, February 2018

Cameroon Concord News Strong Statement of Support for the Interim Government and President Ayuk Tabe 0

Cameroon Concord News Group strongly supports the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. Cameroon Concord News urges Nigeria and French Cameroun to free our leaders held in captivity and all Ambazonian captives in their dungeons with immediate effect; failing which they will bear the consequences of the conflagration caused by their reckless and illegal conduct.

Although Nigeria has declined to make a public admission of its abduction of Ambazonian leaders who were legally within its territory under the protection of international law, French Cameroun in its published admission of the crime, incriminated Nigeria in the crime. French Cameroun confessed that the impugned criminal conduct was in furtherance of cooperation agreements it had with Nigeria which they relied on the perpetration of the abduction and rendition of our leaders, and in furtherance and support of French Cameroun’s genocide of Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia.

Cameroon Concord News can confirm that Nigeria’s support of French Cameroun’s war efforts, crimes against humanity and genocide against Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia goes far beyond the abduction and rendition of our leaders to the French Cameroun’s terrorist regime. Apart from information at our disposal, French Cameroon has by its actions and public statements provide a reasonable basis for Cameroon Concord News Group to conclude that this allegation has merit.

Within a month, Paul Biya paid two visits to the President of Nigeria. Subsequently, French Cameroun’s Minister for Territorial Administration a certain Rene  Sadi was received by the Vice President of Nigeria Professor Osinbanjo and the Nigeria Ambassador was received by Paul Biya. This is a deal wrapped in one of the most scandalous corruption deals in history whose details will emerge with time although there are sufficient indices to conclude that it took the intervention of France for the final deal to be sealed. It is no wonder that the visit by the French Ambassador in Abuja to the Nigerian Foreign Minister shortly after the abduction carried symbolic weight.  The poor Minister who like the Attorney General of the Federation and the Inspector General of the Police although aware of the abduction were kept out of the loop because the pecuniary interests of the inner circle of the corrupt circle of power around the President controlled the process, provided a cursory statement relating to the abduction in troubling language signifying his apparent distaste for the prurient criminality surrounding it. He did not know how to characterize it. Was it an arrest? And invitation for investigation? And abduction? That equivocal response provided by the Minister cast a slur on the soul of the Nigerian Government on whose head the blood of Southern Cameroons leaders and its people arising from this crime and more must lie.

The international crimes and violations committed by French Cameroun against Southern Cameroons go back as far and fifty-seven years.  On 19/9/63, French Cameroon signed the Geneva Conventions 1949 on the protection of civilians in armed conflicts 1949.  It signed the Convention on Statutory Limitations to War Crimes 1968 on 6/10/72 and the Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance, 2006 on 6/2/2007.

French Cameroon signed an agreement of friendship and cooperation on February 6, 1963 and on the 27 March 1972 Nigeria and French Cameroon signed a Mutual Agreement regulating relations between the two countries.

French Cameroun signed the Rome Statute creating the ICC on 17 July 1998 but took no further action to ratify the treaty. However, Nigeria ratified the treaty on the 27 September 2001 as a result became a state party to the Rome to the Statute. By its willing participation in the crimes coming before the Rome Statute by French Cameroun against Ambazonia, part of which have been jointly committed within the territory of Nigeria, the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction over these crimes.

French Cameroun has justified the abduction and rendition of Southern Cameroons leaders who were lawfully in the territory of Nigeria under the protection of international law to French Cameroon on alleged cooperation agreements it signed with Nigeria in 1963 and in 1972. French Cameroun characterized these agreements as the foundational judicial basis for abduction and rendition. The purported agreements do not qualify as treaties under the Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties 1969.  They are not extradition treaties as such for an extradition request to be valid.  For an extradition request to be valid and considered, it must conform to the norms of international law and must be submitted to a judicial process within the territory of the country to which the request is submitted.  Cameroon Concord is not aware of any judicial process that was initiated in Nigeria to justify the rendition of Southern/ Cameroons captives to French Cameroun to face a court-martial and potential death sentence.

Even if the agreements put forward by French Cameroun to justify the terrorist style abduction of Ambazonian leaders and rendition to French Cameroun were to be construed as valid, rendition under the spurious agreements would still be circumscribed by the treaty obligations of French Cameroun under the Geneva Conventions 1949, Convention on Statutory Limitations on War Crimes and the Convention for the protection of Persons from Enforced Disappearances 2006. Nigeria was barred from the Rome Statute from engaging in the criminal acts of abduction and aiding and abating genocide, enforced disappearances, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Ambazonia within its national territory and in the territory of Ambazonia.  There have been credible allegations that French Cameroons soldiers and gendarmes crossed into Nigerian territory to abduct and massacre Southern Cameroonians and Nigerian civilians in Cross River State, and Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria. These crimes coming within the jurisdiction of the Rome Statute but Nigeria in complicity with French Cameroun has allowed these criminal acts to continue unrestrained. Nigeria has not provided adequate protection to these persons at risk within its national territory.

There is a pecuniary motivation for the criminal conduct of decision makers within the Nigerian Government. This motivation facilitated the perpetration of international crimes for which they and their co-conspirators in French Cameroun bear criminal responsibility. It is troubling that the international community is slow to intervene to investigate, prosecute and punish members of the criminal cartel in the hands of whom it has entrusted the prosecution of the war against Boko Haram which they are the main sponsors and beneficiaries.  This misplaced trust has blinded them from intervening with the urgency it requires to abate the ongoing genocide against Southern Cameroons and other international crimes.  The warning alarm raised by the Catholic Bishops of the Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province, African Bar Association and lately the very poignant ultimatum given by the Communication Secretary of the Interim Government of Ambazonia Chris Anu to Nigeria and French Cameroun to produce our leaders by the dateline of Monday February 5, or face an energetic response making that which was make by the survivors of the Rwandan Genocide a child’s play must be taken seriously, and urgently too.  Cameroon Concord News applauds the Interim Government for providing the window of opportunity for Nigeria and French Cameroun to abide by the International Rule of Law and release our leaders and abate the crimes in Ambazonia.

Cameroon Concord News calls on citizens of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia to stand resolutely by our Interim Government and to staunchly defend our territory and our leaders in captivity.  Our President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe stated that no one is above the revolution and the freedom of Ambazonia. His abduction should rally all Ambazonians around the Interim Government to free our leaders and all abductees in French Cameroun’s dungeons.  As we prosecute this revolution, let us not forget the fact that we shall prevail. In our moment of victory, our president and abducted leaders and all our abductees will be with us but Paul Biya, and his Nigerian co-conspirators will not be there to enslave us anymore.

Cameroon Concord News Group wishes to take this opportunity to caution and advise our people to not fall into the trap of the enemies through their agents in our midst.  Cameroon Concord News Group with its cream of intelligence officers serving with Cameroon Intelligence Report has carefully investigated the spurious allegations made against Mr Millan Atam as the person who betrayed our Interim leaders and found them to be false. If anything, it is part of the efforts deployed by French Cameroun and its co-conspirators to undermine the Interim Government and destroy the revolution and our unstoppable quest for freedom.

It is troubling that the persons peddling these allegations have made or done things which fit the agenda aimed at destroying or distracting the Interim Government from its stated efforts of securing the release of our leaders and the freedom of our land.  Cameroon Concord News has carefully listened to, analyzed and investigated audios and statements made by key members of the gang of individuals wrongly accusing Millan Atam in efforts to deflect attention from their culpable and treacherous conduct.  The Southern Cameroons Radio Television which Millan Atam hold in trust for Ambazonia and which is one remarkable symbol of our sovereignty and communication with our people and the world at large is a great source of worry to French Cameroun.  Millan Atam is therefore one of French Cameroun’s staunchest enemies.  Efforts deployed to prevent the broadcast to our people have failed. Had he been abducted in Nigeria, that crucial tool of communication would have been eliminated.  Cameroon Concord News Group has investigated his travel itinerary and found it to accord with his narrative. Efforts by the messengers of doom who had made public statements predicting the abduction of our President before it occurred to trace his where about while in Nigeria so that he too be abducted failed leading to panic in their camp.  Millan Atam’s presence in Nigeria was God sent because he was the one who immediately alerted our lawyers and set in motion the mobilization of the Interim Government to step in and move the revolution on while fighting to free our leaders.

In a last-ditch attempt to scuttle the Interim Government, the same persons floated the idea of disbanding the Interim Government, electing a new government and above all they are relaunching the reboot conference in Washington DC to enable them take over power while the President is in the cruel dungeon of French Cameroun. The question has been asked by Mr Mbah John Akuru why Millan Atam arrived late for the meeting.  Back to sender.  Why did he who is a member of the Interim Government and residing in Nigeria not attend the meeting? Where did he get all the facts with which he announced the execution of the President and our leaders? Was his intention to prepare Ambazonians for such an eventuality or was it aimed at sowing confusion and justifying the takeover of the revolution by proxies of French Cameroun and their allies within the Nigerian Government?  Chris Anu the communication Secretary went to Nigeria with his American passport and took credible initiatives for the protection and defence aimed at securing the release of our leaders. He granted received press interviews. He mobilized international awareness of the abductions and about our case. Nigeria hoped that the abduction and the rendition would scare Ambazonians not to venture into Nigeria and hold it accountable for her role in this international crime. Chris Anu braved the odds and went there and jumpstarted the battle for the release of our leaders.  Additionally, he has lately issued a strong ultimatum to French Cameroun to show proof of the existence of our leaders.

In the face of published statements aimed at preparing the minds of our people towards the potential execution of our people, the Interim Government rightly acted to save their lives and make sure a plan to fail and there are indications that such a wicked ploy for which our minds were being prepared has failed.  That is one victory on the part of our Interim Government. However, persons who were complicit in making publications aimed at facilitating such an eventuality and who have never strongly joined the Catholic Bishops, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, the Interim Government  through its Communication Secretary Chris Anu, the Southern Cameroons television under the mandate of Millan Atam, activists like Mark Barata, Tapang Ivo and many others in denouncing the genocide in Ambazonia, or have never visited the refugees or contributed to their well being, suddenly commenced a timid attack against this much applauded ultimatum. If that ultimatum is a precursor of a bold response to the genocide and crimes committed in Ambazonia from now hence by the Interim Government, then we in Cameroon Concord News Group will stand resolutely behind our Interim Government. We call our people to ignore all distractions and redouble all efforts to free our leaders and all our abductees held by French Cameroun. We must free our land and people from the bondage of slavery and colonial rule to which we have been subjected for the past fifty-six years.

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman and Editor-in-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group


CAF President says La Republique must improve efforts to secure AFCON 2019

3, February 2018

CAF President says La Republique must improve efforts to secure AFCON 2019 0

CAF President Ahmad Ahmad has warned Cameroon that they must step up their preparation if they’re to retain hosting rights for the 2019 African Cup of Nations.

Cameroon’s ability to host the biennial African football showpiece has been under increasing scrutiny since the Confederation of African football voted – at the CAF Symposium in Rabat in July 2017 – to extend the competition from 16 teams to 24.

Speaking at the Caf 40th Ordinary General Assembly in Casablanca on Friday, Ahmad confirmed that, following an inspection of the country, Cameroon are still falling short of expectations and must improve their efforts if they’re to retain hosting rights.

“There was already an inspection by the company, Roland Berger, who make their analysis and then propose to the executive committee which decision to take,” Ahmad told journalists. “They were in charge of auditing the infrastructure and organisational issues for the tournament.

“Between the inspection reports and the specifications, there’s still a deficit,” the Malagasy football administrator added. “As a result, Cameroon were told to double up.”

Representatives from global strategy company and independent assessors Roland Berger toured Cameroon between January 12 and 23 in order to asses the nation’s preparations.

The competition is set to be staged in five cities across Cameroon – Bafoussam, Douala, Garoua, Limbe and Yaounde – with the venues each in different states of readiness.

“There are people who are lying,” he continued. “I am a man of my word, and my Executive Committee won’t make any changes to the decisions made at the Symposium.

“We will apply the regulations with vigour, the key actors in football want a better AFCON in all areas.

“The specifications require infrastructure, hotels, stadiums, hospitals and a lot more. These are all priorities now.”

As reported by BBC Sport, Ahmad has previously acknowledged that CAF will find an alternative Nations Cup host if Cameroon ultimately fail to demonstrate their preparedness.

According to Africa News, Morocco, hosts of the ongoing African Nations Championship, are committed to hosting the 2019 event should Cameroon have hosting rights taken off them.

 

Source: ESPN


Legacy of history drives Cameroon’s rift

3, February 2018

Legacy of history drives Cameroon’s rift 0

Unrest has spread in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions since October as a secessionist movement has pushed for independence.

Dozens of people have been killed and tens of thousands have fled the violence.

But the tensions can be traced back to events a century ago, when Britain and France occupied Cameroon, taking over Germany’s major colony in West Africa.

– World War I split –

Cameroon was a Germany colony until 1916, when British and French troops forced the Germans out.

The two countries divided it into separate spheres of influence that were later formalised by the League of Nations, the forerunner to the UN.

The much larger French colony gained independence in 1960.

A year later, the British colony also gained independence. Some of the English-speaking areas choose to join newly-formed Nigeria, others to become part of the federation of Cameroon.

– English-speaking regions –

The two mainly English-speaking southern provinces are home to around a fifth of Cameroon’s 23 million population.

Named the Northwest Region and Southwest Region, they jut into southeastern Nigeria.

The English-speaking areas were allowed some self-governance.

But many English-speakers complained of discrimination at the hands of the francophone majority in areas such as education and the justice system, and alleged national wealth was not shared fairly.

– Disputed ‘unity’ –

In 1972, the original federal structure was scrapped in a national referendum that approved the creation of one state.

Calls for a breakaway English-speaking state mounted in the 1990s, with demands for a referendum on independence accompanied by low-level unrest.

In 2001 banned protest rallies turned violent. Several people were killed when security forces moved in and secessionist leaders were arrested.

The separatist Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) set up a “government” in Britain and leaders moved into exile.

– 2016 flare-up –

Lawyers in the English-speaking regions, which are also strongholds for the political opposition, went on strike in late 2016 to demand the right to use Anglo-Saxon common law.

Teachers followed, protesting at the appointment of francophones in the region’s education system.

Tensions rose in December, when the national flag was torched at protests and a separatist version hoisted. Clashes in some areas left several people reported dead.

Prime Minister Philemon Yang, himself an anglophone, ruled out secession — “Unity is the bedrock of our country.”

– ‘Independence’ declared –

In January 2017 senior secessionist activists were arrested and charged with terrorism and rebellion.

New protests brought several cities to a standstill, but the government hit back by cutting off internet access to flashpoint areas for several weeks, alleging the spread of “fake news”.

In an apparent effort to calm the situation, President Paul Biya halted the secessionists’ trials in August and some were later freed.

In October, several thousand defied a ban on protests to mark the anniversary of the country’s October 1961 unification.

Separatist leaders issued a symbolic declaration of independence. “We are no longer slaves of Cameroon,” said Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, the self-declared “president” of a new republic called “Ambazonia”.

Biya, in power since 1982 and standing for reelection in 2018, branded the secessionists “a band of terrorists” and ordered a crackdown with curfews, raids and other restrictions.

At least 17 people were killed in clashes the following weekend. Nearly two dozen members of the security forces have also been killed since the flareup, according to a toll compiled by AFP.

– Nigeria role –

Since January 2018, much of the focus has shifted to Nigeria, which the Cameroon authorities suspected was being used as a safe haven for separatists.

The two neighbours have experienced tensions in the past over various issues, but forged cooperation on fighting the Boko Haram jihadist insurgency.

On January 29, Nigeria extradited 47 anglophone separatists, including Tabe, which was followed by fresh unrest English-speaking regions of Cameroon, in which three policemen and at least one civilian died.

Cameroon security forces, according to local sources, have also been seen among the estimated 30,000 people who have fled the violence to southeast Nigeria.

Source: The Citizen


France condemns killings in Cameroon, urges dialogue

3, February 2018

France condemns killings in Cameroon, urges dialogue 0

France condemned on Friday attacks by suspected English-speaking separatists in Cameroon that killed three gendarmes on Thursday, but urged the Cameroonian government to engage in dialogue to stop an escalation in violence.

The separatists have taken up arms over the past year in an attempt to create a nation they call Ambazonia. The insurgency represents the gravest challenge yet to the 35-year rule of Cameroon’s President Paul Biya.

France, which has significant business interests in its former colony and relies on it to fight against Islamist militants, has been careful not to overly criticize the government’s handling of the crisis.

“France condemns the new killings of law enforcement officials that took place on 1 February in Cameroon,” Foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes Von der Muhll told reporters in a daily briefing after three gendarmes were killed in separate clashes on Thursday in towns in the North West Region.

She said only dialogue would enable a peaceful response to the concerns of all sides and ensure the unity and integrity of the country.

“This is a message we are also passing on to the Cameroonian authorities, in close consultation with our European and international partners,” the spokeswoman added.

Violence has flared in the past week, with armed separatist factions clashing against Cameroon security forces in several towns and villages in the two English-speaking regions after Nigeria deported the leader of the self-declared state and 46 others.

The United Nations refugee agency condemned the handing over of the 47 people, saying most of them had submitted asylum claims and their forced return was in violation of international refugee law.

More than 43,000 Cameroonians have fled as refugees to Nigeria to escape the government crackdown on the separatists, say local aid officials. The majority are in Nigeria’s Cross River state, which borders southwest Cameroon.

REUTERS


Pentagon unveils nuclear arms policy with focus on Russia

3, February 2018

Pentagon unveils nuclear arms policy with focus on Russia 0

The Pentagon has released a new nuclear arms policy that aims to revamp US nuclear arsenal and develop new low-yield atomic weapons.

The latest policy was revealed on Friday in a Pentagon policy statement known as the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR).

The new thinking, which came largely to counter Russia, effectively ends Obama-era efforts to reduce the size and scope of the US arsenal and minimize the role of nuclear weapons in defense planning.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in an introductory note that the changes reflect a need to “look reality in the eye” and “see the world as it is, not as we wish it to be.”

“This is a response to Russian expansion of their capability and the nature of their strategy and doctrine,” Mattis added.

 Defense Secretary Jim Mattis 

 

The Pentagon believes Moscow considers US nuclear weapons as too big to be used, meaning they are no longer an effective deterrent; therefore, developing smaller nukes would challenge that presumption.

Although low-yield weapons are smaller, less powerful bombs with a strength below 20 kilotons, they are still devastating.

Low-yield nuclear weapons known as “tactical” nukes can be as destructive as the bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

The US already has a massive nuclear arsenal which includes 150 B-61 nukes stored across multiple European countries.

A US B-61 nuclear bomb (File photo)

 

Those weapons, which can be configured for low-yield options, would be launchable from submarines or ships, so would not need to be stockpiled in Europe.

“The US and NATO require a wider range of credible low-yield nuclear options to do a very specific thing: to convince the Russian leadership that if they initiate limited nuclear use, in a war with the alliance, our response will deny them the objective they seek and impose costs that far outweigh those benefits they can achieve,” said Greg Weaver, the deputy director of strategic capabilities for the military’s Joint Staff.

The NPR, the first update to the military’s nuclear strategy since 2010, outlines the Pentagon’s nuclear ambitions under President Donald Trump, but marks a sobering break from the vision for America’s atomic future under his predecessor Barack Obama.

“The strategy develops capabilities aimed at making use of nuclear weapons less likely,” Trump said in a statement. “It enhances deterrence of strategic attacks against our Nation, and our allies and partners, that may not come in the form of nuclear weapons.”

President Donald Trump

 

During his presidential campaign, Trump promised to expand and strengthen US nuclear capabilities, unlike Obama who, during a famous speech in Prague in 2009, called for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Barry Blechman, co-founder of the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan anti-nuclear proliferation think tank in Washington, has warned that the US is “on the cusp of a new era of nuclear proliferation.”

“This is the great nuclear danger raised by the new” nuclear policy, Blechman added.

The US is also considering upgrading its fleet of long-range strategic bombers such as B-2 and B-52 to deploy its arsenal of more than 7,000 nuclear warheads to any target around the world.

 

Source: Presstv


Southern Cameroons Crisis: ENAM has failed Cameroon with colonial education and policies

3, February 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: ENAM has failed Cameroon with colonial education and policies 0

One of the greatest calamities ever conceived and implemented by a creature walking on two limbs is this monstrosity called ENAM. The curriculum was designed in the nineteenth century by the French colonial masters. It wasn’t fit for purpose then and it isn’t fit for purpose now. But, the intellectual inactivity of the so-called academic authorities in French Cameroon have failed to grasp this simple fact. This nineteenth century model of education was intended by the colonial masters to educate the natives of the day on following their orders. It was accepted as true by the colonialists that the native was intellectually and physically inferior. This system of education was designed to purport such scandalous falsehood.

This absurdity, still sustained by this idiocy of a regime is designed for students to study magistracy and administration. Intakes are admitted after a fraudulent selection process. The old mantra of ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ is its motto. The place is full of the well-connected not the academically brilliant.

Even by its standards, this year’s intake was embarrassing. When you hear some people talking about this disaster of an establishment, you might be forgiven to think they are talking about Harvard Law School or London School of Economics. To accurately appreciate an educational organization, one would have to look at its graduates. If a great number of its graduates are making great contributions to their societies, the logical conclusion is that it’s a great institution. That can’t be said of ENAM

It’s pathetic that future graduates go in with the dream of coming out to join an ever expanding public service with one intention- join the bribery and corruption conveyor belt. Upon graduation, they get their ‘matricule numbers’ and are posted so they can start ripping the rewards of their labour. Thus we find ourselves with magistrates and administrators who don’t understand the law, people and are clueless about administration.

Now, the conundrum presents itself. The products of ENAM are running the country. They are faced with a crisis, the first real political difficulty to face the nation since 1961 and have no answers. They find themselves with nineteenth century schooling and directives in the twenty-first century. I suppose some of the lessons they take at ENAM are;

  1. if someone opposes your policies and politics, offer them a huge bribe to buy their silence
  2. if someone opposes you, ban them from entering the country of their birth.
  3. if someone has a different point of view from you, hunt them down even if it means breaking international law.
  4. citizens protest peacefully, shoot them.

In the twenty-first century, the political, legal and administrative gods of La Republique, who habitually products of ENAM collectively believe that it’s not abnormal to try citizens in a military tribunal. Kim Jong-un must be aghast at the legal system in La Republique.

Many in government haven’t grasped the enormity of the task facing the nation. The policies of the last 57 years have failed the people of British Southern Cameroons woefully. But with a degree of self-importance never before seen upon planet earth, the administration of La Republique led by products of ENAM are failing to see their apparent shortcomings.

Until and unless it’s accepted that these colonial policies and education model are not adequate to deal with twenty-first century problems, many in Cameroun are in for a massive shock. The shoot to kill policies of the past intended to quiet legitimate protests will not work. As Ambazonians, we refuse to accept outdated and imperialist institutions and instructions as they have no place in this century. Until these policies and abuse stop, we shall resist, resist and resist arrogance and occupation till the end.

 Sessekou  Asu Isong

A Cameroon Concord News Production



Ultimatum by Interim Government on the fate of the President: WHY WE SUPPORT THE ULTIMATUM

3, February 2018

Ultimatum by Interim Government on the fate of the President: WHY WE SUPPORT THE ULTIMATUM 0

Cameroon Concord News Group strongly supports the ultimatum issued by the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia giving French Cameroun and Nigeria until Monday 5th February 2018 to prove that our interim president Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and 11 other members of the Interim Government who were abducted in Abuja, Nigeria on January 5, 2018 are alive. Cameroon Concord News Group supports the statement made by the Communication Secretary of the Interim Government, Hon. Chris Anu that past that dateline, if prove that they are alive is not provided, then the reaction that proceeded the genocide in Rwanda will look like a child’s play. For Cameroon Concord News Group, there could hardly be a better way of painting the picture of the potential reaction to the provocation and the international conspiratorial genocide against Ambazonia that has culminated in the abduction of our leaders in a supposed democratic Nigeria.   This abduction in Abuja, the seat of power in Nigeria clarifies at long last, the dubious role played by some members of the Nigerian Government as the God fathers of the international crime cartels that have brought the countries of the African Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea on their knees. This international crime is a stain on the conscience of the supposed democratic Federation of Nigeria. The French slave territory of French Cameroun is the well-known Al Capone crime paradise in the Gulf of Guinea that preys on the blood and sweat of the Southern Cameroons.

Cameroon Concord News Group has read with dismay some timid attempt at condemning this strong statement made by the Interim Government, alleging that it amounted to an apology of genocide. This accusation which the criminal regimes to which the ultimatum has been shying to make is regrettable and unfortunate. Cameroon Concord News Group is tempted to suspect that such a timid statement is intended to benefit the genocidal regime and the abductors of our interim leaders. The statement of the Interim Government delivered by Hon. Chris Anu was not responsible for the genocide in Manyu, Kwakwa and other parts of Ambazonia. The statement was not responsible for the genocide perpetrated on November 22 and October 1, 2017 which was widely celebrated by the government of French Cameroun, members of the CPDM and Members of the Senate and National Assembly of French Cameroun. It was not responsible for the genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes that have decimated hundreds of thousands of Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonian citizens for the past fifty-seven years. That statement was not responsible for the widespread and systematic rape of our girls in schools and universities, torching of civilian settlements and deportation of our people from our ancestral lands. It was not responsible for the hundreds of thousands of our refugees in foreign lands.  It is regrettably the absence of statements of this nature and action to implement that provided cattle fodder to the impunity with which these crimes have been committed so far. It is the preplanned genocide of our people and the abduction of our leaders that the ultimatum promises a strong response worse than that occurred under similar genocidal circumstances in Rwanda.

For these reasons we strongly endorse the statement and urges the Interim Government to extend the ultimatum to include the immediate and unconditional release of our leaders if they are alive, the immediate and unconditional halt to the genocide and withdrawal of all French Cameroun’s terrorist forces from our territory, the divestment of French Cameroun’s colonial administrators and all symbols of colonial governance from our territory. That a person laying claims to leadership in the Southern Cameroons struggle should come out in times like these to condemn this strong statement calls for legitimate suspicion. It is regrettable that this individual and others have so far not come out strongly to condemn the genocide in the Southern Cameroons like the Roman Catholic Bishops, the International Crisis Group, Amnesty International and the African Bar Association have boldly done. Rather they have turned their weapons inward to attack and delegitimize every effort to confront the enemy comprehensively and decisively.   We in the Cameroon Concord News Group hold that this strong statement is appropriate in the circumstances. French Cameroun and its corrupt co-conspirators in the Nigerian Government will bear the consequences of the escalation of the genocidal war of choice they have declared against Ambazonia and its consequences in the entire Gulf of Guinea.

We strongly condemn any betrayal of the revolution and its leadership and support the self-defense efforts of Ambazonians at home and abroad. Those who cannot provide a strong response to the ongoing crimes against our people or bold enough to strongly condemn the crimes should spare the people the pains and provocations of timid statements that benefit our adversaries.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman and Editor-in-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group


Joshua Osih: The Compromise Candidate

2, February 2018

Joshua Osih: The Compromise Candidate 0

Over the last two years, Cameroon’s political future has been very uncertain, especially as the current political elite is constituted mainly of people who are over 75 years. For many Cameroonians, this is very concerning, especially as more than 70% of the country’s population is between 20 and 50 years old.

But one of the greatest challenges facing the country today is that of holding the country together. The country’s unity is under threat. Over the last two years, Cameroon has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. The Anglophone crisis has revealed the inadequacies of the current political system and the divisions within the country are clearly pointing the country in the wrong direction. These divisions are threatening the very foundation on which this beautiful country has been built.

The Anglophone minority is threatening to leave the union on grounds that it has been characterized by injustice, corruption, marginalization and abuse of human rights. Months of street demonstrations in early 2017 only resulted in violent clashes, with government troops killing Anglophone demonstrators.

Matters came to a head in the later part of 2017, with Anglophone fighters taking on army soldiers. The consequences of this fighting have been unbelievable. The death toll has been high on both sides and the end is unfortunately not in sight, as the government remains steadfast in its logic of winning the war through military violence and at all cost.

The crisis has not only revealed how politically vulnerable the country is, it has also demonstrated that a new political class is supposed to emerge if Cameroon, the once stable nation, has to preserve that attribute that has made it a special country on the African continent. The country’s dual colonial heritage has always made it to stand out and this beauty is under threat as the conflict between Anglophones and the State plays out on the streets and jungles of former West Cameroon.

While Anglophones are right in their fight against political and economic marginalization, there is a growing consensus that there is a huge governance problem that needs emergency action. The country lacks modern infrastructure. Its roads have become death traps. Its hospital have been reduced to consultation clinics and the quality of education that inspired hope in millions of Cameroonians has declined over the last twenty years to ridiculous levels.

Today, human rights abuses are rampant. The courts have lost the people’s respect. The judiciary is at the beck and call of the executive branch of government and this is making it hard for Cameroonians – both Anglophones and Francophones – to get the justice they need in their own country.

Cameroonians in general are looking forward to meaningful political change. The current political leaders have fallen short of the people’s glorious expectations. The ruling party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), has monopolized power for more than five decades and there is nothing to show for it. The arrogance of government ministers and CPDM parliamentarians has been the subject of many discussions ever since the Anglophone crisis started. And this is causing many people to take a look at different strategies that can help the country rid itself of the ruling party which is widely considered as a crime syndicate.

But it is not only the political scene that is begging for improvement. The country’s economy has been melting down at an alarming rate and this has been exacerbated by the escalating corruption that has made life unbearable for millions of Cameroonians. Cameroon’s economy has contracted over the last decade and this contraction is bound to continue, especially as the country is mired in multiple conflicts. The Anglophone crisis is already swallowing huge amounts of financial resources that could have been invested to transform the lives of many young Cameroonians and this situation is very likely to continue as the government refuses to call for an inclusive and sincere dialogue that most believe can deliver better results. In the North, Boko Haram is maiming and killing innocent Cameroonians and this threat is also affecting the country’s economy.

Over the years, unemployment has become an issue in Cameroon. Unemployment is blighting the lives of many Cameroonians as a resulted of long years of mismanagement and corruption. Today, many young Cameroonians prefer to look outwards as their country has failed to harness their potential. Poverty –generated by the ruling party – has robbed Cameroonians of their dignity. Their desperation can be seen on their faces. The people of Cameroon need change. They need someone who can inspire hope in them. Someone who understands their plight and is driven by a strong feeling of patriotism. This has been the missing ingredient in the entire political game for the last thirty years.

But all hopes are not lost. A new political class is gradually emerging and Joshua Osih, the smart, bilingual and patriotic Cameroonian who understands the people’s plight has finally thrown his cap into the ring. After having served for long as vice-president and parliamentarian of the Social Democratic Front (SDF), Mr. Osih believes that this is the right time to help pull the country out of the political and economic doldrums.

His candidacy in the upcoming presidential election comes as a relief to many young Cameroonians who clearly hold that it is time to walk away from the ineffective and inefficient gerontocracy that has brought pain and death to many Cameroonians. Many young Cameroonians hold that the country needs younger hands to transform the country’s economic and political landscape and Joshua Osih has a safe pair of hands.

It is widely believed that his understanding of both Francophone and Anglophone cultures makes him the ideal candidate for the post of president in a country that might implode if the right person does not step in. His moderate stance on many issues has earned him the respect of the entire nation.

Joshua Osih’s time has come. He is being considered as the comprise candidate even by Anglophones who have clearly demonstrated their frustration with the Yaounde government. Cameroon needs to heal and only someone with Joshau Osih’s temperament and charisma will  be able to help the country walk away from its ugly past.

Born on  9 December 1968, Joshua Osih is the first Anglophone Cameroonian to serve as a Parliamentarian in Douala in the Littoral region. Besides being a politician, he is the chairman of Camport PLC in Cameroon, a successful business that has made many to think that he is the right man to lead Cameroon into a prosperous and peaceful future.

A Cameroon Concord News Group Production


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